Are antidepressants the only thing that work?

[namechange5958372]

To say I have anxiety not depression.

I am anxious constantly and always find something to worry about. Quite often these can be trivial things yet I can't seem to rationalise with my brain. Last week I made a small error at work my manager didn't seem that bothered. Yet it's been on my mind the whole week and how incompetent I look, convinced I will never be promoted.

Me and DH have a big holiday booked to celebrate a big anniversary. Since booking it I have spent 30% feeling excited and 70% worrying about something going wrong.

It's like I can't handle anything anymore. I also definitely have health anxiety and I'm always googling symptoms.

I went on antidepressants about 10 years ago and they definitely helped. I came off them slowly to have DC. For quite a while after I seemed to cope well almost like I had taught my mind not to over think. Slowly though over the years I have gotten worse and have lost this ability. I have tried counselling sessions and whilst it was great to have a chat with someone and hear their suggestions. They just do not work. I feel like I just have an imbalance/genetic predisposition. Has anyone found anything other than antidepressants to help?

The ridiculous thing is my doctor prescribed me antidepressants a couple of months ago. I was all ready to go back on them and then read potential side effects. One of which being 1 in 100 chance of a tumour. After that I was worried about going back on them. My anxiety medication managed to give me anxiety .

Are you currently taking them or did you decide not to? If there is a significant biological cause (there is for mine, I have bipolar) then it’s definitely a case of medication first and then strategies on top. I have personal strategies I put in place to minimise my rumination - in our area of UK they do an online course to facilitate this for people with mood disorders.

Have you discussed with your GP whether you met the threshold for referral to psychiatrist?

I think you’re going to have to take them because right now your anxiety is much more disabling than the very tiny risk of drastic side effects. Once the meds take the edge off, you can work in therapy, but sometimes you need the meds first to settle you a bit. Xx

Can't comment on meds but have a look at this Ted X to understand what anxiety is and why you need (a low level) of it in your life to function.

Can I ask where you read that they come with a 1 in 100 chance of tumours? It doesn't sound right.

Yeah I don’t think that’s right either….

How old are you OP? Anxiety is a symptom of perimenopause/menopause and HRT can really help. I went from being really confident to second guessing everything during peri. HRT sorted me out. Maybe it could help you too?

Thanks everyone. I know I need to take them as I'm getting worse. The side effects I read in the leaflet i will attach the image.

I am 38 now so definitely could be the perimenopause. I have also just been told I have PCOS which is why I'm convinced I must have an hormonal imbalance.

OP that means tumour as it can cause a lump/lumps under the skin. Not tumour as in it causes cancer.

Think about your diet, caffeine, alcohol, blood sugar etc- listen to your body. Also definitely hormonal changes can do it.

I used to do 16:8 and have black coffee first thing but not eat properly until 11am. Sometimes now not eating makes me lightheaded - one time I felt faint and then had a panic attack about feeling faint, and thought for a moment I was having a heart attack and dying (a symptom of a panic attack). I focused on box breath and soon calmed down, ate a banana then ate a proper meal later. I also halved my caffeine intake. I'm probably going from peri to actual menopause now.

@namechange5958372 I agree with @FionaSkates tumour doesn't mean cancerous here.

Also, "up to 1 in 100 people" is a sort of legal wording meaning that as far as they can tell (and it's really difficult to get good data on rarer side effects as you don't know for sure what has caused it) somewhere between 1 in 1000 people and 1 in 100 people might get a tumour, and that might be affected by how long you take the medication for too.

So the chance of getting a non cancerous tumour that you wouldn't have otherwise got is probably somewhere between a 0.1% and a 1% chance.