Looking for some encouragement please
Posted , 6 users are following.
Hi,
I could do with a pep talk today. I've been on Sertraline for GAD for 27 days now; 1st 2 weeks 50mgs (and 10 of paroxetine, tapering off) and then 2 weeks tomorrow 100mgs.
I am finding that my morning anxiety levels are horrendous; I wake up and within about 5 minutes my heart is pounding and I feel wracked with fear. I have noticed in the last few days that this reduces a little bit in the afternoon and evening but all in all it is still pretty bad.
I really just need a bit of encouragement, what with it being a Monday, and once again being in the house alone. I am so desperate to feel well again, as I have had a horrendous 7 months since Escitalopram stopped working back in October, and feel like my life has been put on hold.
Thank you for your support x
0 likes, 20 replies
MibuKyo samantha41589
Posted
Hi,
I am recently diagnosed with OCD and I have severe anxiety and would like to offer some encouragement.
4 months ago I was maybe 10% of former self because I thought I was going insane, schizophrenic and had to seek acute mental hospital. Today, thanks to alot of courage, therapy and medication I feel more like 70% of myself and I have overcome many deep fears and conquered much of my worst anxiety.
I am on day 50 of Sert and dose is currently at 100mg and the goal is to reach 150-200. I started with 25 and increased by 25 every 2nd week. Tye first week was worst, I experienced anxiety like never before. Woke up from terrible nightmares with ice running through my veins. I noticed some improvements by week 3 after being on 50mg for some time but then around week 5-6 when I increased I got a big dip. Every time I increased doses it felt like going back to square one with intense anxiety and terrible nightmares. This usually subsides after about 1 week in my experience.
A few weeks ago I could barely leave the house on weekends because of crippling anxiety and intrusive thoughts, but last week I've been feeling really good, I have been very active doing exercise, enjoying company with friends and I've been feeling even bored being at home and instead wanting to go out and just do stuff.
slowly, i feel the good days outweighing the bad.
Please be patient and wait at least 12 weeks, and keep in mind that with each dose increase it takes long time for the body to adjust. So track your progress and keep a diary and record your mood, this will help to continue pushing through.
When it comes to dealing with anxiety, something that has worked wonders for me is ACT - Acceptance and commitment therapy. You have to accept your anxiety and commit to your life goals, and if those are not defined you have to start thinking about them and set up practical part time goals that you can strive towards. And by doing mindfulness will connect you with the present moment and your body, which works wonders in stopping intrusive thoughts and it cuts the never-ending spiral of anxiety and feeling like you are all in the head because you create a little bit of distance from it. So when you feel like s**t, let it be there in your mind without applying importance to it, don't push it away but realize that you are capable of focusing on your life goals and things that mean something to you at the same time as you are having the anxiety. You see, Your life doesn't have to wait and be on hold until your anxiety disappear. Invite the anxiety into the present moment without letting it get to your head, and at the same time commit to life, to what you really care for.
Paradoxically, acceptance has the effect of reducing or even eliminating anxiety, because it is your resistance to the anxiety that keeps the fueling the fire. By focusing on getting away from the anxiety you get attached to it, and you essentially tell the mind that something is really wrong here and you have to give this anxiety feeling some extra importance. And so struggling to get away from anxiety will have counter-intuitive effects in the long run even though it might feel great in the short term, escaping some event that makes you feel bad. So if something makes you feel anxious, don't escape because that will reinforce the anxiety and make it worse. By staying in the uncomfortable and behave differently, focusing on our values we will teach our minds that this anxious event is not dangerous. To break free from anxiety we have to change our behavior, thought is not enough.
Best of luck to your recovery.
samantha41589 MibuKyo
Posted
Hi Mibuyoku
Thank you for your great advice!
I am so pleased to hear that you have come such a long way. Your story is truly inspirational and gives me so much hope for the future.
My anxiety seems to start off as purely physical; When I am well I am very confident and happy go lucky. I am not a worrier and never have been.
This makes it all the harder to understand, but it seems to me that there are many different reasons that people suffer. Not enough is known or understood about how the mind works and why people suffer with anxiety or depression. Hopefully in the future, continued research will lead to more understanding, and maybe even a cure for these terrible, debilitating disorders.
I hope you continue to feel well and enjoy your life.
xxx
MibuKyo samantha41589
Posted
Glad to hear that! We can do a lot more than we believe if we put our minds to it, and you can think that you are now on a journey to become stronger. 😁
have also experienced physical anxiety, it seems very common on Sertraline. My psychiatrist said that it is a good sign that I have these symptoms because it means I'm responding to the medicine. She prescribed me to take anti anxiety drugs in the meantime to cope with the side effects because it takes up to 3 months for the brain to adapt to the medicine.
I have the worst episodes in the morning just as I wake up but I activate myself and won't let the anxiety control what I do. And usually it fades away when I behave like that. I Let the physical anxiety be just physical, you know it is just the medicine doing its thing, no need to let it take over all of my attention. 😄
I also have a psychosomatic conditioning where when my stomach gets upset, I get an increased anxiety, and vice versa. What I have learned when I get increased anxiety is that I can influence the mind by giving attention to the body, such as breathing slower and deeper, scanning the body from tension and relax, relaxing my posture, observe my senses, touch, smell, sound, vision. Grounding techniques are very helpful for letting go of obsessions.
