Anxious, stressed .. I'm a mess .. help please!

[Imonaonehorseopensleighhey]

I started taking duloxetine again about 5 weeks ago and I'm hoping I'll start to feel calmer soon but I'm really struggling at the moment. Any suggestions for anything that will help?

I'm on 60mg. Have taken it before but stopped in the summer due to side effects and wanted to try without. Have gone downhill gradually since.

I either lie in bed all day with no motivation or i lie awake at night with my heart pounding. I don't know how to calm down. My head spins with thoughts and worries. I struggle to sleep, which for me seems to be a side effect of duloxetine and I'm extremely tired.

I've tried mindfulness, propanalol .. nothing really helps. I suffer with emetophobia, general health anxiety, I have no friends, having moved 4 years ago and i don't work due to ill health and often being unable to leave the house.

I need to see my gp for thyroid tests and to review duloxetine dose but can't get appointments. I can't speak to people on the phone and struggle face to face, i have the online appointment log in but there are rarely appointments.

I have other physical problems that are causing me extreme anxiety and just generally feel like it's too much and can't cope. I want to snap out of it but don't know how.

There's no self referral for cbt here. I've had counselling, it's just finishing after Christmas, but it's not cbt and whilst it has been helpful to work out what caused certain problems i don't have any coping mechanisms other than mindfulness. I'll have a long wait if i request more.

I've various apps but again they don't seem to help.

Any suggestions at all would be really appreciated. Thanks.

I'm sorry you are feeling so anxious and stressed at the moment.

I always find exercise, fresh air and daylight helps a bit. Could you go for a walk?

I'm sorry that seems such an inadequate reply. Big hug to you.

Thank you. I do find walking helps but the weather has been so wet, I can't face it at the moment. Plus when i can't get out of bed until 4 pm it's already dark and i live in a rough part of a city where the pavements are covered in dog mess It's not nice.

A gym or other exercise is out of the question at the moment due to my anxiety.

I just want to be the sort of person who just gets on with things without panicking or getting stressed, without overthinking ...

I want to live a normal life. To enjoy the little things. But i can't because there's always something to worry about, i can't help myself. I've no one to talk to.

Can anyone recommend an online cbt program - not through the nhs - that they'd recommend? Or a good book?

I need to find a way to become a calmer person because I can't carry on like this. I'm in my fifties and feel like I'll have a heart attack if I carry on in this state.

Have you spoken to your GP about citalopram? I couldn’t leave the house before I started taking it 8 years ago. I started having crippling anxiety and panic attacks in my mid-30s, convinced I was dying of a heart related illness. Try reading Pema Chodron.

I'm taking Duloxetine, it's meant to help with anxiety and I'm sure last time i was taking it I felt better, so I'm hoping it will help. I get terrible side effects from citalopram.

Amongst other things I take duloxetine, I take 120mg split am and pm. I yawn a lot and it has caused me to struggle to get to sleep and I wake up really early. I have not seen much benefit and my psychiatrist will stop it next month if it hasn't begun to work. If it isn't working see your doctor and see if it can be changed.

Thanks. I've tried several over the years and duloxetine seemed to be the only one that helped my depression so I don't really want to change. I also had bad side effects on the others (fluoxetine, citalopram, mirtazapine).

I'm only on 60mg at the moment so can still increase a bit but the insomnia is annoying.

Hi OP I can certainly recommend a couple of great CBT books! Don't know if you've Amazon prime, but you might even be able to be in time to have them delivered tomorrow?
'Feeling Good the New Mood Therapy' by Dr David Burns and ' 10 Days to Self Esteem' by Dr David Burns.
The first one was the first CBT book for the general public ever written! It's the first one I bought & I loved it!! Really easy read & easy exercises.
The second is newer & has newer exercises in... it's a bit like a workbook & also excellent. Dr Burns is leading psychiatrist & pioneer in CBT...I can't recommend his books more highly.

I use the exercises from the books yesterday, infact yesterday did an hour which helped me so much...I find this time of year quite stressful.

Hope this helps X

Should say 'use the exercises from the books regularly', not 'yesterday'
.. though I did also use them yesterday!!

Just wanted to add that I'm always telling people about the books, but I get the impression that people think I'm BSing them, like they think only a pill will help them...but these books are honestly, honestly SO helpful! Il
They've totally changed my life X

Thank you so much! I'm going to order them now!

Great!! I hope you like them