Depression and anxiety support thread

[FlowersAndShit]

Thought I'd start a thread for those of us suffering with depression and/or anxiety. I'm currently trying to wean myself off Sertraline, and I'm struggling a bit. My meds stopped working as well as they used to about 4 months ago, so I've decided to wean myself off them. I'm trying to be strong, but still having waves of panic and despair. I'm hoping these are just withdrawals and not the 'real me'.

[SirChenjin]

Marking my place - thanks for starting this, and to everyone on here whose life is also affected by mental ill health

[FlowersAndShit]

I've crashed . Had an awful morning, so have upped my dose of Sertraline to 75mg and taken 1 propanolol. Feeling ok now.

[WhatTheFrikkinFrack]

I'm upping dose too as pregnant and I get so low with my hormones. Seeing psych mid April for med review.

[cutefluffyunicorn]

can I join you?
I have been on citalopram for around 3 years, and have recently tried coming off it (twice) but ended up feeling so bad I have restarted it this week. Still feeling quite low but the anxiety is more under control.
I'm really struggling with motivation at the minute so am going to try and get little things done each day...I would quite like it so stop raining too as pottering in the garden really helps me...but hey ho!

[PixieChops]

I started on citalopram 3 weeks ago and it's changed my life for the better. My anxiety is pretty much gone and I'm much better with my partner and children. I can also think more rationally and I don't seem to get as annoyed or stressed out by small incidents. I would rather not be on them for a long time but to be honest anything is better than how I was feeling. I've have two children under 2 (not twins) and I think this took it out of me and my hormones have been all over the place the past 2 years. This seems to be the only thing that's managed to regulate them.

[cutefluffyunicorn]

pixie that is great to hear things are looking up for you.

How is everyone doing today?

I felt really rubbish all day yesterday. I do feel slightly better this morning...
I seem to be really struggling with being able to relax at the moment. I feel like I need to be doing something all the time, but end up doing useless stuff that achieves nothing and just not being able to drag up the motivation to do the things I need to do
I am going dog training in a bit which is the one thing I do each week that I enjoy!

Hope everyone has a good day.

[cutefluffyunicorn]

flowers how are you doing? Are things any better for you yet. Hope you're looking after yourself.

[mumsywoo78]

Can I join. I'm suffering from horrendous anxiety over everything.i find decision making impossible and agonize over every god damn silly thing.had a sleepless night due to fretting over a recent decision I made. Doc has prescribed propranol which isn't helping at all. I hate living with this. I hope everyone else is having a better day today x

[FlowersAndShit]

Whatthe How are you today?

Pixie I'm glad your meds are working for you, that's great.

Cutefluffy I'm feeling a lot better thanks, going to wean myself much more slowly, 10% of ym current dose every 4-6 weeks. Hopefully this will minimise any withdrawals. I find that distraction really helps, especially when I start to reflect on how I'm feeling. How much are you reducing your meds by? I've figured out it will take me 6-12 months to come off them completely.

Mumsy Are you on any antidepressants? I find Propranol pretty good and works very quickly, can you ask your GP about increasing the dose?

[mumsywoo78]

Hi flowers im not currently taking any antidepressants maybe they would help but gp didn't seem to want to prescribe me any and wanted to try me on the propranol first im only taking 10mg so a low dose 3x a day. I'm not quite sure if im suffering from depression but I definitely suffering with anxiety. I obsess & constantly overthink everything driving myself crazy It takes over my life and am sometimes unable to eat. Although I do have good times when im much better and not worrying so much.
You take care coming off the meds glad you are feeling better. X

[Newmamatobe]

Hi, can I join?

I'm a new mum, DD 8 weeks old - she's amazing!

I'm really struggling with anxiety and fear - I'm so hard on myself over everything.. If I get help with her from family I feel guilty, I'm suddenly petrified of the future, feel like a failure, scared of people visiting and me feeling awkward, feel like she's unlucky to have me as a mum, like I'm doing it all wrong and I don't love her enough.

I'm on anti ds... Have had depression in the past and have learned to live with my anxiety by talking a lot to my friends who suffer really...

Just drained with my whirring train of thoughts and beating myself up :(

[FlowersAndShit]

Mumsy How are you feeling today? Hope you're ok.

Newmama Congratulations on your DD! Do you have PND or plain old anxiety? Are the meds working at all? I find keeping a diary of my symptoms each day really helps. I usually have waves everyday of good and bad.

[Rainbowlou1]

Hello...could I also join?
I hope You're all ok tonight X
I had pnd after my son was born 7 years ago and am now experiencing 'flare ups' when things get tough.
My H was unfaithful last September and its reared its ugly head and is pretty full on at times, last night I felt horrendous about it all, had a drink and was absolutely horrible to him.
He says he deserves it so doesn't retaliate but I can't bear that little voice in one ear telling me how fat, ugly and shit I am at everything.
I'm so glad I have somewhere to talk as I have nobody in rl who knows what's happened.
to you all X

[FlowersAndShit]

Hi Rainbow Are you on any meds?

