medication for anxiety

[mandshere2000]

Hi to all
Hope everyone's doing ok today you are all in
My thoughts
Just want to know if anyone can recommend a medication
for anxiety I take Prozac for depression but it don't seem to help
my anxiety I have tried beta blockers but these make me feel very dizzy
and low dose of Valium but ideally don't want to take these because of
them being addictive.....just want something that will help with anxiety
and also help me sleep because the vicious circle of no sleep more anxiety
and I then get depersonalization also which is making me so down
Hope someone out there can suggest something that they've may be tried
and as worked for them but I have to also add I can get quite scared of taking new medication but if I thought it really would help me then I would have to
(So fed up of being scared of everything)

Manda xx

[Mick081081]

Hi Manda,
I was on Prozac but it made my anxiety worse and i had terrible side effects so I've switched to citalopram (13 days ago) and it seems to be getting better slowly but surely. I know everyone is different when it comes to medication but have a chat with your GP and see what he suggests.

I too have depersonalisation and it's by far the worst thing for me as not feeling with it is horrible. I think it's brought on by not sleeping properly as you said and getting stuck in the vicious cycle of less sleep =more anxiety so when I see the doc Friday I might ask for some sleeping pills for a few nights to see if that helps.

He gave me 2mg diazepam at the start which helped out but won't give me anymore as they are addictive as you said and I'm not too keen on getting reliant on them myself.

Hope you start feeling better soon as its a horrible place to be in at present for me and I'm guessing your in the same boat. Take care and feel free to email me or message anytime.

Mick.

[mandshere2000]

Hi mick
Thanks so much for reply it really made me feel so much better
to hear your story and that you know exactly where I'm coming from, would
love to chat anytime that suits you just let me know, I'm awake most nights
until the early hours
Manda

[Mick081081]

Hi Manda,
Shame we are in this situation but it's always good to have someone to talk to who knows exactly how you are feeling and can relate to your way of thinking, as if people haven't been in this state then they could never comprehend the what's going on. I always thought I understood mental illness as my mum is bi-polar but since this has happened to me I've realised I knew very little but guess you live and learn.

Email me anytime (Its linked to my phone so will get it) and I'll always reply unless I'm managing to have a sleep (I wish). To be fair though since starting citalopram my sleep has improved slightly I managed 5 hours straight last night which is the longest I've slept for about 2 months so hope it improves. What makes me laugh at myself is that I used to love a nice lay in on a weekend and hated my alarm in the week but nowadays I'm seeing two 4 o'clocks in one day which is totally wrong. I also keep sleeping in the day which has got to stop as think that will be messing up my sleep pattern so starting tomorrow I'm gonna stay awake all day and see if it makes any difference.

Are you seeing a councillor aswell? I've found this is helping slightly and well worth a go if you aren't as found myself talking to him about things I never even knew I thought about of you get where I'm coming from.

Found a great book that someone on here suggested reading it's called 'Hope and help for your nerves' by Dr Claire Weekes it's really good and I'm finding it a great help. I found it on eBay for £8 so if you get the chance order it as its really helpful and worth it's weight in gold as far as I'm concerned. I'm half way through it and only got it yesterday so must be good as I'm far from a bookworm.

Like I said earlier feel free to email anytime a problem shared is a problem halved and all that. Take care and speak soon.

Stay positive.

Mick.

[mandshere2000]

hi mick
I know I keep saying this but I really am so thankful
to find another person who knows where I'm coming from....I had some CBT about 4 years
ago I had to go 2x weekly and it lasted for about 16 months I know this sounds a long time
but there was sometimes 18 people at one time in the group with 2 therapists
and it meant that I could go weeks without even getting to talk about my problems and then would probably only get 15 minutes then it was on to the
next person in the group
I did get something out of going for the CBT but for the length of time I was going I hoped I would of got more from it......I did approach the subject the other day with my GP about depersonalization and my anxiety and that I have had a few episodes over the years were my depression has got really bad and. Her reply I need to read your records and come back in 2 weeks and I will decide where to refer me to
I don't mean to sound negative but I won't build my hopes up of getting anywhere with a referall because the mental health services in my area are awful....what are they like in your area
On the sleeping I wish I could sleep in the daytime but I just cannot seem to switch off and the night time is much the same but when I do drop off I can be asleep for what seems like its been hours when its only been 45 minutes I find this really strange and 9 times out off 10 I start feeling really weird and then start getting anxious then the depersonalization can start I e also woke before and felt panicky as soon has Ive opened my eyes
sorry such a long post I do tend to go on and on lol
Manda

