Please I Need Help re. Medication and Severe Anxiety

Hello Lynne

Thanks for responding and so sorry you have had to resign from work - will you manage financially??. It is so difficult I feel terrible at the moment, my anxiety is ridiculous feel so physically and mentally uncomfortable and cannot see a way out as I am so scared of psychiatric medication and the side effects and know is does not always work at all but don't know how to help myself either.

Are you on medication now that needs adjusting or do you mean you haven't started? Do you mind sayig what you have had (if any) and your experiences.

It must be common to discharge people if they start CBT. It was initially going to be a later thing for me so don;t know why it has changed. The trouble is I am so anxious and depressed I am finding it so difficult / impossible to put into practice.

Will try to stay strong but feeling very hopeless today. 

Finances are very tight but I cant function properly at the moment so work is out of the question I just want to get stable again.

I was on 45mg of mirtazapine for 6 years it was great apart from the weight gain.

It stopped working in December,a first they would not change my meds then I was put on sertraline in the day and miirt at night I started with 50mg of sertraline and its now up to 150mg and its still doing nothing.

Ive also tried citalapram amatrpylyn fluxtine.

Its just all this tapering of one med onto another the horrendous side effects I just want to get better.

I took myself off to a and e twice when my anxiety started at first because I thought I was dying of heart attack or stroke but I had lots of test done and all is ok but im terrified I live alone and scared Im going to collapse and no one willl find me,

Mental illness really sucks

Hi Lynne

You are so strong coping with what you describe as horrendous side effects - at the moment my resliiance is at an all time low and with the anxiety sky high I would be hyper vigilant with any medication and could not cope with side effects which I know I will have to with psychiatric medications. A huge fear is my stomach following the gastristis which caused some bleed - I want to get off the PPI Lanzoprazole but if I take an antidepressant I would probably have to stay on to protect the stomach. I think the PPI is making the anxiety/depression much worse now.

Anxiety attached sound terrible. I to live alone and am so scared of something like that happening to me particularly if I start a medication as they can cause all sorts of strange side effects plus physical problems. If I cannot get out to the shops for food I don't know what would happen. I could call friends but they cannot always come easily.

You probably had to wait ages in A&E - sounds horrible for you. From what you say your medication does need to be looked urgently.

Mental illnes is the worst thing I agree.So painful, so debilitating and it can be so enduring - no respite.

You are amoung friends here for support.

Stay strong  and message me anytime

Hi Lynne - I should say me mental health team worker was good to tallk to -  and was concerned about my physical health problems as well and suggested things to my GP - I lked him and that is why i wnated to continue seeing him - however they see so many people and have certain views about medication. I'm at loss as to how to manage my current feelings of exreme discomfort which feels unbearable.

What were the worst side effects you experienced on your meds/changing meds? Di you get worse anxiety/agitattion too. At the moment when I do sleep the dreams I remember are good ones, I hear that antidepressants and other things can cause nightmares.

I was in south of England for 9 years and the level of care down there was amazing Im now in  North west England here even though I have been referred to a psych I havent actally seen him yet and there level of communication is shocking I told them I had been on fluxtine before and after seeeing them last week they called with a meds package and when I told him that I had already been on fluxetine and it didnt work he said well that all my hard work up in the air.!!!!!

Now if I had spoken to the psych myself and they had done there job proplerly and got my medical records I would be on my new meds by now.

Side effects I get are anxiety/depression x10 flu like symptoms sore limbs no appetite its just awful

That's terrible Lynne

That is what i could not cope with - increased anxiety/depression not to mention other things like nausea and the stomach stuff. At the moment I am finding how I am feeling unbearable i I am a strong minded person (or was) and know that the feelings would be terrible for anyone It is difficult to describe but it is like an terrible internal tension/painful feeling that I want to run away from but can't. At the moment it eases in the evening thank god but I cannot cope with feeling like this in the day for long. It has only been this bad for around 5 days or so. I just don't know what to do. It will make going to appointments so difficult /impossible - i need to work on a form for benefits but am finding it so difficult concentrating with the painful internal feeling. I keep snacking as that is a bit pleasurable but don't want to overlaod stomach. I am so scared and dont know who to talk to about it professionally as I fear meds...

Can you Gp help at all and CBT is suppose to help.

It is a vicious cycle and medication well everyone reacts differently to it.

Unfortunatley the three times I came of meds for depression I was hospitalised and I would not wish that on my worsed enemy

There are also charites like MIND who do reduces cost therapy

I dont know what else to suggest.

Anxiety depression is a nasty illness and I dont think there are any poitive answers

Stay strong you are not alone.

Being hospitalised terrifies me - did you self admit or was it involuntary. I have read some awful things about psychiatric units which is why I am so scared at the moment.

Volantary twice and sectioned once

Not nice places

That is why I do everything I can to stay out of those places

Dont be scared everything will turn out fine

Hi Lynne - that is what I am so scared about - you could be sharing a room with someone or more than one violent person etc and I know they give out lots of medication - it would be my worst nightmare..impossible to sleep due to the noise - it would be terryfying. The staff would be in such a powerful position to.

