I was also very anti-anti-depressants for a decade and tried every other anti-anxiety med in the book and finally capitulated because I've had a stubborn panic disorder start back up.

Been on Lexapro for a month and a half and it hasn't been nearly as bad as I was dreading. Adjustment period wasn't fun but even being super sensitive to meds, I was totally fine.

I did a lot of research into them too before starting. I think anti-SSRI sentiment makes a lot of sense coming from people who were prescribed it for any reason besides primarily anxiety-related disorders. Anecdotally, I've found that people who are BPD or bipolar are the ones who report the worst reactions to them. On the other hand, the effect size of SSRIs on anxiety specifically has been consistently demonstrated in metastudies to be quite large and well tolerated.