New in forum but been having anxiety for years

[JoG]

Hi everybody,

My name is Jo.Never thought of joining an anxiety forum before but thought I would because nobody gets me. 9 years ago I developed OCD due to major trauma in my life which quickly turned into unbearable panic attacks maybe once a twice a month. The family trauma finally went away in 2006 but I was very scarred and down for 3 years until I got fed up of being down and brought myself out of it even though though my dad had got ill I coped. Then I thought I would be able to cope with entering into relationships last year and all of sudden panic attacks return and I am back on sertraline and diazapam which I hate. Although my family and bf have been very supportive they never fully understand what it feels like to be imprisoned by anxiety attackshttp://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/images/icons/icon9.gif

[robinbrum]

Do the drugs help in any way? Or are you too scared what will happen if you stop taking them?

[JoG]

I take 150mg of sertraline and they do not prevent panic attacks in the slightest and cause very vivid dreams which cause me to thrash out in bed. I was afraid of starting to take them again last year as I had been on them before and they did nothing. Now I am taking valium at least once a week due to increased stress which I do not like doing but when I do nto sleep good anxiety is worse

[robinbrum]

Leads me to question what good the Sertraline is at all to you then. I was taking Valium as a standby, now I just use the odd beta blocker if I'm getting really bad attacks.
Are you getting any other kind of help, such as counselling?

[JoG]

I was on the beta blocker to for about 4 months but my blood pressure went too low on them so had to stop.I feel it is as good as taking a placebo with sertraline and want to stop but my bf is not overly keen on that. I did have counsilling for a year but then my counsillor moved. I now have a psychology appointment on wednesday which I am sceptical about as I have been before and I didnt enjoy the experience

[robinbrum]

Yeah, I don't think you want to become over-reliant on any drug and I know several people who are taking their meds because they feel their world will fall apart if they were to suddenly stop them. I've tried virtually all of the standard SSRIs and got off them all because I really they weren't the long term answer.
Now I've started Pregabalin, we'll wait and see what happens.
You have my sympathy with psychiatrists. I've yet to meet a good one but hope it's different for you.

[JoG]

I am not really fond of trying others SSRIs as I seem to react badly to them and is like taking a placebo. I have tried to tell my bf several times that drugs are not going to fix me they just ease symptoms. I am not looking forward to telling my life story again on wednesday it is painful and am trying to leave it in the past and it is hard for them to understand unless they have been through it. Pregabalin never heard of that one but I have tried every non medicinal way I can think of to try and help.

[robinbrum]

Well Pregabalin is prescribed for pain relief and epilepsy but it's becoming increasingly used to treat GAD. Trouble is, it's expensive and that's why GPs probably don't want it becoming too popular.
Good luck with the psychiatrist, I know how hard it is to unburden yourself to a complete stranger.

[JoG]

Yes I had to look that one up. I am suprised at the drugs that are prescribed for anxiety. Thank you I am sure I will be fineish aslong as I get a good nights sleep. Never get use to asking for help always better at giving it

[Tero]

There is a list of agents now. Use the one you can tolerate best if it does any good:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ssri#List_of_agents

"The SNRIs were developed more recently than the SSRIs and as a result there are relatively few of them. However, the SNRIs are among the most widely used antidepressants today."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serotonin-norepinephrine_reuptake_inhibitors

I have not taken those, but as you see, there is an arsenal of tools.

[JoG]

Thanks so much for the help. Hopefully I will beat this eventually

[Tero]

Well, that is what I thought, I can beat it. In my case, it is not as debilitating so I decided actually not to fight it but live with it. See mys posts:
http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=106359

[JoG]

I am pretty strong willed kind of needed to be with the things I have had to go through. The panic attacks I have now are no way near as bad as they use to be years ago but still fairly unpleasant. It is good to talk to like minded people that understand because as much as my family and friends support me it is hard for them to understand what I go through.

[Tero]

Well, as long as you can settle to some compromise in your own mind. It's not worth taking your enire attention, if you can distract yourself with other activity.