Anxiety and/or depression discussion.

guitarzero

Winnie21 wrote: »

Hi All,

Can anyone tell me if they have tried acupuncture for depression/ocd? Does it help? Is there anywhere you would recommend?

Thanks.

I had it done and it didnt help me. I had 6 sessions. The peculiar thing was was that I had it done by 2 different guys on various occasions over the 6 weeks and both did it differently, placing the needles in separated positions with different depth. Go figure.

Maybe a reputable place perhaps?

loveisdivine

Yesterday was my birthday and to be honest it was a bit rubbish. For some reason I let myself get swallowed up by guilt over past actions.
I feel like crying. I'd been doing really well. I felt great on Tuesday. Now I feel almost sick with guilt again.

Drumpot

loveisdivine wrote: »

Yesterday was my birthday and to be honest it was a bit rubbish. For some reason I let myself get swallowed up by guilt over past actions.
I feel like crying. I'd been doing really well. I felt great on Tuesday. Now I feel almost sick with guilt again.

This is the kind of ups and downs I used to get. Would dread Christmas, birthdays, pretty much any occasion that is associated with people being happy and being surrounded by friends/family. .

Every year I would feel the same things and oddly I would sometimes get relief when the events passed or I would just lament the fact that I got no enjoyment from them.

I would spend a lot of my time thinking about things (sometimes good, mainly bad depressing things) and didn't know how to deal with my constant feeling of depression,anxiety and self loathing. There wasn't always reasons for me feeling down, this really used to drive me mad. I could be having the exact same day as yesterday and all of a sudden . . Whaam . . Im feeling awful , with no easily identifiable trigger. .

One of the most important lessons I learned is that nothing changes when I don't take action to change things. If thinking about things and trying to find a solution doesn't change how I CONSISTANTLY feel, then it became apparent that I needed to consider alternative ways. I say consistently because I might get some relief at different times and think "oh I have cracked it", but then very soon ended up at a later stage feeling right back down in the depths of despair.

Consider the following questions ( some that may or may not be relevant to your situation). On reflection I think it was a major consideration that I considered subconsciously that helped me eventually change my behaviour and habits that kept me grounded in misery:

• "What action have I taken to help me find the consistent peace/serenity in life that I crave?"
• What things do I rely on (exercise, food, alcohol, nights out etc) to help improve my mood ? Do they just give me momentary relief ?
• When I get the things that I feel I want in life (Wife, children, house, money, job promotion etc), I feel empty and get little/brief enjoyment before I start to focus on other things in my life that I feel are lacking?
• If I feel so down, what professional do I have advising/guiding me on the best course of action to help me get balance in my life?
• Has any solution, I have ever come up with, ever given me the consistent relief/serenity in life that I really want ?

Thinking about something is not action. Making a decision to do something is not an action. Having good intentions about something is not an action.

I used to have a really bad habit of believing that my thinking about things (trying to figure out solutions to how I felt) was me trying to take action to get well. I think depression, anxiety and any other mental illness is a state of being unwell or sick. A great phrase I learned is that you cant heal a sick mind with a sick mind. If you think about it logically, if your thinking is not well, then its probably not the most reliable tool to use to figure out how to get well.

Part of the problem is that I believe in many cases our minds aren't in any position to objectively acknowledge that its the same very mind that is preventing us from getting the proper help we need.

Call Me Jimmy

Always enjoy your posts Drumpot. We've all had bad times but did ye ever go through phases before ye got the help where ye weren't even bothered about wanting to feel better? Looking at all you problems and being dragged down every day but still not caring enough to do something about it? It seems like the bad feeling may have sunk into a deeper place, where I know I'm in a world of **** but no motivation, or even imagining me motivating myself is impossible.

Maybe it'll just take time I dunno

loveisdivine

I'm still kind of wallowing I'm afraid. I feel like my husband deserves so much better than me.

fiftythree

hello everyone. hope you are all alive and well out there. i am. i haven't visited here in some time..so
i will have a look though the thread to catch up with you all.
back soon. 53

Drumpot

loveisdivine wrote: »

I'm still kind of wallowing I'm afraid. I feel like my husband deserves so much better than me.

