Sudden severe anxiety / depression after a long time. Devastated

[kizziee]

I have had many usernames since but years ago I used to be Kizzie.
Initially had PND then withdrawal problems. Had recurrences in 2004/06 and 10 - each time when I had reduced dose.

In 2010 it took me a long time to get well again. I was on 75mg clomipramine but eventually improved on 50mg and after some time dropped to 25mg and stayed very well for the following 8 yrs before dropping to 17mg in 2020.

During that time dealt with a very busy job / home life / some challenging wider family health issues and all fine.

A few weeks ago I wasn't feeling 100% physically (nothing serious and no different to loads of things I've had over the last few years) and at the same time I also needed to increase my blood pressure medication which gave me some side effects at first.

Then out of the blue I started getting panic again which has now developed into depression and constant anxiety. (I'm not actually anxious about anything other than how I'm feeling. It's a 'physical' feeling.)

I don't understand how this could happen so quickly when I've been so well. I went back up to 25mg a week ago but there hasn't been any improvement. GP has suggested going back to 50mg slowly over a few days.

I'm terrified that I won't get well again. Other than the original PND the other episodes were all because I had dropped to 0 or very low on medication.

I am two years past menopause. Mentally had coped well with peri. (I have been advised not to take hrt because reacted badly to the pill and then the PND. I would be too nervous to throw anything else into the mix at the moment anyway.)

Finding it very difficult to do anything - and just don't recognise myself from a few weeks ago.

I guess I'm just asking for a hand hold. That even if this medication doesn't work something will. I keep trying to work out what happened.

I'll have a look at that @melinab - thank you

About three years. The first couple of weeks were a struggle, if I took then in the day I was sleepy, too close to bedtime my sleep was disrupted, I had brain zaps and twitching/jerking in my arms. But I persevered and it all calmed down. The sweating and weight gain was not great but they work so well at lifting my depression and anxiety it was worth it.

I think ADs are very much like contraceptives, one will work for you but many won't be suitable.

I'm the same as you. Any SSRI makes me horribly anxious. I've also tried SNRIs and those made me feel like I was literally about to die of panic. I had more success with tricyclics, but I ended up with some unpleasant side effects.

I've finally settled on an SARI and that works wonders for me. I don't know if it might help, but the one I'm on is Trazodone if you might want to consider trying it. I find it much better for chilling me out in general.

I hope you're feeling better. I find that periods of intense panic/anxiety/depression do tend to wax and wane. I hope you come out the other side as soon as possible. Just rest, take care of yourself as much as you can, and hang on in there.

🌺🌺

That's really interesting @Thisisbollocksmark
I'm on a tricyclic for similar reasons - but as you say the side effects can be really intense.

@kizziee have you tried stopping the blood pressure medication which caused these rather than drugging you with something else new?
You should check https://www.drugs.com/drug_interactions.html see if it is a drug interaction.

BP medicines routinely cause psych problems - esp beta blockers. They usually slow everything down but in your case may be having a paradoxical reaction because of your previous withdrawal. Beta blockers cross the blood brain barrier.

What BP medication are you taking? What other medicines are you taking?

I know this sounds too basic op but how is your: eating, sleeping and exercising?

I would try and sort those first of all as you can’t have optimum mh without all
three of those working well.

Then sort out if blood pressure meds need changing or reducing.

And look in to HRT before rejecting it out of hand.

Try and be proactive and get your gp
on side. (Easy to say when you feel anxious and depressed but I find gps more responsive if you are determined and motivated to get to the bottom of an issue yourself.)

Some BP meds can exacerbate anxiety and mood disorders… beta blockers.

@LunaTheCat can I ask how you know thst and which meds? Thx

I am a GP in real life!
I also suffer from anxiety… it’s absolutely dreadful. Thankfully citalopram works well for me. If the drugs work, then take them, life is too precious for anxiety .
💐

@LunaTheCat i ask because my husband has recently started taking BP meds.

He wasn’t told that they can interfere with his SSRI

It's ramipril - apparently it's less likely to cause mh side effects (?)
But the dose increase definitely caused dizziness and my pulse to rise which in turn I think led to panic attacks.
The irony is that the AD lowers my blood pressure so I've actually had to reduce the ramipril back down to 2.5mg because it was causing faintness when I stood up

@LunaTheCat do you mind if I ask why you chose citalopram over sertraline?
They are the two that have been mentioned if I need to switch