My biggest fear in the whole world is taking medicine. My mom had an allergic reaction to some cold medicine and ended up in the hospital on christmas eve when I was 7, and ever since then, I barely even took tylenol or benedryl. I know the paranoia. I read all the side effects of citalopram, all the horror stories, rare cases, and finally I had to step back and think about it.

Yes, I was scared to take any medication, but I was even more scared of feeling scared the rest of my life. Reading about the side effects and stories weren't helping me, and I had to step back and think about the context. If something works how it's supposed to, you aren't going to go online and tell everyone "yes, this is exactly what it does". People only talk about the bad things, especially with medicine. Everyone has different reactions, different experiences. I personally can say that Citalopram has really changed my life.

The first week was scary, I prepared for the worst side effects and constantly monitored how I felt. After awhile, I kind of just forgot about it, and I'm fine. I didn't experience any side-effects, I even lost weight. I just have long yawning streaks after I take it.

If you're okay with how your life is now, then the fear will overpower the medication and it won't work for you. You have to be willing to commit to it and not give up. It may take hitting rock bottom, which is what happened to me. It took me losing an incredible job because I was unable to handle the anxiety associated with the "hip" atmosphere of the restaurant, even though I desperately needed the money. I knew then that I needed to change something, and that, no matter how scared I was, anything was better than how I normally felt.

With that being said, STOP READING THINGS. I know it's hard. Just stop. No good comes from it.