CBT helped me learn to let people like my wife make their own decisions on things like this.

Im not trying to be mean and I hope you understand what I am saying. I spent so much time,not just worrying about myself but also worrying about other factors beyond my control.

I had a particular difficultly accepting certain family members taking very self destructive decisions. On many occasions, when I felt really low, I would ask myself why my wife remained with me. In some cases I imagined that my children and wife were better off without me. This led me to dark thoughts.

CBT thought me many things, including the ability to focus on myself in a constructive manner.

Awknowledging that you are wallowing is a good step. If you are wallowing on your own, with no help , it sounds like you are just stewing in your own misguided, untrained thoughts that are pinning you down.

I know what it's like to feel helpless in this situation. I know that even now, when I feel down, I don't always want to take action to improve my situation. In many cases I just want to be left alone. But I also know that this is an insidious part of depression that can be a huge barrier to getting well.

There are plenty of options to consider. If you like and have confidence in your GP, consider approaching them. There are group aware (and group CBT) meetings. And of course there are therapists who may be of help.

Nothing changes if you don't take action to take positive steps. I can tell you that my life was horrible until I started to take action and tried out different professional and free support networks to see what worked for me.

loveisdivine

Thank you Drumpot. I do have a therapist, but I don't see her regularly. I contacted her yesterday though to set up an appointment.

The last 2 days have been very odd. It was like this wave of despair and doom came over me on Wednesday night. It happened in the space of a few minutes. Maybe it was a panic attack.

I do feel a bit better today.

I have great dificulty accepting that theres not always a hard and fast reason for my anxiety. I can't handle the uncertainty of not knowing why I feel a certain way. So I assume I must still be anxious about things that have really already been resolved. Of course then I really do end up anxious about those previous things because I'm thinking about them so much and convincing myself they must be the reason I feel anxious.

I hope that makes sense.

Drumpot

loveisdivine wrote: »

Thank you Drumpot. I do have a therapist, but I don't see her regularly. I contacted her yesterday though to set up an appointment.

The last 2 days have been very odd. It was like this wave of despair and doom came over me on Wednesday night. It happened in the space of a few minutes. Maybe it was a panic attack.

I do feel a bit better today.

I have great dificulty accepting that theres not always a hard and fast reason for my anxiety. I can't handle the uncertainty of not knowing why I feel a certain way. So I assume I must still be anxious about things that have really already been resolved. Of course then I really do end up anxious about those previous things because I'm thinking about them so much and convincing myself they must be the reason I feel anxious.

I hope that makes sense.

It makes complete sense to be honest. One of the things that I have noticed, on reflection, is that I have times where I get extremely uncomfortable with feeling out of control. By that, I mean I feel helpless to my depressed state. I used to spend time running things over and over in my head. Perhaps it was this, or when that person said that and I never really resolved how I felt about it. Or maybe it was because I was tired or eating poorly. Or perhaps I am not getting enough exercise . . There are numerous other things I might consider , but at the end I would usually be none the wiser and just worn out thinking.

I can speak of how I deal with these things today, but its difficult to write it down without it looking like it just came to me easily. It didn't and a huge barrier was me continually trying the same things and expecting different results. I accepted momentary relief (out of desperation), which kept me from exploring alternative methods of recovery. I say recovery because I think these feelings that you write, require rehabilitation.

I went to councelling/therapy for years and it certainly helped and is an important part of my recovery. At different times I have been on and off medication (sleeping tablets, anti depressants and zanex) and they have helped at times. Sometimes prescriptions were good in that they helped me get a rest from my desperate depression/anxiety and to be honest some times the medication was just a crutch that stopped me from exploring a longer term solution. I might get lazy and allow the medication to do the work (regulate my mood) that I didn't feel up to doing.

CBT was, for me, a different kind of therapy. It wasn't about talking about my feelings and feeling that I was getting stuff off my chest (that is important), but it was about challenging these feelings and more importantly learning new ways of dealing with these feelings/emotions. Some of the stuff I learned was extremely basic and it required me to challenge my own ego. Learning humility, for me, was difficult. I spent so much time working and searching for the solutions in my head that it was extremely difficult to accept the instructions from a stranger on how I should be living my life.

