Hi Sadie I too feared meds for the longest time but my anxiety and depression got to the point where I could not function and I felt I had no other choice but take them. I'm glad I did cuz they help quite a bit. One thing I did is not read the side effects at all and gave the pharmacy sheet to my husband. If I had a weird thing happen, I'd ask him if it was on the list of side effects. That worked really well. Try it, it may work for you as well. Best of luck!