Shall I ask for meds - low mood/anxiety

[flu4xmas]

I've seen my GP a couple of times and do feel supported.

I've had months of one thing after another illnesses, job that I hate and feel I'm doing badly, marriage in a bad place and a much loved and long for toddler being hard work. The juggle has been a lot, and has culminated in low mood and some anxiety.

I reached a bit of a crisis point a few weeks ago so visited GP. She said, and I do agree, that it's circumstantial. It's everything going on at once and being spread very thin, so she wasn't jumping to recommend medication.

I do agree that it's largely circumstantial but with no prospect of anything changing significantly in the near future, I do wonder whether I should think about medication.

Day to day, I basically feel like I'm surviving. I'm waiting for balls to come crashing down, and doesn't feel much like living. It's a drudge. I don't think the time of year helps, but I desperately want to be enjoying things more.

I'm seeing GP again soon and I'm thinking of asking for medication, but don't really know what to ask for or expect. Can anyone guide me please? Thank you

Bump?

There's certainly no harm in asking if you think it will help. You've tried to 'wait it out' and it's not working.

I was in a very similar situation. Anxiety driven by life disaster after life disaster. Circumstances of various things effecting me including traumatic events that left emotional scars hard to move on from, on top of never ending "stuff". I buried my feelings and it started to have a physical impact on my health. I buried my feelings more because I was worried the doctor would disagree with me. Then I started getting in a state about what the doctor might say or think about other health issues, including my children's and I started not wanting to speak to the doctor at all. One day I physically felt like my body was on fire and I exploded and was in tears on the phone to the doctor. He prescribed me sertraline which was increased as the initial dose was not enough. Now I feel calmer and clearer - not perfect and I'm seeing how I go.

With perspective I'm baffled as to why I waited to ask for help. I probably should have asked for help a year earlier. There's a lot of worry about "should" and "what if" I think.

Be very clear with the doctor how you feel and give some examples of impact and see what they say.

Thank you both.

I do think I'm getting "worse" not "better" and don't see how else I can change that. I spent Christmas ill and anxious. My sleep is now being affective, and I got hardly anything done at work yesterday because I felt crippled by apathy.

Presumably GP will decide what meds are best? It's a stupid question, but I don't really know what to ask for. It feels like a big deal to go on medication. I feel like a fraud.

I felt exactly the same and was so worried they'd say no. I just phoned and burst into tears and said i couldn't cope anymore. When I did the exonsuly I actually didn't even remember clicking into it and didn't even use the right one. I said that to the doctor. I said what a state I was in about asking. They automatically started me off on 50mg of sertraline, I have a feeling its the default and then they work up from there.