One thing I must ask is that you try to focus on the things you can relate to. A bad habit I used to have was that if I read or heard something I could identify with, as soon as I heard something that wasn't me, I would dismiss it. This would invariably lead me to believe that I was unique and probably the only person in the world that therapy or other techniques just wouldn't work on me. I was so deluded/sick I thought that there would be some magical pill that would cure anxiety/depression and I would be in the 0.0000000000001% of people who it wouldn't work on.

I don't regularly write things like "hang in there" or "you can do it" or "don't beat yourself up" because I would of been greatly annoyed reading this kind of stuff before I started to make progress. I would of written it in the past, but I understand that even though there were times when I felt low and I wanted people to support me in a loving way, I probably needed a subtle push out of my comfort zone.

I read so many posts on here and in other forums where I read people making the same mistakes I made. Doing the same things over and over and over again and only digging a deeper hole that gets harder to get out of. Accepting pockets of happiness out of desperation and because it offers relief. Feeling full of self loathing, self pity and lacking in any self esteem/worth.

I don't want to sound not empathetic to your situation but it was when I took action did I start to actually make progress. I keep saying the word action because I used to believe that thinking about something was an action. I would be feeling down, think about my options, somebody might of mentioned CBT or something else I hadn't tried. After much thought, I would either come to the conclusion it wouldn't work or give that thing a go and if it didn't give me the results I EXPECTED anytime I would drop it.

When I started to make time for my mental health, when I started to stop dismissing everything and when I stopped procrastinating, I made progress. Remember, when I am feeling down, I believe that I am not in a position to objectively prescribe what is best for me. There is something liberating in having trust in different techniques and people whom you know can help pick up your mood. It also gives you confidence and a much more meaningful sense of self worth .

If CBT was easy and getting better from depression was easy, then it wouldn't be such a problem. You don't have to take everything I write personally or literally. .

I have been going to councelling for over 20 years and this helped me discuss my feelings, but not necessarily understand or change them. Very briefly I will give you a summary of some of the steps I took that helped:

