My anxiety is ruining my life.

[amyddss]

Does anyone else suffer from really bad anxiety & intrusive thoughts? It's making me physically ill & interfering with my day to day life.
For years I have convinced myself I have done things/ said things that I blatantly haven't and make myself a paranoid mess about it for no reason whatsoever but I'm unable to control it. I was put on medication a month ago for stress induced anxiety and to be honest it's made me even worse. It's now affecting me physically but I'm not sure if this is a separate issue. I have always been up and about, would never dream of napping during the day and now I can't actually help being so exhausted I fall asleep randomly and this has been for the last 3 or 4 days. Constantly short of breath with a tight pain in my chest. Do not feel right AT ALL. Dizziness is now just normality too.
The medication has been making me increasingly irritable, cry a lot, feel so low and just like I feel nothing but doom. My DP is as understanding as can be but it's hard to explain how you're feeling when you're not too sure exactly what is going on yourself. I just want to stop feeling like this but I honestly don't know if that's possible anymore. Just want to live a normal life without worry, shaking like a leaf all the time and feeling like something terrible is going to happen. Does anyone have any advice or has been through something similar? Any advice would be great.

Yes, I take propranolol and it leaves in about 10 minutes. I'd be scrunched in a corner sucking my thumb without those pills.

Exercise also has the same effect. The type that gets you sweaty and out of breath .

I've got the doctor phoning me today for a phone consultation. I'll definitely ask about the propranolol. Exercise is a great idea too, every time I start my oldest jumps on top of me though and thinks it's a game. Would be better if I could get to a gym but home workouts would be the only answer right now as I find it difficult to go anywhere without my kids, partner or mum. Thanks for your reply.

I don't understand why beta blockers aren't offered first (as long as you can take them, there are some medical issues where they aren't suitable). The physical effects of anxiety (shaking etc) is just your body dumping adrenaline into your system which then doesn't know what to do with itself. Beta blockers stop that from happening so you can then deal with the worrying easier. Baffles me why they go straight to other meds that take time to get in your system and have to be taken daily.

Even jogging on the spot with a few on the stop sprints can help. Kids can join in with that. Anything that gets your breathing going.

Sex is good as well, not that it's easy with little ones.

As an aside, 10mg isn't really that effective if it's really bad if you're offered that. I started on 40mg 3 times a day when needed.

The doctor said they were putting me on 20mg of citalopram. I'm sure I've had that before. I did say to him about the propranolol and he wants to start me off with this first. I swear to god they've given me every tablet imaginable. It's as if something's missing I don't know if that makes sense. All I can do is try again I suppose. I'll definitely give what you said a try and I totally get the adrenaline thing that your body doesn't seem to know what to do with. You give better advice than most doctors I've spoken to lol! It's honestly like sometimes they don't hear you, just prescribe some tablets and on to the next. Thanks very much, really appreciated.

Have you tried venlafaxine? Life changing for me

No, is that over the counter stuff you can just go buy at the shops or do you need it prescribed?

It's an antidepressant that I have taken on and off most of my adult life, so prescription needed. I thought you may have already tried it as you said your doctor has tried virtually everything on you! X

He's never even mentioned that! They keep going back to ones I've already had so I thought they were running out of stuff to try lol. Something needs to work, it's affecting me really bad and with 2 young kids I can't keep feeling this way. Thanks so much, I'll tell him I'd like to give it a try x

They're probably just giving you the cheapest for them OP. But you don't have to keep taking them 'until they work'.

The next time you see or speak to your GP tell them that you don't want to keep going over old ground and want to try something else completely, tell them this anxiety is taking over your life and you can't cope with it anymore. Write a letter or ask your partner to advocate for you. I've gone in with friends before when they've struggled to be assertive with their doctor and it can get results.

Try cbt - your doctor should be able to refer you for it. You have to work on it but it’s well worth it - it’s changed my life so much for the better and each day and each time you challenge the anxiety your overall anxiety comes down so always improving.

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