Anxiety support, Hand hold or chit chat come say hi #2

[Fairydust26]

Hi everyone this is part 2 as the original thread is full up! But as the title says this thread is support for all that are struggling and could do with a handhold and a chit chat so come and say hello😊.

Hi Lyra. The duty doctor was perfectly pleasant but no practical help. She says unfortunately "some" people find their symptoms get much worse in the first 1-4 weeks, but it should settle down and then I will feel much better. Like I don't have life, or responsibilities, and can just wait to "feel better". So I'm back to baby steps, just trying to focus on one thing at a time. Just made myself go out for a short walk in the sunshine. The phenergan is helping - just taking the "edge" off the crippling terror enough to be able to plan ahead. This sucks!

Lovely weather here. I thought I was doing well this morning, cup of tea and breakfast in the garden then I decided to walk to the supermarket for some small shopping. I have never really enjoyed shopping, esspesally as a social thing and I had a panic attack in the supermarket with my husband before when I was trialling antidepressants, have avoided shopping with him since. I had a bit of a headache today when I walked in. Took ages browsing when it wasn't too busy, kept dropping things on the floor, got to the till and I hadn't brought my purse! Had to explain to the lady on the till who kept the items at the till while I went to get my purse. Felt like such an idiot. I've heard it said many times to me before but elf, you and your family wouldn't have the same opinion if you had the flu or a broken bone and had the inconvenience of not being able to do things. You have to help your self before you can help others...I really should get offline and do some housework today though... My husband is getting fed up and it will probably make me feel better too.

Allthough I was going to make the bed my dog has persuaded me my attempts at housework are futile and it's nap time. He's got his own bed but I don't have the heart tell him to get off. At least he curled up now but giving me the evils as I told him off for kicking me.

UnwiseOldElf I hope you start to feel better soon the first few weeks of starting medication really do suck. It’s crazy how something that’s supposed to make you feel better makes you feel a thousand times worse at first but hang in there hoping you start to feel the benefits of it soon.

Lyra2018 your dog is very cute mine are the same they love to jump into my side of the bed as soon as I get up!.

Hello
I thought I should join this thread. I suffer from OCD and anxiety and my anxiety is through the roof just now. I don’t know what to do. I haven’t eaten since lunch time. I can’t see me getting much sleep tonight.

Hi Juliecloud, welcome to the group. I get pretty bad insomnia with my anxiety too now I'm pregnant. I have found stopping scrrens and internet at 8pm works well for me, but.. I just signed onto mumsnet at 9pm. Loads of advise online about natural sleep, I have now been prescribed a sedative anti-anxiety med, working well but..my biggest anxiety is taking madication which effects my brain... so I'll sign out now.

Thanks. I’m pretty exhausted so maybe i will sleep.

I was very anxious when I was pregnant. Hope you are coping ok.

Thank you very much Julie cloud. My mood (along with heatakes) is very effected by the weather and it's a lovely sunny day - just hope it doesn't get too hot before baby is due in July. I'm going to get out now before it gets too hot - get some vitamin d. (and I'm a radiographer so I have an internal battle about the cancer risks of uv radiation vs the positive effects on bones and mood of getting vitamin d from the sun)

Can you go out early in the morning before the sun gets too strong?

Thanks for your concern Julie. That I did, watered the plants... now I'm relaxing with a frozen caprisun I found at the back of the freezer from last summer. Hope you are feeling better today. I'm more of a stress and boredom eater than staver so might go out later just so I don't eat everything in the house.

Thanks, fairydust. The mornings are proving very difficult at the moment. I felt a little bit less bad this morning but then the nausea started and it was all I could do to get out of bed. The fear and the nausea comes over me in waves. I did in the end, partly because DH is despairing of me I think. He thinks I should just not "dwell on things" and that will make me feel better. Ha! If only it worked like that. Anyway - I made myself take a shower and get dressed and have a cup of (decaff) tea. And then I phoned two recruitment agencies. I just need to keep on. It's so difficult though.

Just had a phone assessment for the local pyschological support. Looks like I might get some group sessions, which could be very helpful.

Been reading online that initial worsening of symptoms can be a sign that the medication is going to work. I am taking it as a positive that I can even begin to accept that idea today...

Lyra I forgot to add that you're very right that my family would treat me differently if this was a broken bone or flu. It's frustrating that even with a lot more media awareness of mental health issues, old attitudes still prevail...