• 3 years ago I started to frequent this thread. It took some of my loneliness away and made me feel like I was doing something (more then nothing anyway) to address my depressed state
• on this thread somebody linked the Aware groups as a help. I had heard of them but never went to one. So I made the decision to go to an Aware group session in swords. After making the decision I did something that I didn't normally do and I took action and Went to an aware group meeting. I didn't find it overly great and the lady moderating it spotted why. She came up to me at the end and said she could see that I had been to extensive therapy because I could articulate my feelings quite well. Some people were literally just learning to say, out loud, "I feel sad". So the moderator gave me a leaflet about a lifeskills programme that was a bit more advanced : http://www.aware.ie/life-skills/?gclid=CO-9yNDDmMMCFWSWtAod02UAoA
• This was an important stage for me. Up until this time I had always dismissed or just not committed to suggestions made to me (by GP/therapists). I just didn't feel up to doing anything that would take me out of my comfort zone, anything I couldn't be sure would work. But I made the decision to commit to the six week course and I took action and went to the first session. I made a promise to myself that even if after the first session I hated it and didn't think it would work, I would do all 6 sessions.
• After the first session I felt good and positive. After the second I didn't get the same "buzz" or positive feeling and started to think this wasn't for me, but most importantly I remembered that I had made a commitment to myself. I took action and went to them all. This was a huge shift of attitude for me. Even the action of actively finishing something I wasn't excited about gave me some confidence in that I felt that even if this didn't work out, I now know that I can motivate myself to take action . .
• I finished the 6 week course and to be honest it was an up/down experience, but it shined a light on some really bad habits I had that were certainly having a huge bearing on my life in a negative way. It gave me great life tips and gave me some belief that perhaps life could be different or better.
• After I finished the course I decided that I would get a new doctor. This was as a direct result of the course. You see, up until then, anytime I would hit an impass with my doctor (medication not working etc), I would blame myself. At one stage my doctor had said "I don't know what we can do" and I went home feeling like a complete failure and lost cause. I took action and I decided to change doctors simply because I felt that my relationship with my existing doctor had run its course. I put some value on my health, didn't blame myself and said "perhaps a change of doctor might work" instead of just dreading going to my existing doctor and coming out disappointed.
• I cant stress enough how important me taking the decision to change doctor was. Not because I was changing doctors, but because I was putting a value on my health and taking charge to try and change what wasn't working.
• My new doctor sat me down and spent over half an hour discussing my situation. He felt that one to one CBT would help since I had such a positive experience with lifeskills and he referred me onto a therapist.
• This was all positive stuff, but in between I was having setbacks, depression/anxiety relapses (if that's what you could call it) that usually happened when I slipped back into my old bad habits (I can only see this now on reflection).
• I waited over 3 months to contact that therapist but eventually I took action and contacted him. I cant say exactly why, but this was a huge part of the reason I felt helpless. Whether it was lethargy, laziness or just fear of the unknown, I regularly felt self destructive and accepted that I was a failure and incapable of even doing small things to help myself.
• I took action and met the therapist and went to him for about a year. He referred me to a group support network and worked personally with me to help build up my lifeskills.
• I trusted him completely and took action by doing everything he said. He challenged my thinking, my actions, pointed out embarrassing things about myself and was quite blunt at times about my behaviour/habits. He always said to me that the biggest thing that helped me was that by the time I got to his room I had surrendered. I accepted that I just couldn't go on living the way I had been. I was in hell and I wanted it all to end one way or another. I hated myself, I hated my life, I hated the world and I felt sorry for my family that had to even be around me. What a burden was I. I knew I wouldn't want to be around me!
• I also took on board his constructive criticism. I learned that I was self absorbed (I hated being told that). Beating myself up in my head ("I am a useless piece of dogsh*t) was me being completely self absorbed. I thought it was me trying to regulate my behaviour and acknowledging when I was wrong. Nope, its when I completely go into myself and make me the centre of whatever it is that's going on.

Ok, so theres loads of other stuff in between and after that has helped, but the key thing was when , for whatever reason, I had enough, surrendered my old habits/thoughts, trusted in a professional programme to help get me balanced and I took action to try and change my circumstances. Everything else (medication, councelling, being able to share my feelings with family/friends, exercise etc) helped in some way, but it was only momentary relief. I needed a programme for living to replace my existing one and I can tell you, while my life is not all sunshine and lollipops (I do get really down at times), I could never of dreamed it could be this good.

The only thing that has changed is my perception of life. I didn't win the lotto, I haven't changed jobs, I still have the same amount of children, I am still married. People get hung up chasing their dreams, this is the cardinal mistake that I was stuck in for so long. I craved things that I knew would make me happy, but this only distracted me from working on the thing that would help me enjoy what I have. I took control of my life by taking action, not by lamenting the pitiful existence I felt. I don't mean to beat the point to death and it may not be as relevant for you, but it was a critical thing for me.

I realise that allowing your happiness to be effected by a partner, by a job (promotion/change), career, education, another person, financial insecurity is basically allowing something or somebody else to be in control of your happiness. I have learned that I don't have to respond in certain ways to certain events in my life. I used to fall back on "well if anybody felt like I felt they would be as sad" or "if anybody had gone through what I went through they would feel like me". It gave me permission to have pity party's for myself quite regularly. I prefer to now have reflection parties, they are far more rewarding and what is great is that they allow me to see my progress and take control of my feelings.

I am going to finish up because this post is already too long. I could write so much more, but each of us will have our own journeys, they wont all be the same. We may be able to relate to the feelings we all speak of , but only by actually taking a step and doing something can we begin a journey of discovery/change. You can have a journey of discovery if you really want to and are committed to making it a life priority. I used to think that it was sort of selfish focusing on myself, but paradoxically it ended up being the only way I was able to show anybody else consideration. Only by learning about myself, shining a light on things I either couldn't or didn't want to challenge about myself, was I able to deconstruct and reconstruct a new way of living.

