Would a trip to the GP help someone in my situation or would it be a waste of time?

[Jessicatmagnificat]

I have a problem with anxiety and a phobia about vomitting (I have seen some other threads here about that). Mostly, this manifests itself as me feeling anxious and nervy. Sometimes I have to have people around me to help me feel "safe". I have lost 2 stone in weight over the last 6 months (not a problem as I was overweight to begin with and now am at the right weight) which is strange as I am eating normally. I spend a lot of time feeling frightened, though I keep manically busy to try to distract myself (which winds up the people around me as it's not relaxing for them or easy to live with).

I'm beginning to feel quite low about having to live with this constant anxiety about vomitting; obviously, it's not helped by hearing about Norovirus all the time. So I'm wondering if there's anything at all my GP can do to help me. But I'm nervous about going, partly because my problem is not severe and I do function normally for most of the time. Is there anything at all my GP can do to help, or would I be better trying to find more effective ways to cope (and what might these be?) It seems there's no cure for these phobias, and I don't want to be seen as a time waster by my GP (I had mild PND for a couple of months last year, and took Prozac for a couple of months). No other history of problems of this kind.

I just wish I wasn't frightened and could relax and enjoy life a bit more.

Hi there Jessicat. Hope someone else will come along with more experience. I took Citalopram for PND and found that it had a miraculous effect on that nervy feeling, and with an irrational phobia I had. I'm thinking of coming off it soon as I no longer feel depressed, but I'm a bit concerned about the phobia etc returning. I'm going to look into hypnotherapy and CBT. I'm still SO glad I've had this break from it as it's given me a new perspective on the situation, which I think will help even if I'm no longer on the AD's.

(I still luxuriate in the feeling of relaxation that I have now, remembering how uptight I used to feel... Only problem is sometimes I'm a bit too de-motivated - maybe there's an optimum dose..)

Thanks for that Redadmiral. Did you find your GP sympathetic? I find it so hard to believe that there is a drug I could take that would ease that underlying anxiety. I just can't imagine feeling relaxed ever again on bad days.

Did your GP offer any support apart from drugs?

My GP was sympathetic, but then I had PND. I've spoken to him about the fact that they have helped with the anxiety, and he referred me to the local psychiatric team who were very nice, but after an assessment said they couldn't treat me as I didn't have the problem at the moment!!

I never like to advise much on here as everyone's situation is different, but it's always helped me to do a bit of research - here for example - and then go to the gp when I have an idea what might help. Eg, I've found out more about ADs here than I found out from the gp. (Regarding Hypnotherapy and CBT, I think I'll go private in future as I will have more control over it.)

I know that Citalopram is prescribed for anxiety, so I think you could ask to try it. I hope someone else can advise too. All I can say is that it's helped me with the phobia, and it's still in the balance whether I would continue indefinitely on it if the anxiety came back.... It's horrible to be so tense all the time - I didn't even realise how bad it was until it went away.

aw honey I feel for you

Thank you amIpregnant. Now I feel that I've overdramatised it!!

(There are some good points about it I'm sure... One thing is, it was hard for me to keep weight on due to lots of excess energy.
The other thing was I was so used to it I thought it was normal so didn't feel too bad about it... )

Hey, just read your other thread! Congratulations! I'm sure it will be fine.

Ooops just re-read my post about the gp and realised it sounded terrible! What I meant to say was that he suggested CBT but said that to get it you needed to be first assessed by the local mental health team, which is basically a psychiatric report. It was totally my decision to get him to refer me - I wasn't carted down there in straightjacket .

I wouldn't go that route again as I don't know if they have enough funding to really help, and it involves quite a lot of messing around.

Hope I haven't put you off going to your GP. As I said, ADs have totally cured my phobia for the time being. I would be interested to know if you find out anything else that might help too.