My husband says similar things. He's had his own mental health issues but says stop always thinking about the worse case sinario (when I'm trying to plan childbirth/Talk about my worries that came up during mental health appointment). Even now most men think it's best to Bury emotions, dispite all the high profile middle age men suicides...it's annoying though because dwelling and catastrophising (what I'm doing a lot of recently) is not helpful but hard to control. He also thinks I complain to much and wants me to stay active and eat proper meals as that helped him recover but he doesn't seem to fully realise I'm entering my third trimester of pregnancy. Apparently I'm making up or exaggerating my indigestion and joint pain...he gets it worse... I'm just bored, need to talk to my sister more, we are both hypochondriacs.

It’s tough when people don’t understand isnt it? I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been told ‘just don’t think about it’. If only it was that easy.

I've also got antenatal depression, made worse by setraline trial at the beginning of pregnancy. Felt overwhelming me guilty about the way I treated my undiagnosed aspershic little brother as a teenager. He was annoying, ungrateful and clingy but also sweet and misunderstood at school. I know I was a good sister when I didn't have homework and friends to worry about but pushed him away when he started my secondary school. My parents didn't know what school would be best for him but he insisted he wanted to go to the same school as his big sisters. The school went downhill between mine and his year and he made no friends, but the school did value his individuality more than junior school. There a horrible music teacher, who got the school specialist music status and was on TV for the huge boys choir but was all about the show and cherry pick favourite students. She adored my cute little brother, but him in the frount row and encouraged his singing dispite his bad behaviour, until his voice started breaking... He was well known in my school and embarrassing, only got beaten up once outside the school gates. He was particularly bad at receiving gifts politely. He. Doesn't really have any friends outside of gaming and his family but is far happier than he was at uni and immediately after. ..Now I feel like the tables have turned bit... Last birthday he got me a well thought out present of a purse as I needed a new one but was ungrateful as I was in a bad place and didn't like the style. My mum made me feel bad as she said he'd even asked my husband what I wanted. He's a typical baby boy and takes advantage of my mums emotions. Poor boy has 3 big sisters got bullied by girls in junior school because he tried too hard to be friends and there was a vindictive clique in his year who were his first friends in infant school. Now I'm getting irritated with my old purse because it's too small for all my cards and can't find the unused present. I was going to go into town for. Lunch and do some shopping but that's not happening as I've started crying just trying to get ready. I have just changed the dose yesterday and am go into town tomorrow anyway for a review. I'm just rubbish at being at home alone. Can't even do the housework or hobbies without getting distracted. Right now can't imagine enjoying doing social baby activities. Struggle with no routine am possibly mildly aspershic myself. I'll have to rethink meals for the day....my brother offered to do something with me today, but he visited on Tuesday and thought it was a bit much...

I am new here, had a meltdown last week, been to doctors who didn’t prescribe anything, but asked me to see him in two weeks time, as he hopes the reassurance he gave me re my asbestos anxiety will work.
I have had five years of serious stress and he thinks the latest episode of ds hospital appointments has triggered it.
I am sure my teens and dh think I am mad has I have seemed to have become a bit ocd like, that’s an understatement and am so anxious, although if out of the house I do feel better.

Hi nk. Welcome. I have had a few meltdowns recently, doesn't make you mad, allthough mad is subjective anyway, maybe hysterical. I am pregnant for the first time. Interesting fact I learnt from my healthcare degree then my own research. The route of the word hyster- means womb or uterus. It came from the assumption at the beginning of psychiatry that hysteria or madness is a mental illness caused by hormones that only women get if they don't behave in a socially acceptable way. Psychiatry has come a long way since then but I'm sure your hormonal teens aren't the calmest they could be. I've just increased my dose last night and have been reading a national trust article 100 years women in power as it's the centenary of women getting the vote so I'm in a very feminist mood this afternoon. I've had some medication and so have other people on this thread. It's not a quick fix so I hope you can find some way to relax for 2 weeks, maybe do a bit of research before next seeing the doctor. Good luck.

Hi nk and welcome. Embracethechaos I heard that about "hysteria" too - it's fascinating and also a bit scary that even now, so many years on, many "women's issues" are not fully understood. I'm perimenopausal and am sure my latest troubles with anxiety are related to my hormones (I've always had bad PMT and this reminds me of that) but my GP wasn't having any of it...