[Rainbowlou1]

Hi flowers, I was for a while but not at the moment.
But I think I need to go back to the GP X

[lavent]

Hi everyone can I join too please?

I had an awful year in 2015 and been suffering from terrible anxiety and depression. I currently take 10mg citalopram (down from 20mg last month as side effects were awful).
Sounds odd but I struggle to take it every day - it's not so much I forget but I feel anxious over taking it and how it affects me.
I've been trying to lose weight and was successful in Dec/Jan only to gain most of it back in Feb/March

I am hoping April is a good month!

[OnceMoreIntoTheBleach]

Hi everyone, I'd like to join please

I've had GAD for forever and periods of depression on and off for 20+ years.

Having both is torture.

I used to self medicate with alcohol (used daily as an 'anaesthetic' - bad idea) but I don't drink anymore and I feel a whole lot better for that. So if you drink to feel better, maybe think about having a break from that as it actually ends up exacerbating both depression and anxiety.

I'm on citalopram 30mg. I was on 10mg to start with but dr increased it last summer due to some acute stress giving me bad symptoms. I'm hoping I can reduce the dose in the future with some lifestyle changes.

I've also started taking some supplements to target any missing ingredients from my diet/brain. I take omega oils, multi vits, extra vit B complex and magnesium. I also take L-theanine which I do find makes me feel noticeably more relaxed throughout the day. And I just ordered some tryptophan which is the precursor to serotonin.

I have similar symptoms to you mumsy especially terrible decision making and not wanting to eat at times. However, my DP pointed out to me a while ago that I feel worse when I don't eat, and almost immediately better with fuel on board. So I do try to eat when I'm feeling particularly anxious, even though often the thought alone makes me gag. I keep protein or breakfast milkshakes in the fridge, or yoghurt drinks that I can stomach better than solid food, and they help get the ball rolling.

Thanks for reading, it's great to have a thread for this - thanks OP

[OnceMoreIntoTheBleach]

Just a further note from me on the supplements. Of course I know we can and should get them all from a balanced diet, but because anxiety and depression make me lose my appetite so often, my diet is not what it should be, and missing vital nutrition no doubt makes my brain feel worse. Vicious cycle! So I take those things to plug the gap and I do feel better when I make a concerted effort to take them all regularly

[mumsywoo78]

Good morning everyone.oncemore I think I have GAD too I've been like this since the birth of my ds 3years ago. I often wonder if its hormone related as I find I get worse each time of the month.very interesting info on the supplements may try some myself.

[WontLetThoseRobotsDefeatMe]

Morning all. Having a really rubbish fortnight - being treated for depression and anxiety after a breakdown but have had a real crash. Very worried about a work situation but can't see a way out of it, and having wildly vivid 'real' dreams. One of which was about a man I had a very weird 'relationship' with in my teens - since the dream, I've been having flashbacks, feeling really disgusted at myself. And really freaking out about being touched by my partner. It's worse because I blame myself - but them the rational side of me is trying to convince myself that no 14 year old girl is to blame for encouraging a 40 year old man. I have no idea how I'm going to get over this - it's freaking me out every hour of the day. It's worse so much worse than the depression that was there before. I feel so worthless and disgusting. I hate me and it. And I hate myself for working so hard to get myself into a healthier mental place then ruining it all like this.

[MuffinG79]

I'm very new to the forum and I'd like to join this thread. Have had depression and anxiety pretty much forever, exacerbated post partum. I take sertraline and buspirone they help, but some days are still bad and pushing onward without pushing too hard is tricky.

[mumsywoo78]

How is everyone today. I had an horrendous sleepless night due to my anxiety not getting to sleep whilst 6am and then had to be up for the children. Hopefully I will be so exhausted by tonight that I'll sleep tonight. Goin away for a few days next week(in uk going abroad would be too stressfull for me worrying about losing luggage etc)so hopefully being away and out and about will be a good distraction.life is such a struggle living with g.a.d I feel like such a rubbish parent too as I'm never relaxed enough to enjoy my dcs I'm often short tempered and snappy as I'm always stressed out over something. I sometimes wish I were elderly and near the end of my life so this would all be over soon. As I know this will probably be the way I am for the rest of my life now. I hope everyone else is feeling much better today x

[Stanky]

I want to join too. I can't really function at the moment, and have just been wasting my life lying in bed for the past few days. I used to be on medication, but I couldn't get on with it, and it seemed to make things worse. I prefer to just ride out these bad patches now, and hope to come out the other side. I just want to be a normal, proper person and get on with things.

Hugs and support to everyone living with this illness. Hang in there.