Help me manage my anxiety until I can get to see a Dr?

[TheAnxiousMess]

I’m already on quite a high dose of Anti-depressants, which I’ve been on for 2 years. I think I need my dosage increased by Drs haven’t got any appointments, they tell me to call at 8am everyday to get an appointment for in 4 weeks’ time but by the time I get through I can’t get an appointment and have to try again the next day. I’ve been trying for a couple weeks.

I have a 5 year old who I’m a single parent too. She isn’t seeing her dad at all over the Christmas Holidays apart from for 2 hours on Christmas Day so I’ve got 2.5 weeks to get through with her 100% with me – she’s back at school on Wednesday 8th January, although she’s in holiday club 2nd, 3rd, 6th and 7th as I’m back at work on 2nd.

I am so anxious. Just writing this is making me nervous and shakey. I have no idea what’s triggered it. But it’s making me so down (I also have PTSD and Depression) and I’m worrying how I’ll cope through Christmas, I’m just so on edge and jumpy. I feel like I’m making no progress with anything even though everythings done. All the presents have been wrapped, all the cards posted on Thursday. I feel like it’s not good enough though. I’ve booked Annual Leave for Monday but worrying people are judging me (I never usually use it unless DDs ill).

I feel like I’m a mess. And like none of this will make sense. And then I get depressed because I’m not coherent.

So I’m after the best tips to help me through until I can get an appointment?

Can you ask for a Dr to phone you back? My husband couldn't get an appointment so Dr spoke to him over the phone and prescribed meds he'd been on before and then a follow up appt.

Can you ask for a Dr to phone you back?

I didn't know this was something they could do for mental health

My doctor has done a phone consultation & upped my meds over the phone. It's worth a try ringing your GP.

AnxiousMess my husband was becoming depressed due to pain and he couldn't get an appointment so the doctor phoned him back to assess the situation. She was able to prescribe pain meds (actually antidepressants - amiltripiline which he had been prescribed before) but he had to schedule an appointment two weeks afterwards too. It was only a five minute chat and I don't think it was in place of a full consultation but it allowed the doctor to assess how to intervene.

Even if the doctor can't prescribe over the phone (and add others have said, they probably can), they may be able to offer you a quicker appointment. There are sometimes appointments available same day at the GPs discrétion.

In the meantime, can you get some down time at all? Can your daughter go to visit a friend some afternoon? Stick TV on if you need to. Get out for a walk if you can.

Is there anything specific you're worried about?

It's also absolutely fine to tell your DD that Mummy needs an hour (or half an hour, or 20 minutes, whatever you can get away with) to herself and DD needs to play quietly by herself. I've done this in the past and found that DS got absorbed in something for several hours.

How many days have you been trying? Tell them how many and I can assure you they find you a telephone appointment within the week.

You can also try to go to the surgery to make the appointment in person first thing when they open (you have a higher chance to get an appointment if you queue for 5 minutes than if you sit on the phone for 45 minutes)

I have found the following helps:

• no sugar or white carbs in the morning

• no coffee after 6pm

• avoid hot showers, in fact having one with tepid water can help you feel better.

• and most importantly, do not over analise, sometimes it is just a matter of waiting until the nasty feeling wears off.

to add to idiotindisguise's excellent list - a walk or exercise. Particularly outside.

Something that helped me to keep my sanity as a single mum of a young child was going to bed at 8, at the same time as my child. I would wake up well rested at 4 and had three precious hours to myself before he woke up.

By the time he did, I had done some yoga, red for half an hour, the house was tidy, I had already sorted what we were going to have for dinner and was ready to start the day free of stress.

Read, not red.

Here is a breathing exercise to focus on a bit when you get panicky, you could either do it yourself quietly or hold your hand out in front of you and show DD, see if she can copy you, she doesn’t need to know why you’re doing it - she will just see it as a game. The idea is that you run your finger along the edge of your other hand slowly.

Another exercise is to put one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach. Focus on breathing in so only the hand on your stomach rises and falls, but the other hand stays still. Again she could copy this, you could try lying down, standing up etc to do it.

A verbal exercise you could do is try and focus the senses - first find five things you can see from where you are, then four you can hear, three touch, two smell, one taste.

In a less anxious time try and think of things that you like - are there particular smells for example that you are drawn to? I use little wax tester pots that have really strong fruit smells, if I’m out and about and I get anxious I just open them and smell it which grounds me a bit - they just look like lip balms (you could of course get actual lip balms too) so nobody notices. Even things like particular fabrics to fiddle with in a pocket are good.

Drawing with DD would be good - no need to do crafty stuff if the mess and organising stresses you out. I was talking with my therapist the other day how cortisol levels can be lowered after a while spent being creative. You could get her to collect a few household things like teddies or fruit and arrange them.

Hopefully you’ll get a quicker appointment, I agree keep ringing and be very clear it’s for mental health. You could consider anxiety specific medication too - I find propranolol (a beta blocker) far better for the physical anxiety symptoms than any antidepressant I’ve ever had, so maybe a combination would work better for you.

That's interesting Laputa. A friend of mine teaches jewellery making and he was doing a business development course when someone commented 'ah you are teaching relaxation'. He hadn't thought about it but realised they were right!