Tell him or her if you are pregnant or nursing. Report any side effects. And, because many of the drugs prescribed for anxiety disorders can make some medical problems worse, make sure the doctor or therapist prescribing the drug knows your medical history. Always ask your doctor for as much information as possible about the drug prescribed. The package insert is written in technical terms, so you will probably need to read it with the help of a medical dictionary, which can be bought in paperback at many bookstores.
Medical dictionaries are also available at many libraries.
When reading package inserts, keep in mind that they list virtually every side effect ever reported for a drug and do not make explicit how common any particular side effect is. Therefore, reading them can sometimes be unnecessarily confusing. It is best to go over questions about a package insert with your doctor or pharmacist. You can also get comprehensive information about many prescription drugs from a book called The Consumer Drug Digest, which is published by the American Society of Hospital Pharmacists and is available in many bookstores and libraries. The information in this book is written in non-technical language.