Scared to take medication - advice please

[pinkball00n]

I’m a mum to three children (6, 2 and a 6 month old) and for the past two months have been struggling with anxiety and depression. The past two weeks have been crippling, the mornings are the worst and I wake up around 4/5am feeling exhausted and panicky.

My anxiety mainly stems from my middle son’s development and has led me into OCD habits of rumination/constantly Googling for reassurance. I am struggling to be around my children and feeling like an awful mother and have had some really dark thoughts.

I have been having CBT but am thinking I need to bite the bullet and try some meds but I’m terrified of feeling worse before I feel better. Can anyone give any advice on meds that worked for them? I am breastfeeding so would need to be able to take them whilst feeding my daughter.

Thank you x

I’ve had about four sessions so far. I know what I need to be doing and know when I’m spiralling but can’t seem to stop or pull myself out of it.

Ive also started reading DARE by Barry McDonagh which has been useful but again putting it into practise is difficult.

I was scared of this as well but tbh for me i felt so shit i felt like “in for a penny….”.

Fwiw I did feel a lot better pretty quickly, a matter of days, and have used Anti-ds a few times over the years.

Speak to your doctor x

Hi, I was diagnosed with Generalised Anxiety Disorder in 2014, I tried everything to get it under control except medication. Then in November 2023, I was diagnosed with stress-induced depression and performance anxiety, once again I tried everything to feel better.
In August of this year, I decided I was sick of trying by myself and just wanted something to "fix" it so I went to my GP, we agreed I had given it a good go but I needed to consider medication.
I was put on 50mg of Sertraline, the side effects and online reviews terrified me but I was ready to try anything! The first few days were a bit rough, nausea and dizzy but I found if I took it with food, I didn't have any of that.
It's been almost 3 months, I'm still on 50mg and it's a lot more settled, my brain is so quiet and I have hardly any catastrophising thoughts (it was every other thought most days). My memory is awful though and I'm wiped by 9pm each night but it's made a massive difference, I am so much calmer with my kids (14&12) and as a result, they are so much less volatile x