Gongoozler

I want to go home. I'm tired of being treated the way I am in here, like a fcuking pa, but with half the salary.

I can't stop crying. I've given up alcohol so I'm not sure why I'm like this. I'm upset over things, yeah, but I just feel awful and can't stop crying. I would like to feel like I have somebody, but the only person I have doesn't want to talk to me. Because I'm too much a mess of a person.

People are going to be asking what's wrong because even if I only cry a little my whole face swells up. Which I fcuking hate. I'm doing my best not to be upset, it's not attention seeking, I do just feel that bad.

greenfrogs

Gongoozler wrote: »

I want to go home. I'm tired of being treated the way I am in here, like a fcuking pa, but with half the salary.

I can't stop crying. I've given up alcohol so I'm not sure why I'm like this. I'm upset over things, yeah, but I just feel awful and can't stop crying. I would like to feel like I have somebody, but the only person I have doesn't want to talk to me. Because I'm too much a mess of a person.

People are going to be asking what's wrong because even if I only cry a little my whole face swells up. Which I fcuking hate. I'm doing my best not to be upset, it's not attention seeking, I do just feel that bad.

Hi is it possible that you could leave work as you are feeling unwell. I feel bad for you that you are at work and are feeling like this.

Drumpot wrote: »

The only thing that has changed is my perception of life. I didn't win the lotto, I haven't changed jobs, I still have the same amount of children, I am still married. People get hung up chasing their dreams, this is the cardinal mistake that I was stuck in for so long. I craved things that I knew would make me happy, but this only distracted me from working on the thing that would help me enjoy what I have. I took control of my life by taking action, not by lamenting the pitiful existence I felt. I don't mean to beat the point to death and it may not be as relevant for you, but it was a critical thing for me.

I realise that allowing your happiness to be effected by a partner, by a job (promotion/change), career, education, another person, financial insecurity is basically allowing something or somebody else to be in control of your happiness. I have learned that I don't have to respond in certain ways to certain events in my life. I used to fall back on "well if anybody felt like I felt they would be as sad" or "if anybody had gone through what I went through they would feel like me". It gave me permission to have pity party's for myself quite regularly. I prefer to now have reflection parties, they are far more rewarding and what is great is that they allow me to see my progress and take control of my feelings.

Gongoozler I have just quoted this part of the post above yours. It reads that we can't let other people/things affect our happiness. We have to find out how to enjoy the life we currently have. It is so true. I have at times felt so down because I felt that I had driven a friend away with my craziness. But even if this person had been there for me then I still would have felt down. We have to find the way we can make ourselves happy.

Maybe give the person who you are speaking about some space and time. It can be difficult for our family and friends as well.

Gongoozler

I get that it can be difficult, just that I've explained how not talking to me is making things worse, and still no. It really goes towards adding to my feeling of being alone. Cause I'm being left by myself literally.

I mean I don't have many people in my life, just my boyfriend and one friend. Nothing and nobody else.

Drumpot

Gongoozler wrote: »

I get that it can be difficult, just that I've explained how not talking to me is making things worse, and still no. It really goes towards adding to my feeling of being alone. Cause I'm being left by myself literally.

I mean I don't have many people in my life, just my boyfriend and one friend. Nothing and nobody else.

I have many people in my life and in many regards I used to feel most alone when I was in a room with most of them . .

Loneliness , for me, is less about who I believe is in my circle of friends/family, but more about how I feel about them or myself.

I find that when I am feeling my lowest I don't want to be around anybody (including my children and wife) and don't feel like talking to anybody. But paradoxically/ironically its when I also feel like I dont want to be alone.

I'm just going to throw this out there as its some of the things I started to do at the beginning of my therapy when I started to get panic attacks and really bad depressed bouts. Just do at least one of what I write (if you can), there is no right or wrong way. Just read my instructions and if you can do as many as you can as well as you can. If you find yourself asking more questions on the topic (tea, Dogs, flying, picture), then go with it and ask yourself more questions. In fact, the more questions you ask in relation to whichever of the below things you are trying, the better.

If you are in work you will be limited by what you can do, but if you can, consider trying one or several of these things without thought.

