Desperately need advice - anxiety

[User0378]

I’m feeling so trapped and awful at the moment, I have anxiety and ocd/emetophobia. I’ve become obsessed with the recent news articles about norovirus and now some of my family have it and I’m not coping. We haven’t been in contact with them but for some reason my anxiety has spiralled and I cannot cope with the fact that it’s out there. I don’t want to send my dc to school. I have a little baby also and I’m terrified of them becoming ill.

i just want to run away, I haven’t slept, I just can’t believe how bad I feel. I really can’t do this. I’m not on meds but have sertraline sitting in a drawer. I have diazepam which I’d take if I wasn’t bf. I don’t know who to turn to. DH is supportive but I know he finds my fears illogical.

how do I get through the coming days? I’m so scared.

Honestly, you need to take your medication, and send the DC to school.

The Speakman from This Morning have a lot about this on their website and social media.

@DustyLee123 thank you for replying. I will send them to school. I’m just struggling to cope with the resulting anxiety.

i want to start the sertraline but have read that it gets worse before it gets better and im worried i’ll just fall apart!! And im worried it won’t help anyway :(

Thanks @Firenzeflower i have looked up the speakmans previously but in this state I feel like I can’t absorb any logical info. It feels like something has snapped in my brain as this anxiety has been building for weeks. I’ve read every anxiety and ocd book there is and I’m still struggling so much

I'm really bad with anxiety/emetophobia at the moment too.. it feels like it's been an awful winter, plus I caught it back in October and it was horrendous. Citalopram has stopped working so changed to fluoxetine. Honestly you need to take the meds, I've been so much better on my citalopram (15 years) until it finally stopped working for me!

@Midnightlove im so sorry to hear you suffer with this too. It’s the most dreadful feeling. And it makes me feel such a failure too for my kids. I want to be strong for them if/when they are sick.

would you mind explaining a bit more about how you feel when meds are working well for you? And did they make you more able to cope in times of sickness?

I can normally keep a lid on things but I feel I’ve just spiralled today and I don’t know how to come back from it :(

In tines when there's sickness in the family, honestly no I was still a wreck. But at the moment with new meds not working yet, I have constant intrusive thoughts, all day being tense, high heart rate, unable to relax.. and that's a good day. If I spiral into panic attacks then they tend to last all evening, one will go and another will come a couple of minutes later. It's unbearable!
On the meds I can live a normal day to day life and actually enjoy things! I'm always a bit obsessive with hand washing, funny with food, but not that all consuming thoughts of dread every waking moment like I have right now!

Thanks @Midnightlove . I can usually get myself to an ok-ish place with the thoughts and how much they bother me but this time it’s just all too much. I’ve taken my first sertraline today so I’m hoping it will help and the side effects won’t be too bad.

its really miserable isn’t it. Can I ask if you’ve had anxiety over other things as well as illness? I’ve suffered on and off over the years with anxiety / intrusive thoughts. It’s hell it really is!

It's emetophobia as the root cause, so social situations, flying, Travelling etc I all find stressful, but I'm sure that's always the root cause deep down. It's so weird. I've been watching the fear clinic and wondering if I should give it a go 🙈 hopefully the sertraline will help for you, make sure you give it a good 6-8 weeks though. I'm just over 3 weeks on my fluoxetine and have a doctors appointment in the morning 🤞

I also avoided flying for a good few years as I had a terrible phobia of it. The thoughts then weren’t focused on getting sick really, more something happening to the plane! I can fly now but it took a lot of work!
I’ve tried cbt too but it doesn’t seem to touch the sides!
yes I’ve read it can be a long few weeks to see how you actually are on the meds (I wish I could fast forward time!!) will keep my fingers crossed for your appointment too xxx

I think I'm going to ask for a few diazepam to keep incase I get more really bad panic attacks, I've been OK for the last few days though luckily. Ah yeah it's more the claustrophobia for me, the thought of falling out of the sky really doesn't occur to me 🤣 keep us updated with how you're getting on with your sertraline x

i know this thread is old but I wanted to update on this! Sertraline has made all the difference to me. I started on the lowest dose and have stayed on it and I couldn’t believe how much it took the edge off my anxiety. I still worry a little about germs but I can dismiss the thoughts (or I just forget about them!) and I can carry on. It’s really worth a try if anyone is debating starting on sertraline. Wish I’d tried it years ago!

That's really good to hear 😀
I've been taking escitalopram for about 5 month now and it's really working for me too

@Midnightlove oh yay I'm really happy for you! it's not a magic cure is it, but I can function so much better without the awful physical anxiety. wishing you many more anxiety free days... but here if you have any bumps in the road and want to chat!