at a loss to what to do next , GP is just not listening to me .... [sad]

[43mumof2]

what can i do next , my GP is just not listening to me and my symptoms , saying all down to anxiety ..

Still wondering how much of this and your interpretation of the doctors' reactions is due to your ongoing anxiety. Would you be prepared to try ads as it might help with some of the symptoms as well as help you gain a better sense of control and perspective. If you are stressed and anxious it is perfectly possible for this to manifest itself physically.

thats what has been indicated i think LIZS by the doctors in not so many words ....so hard as i feel that no ones taking me seriously at all and to me its all real and happening ...can all these symptoms im having be from my anxiety alone ??? is my head that mixed up that im creating more anxiety and more symptoms ... i do question it myself ...
i do have citropram 10mg to start but i keep chickening out ....

Here's a thought...

I've taken ADs for anxiety, they worked well, and lots of what felt like unrelated health problems quietly went away once I got the anxiety under control. And the ones that remained seemed more manageable.

Why not try the citalopram? It isn't too bad for side effects, if your problems ARE anxiety, then they Will go. Ifthey aren't anxiety, chances are with the anxiety under better control you will not feel quite as bad anyway ( definitely the case with me)

Even if NOTHING changes - then it will be no different to how you are now except that you can go back to the GP and say these symptoms are NOT JUST anxiety, because the ADs did nothing.

I can't stress enough how much better I felt on the ADs though.

I found ads helped with anxiety too, though they can make you feel worse for a few weeks before you feel better.

A friend of mine with vit d deficiency thought she had ME or fibromyalgia becuase of the fluey feelingsband muscle pain btw , until her diagnosis, so do keep up the treatment.

thank you both that has helped me , did your friend really have fluy feeling ? been struggling so much with it all and my doctor is so vauge ...with any symptoms about vit D , i have stopped taking them but have just swallowed one now ...

i do see your point thewinter and that makes sense in whatyou are saying ...its just taking the first one ..and surviving ...iv been advised to take at bed time but im sorried will get a side effect and wont know or i just wont sleep as will be on look out for side effects , i know this will sound extreme but thats my thinking ...and if i take in day will i be ok to drive ? i have to get /take kids work etc ...

If you 'get a side effect but don't know' then it isn't a side effect. Or at least isn't one that is causing you a problem.

She's a work friend so I haven't asked for chapter and verse but from what I remember her saying she thought it was a bug she couldn't shake off, and she is frutrated because she has got unfit but her usual exercise makes her muscles really painful, but I think she's slowly on the mend (think she's working p/t or reduced hours still, but I'm not based in her office).No idea of her levels I'm afraid. Makes me wonder how oftenbit goes undiagnosed!

Citalopram had no particular side effects for me, more just generally a bit lethargic and contented, if alsoa bit flat, which was a lot preferable to despondency and self loathing!

To vlarify, before her diagnosisvshe thoughtbthe vit d deficiency was a bug that wouldn't go

Can't believe my awful typing, sorry!

its fine , much appreciate your advice and help thank you , im pondering on it all x

Oh poor you.

I can empathise so much. With anxiety even the tiniest decision feels so impossible seriously, the side effects are very unlikely to be bad.

I am pretty open about my MH problems, and because of this quite a lot of colleagues have confided in me that they too have anxiety and are taking ADs , I know at least 10 people that hold down professional jobs, all of which include driving, and look after small kids and are taking either setraline of citalopram.

All of then said the same think, the first one was so hard to take, they felt very anxious about the side effects but, hey, that is actually a side effect of having anxiety - being anxious about stuff! Not being flippant there. I tied myself in knots about the possible side effects. And of everyone I know I had the worst side effects, they kicked in at the 4 week mark, mainly mild dizziness vivid dreams and broken sleep. They worried me for a few days THEN the ads kicked in and I DIDNT CARE!!!!! It felt so good.. I used to be so stressed about broken sleep, and would lie awake worrying. On ADs I just thought hey-ho I'll just rest, then because I wasn't worrying I'd just fall back to sleep! It was amazing how many of my health problems just went away once I could stop worrying. I was on them for 6 months, just long enough to break the cycle then I went cold turkey (not recommended) that was 5 years ago and I've had CBT and counselling and I'm much more on top of things.

Anxiety doesn't mean your symptoms aren't "real". Being anxious is physically very draining. Stress hormones have an important job in "fight or flight" scenarios but they are damaging in the long term. I think you've been given very good advice to treat the anxiety now and see where that takes you with the other symptoms.

thank you both very much im getting comfort and a little more confidence as reading ...
hate myself so much for being like this i really do , shall i be brave and take in night or day ? maybe not tonight just asking ..what others do ..
part of my worry is that will i feel worse as i have all these symptoms already ...but perhaps cant feel much worse than i do as this IS taking over my life ..