• Go for a walk, 30 seconds or 2 mins, doesn't matter how long, just get up, get walking to the toilet and back if that's all you can do. Look around the room or place you are walking. How many people did you pass ? How many computer were there ? Was there any flowers or nice colourful things you saw on your journey ? Were more people smiling or frowning ? Were there any lights broken/off? Was there anything written on the back of the toilet door (even stuff that had been painted over)? What did it say ?
• make a cup of tea , while making it ask yourself why you like it a certain way and if you might prefer an extra/less sugar/milk, try it differently and monitor the taste and difference. Note in your head the difference.
• look out the window and find a bird/plane in the sky and imagine where its going. Ask yourself where you would fly to if you were in the plane or flying as a bird.
• Take 10 deep breaths - counting to 5 as you inhale, listening to your breath as you exhale. Don't worry about whether or not you are thinking sh*tty things, just go with it and focus as much on your breathing and let whatever thoughts come with it happen.
• Listen to one song you like, preferably one that makes you feel remotely good or hopeful. Try to figure out the instruments being used, pinpoint what it is exactly you like about the song. Is it the words, the tune, does a certain part of the song give you a sense of happiness, sadness, relief etc
• look at a picture of something that you like (a river, a picturesque landscape of a place you would love to live). Why do you like it ? Think about it, don't worry if you cant figure it out, just think about it.
• watch an animal (dog/cat etc) do something random and ask yourself what the f^^k its doing or what you would do if you were a dog etc

If you think you cant do any of these until you get home from work, then think about what you might do when you get home. You can think about why I am posting this as much as you want and try to figure that out if you like.... Obviously if you are flying a plane, I would prefer that you also be mindful of your job aswell, but as much as possible , within reason, try to focus on the tasks I have set, you don't need to understand (you can if you want) why I have written them as much as you need to try to do them.

Gongoozler

My concentration is very bad lately, I would find it difficult to read all that. But I appreciate the help.

Feeling less abandoned now. Well I dunno about less abandoned, but less weepy and like the world is going to end. Though not necessarily better, so maybe it's just hitting a depression.

I had a rant about work related stuff to someone at work at lunch and I think getting my frustration out and getting to feel like I can give out about things seems to have helped. I don't know why. I mean I ranted to other people about it earlier too, and that didn't work.

Hugo Stiglitz

Sorry to hear of your troubles there Gonggoozler

Gongoozler

And I'm still crying. I was feeling a bit better earlier but then comes more ****ness. I'm hoping that tomorrow I won't feel as bad. Tired of thinking all the bad things

greenfrogs

Gongoozler wrote: »

And I'm still crying. I was feeling a bit better earlier but then comes more ****ness. I'm hoping that tomorrow I won't feel as bad. Tired of thinking all the bad things

Do you have any activities/tasks that could take your mind off your current situation? For example baking, reading, listening to music

One thing my therapist makes me feel out is a thought record.
1. Write down the situation
2. Rate mood i.e feeling low 60
3. Feelings/thoughts- identify which thought is the most depressing
4. Think of evidence which supports this hot thought
5. Think of evidence which does not support this hot thought
6. Think of a more balanced viewpoint
7. Rate your mood again.

http://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/docs/ThoughtRecordSheet7.pdf

Even do the first 3 steps if you can. I use it in CBT and find it useful.

Gongoozler

Thanks for that. I think I'm a little far gone for that right now but will definitely keep it in mind for next time.

greenfrogs

Yah I totally get what you mean. I have been there many times. Sometimes you just have to ride out the bad. This is useful for when you feel you might go down that path. It helps to gather your thoughts and focus on what exactly is getting you down. It changes the way you think really.

mg1982

Hey folks. Anyone find they find it difficult to hold down a job when your mental health is suffering, especially when that job means dealing with lots of people. If only i could find a job where i could work on my own.

bleach94

mg1982 wrote: »

Hey folks. Anyone find they find it difficult to hold down a job when your mental health is suffering, especially when that job means dealing with lots of people. If only i could find a job where i could work on my own.

