If I go to the GP about anxiety, what will happen?

[BarneyRonson]

Will I get a prescription or be advised to do CBT first? What prescriptions are offered and what have you found worked for you?

Im tired of anxiety attacks, I really am. Haven’t mentioned it to Dr before.

I was prescribed SSRIs and referred to counsellling. I was told to make regular GP appointments too - apparently this is necessary when taking SSRIs.

For me the GP prescribed meds over the phone and signed me up for CBT which was so awful I stopped after a couple of months..maybe it depends where you live but for me it was a 5 minute call every 2-3 weeks where I would be asked how I would rate my enjoyment on a score 1-5 on shopping, going for a meal with friends, taking a weekend break etc. I hate shopping, I don't go out for meals with friends (I probably did 30 years ago), and we don't have weekend breaks. When it became clear the scripted questions didn't work for me the therapist moved onto identifying things I found difficult. The first thing I could think of was having my photo taken (I'm one of those people who doesn't recognise faces that well - I can't always recognise myself!) and the next few calls were all about photos and nothing else. And I don't think I ever remembered to go to the surgery to pick up the prescription as I needed to go between 11:00-12:00 on one of two days in the week so someone could check my blood pressure.

HRT has helped me a bit, I sleep better, but the brain fog is terrifying and adds to my anxiety as I can't find the words I need and I can't find where I've put things 🙂

If you are of the age for HRT and are only on one pump of oestrogen gel then I would certainly try increasing (a pump at a time each 3 months until you are on max dose). HRT massively helps anxiety and you are on a minuscule dose.

I've had anxiety issues since i was a child. Numerous drs appts and they gave me lots of different medication thqt never made a difference, citalopram, setraline etc.

I spoke to a new dr about a year ago who i felt was the first to listen to me and prescribed me duloxetine, its changed my life.

I also go to private therapy.

Ha. I went years between appointments- no yearly review or anything.

I went a while back and they tried to offer the same medicine I’m already on, the talking therapy I’ve been on the list for months for then snapped “there’s nothing else this is the NHS”.

They probably do training in how to be useless arseholes at mine.

This is very useful, Thankyou. This has to be my first port of call, I think. I really hope it works. I don’t want to be on a minuscule dose! I’ve been watching Menopause Taylor on YT and she says three pumps are required to be beneficial agains heart issues and dementia. I have a GP appt next week and this is where I’ll begin. Thankyou again, I appreciate it.

Your last sentence made me laugh. It’s the neglectful hurried aspect that has deterred me from ever mentioning anything to my GP.

Isn’t this amazing. I wonder what about the new medication is so effective. I’m very happy for you. 💕

I hope we all find the missing piece.

Yes! It’s this kind of drivel that one has to trudge through that makes me cringe, and likely I’d cry and be immensely irritable and feel much worse, if I had to answer lots of stupid questions. I don’t much like the brain fog either, it makes me think I’m losing my grip entirely!

I fully sympathise. I hope the mirtazipine proves to be useful. I take cbd capsules and L- theanine and also Kalms lavender capsules - each help somewhat.

I hope yours are much better.

Sometimes I imagine them having their morning meeting with a whiteboard and the heading “How to get rid of patients” and a list of suggestions.

1. Be rude and condescending
2. Don’t bother to read the patients notes
3. Roll your eyes and sigh a lot.
4. Act like you’re doing the patient a favour and any money spent on the NHS comes out of your own pocket
5. If all else fails offer antidepressants

I’ve had talk therapy and now I’m doing Nhs CBT. Waitlist was long but it’s been amazing. A year in and I’m trialling some SSRI. Don’t worry about talking to doctor. No one will make you do anything. Take it slow and get advice from the doctor. They really are used to it. Good luck you are not alone x

I used to think.anxiety was something I had to immediately fix or stop, but that means you start to either fight it, or run away from it. Which takes you right back into the flight or fight response you're trying to get out of. So I read somewhere to almost accept it. So when the adrenaline starts running and my stomach churns, I've learned to say 'hello anxiety, I can see you'. After that I move to 'Hello anxiety, I know you're there but bear with me, just need to wash the dishes/sort laundry/something physical but easy'. Do on repeat, increasing the length/trickiness of task. Very slowly, you start to get a minute or two of a break from the feelings. It'll keep popping back in, but the gaps get longer, tummy settles etc. I think it's to do with switching to a different part of the brain to do the physical stuff which flips a switch over somewhere. Dishes seem to be particularly good as there are several stimuli, water is warm and.wet, washing up liquid has a fragrance, stacking dishes makes you think in 3D space etc. I'm sure it won't work for everyone, but I thought I'd put it on here, even if it works for just one person, that's one panic attack stopped.

what an awful experience!

This is exactly what I do as initially instructed by my private therapist. I acknowledge the feeling and have a chat. I'll say "Hi brain. I know you're trying to keep me safe and thanks for that." I've got to the stage where when I get the tummy pangs that always starts any anxious periods I sing, "Hello darkness my old friend" then I laugh at my own funnyness. This stops the flight or fight reaction. It's about not being afraid of the anxiety. Once I've stopped the flight or fight reaction, I'm better able to contextualise the issue at hand and problem solve, or else just dismiss the issue. I am more able to identify what I can and can't control.

And I think my therapist called what you describe as "grounding". It's a form of mindfulness. So she told me to wash my hands with a strong smelling soap and really focus on the heat, the feel of the lather, the smell. She told me to go and sniff my children for 20 seconds. And at night when I woke up in a panic to spray some lavender pillow spray and run my hands up and down the sheets whilst really focussing on the touch feeling.

Depending on age etc. HRT can be brilliant. 👍

I’d read a lot of old mumsnet threads about sertraline and so many people had said it was life changing for them. I was so fed up with living with my anxiety (and very close to quitting my job) so thought I may as well give it a go. I’ve been on propanalol for years and just had that dose increased, that is very good for situational anxiety.
It’s early days for me with the sertraline but I had negative side effects for maybe 2 weeks, now at week 6 feeling much better.

I was prescribed Sertraline and CBT. The CBT wasn't particularly helpful but the sertaline has been life-changing as many others have found. It took me 6-7 weeks to really feel the benefit but so worth it!

Best of luck. I have 4 pumps per day now - took me a while to get to that and had to educate myself to be able to ask for what I wanted to try - but so much better for it. Two pumps is the usual starting dose. I also have testosterone (gel) but that gets added if needed once your estrogon level is back up. I take 2 x Utrogestan (progesterone) each night. I recommend Balance Menopause for clear and current advice and guidelines. Good luck.

@SilverRainCloud four pumps! OK now I see a path ahead. Thankyou so much. Louise Newson binge watch ahead! Xxx