What museumum said

Your symptoms ARE real, and ARE damaging your health, but you have a box of pills that might just cure you.

Worth a shot.

Go and take one now. Have a biscuit and a drink and take one. :)

I will say that I don't know of anyone who had side effects come on quickly. Everyone I knew, including me had a sort of mild 'noticing' of them.

For me it was :

Oh. That was an odd dream. Woke me up it was so odd. It took me a week or two to even connect it to the ADs .

I also felt a bit flat for a while. but that was a fabulous relief from how I had been feeling so I considered that a bonus. It does bother some people though.

The only sudden symptom I ever had from them was dizziness and palpitations from going cold turkey propped up by codeine. Really don't do that. Not my finest hour! :)

Hi Mumof, how are you today? Re what time to take ADs, suggest you have a look at one or two threads on this for advice because I think they affect sleepiness in different people in different ways . I do think you might get a lot of relief.

Does this sound familiar?
www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3162893/The-children-agony-parents-scared-sun.html

When you say fluey, OP, do you mean aching all over, lethargic, lacking in appetite, and so on? Because I get that as a side effect of stress and depression - it feels just like flu, but never gets any worse, IYKWIM. Your body is permanently ready to respond to a threat, your muscles are always tense, and the result is this flu-like feeling.

I find that the ADs are a good starting point, taking regular exercise but not overdoing it, and doing nice social activities help. I also have regular counselling. For the aching, I've had occasional aromatherapy massages which are nice.

thank you everyone , feeling tired as didnt sleep well last night , feeling very low thinking about everything all seems so huge at night so im exhausted now

Could you ask for a stomach test with tube down to test for coeliac. Few in my family are coeliac but all tested clear with bloods. It was the stomach test that revealed it. Their common symptom was the reoccurring rash. It cleared with gluten free diet. Or could you just go gluten free for a while and see if there is an improvement

yes could ask im going tomorrow so going armed with a list

just seen your post seamed , im not aching as such but def the temperature thing mild fluy feeling like im fighting off something, and i am so low in my mood and close to tears , the only relief i feel is fist thing when i wake my mind is not engaged in thoughts for split seconds , then they do and bam i feel like im hit with a bat .

preparing questions and things to ask for to be checked for my doctors appointment tomorrow ,

FBC
coiliac
vit D
ferritin
inflamitory markers

any thing els ?
questions ?

i want to use this appointment as best i can as wont be able to get another appt with a doctor for ages ...and i mean ages ..

feel awful today , fluy , tired , dizzy , indigestion , feel sick at times , just crap ... close to tears , feel so low ...cant go on like this ....sleep is where i only get peace

The interaction between mind, nerves, muscles and body is much more complex that we generally think. Some of the more recent scientific research is just starting to get out into the medical community. I've got a friend who has very severe physical symptoms which are the result of neurological issues.

From what you've said (and this is purely my opinion, and I'm not a doctor), I do think that a lot of your physical symptoms might be the physical result of something that we tend to think of as a mental illness - anxiety and depression. We tend to think that a mental illness just means feeling bad in our minds, not in our bodies, but that's really not the case.

Has your GP asked you to do something like the Warwick-Edinburgh Well-being Scale, to rate your mood and confidence levels?

I can't help thinking that your GP should be looking at counselling for you as well as the ADs.

Have you taken a look at the Mind website to see if it rings any bells?
www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/anxiety-and-panic-attacks/anxiety-symptoms/#.Vafp2flViko

thank you seamedows , thats very interesting all the symptoms i have rings all the bells , i do see a counselor for CBT but im sure hes close to ditching me as i just cant stop myself from feeling this way ,the over powering feelings i get are so big , my anxiety and feelings of what if this ..what if that ...its as though im punnishing myself with this continued cycle of pain , anxiety and worry ,
i grew up in a argumentative loud home ,(wasnt all bad but you always remember the bad not the good ) my parents rowed alot , dad had affaires , i was a child who was very anxious not knowing what mood my parents would be in , i left home at 17 , went from boy friend to boyfriend searching for the father figure and security i didnt have growing up .
every man cheated on me .
i lost my mum 5 years ago very suddenly , she was an alcoholic , i miss her terribly and this is still a huge problem for me to come to terms with
my DH had an accident 2 months ago and has had brain injury and is still not himself not been easy at time , we moved house 1 month ago , as we lost our house last year and currently renting and moved 3x in the last 15 months ..

so thats me in a nut shell really ... may have some baring on my anxiety and depression im constantly feeling ...