If your mental health can be helped in the cimmunity that is the best way,there are times when some people may have to be hospitalised but in my experience it makes you worse yes your getting 24/7 care but you are around people with serious mental health problem and as you say can be violent,then you see people being sedated for there own protection Its just not a nice place to be when you are already vulnerable and like everywhere else in the NHS the staff are run off there feet

Lynne, are these the side effects you get when changing medication or symptoms from anxiety?

Hello Lynne - how are you? When you admitted yourself to hospital was that because you were scared of how you were feeling? How did you go about it? I woudl think as it was so horrible it must have been difficult to do the second time voluntarily? Also the third time how did the sectioning come about if you don't mind talking about it? Did the community mental health team recommend it? I think sectioning is so scary and unless extreme like someone having a bad pcychosis etc should be avoided as I think it can cause much more damage. It is a lottery as to where people end up depending on where they iive. Where I am you would have to share with others which would be horrendous. I also think you become a medication experiment. You are expected to get better and if you don't resond to medication it seems doses keep being increased or you are changed suddenley. What if you just cannot tolerate anti depressants?

When you were in hospital did they try and give you anything else apart from anti depressants? I have read that psychiatric wards can give anti psychotics for anxiety to some people or to help them sleep. That sounds dangerous particularluy as they come with some heavy side effects. Have you ever had akathisia on anti depressants??

Hi Caroline

When I was sectioned I booked into a hotel and overdosed I was found by a maid and taken to a psych hospital when your sectioned you have to stay for 1 month and cant go out on your own.

The other twice I felt myself go downhill suicidal thoughts so it was agreed  with the CPN I would go in voluntary, I was allowed to go out of the hosptal but always had to be back at a certain time.

Medication is reveiwed I did not get ant type of therapy you see things

that make you more depressed.

EG People being restrained someone smashed up the sitting room someone broke a window and cut there wrists.

All these things I would not have seen.

In my experience its not the place to be,I would rather be treated at home and have a CPN come round

Take Care

Oh Lynne - you have been through such a lot - and you are staying strong now - I am being so feeble re. medication but the effects are just unbearable and so scary. I have such a lot of fear of the future and one is the sectioning. I know it would damage me so much - all the things you would see, the danger of being attacked, living in fear all the time (I know I would) let alone the forced medication. I try not to let my thoughts go there but when you are not getting better and have anxiety that is what happens. A major worry is my medication sensitivity - there is nothing I can do about it. That is contributing enormously to my fear as I think nothing will suit or help me just make me worse. C

Dear Lynne - you must have felt so bad to book into a hotel - was that due to medication side effects (ie going onto them or coming off?) and the other times you felt you were going down hill was that due to medication? The trouble is this depression/anxiety makes life terrible anyway - medication can just contribute.

 

I stopped taking my medication after a really bad break up.

I dont think I really wanted to end my life just a cry for help.

I would not take meds for just anxiety I take AD's for depression and to stop the above happening again. I feel AD's make anxiety worse,

I went to see the psych on Thursday I have now to take 200mg of sertraline 15mg of mirtazapime and quetiapine which is an anitpsycotic drug used in bipolar and schizophrenia.

I feel they just throw medication at everything.

I am going to try and stick with the sertraline and continue with my CBT

Hope you find peace soon

Stay Strong

Stay Strong

Gosh Lynne - all those meds and quetiapine is pretty strong to give you (have read up on all the meds). I agree medication is just given more and more if someone is not responding/or they don't know what to do and that can make it worse. That is was scares me so much about my condition, my anxiety is stronger than the depression but am being prescribed anti depressants. Many people, even includig psychiatarist do not know all the effects of these drugs or chose not to research fully. My GP did not say anything about start up effects and as these things affect your brain they can be dangerous and have massive iniital effects that can continue. As said being on my own I am scared to risk it. That is also what scares my about psych wards they want you to get better so would imagine they just keep giving you more and .or different medication despite itolerable side effects. I pray I get better but it has been so long and so bleak and the future looks scary...

My GP started me on the sertraline and when I went to see the psych he said he did'nt usually prescribe sertraline he favours fluxotine.

I have been on fluxotine twice and it did me no good.

But it made me think does he prescibe fluxotine to ALL his patients.

Everyone reacts differently to med what works for one may not for another,

It is a farce as far as I am concerned

Yes, and a very dangerous farce - these medictions effect your brain and can be extremely harmful...

Hi Lynne how are you doing? I forgot to ask what start up effects did you get on Sertraline. I tried it and got terrible side effects including twitching, a burning bladder, intense headache, I could go on... C

Hi Caroline

Hope your well

When I started sertraline I had headaches blurred vision diahrea

It was not nice but it wore off quite quickley now Im on the top dose 200mg and it makes me feel like  a zombie!!!!!

It never ends

Stay Strong