Anxiety: AIBU to ask what worked for you?

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I was diagnosed with GAD a few years ago. I’m also perimenopausal. I’m on HRT which helped to start with but I think I need to revisit that too. I’ve tried several different SSRIs before and always had terrible side effects so I’m reluctant to try them again, but I can’t go on as I am. This is ruining my life and I’m awful to live with, I feel such rage all the time over the stupidest, tiniest things, everything upsets me, and I’m constantly overthinking and catastrophising (sp). It’s sending me into depression. Life shouldn’t be this hard.
What have you found most helpful for your anxiety?

The most helpful thing for me was citalopram. The worst of the side effects lasted about 2 weeks for me and now you'd never even know I suffered with anxiety.
I'm not going to lie those 2 weeks were absolute hell but once it settled I felt like a new person.

Citalopram, exercise, giving up alcohol. I feel for you, I was the same.

Most effective kept my blood sugar level. That's is regular healthy meals , no missing breakfast.
Fresh air and exercise. Get outside for a walk every day. The
Earlier the better.
Drink plenty of water- I like mine warm/hot.
And plenty of sleep.

HRT helped with my anxiety, once I worked out how much gel suited me.

Hypnotherapy though is what has shifted my anxiety and changed my life. It has taken me back to the person I was before peri started, probably even before some major traumas in my life. I feel at peace now and although have some anxieties or stress with travelling, work etc, they are normal low level rather than overwhelming panic.

I went to a therapist who specialises in female hormones so not sure if that made a difference..

I did all of this too, including the hot water, and all helped 😊

Giving up alcohol was huge for me (obviously 😆)
DBT
Venaflaxine
Stopping when I was over thinking, acknowledging it and actively letting go to the concerns I could do nothing about.
Acknowledging that life is absolute shit sometimes and I've just got to get through one day at a time
Taking a LOT more time for myself
Relaxing my standards!!

Hi OP. Sorry to hear you feel this way. When I was perimenopausal, I was in a really terrible place. I had really bad anxiety too.

What were your cycles like before peri? I ask as I don't think this is taken into consideration when given HRT. I think it is a bit of a blanket response. For example, I was given HRT and it made me feel terrible. Then I got a mirena coil and it changed my life as it shut down my cycle. 5 years later and I've not been troubled by the menopause since. I had flooding, terrible anxiety. My marriage nearly ended. I just needed the coil. I don't take the oestrogen. I had PCOS and this is what "I" needed for "my" body.

As for the anxiety, it crippled me. IMO there isn't one thing to fix it. It is a project to rehabilitate yourself from its grip. Things that helped me/ I still do today include;

Early morning exercise - running is very good. You get back from a workout and the positive endorphins take you through the day. It takes a few weeks of hard graft to kick in.

Nurturing yourself - I bet you care for others? I bet you do a good job of that. You need to turn that on yourself. Others need you to be well. It is important to take care of yourself. Little nice things for yourself; a coffee with a friend, a manicure, a massage, going shopping, a new lippy. All these things add up. Mindfulness, yoga.

Good, healthy food. Vitamins

Lay off the booze.

If you don't want to take meds from your GP, take them over the counter from a health food shop. I used St. Johns Wort, or Kalms. I use those sleepy T bags to have a good nights sleep. Get some rescue remedy.

Look at is as you've been in an accident, or had an illness. There isn't one solution. You need to address your physical body, and your mind. You need to move your body, nourish it well, find calm, and keep stress at bay.

Loads of love X

Hi. I have never made it past two weeks on antidepressants. This comment has helped me try and stick to it next time. I have tried 5 times and the side effects each time make me feel suicidal

Sorry you feel this way OP - anxiety is awful 😔

I suffer from anxiety (I am not at the stage of perimenopause or menopause yet so appreciate my experience may be different). Particularly the last 12 months were awful - constant overthinking, catastrophising, couldn't sleep properly, fixating on the most random things etc.

Ultimately, sertraline is currently working wonders for me. I have been on it for just over 2 months now and I honestly feel like a different person.

Other things - getting outside in the fresh air, cutting down alcohol (I barely drink at all now), getting a decent amount of sleep and focusing on the positive things (I actually jot down things that have been good about the day, everyday).

