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Mental health

sertraline and anxiety...

7 replies

linzi79 · 15/08/2010 19:31

hi,

i've been suffering from pnd in the form of severe anxiety and panic attacks. the doctor first prescribed me dosulepin which i did not get on with at all. im now on day 6 taking sertraline 25mg. i don't feel like its working. i feel so flipping miserable and disjointed. nothing gives me pleasure anymore. if i look at my children and feel happy i just remind myself that one day they will grow up and no longer be close to me. i am also convinced that there is something wrong with my health (apart from being nuts that is!!)

i have had pnd twice before but this is the worst ever and i never feel like im going to get through it........

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GetDownYouWillFall · 15/08/2010 19:36

hi there. Sorry you are feeling so bad. These kinds of thoughts are symptoms of your illness, they are a distortion and they are not how you will always feel. It is a cruel illness because it warps your thoughts and makes you think you will always feel this way - you won't.

You are on day 6 of taking sertraline - your dr should have explained to you that ADs take at least 2-4 weeks before they start to work. So this is WAY too early to start panicking that nothing is going to help you.

You need to persevere with the medication. This period is often said to be the worst, because you feel like you should be feeling better because you are taking something, whereas the reality is it won't start working straight away. It is a dangerous time in some ways, and you can feel very desperate - worse even than before.

Please please hang in there. The medication will start working soon. Have you got support from a partner or friends?

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linzi79 · 15/08/2010 19:43

nothing makes me feel any better...my friends are lovely but i feel no comfort from them. my partner finds it very difficult to talk about anything emotional, and i think i scare him a little bit.

i don't think i've ever felt so hopeless or sad. it seems so totally endless.

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GetDownYouWillFall · 15/08/2010 19:49

honestly listen to me you won't always feel this way.

Trust me I have been there. I have been admitted to hospital my depression got so bad and I made a suicide attempt whilst being in there.

I don't think anyone could have been lower than I was right then. I was at rock bottom.

However, I have lived to tell the tale. I am now enjoying life, love my DD. Yes life can be hard, but I have the coping strategies now to get through things.

Please keep going with the meds for at least 6 weeks, if still no change, go back to dr. You may start feeling a bit better after 2 weeks though.

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linzi79 · 15/08/2010 19:59

thanks. and im sorry to hear you've been to dark places too.

i feel so alone with my miserable thoughts. i love my partner but he is pretty useless in this situation! i will def give the meds a good go. its totally the placebo effect but i am better than i was, i went out the house today without having a panic attack.

damn pnd.

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GetDownYouWillFall · 15/08/2010 20:23

the good thing about PND (if there is such a thing!) is that it is post natal i.e. after birth. It is not forever. PND does get better.

It is good that you've come on here if you are feeling alone with miserable thoughts. There are loads of us on here that have been through what you are going through and can offer a listening "ear" and to encourage you that things will get better.

Have you tried explaining simply to your partner how you are feeling? We can sometimes expect them to know, but they are not mind readers. I used to feel v bitter towards DH because he didn't seem to understand. He's a happy go lucky type really. However, he has a much better understanding having me explain it to him

I know talking is the last thing you want to do when you feel like you do now. At my worst I probably said no more than about 20 words a day. However, I could write things down. I wrote what I was going through and it helped DH so much. Even just a few lines like "I feel black, I can't concentrate, I can't enjoy anything" will give him a little bit of insight into what you are suffering.

It's great you got out the house today without a panic attack! Claim it as a victory and keep telling yourself it over and over. Don't dwell on the negative.

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GetDownYouWillFall · 15/08/2010 20:24

just re-read that and realised my first line could be interpreted as "is there such a thing of PND" - of course there is - sorry! What I meant is "is there a good thing about PND?"

Sorry

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linzi79 · 15/08/2010 21:12

thats ok...it got me thinking about the fact that i am a very anxious person anyway. its just relentless when i've just had a baby.

night times are the absolute worst.

my partner will not read anything, i tried to get him to read something about baby blues as i spent days crying after i had my little one. he didn't understand that i didn't want loads of visitors handling her the day after i'd given birth. he just wasn't interested. i think he thinks im just a total pain.

there is absolutely no good thing about pnd. it is the absolute pits. and after this time is the reason i won't have anymore babies. my oh wouldn't put up with me like this again anyway!!