Extreme anxiety, finding it hard to cope with it
Posted , 6 users are following.
Sorry for the long post but I really need to talk to someone going through the same as me. I'll start from the beginning. I'm 24 years old and for as long as I can remember I've had some form of anxiety. When I was a teen it was very very mild to the point I never actually knew I had it I just thought finding it hard to breathe was normal! Now, over the past 2/3 years my anxiety has become completely out of control. I thought I was dying when I got my first major attack it was the first day of a new job and I blacked out only to wake back up convinced I had just had a heart attack which sounds ridiculous I know. I actually had to leave my job for 10 months in total as it got so bad that I was diagnosed with extreme generalised anxiety disorder with a score of 98 out of 100 for anxiety levels. I was passing out daily, suffering from tension headaches, locked jaw, shaking and sweating, vertigo, vomiting, diarrhoea, numb hands face chest and feet, difficulty breathing and sleep paralysis. My existence became so miserable I developed a fear of leaving my house for 7 months straight. I have recently had a baby and while my anxiety died down a little for a few months it is back worse than ever. I feel like I'm having heart attacks constantly. I suffer from approx 5-6 anxiety attacks a day and I'm really really struggling to even want to exist. I feel my life has been taken from me and I'm just a shell. I've been on 200mg of setraline for the past 2 years but it makes next to no difference. The doctors have told me that it's just something I'm going to have to learn to live with but I can't go on feeling like I'm dying 5 times a day I struggle to do anything other than care for my baby he's the love of my life and I keep going for him but I don't know what to do. Can anyone tell me that I can get through this? 
0 likes, 28 replies
jen_43754 chelsea0507
Posted
Aww honey first off congrats on having a baby, I know exactly how you feel. Your post really hit home except I've only been only sertaline for 6 weeks not seeing much of a change. A lot of ppl tell me to try therapy have you considered that?
chelsea0507 jen_43754
Posted
Thanks for your reply Jen. I was told by the docs that I was going to be referred nothing ever came of it tho. I'm going back to the docs tomorrow so let's see what they say.
danielle0000 chelsea0507
Posted
Hi Chelsea... Well I have had my anxiety with panic attacks for 3 years .. I recently started sertraline 25mg.. I was on it for 6 days nd OMG I couldn't hack it .. it was too much for Me... My anxiety was over the roof nd panic attacks like never before.... Soo I stopped take them... It sucks bcuz just like u I have vertigo nd tht triggers my panic attacks alot.
. I have 2 kids nd I can't enjoy them like I want too... I am always locked inside my house nd I feel bad bcuz they r stuck here wit me nd it's not their fault... I too feel like i am stick wit this for the rest of my life.. I feel like frequent counseling taking to somebody may probably help us.. thts Wat I am looking forward too... Nd I am kinda considering acupuncture!
chelsea0507 danielle0000
Posted
Danielle I'm glad you've said that about the panic attacks going through the roof taking setraline I thought I was crazy because as soon as I take them I have an attack but when I came off them I was too ill from the withdrawal I had to go back on them. I always wondered if 200mg was too much and I've heard other people say they felt like they were losing control on them. In sorry you're also going through this the guilt from hardly being able to do anything with my little boy tears me up I know what you mean. I was advised by the doctor to get cognitive behavioural therapy but they never did refer me. I'm willing to try anything at this stage.
danielle0000 chelsea0507
Posted
Oooh man yess girl.. they were bad... But see now tht I just stopped taking them I wake up wit really bad anxiety pretty lightheaded nd like I feel my head all tingly nd alot of pressure .. IDK if maybe it's withdrawals from just stopping it just like tht or what... But this sucks... Yess tht guilt thts Wat hurts me... my kids r very active nd I wish i could take them swimming or to the park like a normal person but its hard for me... I am planning to do acupuncture this week see how tht goes !!