---------- Post added at 21:58 ---------- Previous post was at 21:22 ----------

Forgot to mention in my last post I have Claire weekes book
Essential help for your nerves and I tend to dip in and out
instead of sitting down and having a right good read but I will try
and get reading also I will get the book ordered that you mention

[Julianne]

Hello and welcome!

The problem is that what works for one may not work for another and a diagnosis is best done by someone who has regular face to face contact with you, hence your GP. There are several anxiolytics available so ask you GP to prescribe something for you.
I hope you start feeling better soon
love and a hug

[Mick081081]

Hi,
Glad to have found someone in the same boat too. That's ridiculous that the group was so big and you never got any one to one time and also i dont think id fancy spilling my guts in front of an audience of 18 strangers. I find mental health treatment is poor at best as I used to have to try and get help for my mum and always struggled and unfortunately it doesn't seem to have improved even now. I'm paying private to see the councillor it's costing me a small fortune but I'm not willing to wait on a list for 3 months when I need help now although the NHS is a great service I think it's lacking in this department massively.

As far as the GP saying they'll get back to you in 2 weeks, I find that quite disgusting and if I were you I'd be adamant that you want to see someone for some sort of one to one therapy as soon as possible. The tablets can only help to a degree and talking about problems is one sure way that you can change your way of thinking about how you think if that makes sense!?! I've found it helpful and I'm sure you would too do get tough with your doc in a nice way of course.

As for the sleeping I'm sick of seeing the clock every 1-2 hours but hoping I manage a decent sleep tonight like last night 5 hours without waking was a new record so I'm pushing for 6 hours tonight- lol can always wish! What I've also found is that when I wake up it's like I'm totally drunk which is the depersonalisation so it is really weird like you say, at first it really scared me and made me panic but lately I've just been thinking whatever I'm not bothered and it seems to ease slightly so I guess by thinking about it it fuels the fire so by accepting it I guess it's kind of getting rid of it.

I'm slowly realising that the less I dwell on this situation I'm in and train my thoughts away from it the easier it seems to be getting. Have a look for that book as I've found it brilliant but if you can't find it I'll happily send it through when I've read it which at this rate of reading I should be finished by tomorrow night- a full book read in 2 days how my English teacher would've liked me to have done this while at school lol!

I'll tell you abit about myself, I live in Sheffield, I'm 30 and I'm married with 2 young sons Jake whose 6 and little Max whose 2 there both smashing lads so I need to get myself straight for them so they can have there old dad back. Up until Sunday just gone I was the partner in quite a good business but having been off work for 5 weeks my partner has decided to go his own way but I'll not bore you with the details although I'm quite P'd off with the situation. So not only have I had a mental breakdown to a degree I'm also unemployed but not too concerned about the latter as the weather has been great this week every cloud has a silver lining and all that. Set another business up today so just got to wait for the paperwork to come through but gonna have a month off anyway to get my head straight and weigh up my options.

Hope you manage to get a little sleep I'm off to watch TV in bed and see if I can drop off- fingers X'd! I'll get in touch with you tomorrow and see how you are getting on. Remember stay positive you can beat this and one day look back with a smile on your face knowing that you defeated this horrible illness.
Night and take care.
Mick.

[Kelley]

Hi Manda.

How long have you been on the Prozac for and at what dose? This is my third day on it (only 10mg) and i've been ok, my anxiety has also settled, although i have tried many, both successful and not.....i know that the side effects will begin once they are more in my system which i expect around day 7ish......

Kel