Hey all. I've never really had anxiety before. The last few months I've experienced an extremely stressful and traumatic event that hasn't really let up and won't dissappear unless I make a big life change. It's given me severe anxiety and my doctor just diagnosed me with GAD and prescribed me two different kinds of medication.

My anxiety has been so severe that I've been having serious GI issues and panic attacks as well as not being able to sleep. I have been doing a lot better the last couple of weeks, but the underlying feeling of anxiety is still there.

My doctor prescribed me Sertraline 25mg and Hydroxyzine 25mg. She said that things will get worse before they get better when taking the sertraline so the hydroxyzine is to take as needed while the other one starts to work (2-6weeks) I have done research on both of these medications and am pretty afraid to take them. They sound awful, especially the sertraline. Increased anxiety for a week or two, more GI issues, and decreased libido. Plus 6 weeks to feel any positive affects. The stress I'm experiencing is already affecting my libido, but I still have a drive. I don't want the meds to deplete it completely. I have a lot of big events coming up that I want to be mentally stable for. I'm considering not taking the sertraline since I think the side affects seriously outweighs any benefit it could give me. I might just take the hydroxyzine as needed, but I saw a lot of people have bad experiences with that too. Racing heart, feeling like you can't breathe, possible hallucinations.

Does anyone have any experience with either of these medications? I could really use some insight. Given the possible side affects, I don't think it's worth it for me. For reference, I am a 26 year old female. I work full time and have a toddler and a partner at home. I also have never been on any medication in my entire life. Please help.

ETA: I know that it's also an antidepressant and can help with OCD. I feel depressed, though undiagnosed, and I also have undiagnosed OCD. (For real, not just like "I obsessively clean or need things to match" I suffer from trichotillomania plus other things)