bad anxiety

[smileylou]

Hi, I'm new here, sorry if this is long, 3 years ago I had a bit of a breakdown after my hubby almost drowned on holidays, got really bad anxiety and panic attacks, went on citalopram and after a few horrible months recovered completely. Fast forward to now, anxiety is back :( bit different though this time, no PA's but really bad muscle tension in my chest and abdomen causing on times really bad pain. just hoping Someone else has had this cos i feel so alone. Docs have now doubled my dose of citalopram to 40 mgs, only about 2 weeks ago so don't know if its had time to work yet, i know though that this is NOT the answer. have some good days when i can feel the tension but more or less ignore it to some extent. I am physically unable to relax once i get tense that seems to be me done for, i think i may also be a bit depressed as I simply haven't the energy for anything anymore, house is a tip which gets me down but seriously can't motivate myself to sort it out. Have 3 teenagers so they are aware and I try to act as normal as I can, also from DH cos he works away a lot. just seems like no-one understands what it's like unless they've been there. any help please????

Sorry to hear that you're feeling like this, smileylou. Has your GP suggested any 'talking therapies' to complement the meds?

no, but I think I need something, trouble is last time I did get referred it took about 2 months to come through and i was almost better by then!

anyone, feeling very desperate here :(

anyone, feeling very desperate here :(

I have had similar (my DC1 was sick and I was scared,it was serious, hospital, drips etc. All fine now but the fear stays!), but for me the symptoms were a bit different. I had chest pain and weird feeling my skin was on fire (can't explain very well, but it really hurt).

For me, I had to really make some life style changes. I decided to become "selfish" and do things I wanted/needed instead of always putting the family first.

Doing sport regularly has helped me a lot.

Looking after my basic "needs", ie eating well, doing regular exercise really helped. I also took up horse riding,a s I'd always wanted to learn. teh fab thing about that is that it is so hard, I had to focus 100% on the task and that cleared my mind. Swimming and walking clear my head too and help me sleep better.

Also, talking about it with a friend helped.

And lots of little steps, looking after yourself.

HTH?

also, you are not alone, have a look here www.mumsnet.com/Talk/feeling_depressed/1245231-anxiety-has-taken-over-cant-cope-with-life-right-now

I suffer from anxiety, not panic attacks but crippling butterflies in stomach, nausea and my head thinking too much. I was given Citalopram, took 6 weeks to work but in the short term my GP gave me valium which worked in 5-10 mins to relax me. It made a huge difference. I only took it when situations were bad. (it is highly addictive long term)

After 2 weeks my anxiety was a lot less severe and I was able to sleep better. Previously I was too "wired" to sleep which made lots of situations with my DD (not eating well or napping for long enough etc) a lot more easy to cope with whereas before I would panic about how the rest of the day would go.

Talk to your GP. Good luck.

OP, you still around here?

yes, the problem is I know what causes my symptoms is anxiety but my ribs and chest get SO painful I question it, its hard not too really, gonna see my gp this week to discuss other meds that people have found helpful re anxiety/muscle pain x

little bear I know how bad butterflies are, it sounds trivial when you mention it to ppl but its unbearable, I've recovered once too and am determined to do so again xx