Anyway I came off the citalopram yesterday on my GP's advice, because the side effects are so severe for me. I have to say I feel a little better this morning. Still anxious but I was able to get up and have a cup of tea with the family and I'll be taking my daughter to school soon. He gave me Prozac to start next week but I'm not sure I will. He also gave me Diazepam for emergency use only - in case I get the terrors again. Ironically I am scared to use it as I know it's addictive. I've never had it before but he told me I wouldn't get a second prescription.

I'm going to see a recruitment agency later this morning to register and hopefully get some temporary work. That should relieve some of my anxiety - I've been trying to work for myself but haven't been getting enough work for it to be viable. I just need to be out of the house and busy and earning.

I have the same fear about addictive prescribed medication, after setraline... Probably one of my biggest anxiety... got angry that one information leaflet said its 'not addictive but its not advised to stop taking your meds suddenly'... A white lie... yet when I dropped the dose I had immediate withdrawal symptoms. There are occasional news articles about class a drugs showing promising trials in America for treating depression, I'm sure all thesse new prescribed drugs would be class a if they were not controlled and developed... Pretty scary. I do to much research... Quetiapine is working well so I should just stop worrying...

I have an appointment next week to see my GP cos I’ve been feeling so anxious recently. I’m so nervous about it. I had some therapy after a bout of depression and the therapist said I had OCD. I’ve not been to the GP about it before.

embracethechaos I’m sure you are a wonderful big sister. I obsess about things I’ve said and done in the past when most likely, most people have forgotten about them.
NK I hope your gp is more helpful the next time.
Good luck with the recruitment agency unwiseoldelf

Hi Julie cloud, I know a few people who have been diagnosed with OCD, worst is someone who has it with dyslexia. It's esspesally common in healthcare with the huge emphasis in hand hygiene. I didn't find hand washing a cathartic break between patients and something you are actually supposed take time over. Got a friend who obsesses about the diagnosis so not always that helpful, he does write volunteer for the charity mind. I overheard a porter having a conversation where he said I think everyone has a bit of OCD, probably true in a hospital. I've self diagnosed myself with everything so I try and stick to what I've been properly diagnosed with, high intelligence marked dyslexia, mild dyspraxia, severe generalised anxiety disorder and moderate to severe depression... Still quite the list! I prefer just think about dyslexia as I've been told I had it since starting school it covers all bases for me. Waiting for the care coordinator to arrive, it's easier for her to visit...

Did not didn't

Hi there,

I’m taking a deep breath here and jumping in. I don’t feel I’m entitled to be here as i’m not sure I qualify...but here goes.

I’ve suffered with low level anxiety for years, especially in social situations. Or any situation involving other people. I tend to become a hermit when it gets too much. I live in fear of being judged, especially by other mums.

This was all manageable (although not happily) until 18 months ago. Not long after moving to a new country, I found out my H and had had an affair as we were leaving our old country and was still in touch with this woman. Ever since then, i’ve Been having panic attacks in my car. Basically nowhere feels ‘safe’ for me...everything about this new country has associations with his affair and I just wanted to stay home and hide. It’s come and gone but had affected me in the last 6 months quite badly, to the point where I drive miles out of my way to avoid the highway and have escape routes and plan b’s for every journey. Not driving would mean I’d be housebound where I live.

I’m seeing a counsellor and she is suggesting anxiety/depression meds. I’m quite scared at the thought, but talking is not enough.

I feel like quite a fraud posting on here. But worrying about driving is taking over my life. I wish it weren’t :(

Bumshkawahwah that sounds incredibly difficult. Are you still with your H? Do you want to stay in the new country? Do you need to drive?

Thanks for the reply Embracethechaos I’ve no idea what to say to the doctor but I’m sure I’ll come up with something.

I feel sick when I think about something I said to someone recently. I keep thinking about it and thinking ‘why did I say that?’ I have no appetite at the moment and I’m exhausted.

Hi everyone

I wondered if anyone could give me some feedback on taking Diazepam for a fear of flying?

I have always been afraid of flying. I attempted to go abroad around 4 years ago and ended up coming home because I couldn’t get on the plane. Monday coming will be my first attempt since then.
My doctor has prescribed me 2mg of Diazepam to take up to 3 x a day on the days I fly out and back.
I’ve never taken it before and I wondered what they make you feel like.

I currently take anxiety medication daily , but it only takes the edge off and I find myself panicking regardless of whether I take them or not. So I’m concerned that if I take the Diazepam I’ll still be in panic mode for the entire flight.

Thanks in advance