Managing severe work anxiety while waiting for counselling and treatment to help

[Overthehills40]

Handhold needed please…
Over past few months I have developed terrible anxiety relating to work. It’s got to the point where I have dreadful nausea in the mornings and regularly retch and have awful stomach cramps as soon as I wake up. Sleep is great for first half of the night but then I get up about 3 times to go for a wee so I’m generally awake from 3-4am. I’m then shattered during the day.

I have been to GP but was discussing other meno related symptoms so it was the usual quick appointment and was given sertraline to try.

I then saw a private meno GP who wants to trial changing my HRT dosage before starting on anything else.

I’m in a senior position and just feel constantly in fight or flight mode. Feel paralysed with making decisions and just generally not enjoying it at all.
I am starting to look for something else less senior but know that it won’t be a quick process.

What else can I do in the meantime? I have started counselling to try and help too.

I think you need to go back to them and ask for something to help with the panic like beta blockers or benzos. You can’t be expected to wait, because if you end up on ie sertaline it’ll take a week or two to take effect too, so you could easily be a month away from relief

i can really emphasise, it’s awful

Try to pinpoint exactly what you are anxious about. Why? Anxiety is a 'doing' emotion so it's reacting to a specific threat or a situation.