Help/ medication for anxiety

[undeuxtroiscactus]

I am an anxiety sufferer. Social anxiety in particular but generally just feel fearful all the time and get stressed so easily. It's impacting work, family, everything and honestly has defined my adult life to be honest.

I started a new job about 18 months ago, nothing particularly high flying but a good job for me and one I should be able to cope with but the cracks are starting to appear and I'm terrified of being a disappointment or getting fired. Or people thinking I'm awful. I feel such a failure.

I'm on a low dose of sertraline which has helped somewhat in the past but I find now if I have a higher dosage it gives me a permanent headache. I know it's prescribed for both anxiety and depression and although I do get both, anxiety is really the driving force for me.

I'm utterly sick of it and I feel desperate to find something that works, that really helps me enough so that I can cope and not feel miserable all the time and not keep fucking everything up because all I want to do is run away. What medication is available? Will I just be given SSRIs or is there something more effective out there?

I'm on a waiting list for some counselling and have been for six months now. I've asked about support groups but they are all during work hours so I can't do that.

Can anyone give me some advice? I'm at such a low ebb, this has been an issue for years and years and I'm in despair that I'll never be able to overcome it and start actually enjoying life.

Speak to your GP about beta blockers.

You need to discuss it with your GP, I found that Flouxitine (ssri) didn't help with anxiety at all but Mirtazapine (snri) really helped. The most amazing thing for me was seeing an nlp ( neurolinguistic programming ) therapist privately.

I take 20mg of Citalopram which really helped my anxiety, I also did 'Talking Therapy' which I found really beneficial.

Have you contacted IAPT yourself?

Thanks! Yes, I've contacted IAPT. I live in Bucks so I think that's Mind? That's who I'm waiting for counselling with. They only have one evening slot a week, the rest are during the daytime and I can't take time off work regularly like that.

I took Citalopram years ago and hated it so maybe not that one. Will ask about beta blockers.

What's an SNRI?

I get slightly confused about why antidepressants are usually what's prescribed for anxiety. Are there not medications more specific to anxiety?

I asked a CPN why antidepressants for anxiety, he said its because anxiety and depression are very similar with similar processes involved. Snri is seratonin-norepinephrine/noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors. CPN said very similar to ssris but not the same.

I think noradrenaline is like the antidote to adrenaline so would make sense that increasing the ammount of that would reduce anxiety.

Ah ok, thanks. I could probably do with less adrenaline!
I guess I'm just a bit dubious as I've taken the meds before and I am now, and I'm still an anxious mess. Going to discuss options with my GP...which I'm really nervous about!

Are there any evening mindfulness courses? I'm starting one this week. Fingers crossed it's useful. I contacted IAPT and they'll see me in about two weeks; I feel so lucky and relieved. Gp this week said no meds for me. They don't recommend it for anxiety/panic.

I used venlafaxine years ago for anxiety with mild depression and it was excellent. That's an SNRI. I self referred to IAPT for CBT and pay privately for counselling - stress related which is easing as the stress goes . I also use headspace for meditation and distraction. Getting to the root of it is the key.

Thank you. Maybe an SNRI would be better for me too. Absolutely agree about getting to the root of it. It's time I did. I really hope with time I can get over it and feel more comfortable with myself and life.

Different meds work better for different people. Sometimes it takes a few goes to get the right one. Mindfullness is reallt helpful and for me something called eye movement integration with an nlp therapist was amazingly helpful.

Thank you, that sounds really interesting. I will look into NLP.

I am a life-long anxiety sufferer and I am now free of it for 95% of the time.

Only diazepam worked for me (my anxiety comes with powerful physical symptoms). Beta blockers did nothing for me and antidepressants made both the anxiety and physical symptoms skyrocket.

The things that really helped for me were:

CBT (that Dr something book -it's called the feeling good book I think)
Exercise -even 10 minutes a day has a huge positive impact

HTH
Good luck OP

Have you considered hypnotherapy? Solution-focused hypnotherapy can be amazingly effective in dealing with anxiety and depression.