FFS does ANYTHING work for anxiety?

[orangeandlemons]

Beacuse it damn well doesn't for me.

In Jan suffered stress and anxiety form work. Have been off since then. Was on 100mg amitriptilene when I went under.

Since then have been on a whole raft of ad's. ALL of which made me worse, much much worse, Crisis team intervention worse.

Failed ad's include: trazadone, imipramine, escitalopram, sertraline: all made anxiety terrible, or made me want to top myself. Even when I managed to get through the start-ups. Am allergic to prozac and lofepramine

Now on Mirtazapine which seems to be doing nothing at all for anxiety. Nothing. Have seen consultant ho suggested Paroxetine or Duloxetine, bith of which are SSRi or simila type drug. My gp thinks would be unwise to take this bearing in mind previous episodes, and I am terrified of taking them

I had high hopes for mirtazapine, but it just seems like an anti-histamine, made little difference to anything. Anybodyoffer any help?

Citrolopram has worked for me

Plus diazepam for a panic attack

By fluke I was put on fluvoxamine as it was supposedly safer if I was breastfeeding. It was actually a lot better than citalopram, which until that point I'd also thought had worked well.

I have found cbt of some use, especially in trying to break the cycle of patterns of anxiousness. It also helped with me realising I have episodes with similar triggers. Whilst it doesn't stop the anxiety it's helped me understand myself a bit more.

It's a bugger tho when you're in a wave of it.

Hi O&L. You've been on quite a few, some can take weeks to work. Sounds like you have both GP and psych trying to sort things out. The trouble with some of
The ADs is that their effectiveness varies between people. I suppose why there are so many around and why people's own recommendations may not work for you. Best wishes. I gather you've read the NICE guidelines to see what they suggest?

I haven't been on them all in the last 6 months. This is over a period of years

Sertraline worked twice in the past, but made me much much worse and very itchy. The best one I have ever been on was chlomipramine. It was fantastic, but I ate eveything that wasn't nailed down.

Nice Guidelines recommend SSRI, then Paroxetine or Duloxetine if this fails, then Chlomipramine. I just don't seem to react normally to Ad's. Anything which hits noradrenaline makes me worse (except mirtazapine, but not sure that is hitting anything. Anything which hits mainly serotonin seems to make me better. Consultant didn't disagree. Chlompiramene and Paroxetine are both heavy hitters on serotonin. I have had to work all this out for myself.

Am having CBT, BUT I just feel anxious and stressed about nothing all the time. Not panicky as such just lump in throat and easily agitated. I've forgotten what normality feels like

Finally offering from consultant was Pregabalin. A new drug for anxiety......................

Am ashamed to go back to doc. So many failed meds, I feel like it is my fault

Of course it's not your fault. Maybe this new one will work...? You're certainly not the only person to have ever found a medicine, or even lots, to not work. Everyone reacts in different ways. I'm sorry I can't offer any advice (have only just had first dose of citalopram after having had six months on it years ago) but it's not your fault and I do sympathise.

Consultant said she had never known anyone have so many side effects.So,Hey the meds make you feel worse, then lets just load the guilt on top of that.She also told me out of all basketcase illnesses GAD ishardestto treat. Harder than panic or OCD. In fact 2 pyschs have told me that.

Gp much more sympathetic as she has seen all the terrible emotional side effects I have been through. But still..............

Perhaps I should start a pregabalin thread , butI kind of get the feeling that this drug is for really really off the scale cases.

Well that's hardly helpful! Sometimes doctors should really think about how they come across... A lot are brilliant but I think they sometimes forget that the whole problem is that those of us with anxiety interpret things in a different (anxious!) way! It's not like you wanted the side effects. Keep sticking up for yourself.

Oh Banana, thank you for understanding. That bit about how anxious people interpret things things is so kind.

Perhaps you should be a consultant.......

I was on Cipralex for a while, I felt great, just like a chilled version of myself. Sort of took the edge off. I had been under a lot of pressure at work and a dysfunctional relationship at home. Gave me the emotional strength to leave the relationship & sort out the work problems (although I think it was the threat of me going off long-term sick that made the work situation improve). Good luck x

Yes, that's what I would expect from an AD, and these just don't do that. Everything feels very sharp, there's none of that sort of cushiony feeling that previous ad's have given me

Citalopram, propranolol and CBT for me
It's horrible

But isn't citalopram another SSRI? Like Escitalopram which made me want to kill myself?

Whats clonazepam?

Fight the fear website for CBT??

Maybe run some blood tests to rule out physical causes such as parathyroid or thyroid
As an example, a family member has been on ad and anxiety pills for literally years. Gp never did any tests. Well - we've just found out it's something wrong with the parathyroid gland. I had always assumed they actually run tests before going down the line of psychiatrists, cbt, strong ad - but no, they don't!!

But is it possible that all these drugs have upset the balance in my brain? (well what little balance there is). I never used to have anxiety like this before

It's like the anxiety is there before the trigger. Or there is no trigger, I just feel random anxiousness for no reason.

Havehad blood tests for physical reasons.....

I developed anxiety in pregnancy which was very severe in my second pregnancy.

I had some CBT but it didn't really help.

Eventually I went to see the doc and she gave me paroxetine (seroxat) which has helped enormously.

I have read on here that it's a bitch to come off but TBH I'm putting that to one side for the mo, as it enable me to take the kids out without having panic attacks.

Do you know what with all this stuff you need to keep at it til you find something that suits you. Remember they don't really know how half these things are working, they just know that they work.

Wishing you well

paroxetine is meant to be THE drug for anxiety. But what they don't tell you, is how to persuade an anxious person who is terrified of taking it to take it. And that is my problem.

Am just too scared of all the side effects. I have been ill for 6 months with very severe side effects

Citalopram was awful for me, made everything much, much worse. I stuck with it for many weeks because I had been warned by GP that it could be the case before the good effects kicked in. It was my 1st try with anxiolytics and put me off for many years.

BUT, I have been taking Lysanxia (Prazepam, 10mg) for a few weeks now and it really does the job; takes away the anxiety but not the reality. I feel clear headed and able to deal with what needs to be dealt with, and actually have the energy to do it. After all those years paddling in useless panic it feels amazing.
However,
1/ it is addictive and should not be taken for too long a time
2/ has been prescribed to me in France, so wonder if available in the UK?

And by the way, enough with some GPs smugness, you go to them to sort out a problem, THEY are up to their job, or not.