Anxiety taking over my life but don't know what to try first.

[CreatingHavoc]

I have a huge problem with health anxiety and general/social anxiety to a lesser extent. I'm overwhelmed with everything after a long period of illness over Christmas and I really need to change something as it's consuming me and is affecting others now as well. I barely slept last night and I'm exhausted today and I'm relying on my ex partner to help me with pretty much everything as I'm strugglingto cope.

I'm my cupboard I have propranolol, cbd transdermal patches, sertraline and ashwagandha but I am not currently taking any of them and I don't know what the best path is. I need something to help me relax now ideally so sertraline is not ideal as it'll be ages before they kick in. I can't use propranolol at the same at the cbd patches due to drug interactions and I'm unsure how effective ashwagandha is. Is there anything I can get prescribed that will work immediately instead of weeks/months down the line? Is it just things like diazepam? I feel like a shell of person at the moment and I'm emotionally all over the place. I just want to feel well.

Propranolol will help calm anxiety symptoms pretty quickly, it only lasts around 4 hours though so you could take one now and then one later and one just before bed. It should help you sleep.

I take them as and when but do take one in bed if my head won’t turn off.

You would be best to start to take the sertraline regularly though if you have ongoing issues. The CBD is snake oil tbh. Many don’t even contain what they claim to. ashwagandha did nothing for me but if you’ve used it before and found it instantly effective then it could be worth a go.
CBD oil: Have the benefits been overstated? www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-48950483

Thanks @LifeOfAnxiety It's the potential side effects of sertraline and similar meds that bother me, from what I've read they can be awful. I've tried cbd oil before which didn't agree with me but the patches I bought have great reviews on trustpiolet.

I've tried the propranolol twice and it sort of helped but my brain still runs wild. Physically though it did help. My issue is that I want to try the cbd but can't take propranolol if I do so in a bit of a quandary. The ashwagandha I guess I can just start taking as I don't think it has any drug interactions but will check first. I'd rather try 'natural' products before ssri's and other antidepressants I think. But then I'm stuck without the propranolol! It's all so bloody complicated.

When and why did your anxiety start?

@Eyesopenwideawake I've suffered badly since 2009 ish. So a long time. It got significantly worse after I had children, particularly my second in 2016. But I've always been of an anxious disposition I think, probably due to a traumatic childhood. I'm seeking therapy for this, I'll be seeing the community mental health nurse soon and also awaiting an appointment with a low cost counselling service.

Therapy is a good idea. Thoughts control anxiety, and you can learn to change how you think. Therapy will help with that.

A lot of people catastrophise, I used to. I remember losing sleep over; AIDS, mad-cow disease, flesh-eating bug, cancer etc.

It's about putting the risk into perspective.

I would 100% recommend therapy. You he to learn techniques to help you stay in control in those anxious moments and it's someone to offload to who doesn't know you like your friends and family which I found hugely beneficial as I felt like I was being a burden on them. I've dipped in and out of therapy when I've needed it for 12 years now and have accepted that I will always need it throughout different periods of my life. It keeps me sane and takes pressure off my family.

It definitely sounds like you want professional advice, but for today, how are you doing on the basic stuff?

• no caffeine
• go for a walk, ideally somewhere green
• see other humans, eg visit coffee shop
• do knitting, crochet, anything absorbing with small repetitive movements
• read light escapist fiction before bed
• remember that the bit of the brain which puts things into perspective clocks off before the "walks and talks" bit, so any worries between 9:30pm and 7am, shout back at them, "YOU ARE PROBABLY NOTHING AND I WILL DEAL WITH YOU AT 8AM"
• the usual deep breathing stuff - I know, I know, but it does help a bit!

Good luck and sympathy.