I believe mindfulness and CBT are very powerful tools that can help us recover in addition to medication. Medicine can help restore the balance and be used as a band-aid, and future medication might come with even less side effects which is very promising, but we still need to put in some work with ourselves and find new ways to think and behave if we want to achieve lasting change.
Thank you so much! I love this forum. Everyone is so nice and supportive and it gave me lots of hope when I was in the worst stages.
SerotoninSurfer MibuKyo
Posted
Also looking for some advice.
Sertraline 200mg pooped out after 16 years of working brilliantly. with no life event triggers. I am normally a happy go lucky person (as most of us, the last person in a friends group that you predict would suffer from anxiety and depression). Initially, GP recommended through liaison with Mental Health specialist (pysch) to add Mirtazipine as it has a good track record working in combination and complementing with SSRI's (e.g. Sertraline) in kick starting them again.
Since September last year i have been on a roller coaster ride with doseage trial and error and it is completely obvious that my GP is unable to support as they just seem to agree with whatever i state based on my symptoms that i have been tracking through a spreadsheet.
I have been referred by my GP multiple times for an antidepressant medication review with a psych but i keep getting referred to the Wellbeing Team and talk based therapies. I am already undergoing online CBT calls with Wellbeing Team and using the online CBT Silvercloud service. However, despite repeated attempts from my GP to refer me to a Mental health specialist qualified to discuss medication, i am refrerred back to the same wellbeing team through their single point of access. I've now raised a complaint through PALS (Patients and Liaison Service) to intervene and arrange a session for me to meet with a qualified specialist to discuss my medication as i feel like i am going round in circles and the current system / referral process is failing me.
My latest self medication has been to gradually reduce Sertraline and maintain Mirtazipine at 30mg. I am at a point now where i am not sure whether to continue with Sertraline reduction, e.g. move down to 25mg Sertraline or reduce Mirtazipine. The evidence suggests i should reduce the serraline as i had a significant bad reaction for a number of weeks the last time i went below 30mg Mirtazipine so my gut feeling is to reduce sertraline. I have also suffered no signficantly bad reaction at all since reducing from 200mg sertraline through 150, 100, 75 and more recently 50.
I'm thinking of reducing the 50 to 25 this week and then see how i go on 30 Mirt and 25 Sert combined. I get the feeling it's still going to be a while before i get to speak to a pysch on the NHS.
All i can say is thank god i have loving family and friends to support me. God only knows what it must be like to navigate our underfunded / underresourced alone without any support. My GP told me that the triage lisaison decision making progress above is all due to underfunding for mental health support. The quick fix is drug and talk based therapies but you never seem to be able to speak to anyone with a specialist background in medication (e.g. psych)
SerotoninSurfer samantha41589
Posted
Also looking for some advice.
Sertraline 200mg pooped out after 16 years of working brilliantly. with no life event triggers. I am normally a happy go lucky person (as most of us, the last person in a friends group that you predict would suffer from anxiety and depression). Initially, GP recommended through liaison with Mental Health specialist (pysch) to add Mirtazipine as it has a good track record working in combination and complementing with SSRI's (e.g. Sertraline) in kick starting them again.
Since September last year i have been on a roller coaster ride with doseage trial and error and it is completely obvious that my GP is unable to support as they just seem to agree with whatever i state based on my symptoms that i have been tracking through a spreadsheet.
I have been referred by my GP multiple times for an antidepressant medication review with a psych but i keep getting referred to the Wellbeing Team and talk based therapies. I am already undergoing online CBT calls with Wellbeing Team and using the online CBT Silvercloud service. However, despite repeated attempts from my GP to refer me to a Mental health specialist qualified to discuss medication, i am refrerred back to the same wellbeing team through their single point of access. I've now raised a complaint through PALS (Patients and Liaison Service) to intervene and arrange a session for me to meet with a qualified specialist to discuss my medication as i feel like i am going round in circles and the current system / referral process is failing me.
My latest self medication has been to gradually reduce Sertraline and maintain Mirtazipine at 30mg. I am at a point now where i am not sure whether to continue with Sertraline reduction, e.g. move down to 25mg Sertraline or reduce Mirtazipine. The evidence suggests i should reduce the serraline as i had a significant bad reaction for a number of weeks the last time i went below 30mg Mirtazipine so my gut feeling is to reduce sertraline. I have also suffered no signficantly bad reaction at all since reducing from 200mg sertraline through 150, 100, 75 and more recently 50.
I'm thinking of reducing the 50 to 25 this week and then see how i go on 30 Mirt and 25 Sert combined. I get the feeling it's still going to be a while before i get to speak to a pysch on the NHS.
All i can say is thank god i have loving family and friends to support me. God only knows what it must be like to navigate our underfunded / underresourced alone without any support. My GP told me that the triage lisaison decision making progress above is all due to underfunding for mental health support. The quick fix is drug and talk based therapies but you never seem to be able to speak to anyone with a specialist background in medication (e.g. psych)