loulou22
21-11-12, 10:59
After reading all of these comments and people sharing wisdom through their experiences, I thought it would be a good time to start something up which hopefully in the future will help others if I come out the other side!
I am 22, and am in the middle of university- I’ve completed 2 years and now I am currently on a placement year and working in an office every day. I have a boyfriend, but he lives 4 hours away and I see him once a month.
I have struggled with anxiety for over a year, but probably been well on the way for longer than that. The past year especially has been a rollercoaster and I have been convinced that I do not need medication to get better and that the solution can come from within, especially with regular exercise.
However, I was fighting a losing battle ultimately, and the anxiety manifests in an unsettling fashion when it strikes; I feel out of body, so dizzy and like I am running on autopilot. I think this is what they call the ‘brain fog’ but I literally cannot concentrate on anything, I don’t feel particularly hungry or tired. Numerous times, I thought it was perhaps because I hadn’t eaten or drank enough, but after overdoing both I still didn’t feel any improvement. When it strikes at work I can barely even write an e-mail. And then it becomes a battle of just ticking hours away, sending a text to my Mum to get some reassurance (‘you can do it!’). I am constantly aware of how I’m feeling, from the moment I wake up to when I go to bed. Am I going to feel weird or spaced out today etc etc? It has been worse in the past with feelings like I am going to literally pass out, and I spent a couple of weeks unable to go outside about a year ago. Since then it has been more temperamental and I find I can still go about most things but just with this constant feeling of unease and uncertainty that tampers with my ability to enjoy anything. I have long been convinced that this must be something physical, and had numerous blood tests which surprise, surprise are all completely normal and average. I’m always disappointed when it appears I am physically ok, It would be somewhat easier if I had a physical problem.
Recently however, on the GAD7 test I scored 21/21, which is when I realised and succumbed to the fact that I needed some help, that even though I’ve been strong for a year, I’m not really getting anywhere. That, coupled with panic attacks whilst driving, which has basically confined me to only local familiar driving for the timebeing, I realised I wanted to stop this before it got worse i.e what if it starts taking away lots of other things in my life and I continue to lose those components that make me independent. I am in a nomadic and uncertain phase of my life at university/on placement and my anxieties stem from many things which may or may not come out over the forthcoming posts.
As a result of all of this, and actually after a long chat (1hr) with a counsellor, I decided to try some medication. Talking to a counsellor made me feel as though my problems and anxieties had been listened to and so his solution felt ‘right’. (I have been prescribed/suggested meds in the past after 5 minute consultation with a GP I didn’t know). So I agreed to give it a go and I am taking 20mg of Fluoxetine/Prozac daily.
I too am scared of taking any medication (I don’t even like to take paracetamol etc) so this was a huge step for me. I’m now nearly 3 weeks in, not feeling much better, but not feeling much worse, still on the rollercoaster, but hoping that when it kicks in it will all be worth it, and like others have said.. I will know when it is starting to come into effect.
Sometimes, general life and overthinking gets to us all. I haven’t had one big traumatic experience in my life to date, but lots of things from my teenage years right through to now have just built and built like a layered effect and I think my brain just couldn’t deal with itself and this is where I have found myself. Fingers crossed the only way is up from now.
There’s the background, look forward to hearing responses and sharing wisdom over my journey on Prozac.
I am 22, and am in the middle of university- I’ve completed 2 years and now I am currently on a placement year and working in an office every day. I have a boyfriend, but he lives 4 hours away and I see him once a month.
I have struggled with anxiety for over a year, but probably been well on the way for longer than that. The past year especially has been a rollercoaster and I have been convinced that I do not need medication to get better and that the solution can come from within, especially with regular exercise.
However, I was fighting a losing battle ultimately, and the anxiety manifests in an unsettling fashion when it strikes; I feel out of body, so dizzy and like I am running on autopilot. I think this is what they call the ‘brain fog’ but I literally cannot concentrate on anything, I don’t feel particularly hungry or tired. Numerous times, I thought it was perhaps because I hadn’t eaten or drank enough, but after overdoing both I still didn’t feel any improvement. When it strikes at work I can barely even write an e-mail. And then it becomes a battle of just ticking hours away, sending a text to my Mum to get some reassurance (‘you can do it!’). I am constantly aware of how I’m feeling, from the moment I wake up to when I go to bed. Am I going to feel weird or spaced out today etc etc? It has been worse in the past with feelings like I am going to literally pass out, and I spent a couple of weeks unable to go outside about a year ago. Since then it has been more temperamental and I find I can still go about most things but just with this constant feeling of unease and uncertainty that tampers with my ability to enjoy anything. I have long been convinced that this must be something physical, and had numerous blood tests which surprise, surprise are all completely normal and average. I’m always disappointed when it appears I am physically ok, It would be somewhat easier if I had a physical problem.
Recently however, on the GAD7 test I scored 21/21, which is when I realised and succumbed to the fact that I needed some help, that even though I’ve been strong for a year, I’m not really getting anywhere. That, coupled with panic attacks whilst driving, which has basically confined me to only local familiar driving for the timebeing, I realised I wanted to stop this before it got worse i.e what if it starts taking away lots of other things in my life and I continue to lose those components that make me independent. I am in a nomadic and uncertain phase of my life at university/on placement and my anxieties stem from many things which may or may not come out over the forthcoming posts.
As a result of all of this, and actually after a long chat (1hr) with a counsellor, I decided to try some medication. Talking to a counsellor made me feel as though my problems and anxieties had been listened to and so his solution felt ‘right’. (I have been prescribed/suggested meds in the past after 5 minute consultation with a GP I didn’t know). So I agreed to give it a go and I am taking 20mg of Fluoxetine/Prozac daily.
I too am scared of taking any medication (I don’t even like to take paracetamol etc) so this was a huge step for me. I’m now nearly 3 weeks in, not feeling much better, but not feeling much worse, still on the rollercoaster, but hoping that when it kicks in it will all be worth it, and like others have said.. I will know when it is starting to come into effect.
Sometimes, general life and overthinking gets to us all. I haven’t had one big traumatic experience in my life to date, but lots of things from my teenage years right through to now have just built and built like a layered effect and I think my brain just couldn’t deal with itself and this is where I have found myself. Fingers crossed the only way is up from now.
There’s the background, look forward to hearing responses and sharing wisdom over my journey on Prozac.