Really struggling

[Sunnyscot80]

Hi all,

I'm posting today as I am really struggling. Long story short I've had Pnd/severe anxiety for about 15 months.

It started after I stopped breastfeeding my second child. I've tried setraline,.mirtazapine and escitalopram. All have made me worse. I've got a box of venlafaxine sitting in the cupboard, but I'm too scared to try, as my psychiatrist says it's an 'activating' drug and I don't need energy.

My main issue is restlessness
/aggitation and derealization and never feeling tired during the day, even though I wake up at 5am with raging anxiety, every single day.
I can't nap or relax. Just feel wired. Is this inability to feel tired 'normal' with Pnd? I don't understand how it can go on this long. I don't feel manic or anything. Just switched on. All the time. No dips of energy until I finally fall asleep quite late at night.

I used to be great at sleeping. Napping when the kids did, falling asleep early.

And I go about in a detached dream like state all day, I don't see the point anymore.

Sorry for the moan. Just looking to hear from anyone else who maybe had these symptoms. And how you got better ❤️

To be honest I think you need to contact your community mental health team or gp on Monday morning and let them know how you feel. You can even call 111 tonight or tomorrow if you want help sooner.

There are certain medications that can help you to feel more relaxed. For example when I feel very paranoid or anxious at work my psychiatrist prescribed me a tablet called Promethazine to help me relax. It really helps.

I take Venlafaxine 337.5mg for depression and it has worked well for me, I would personally recommend it for depression but I think that you need to get the derealisation and hyper feeling dealt with first.

When you speak to your healthcare professional be very clear with them about how badly you are struggling.
Don't let them fob you off!

You will be doing the best thing for yourself & for your family if you get help. Hope everything goes well x

@SommerTen thank you so much for your lovely reply. Today was better than yesterday but I will definitely call the doctor again on Monday. I do feel a bit fobbed off and confused. The gp says venlafaxine will help calm me/the anxiety, which will take away the derealization. Did you find ven helped anxiety? (if you suffer from anxiety).
But then the psych says it will make me more activated 🤔
Id be so happy if this feeling of derealization and being on edge could just go, forever.