Bun1975 chelsea0507
Posted
Bun1975 danielle0000
Posted
chelsea0507 danielle0000
Posted
I never took my tablets today and I've only had 1 attack which is a huge improvement. I do t think these pills are good news... Let me know how that goes I'd love to try that!
danielle0000 chelsea0507
Posted
I don't think so either.. but alot of other people believe other wise ... I personally did NOT like those pills at all.... How long have u been on sertraline?? I was only on them for 6 days... Nd the last pill I took was Thursday... Today I feel pretty good wayy better then when I was on tht horrible med.. how have u been feeling Chelsea??
chelsea0507 Bun1975
Posted
Sharp pins and needles in my arms and legs, constant temperature change, dizziness and vertigo, tight chest and choking sensation, blurred vision, loud high pitch noise in my ears, vomiting, stomach cramps, fainting, waves of dread, thoughts that I'm dying, the urge to run as far away as I can, shaking, crying, no sense of reality
chelsea0507 Bun1975
Posted
Sharp pins and needles in my arms and legs, constant temperature change, dizziness and vertigo, tight chest and choking sensation, blurred vision, loud high pitch noise in my ears, vomiting, stomach cramps, fainting, waves of dread, thoughts that I'm dying, the urge to run as far away as I can, shaking, crying, no sense of reality
chelsea0507 danielle0000
Posted
I've been on them for 2 years now but they don't help me I literally only feel like I have to take them because the withdrawal is absolutely horrendous it took me 3 weeks to recover last time I came off them and I still felt terrible so had to go back on them
I haven't taken one again today and I can already feel the symptoms kicking in so I'll need to take one at some point 
I'm glad you are feeling better than before! So happy to hear that Hun
danielle0000 chelsea0507
Posted
I think you need to taper yourself off though... Bcuz u have been on them for soo long ND u r at a higher dose I don't think u can just stop... If u really wana stop u need to ask ur Dr how to start tapering yourself off... But ur going to have to go through wit the withdrawals to taper off if thts wats u want...
danielle0000
Posted
I'm not all fully Okk though... I still don't feel myself nd I tend to be having alot of anxiety .. but just not as bad as when I was on the pill.. I just don't wana have crazy panic attacks like I did on the pill!
Bun1975 chelsea0507
Posted
Hello. Sorry to hear that you going through this. It's not easy. Were you this bad before you started medicine?
chelsea0507 Bun1975
Posted
When I was first placed on medication at age 17 I was on cetalapram 40mg then I've also been out on amitriptyline, fluoxetine, propranolol, tranylcypromine, venlafaxine, Gabapentin and a few others that I can't remember the name of none of them ever made me as bad as I am now though. I did try going back to cetalapram but I was having the same outcome. I've came off them to see if it helps but the withdrawal is too much - even reducing the amount slowly
misssunshine10 chelsea0507
Posted
Maybe ask the doctor for a different anti depressant? There is so many out there, in the mean time maybe consider therapy ?? If your doctor is saying you have just got to learn to live with it then he doesn't sound too great there is definitely some help for you. Good luck!!
Bun1975 chelsea0507
Posted
I'm having a hard time now too. I have been on and off medicine for 2 years and I feel like they made me worse. The way I am now is not how I was before taking them. Right now I started back on medicine 11 days ago Prozac and already want to stop (have tried different ssri). I am also taking Xanax and trying to get off that. I am also in the house. I'm so opposite of the person that I was. I feel like I missing out on life with my husband and kids. Nobody close to me believes me that it can be the medicine they keep telling me to take it. It's so hard! I just want my life back.
chelsea0507 Bun1975
Posted
I'm so sorry to hear you're also struggling with this
it seems the medication just does worse rather than better! I know what you mean I'm literally a former shell of myself. It's soul destroying I just want to enjoy life again. X
chelsea0507 misssunshine10
Posted
I have asked and their response was I've tried all I can at this moment sand there's nothing left for me to take which I don't believe for a single second. It feels like they're just sick of me
misssunshine10 chelsea0507
Posted
Don't give up there is so much help out there for you there are hundreds of anti depressants it's just finding the right one to help you. If you can ask for a new doctor good luck!!