I hope you find a solution soon!

Thanks so much for everyone’s responses and kind words. I already do daily yoga, usually I try to go for a jog a few times a week too but at the moment I’m struggling to get out of bed in the morning, even for a little bit of yoga.
Yes I have a DD who I love more than life itself, but who needs a LOT of me and I feel like there’s very little left. OH can also be quite emotionally draining as he suffers with anxiety and I’m his only person. I’m running on empty now.
I do regularly miss meals, a vague attempt an intermittent fasting, but I’m failing miserably at that atm. Weirdly when I fast properly, I find it eases my anxiety - but it doesn’t feel healthy, and it takes a lot of energy/determination, so I’ve given up on it for now.
I have cut down on alcohol - I now drink 2 glasses of wine, sometimes 3, on weekends, but peri has changed the way my body processes it so perhaps that’s adding to it all.

Sertraline and magnesium

I'm afraid it was antidepressants for me too. Waited much to long to go on it listening to 'experts' going on about tweaking my her dose and brand.

It did take 2 months to start seeing the benefits and for the side effects to go away and these months were rough but the end result was so worth it.

Citalopram, use a pill cutter and start off really low dose and build up gradually. I also listen to Kristen Neff self compassion, she has a 5 minute meditation for when you really need it. Good luck x

I can’t get on with antidepressants either. I don’t take them.

What has helped is:
-supplements (food grown, high quality ones)
-HRT
-talk therapy
-cold water swimming
-exercise
-excellent diet
-no alcohol whatsoever. Even a little makes things bad for me for a long time - like weeks, it’s mad
-plenty of quality sleep
-no phone scrolling in the evening past about 8pm to help with good sleep
-changing to a job I really like (pay cut) that’s part time
-whenever I’m not doing anything and my mind starts whirring anxiously, put on a podcast
-a dog, giving me an excuse to go outside a lot
-hardly any junk food / ultra processed food

It’s a lot! And oddly, in itself, can cause some anxiety (working out how I’m not going to drink alcohol without looking like a spoil sport / going to bed early means I don’t watch tv anymore!) but overall I’m a lot happier and less anxious than before. I was very bad before. I have been seriously bad in my life before (my teen years).

Have you tried propranolol?

Escitalopram helped me. Lost the rage and most of the overthinking

Citalopram and giving up caffeine. Now when I have caffeine I really feel the anxiety effects of it!

Sertraline, no caffeine, exercise, gettin enough sleep. Having a DH who bears half the load.

I was prescribed this a few months ago and have been taking it, but not regularly. I don’t know if it’s something I should be taking on a regular basis, like daily?

What supplements do you take? All of this sounds like a lot of work… but would probably help. I just need some energy to do it 😣

It’s not something that needs time to build up like citalopram, it starts working within 30-60 mins. But it can be prescribed to be taken daily. What does your prescription say?

That’s a great idea about a pill cutter . I have been prescribed Citopramn but reluctant to take it as hate being sick.
what helps my anxiety is
EFT tapping
CBD gummies or oil
practicing gratitude
CBT
anti inflammatory diet
exercise
nature
focusing on other people and other things ( easier said than done) but focusing on anxiety creates a vicious circle
Holland and Barrett star power snooze gummies
talking to other people who also suffer from it.

Op we have a general support thread on the mental health board. I've put advice on there this morning and others do too. Please come along it might help :)

Sorry to hear you're feeling like this.
Is your OH getting help? Are you able to have an open conversation, the two of you,about how you can try and structure support so if it gets too much for one of you you can flag - you don't want to make each other worse.
For me:

• Exercise (lifting weights)
• Lots more veggies in my diet
• Drinking lots more water
• Stay away from sugar and 'fast' snack food as much as possible.

Fluoxetine. Everything else everyone has mentioned is an added bonus but made not a blind bit of difference until I sorted the chemical imbalance in my brain. Now I'm like a different person. Took a while to find the right SSRI and a while to get over the side effects but they've lessened and lessened to the point where they're no longer noticeable and I'm just a healthier, happier, higher-functioning me.