Anxiety - what to do

[Notsurewhattodo34]

A little background
Have been anxious for most of my adult life worse in recent years.
As a child and now always felt a bit different.
I didn’t like games ( still have trouble with instructions),went off alone, twirled & sucked hair, had strong interests as a child, quite obsessive, still am. Used to almost get stuck in a trance in my room, knowing I needed to move but didn’t.
As an adult, feel drained after too much company, can’t bear “fake” insincere people, check things a lot (ocd), totally overwhelmed with stress, thoughts at times, overthink.
Have tried SSRIs - citalopram was probably best for calming /dulling my thoughts but concerned about interaction with some antibiotics and ibuprofen. Seroxat was very good at levelling my mind but cannot cope with the enormous weight gain it caused.
Have considered an adhd/autism assessment.
Have tried counselling, hypnotherapy, cbt over the years - none of it helps.
Just feels I’m stuck and don’t know what to do next. I know I need some sort of help.
Any thoughts anyone!
TIA 😊

Anyone there?

I think from the mention of your childhood, you should follow through with an assessment, it might bring you piece of mind one way or another. I know the wait lists are long though.
have you had therapy or counselling at all? I suffer a lot with anxiety but it’s very down to circumstances I think (and honestly PMDD). Do you feel like this constantly or is it in waves?
if one medication isn’t working, I would hope your GP would recommend another - what have they said? Sending my thoughts, I know this feeling and it’s pure shite.

@caityvh thank you.
Have tried counselling, hypnotherapy, cbt over the years - none of it helps.
i find the gp s are clueless when it comes to these issues unfortunately.
Anything particularly for my childhood that made you think I should get assessed. Some traits of autism some of AdHd. Some clinics only seem to deal with one or other. Combined ones seem very expensive.

Would you feel any better if you put a label to it ?
autism or adhd etc

what is it you want the help with ?

@Mancity08 the main thing I want is to fetl
better, labeL or no label. I just want to feel better than I do.

I recommend a book called Dare by Barry McDonagh. Supported me through some tough days.

Thank you @RB05 , I’ll have a look

Thank you @RB05 , I’ll have a look

I've found that trying all the random suggestions people have actually works - at least not all of them work but one will stick. It takes a leap of faith.
With that in mind, here's something that worked for me: I set a reminder on my phone to breathe slowly: breathe in for four, breathe out for four and do that four times a day. It took a few weeks but eventually I realised that instead of getting anxious I was automatically doing this slow breathing.
I hope you find something that works for you.

You can try CBT, it challenges unhelpful thoughts and can be useful for compulsions and intrusive thoughts. You can do a free course online called Beating the Blues.

Exercise is great when you're anxious. Any kind is good but in order to move your thoughts away from anxiety yoga and Tai Chi are good.

Meditation trains your mind and helps you notice unhelpful thinking. Headspace is a good app but there are others.

Magnesium is great for anxiety. Magnesium flakes in the bath or Magnesium glycinate before you go to bed can help you sleep.

Anxiety can also be caused by physical problems such as thyroid, anemia and low B vitamins, so it might be an idea to get a check up.

Jounalling helps get all those thoughts out of your brain and writing lists of things to do can stop you fretting.

Sometimes it can take a while to find the right medication, so it might help to keep trying.

If Citalopram worked and you don’t need ibuprofen or a particular antibiotic then I would consider it.
CBT can help but only if you do the homework and use what you learn each day. Exercise and time outdoors and mindfulness all help too.

Thanks for the replies so far.
Ive tried cbt, hypnotherapy, counselling numerous times - it doesn’t work for me.
i exercise regularly & eat well.
when i took citalopram before i was unaware of the interaction with other drugs. Just the thought of trying it again makes me anxious in case i need ibuprofen or certain antibiotics

That’s because of the anxiety though.

Maybe I should re try citalopram? Scared of the possible interactions though..

Anyone there?

I was on citalopram. Like you, it helped. I never worried about interactions with other drugs. I can't use ibuprofen as I am on other tablets so just take paracetamol as and when. I didn't know about interactions with it and probably took it at the time!!! If you need to take antibiotics/to use ibuprofen I am sure the doctor will advise you when you go and discuss taking it with him/her. I would go back on it if it helped you.

Thanks @neveradullmoment99 . I didn’t worry ( know!) about interactions when I took it before and am certain I’d have had antibiotics & ibuprofen in that time! Probably another example of my anxiety getting worse.

Have you thought about sertraline? It’s very good for anxiety and OCD.

@ninjahamster thanks. I’ve tried it but side effects were too bad.

I tried Citalopram 6 years ago but didn't like it precisely because I couldn't feel anything at all. GP switched me to Sertraline which was better so I stayed on that for about 9 months. I haven't tried Seroxat but I've heard it has worse withdrawal symptoms than Sertraline. There are plenty of other ADs you could try if you can get your GP on board.
For me, the point of the ADs was to get me to the point where I could benefit from counselling and like you, I've had loads. I finally got to the point where the GAD and PTSD haven't gone away (and I don't think they ever will) but they pop up a lot less frequently and I can manage them when they do.

@Willowkins feeling less is exactly what I want!!

Anyone there please 🙏

Hi I'm here.
I also have anxiety and am now on escitalopram after being on seroxat many years ago. And my most recent being sertraline.
Escitalopram really helps stability of my mood. But I also have propanalol to ease the physical side of my anxiety and panic attacks. I hardly need to take propanalol now but I know if I am experiencing fast heart rate and breathing it helps stop it by taking away those symptoms. As before I would have all the physical symptoms and then my brain and anxiety would spiral out of control.