A lot of the reason I quit my last job was due to not having the mental strength for it (it was in retail by the way), it's a tough one. Don't feel like you're the only one.

Tonight I'm feeling really anxious. I've barely seen my girlfriend this week and she now tells me she's busy at the weekend (parties etc) while I have no plans.. Stupid (and clingy) but I'm upset as I was hoping to spend time with her, but at the same time maybe I'm thinking about her too much in my plans, or at least more than she is about me. Stupid niggly things like taking ages to reply to my texts are making me anxious, as well as this feeling she is too afraid of saying things to my face in case she hurts my feelings (she replied enthusiastically when I suggested doing something this weekend, only to text me about half an hour later saying she remembered she has a party tomorrow night and is going on a walk all day Sunday).
It's all so petty but it's making me feel anxious and a little bit pushed aside.. Hopefully it will subside, this is my first proper relationship so maybe it's normal to panic a little

alaskayoung

Hey guys, haven't posted here in ages but glad to see some of you are doing better.

Quick question, have any of you experienced drug induced hypomania on SSRI's? I've been on 3 different medications in the last 2 months and keep getting the same result. Only lasted a week on Lexapro before I was high as a kite, and was on Prozac for a month before it suddenly set in again. I'm now on Valium to calm me down, have been taken off the SSRI cold turkey and am being put on something else next week.
My psychiatrist said that is wasn't that unusual to have to try a few different ones but to be honest she never really tells me whats going on. I guess just wondering if anyone else has experienced this or how normal is this actually?
It's so incredibly frustrating because the Prozac did seem to be working but then just went too far I guess and now am back to square one once again. Missing so much school :L

Gremlinertia

Just an observation or something like that, it's unusual to go through different meds so quickly. For instance i'm on prozac, after trying two other types over a year, adjusting dosage then.. I may of course be off the mark but changing about like that just seems too rapid. So perhaps question your psych or a gp..

scrimshanker

I feel like I'm dying. I haven't been able to breathe properly in the last 24 hours. Haven't been able to focus on anything at all. Only dozed a couple of hours. Genuinely feel like I'm dying.

fr336

scrimshanker wrote: »

I feel like I'm dying. I haven't been able to breathe properly in the last 24 hours. Haven't been able to focus on anything at all. Only dozed a couple of hours. Genuinely feel like I'm dying.

Get to a doctor / walk in centre. This can be extreme anxiety and feel like what isn't there. They can calm you down by telling you what's not wrong through scans etc.

LegacyUser

Hi everyone. I've been been prescribed Escitalopram (Lexapro) for anxiety issues and mild depression. I've to start on 5 mg for 1 week and then 10 mg onwards for about 5 to 6 months. I haven't started taking it yet as I'm very nervous and was hoping people could share some experiences and offer some guidance.

I've read horror stories online and read all the potential side-effects. I know this will help with my mood and anxiety problems but I'm really afraid of what else it might do to me. Will my sex life with my partner be destroyed? How did you cope?

I'd really apprecaite genuine honest answers. I'm affraid to even start taking this medication yet until I really know what I'm in for. I'm really frightend

scrimshanker

I don't have a GP anymore. I'd probably crash the car if I tried going out. My head's tearing itself up inside. I can't even explain it. I just hope this passes Thanks.

fr336

scrimshanker wrote: »

I don't have a GP anymore. I'd probably crash the car if I tried going out. My head's tearing itself up inside. I can't even explain it. I just hope this passes Thanks.

Have a nap? A favourite snack? A favourite movie? I don't advise it generally but if it doesn't tend to adversely affect you and you won't have much, some alcohol to calm your nerves?

scrimshanker

Can't sleep, and food and drink are hard to get down. My throat feels so closed up I feel sick any time I even think of tying to get anything down. I hate feeling like this, it feels so like I'm going to die I'd almost be happy to die to make it stop. That doesn't even make sense pure exhausting.

Will try movie, it's a good idea. thanks

greenfrogs

If you had a pain in your leg and it was so bad you thought you were going to die would you go to a hospital? This is no different to that. Could you get a lift or taxi to a hospital/southdoc or the equivalent in your area?