Sparkle1984
18-04-13, 22:04
As some of you may remember, I came off my meds earlier this year. I was fine for the first 4 weeks of being med-free, but since the Easter weekend some of my symptoms have returned.
This is in spite of me continuing with what I learnt in my CBT course and the other anxiety-management techniques, such as listening to relaxation/mindfulness MP3s each evening before going to sleep.
The symptoms are relatively mild compared to what I was going through last July (before I started meds or CBT). Sometimes I get obsessive morbid thoughts about ageing, death and dying (this is the same theme I had last July, but the thoughts aren't quite so intrusive this time round), and sometimes I get a fast heartbeat and muscle tension. Muscle tension isn't as much as a problem for me as it was last year, because of the relaxation techniques I've learnt since then, but the rapid heartbeat is harder to control. I don't tend to catastrophise as much as I did last year, either.
Sometimes I feel quite down and feel like crying even if I'm in a supposedly happy situation, such as going on an outing. Today at work I kept feeling as though I wanted to burst into tears, even though nothing bad had happened. Spring is one of my favourite times of the year so I don't understand why I'm feeling like this.
Even though the symptoms are milder compared to last year, they're still distressing. The CBT techniques have definitely helped to take the edge off the anxiety, but it's still there.
This brings me on to my main question - could my current feelings of anxiety/mild depression be due to a chemical imbalance, especially considering the CBT techniques aren't alleviating the symptoms completely? While I was on my meds, I felt good and relaxed for the vast majority of the time, and I felt I could focus on the relaxation techniques more easily. I had hardly any symptoms at all once the meds had kicked in.
Thanks to Robin from CBT4Panic, I now realise that my morbid thoughts are a symptom, not a cause of my anxiety. When I was happy and relaxed, I didn't get those obsessive thoughts, and even when they did enter my mind, I could dismiss them more easily. However, when I'm feeling down and anxious, they enter my mind more frequently and they stick around for longer.
I'm supposed to make a follow-up appointment with my doctor to tell her how I'm getting on now that I've been off the meds for a few weeks. I'm not sure what I should say or do - would it be best if I go back on them or should I wait a few weeks and see if the symptoms settle down?
This is in spite of me continuing with what I learnt in my CBT course and the other anxiety-management techniques, such as listening to relaxation/mindfulness MP3s each evening before going to sleep.
The symptoms are relatively mild compared to what I was going through last July (before I started meds or CBT). Sometimes I get obsessive morbid thoughts about ageing, death and dying (this is the same theme I had last July, but the thoughts aren't quite so intrusive this time round), and sometimes I get a fast heartbeat and muscle tension. Muscle tension isn't as much as a problem for me as it was last year, because of the relaxation techniques I've learnt since then, but the rapid heartbeat is harder to control. I don't tend to catastrophise as much as I did last year, either.
Sometimes I feel quite down and feel like crying even if I'm in a supposedly happy situation, such as going on an outing. Today at work I kept feeling as though I wanted to burst into tears, even though nothing bad had happened. Spring is one of my favourite times of the year so I don't understand why I'm feeling like this.
Even though the symptoms are milder compared to last year, they're still distressing. The CBT techniques have definitely helped to take the edge off the anxiety, but it's still there.
This brings me on to my main question - could my current feelings of anxiety/mild depression be due to a chemical imbalance, especially considering the CBT techniques aren't alleviating the symptoms completely? While I was on my meds, I felt good and relaxed for the vast majority of the time, and I felt I could focus on the relaxation techniques more easily. I had hardly any symptoms at all once the meds had kicked in.
Thanks to Robin from CBT4Panic, I now realise that my morbid thoughts are a symptom, not a cause of my anxiety. When I was happy and relaxed, I didn't get those obsessive thoughts, and even when they did enter my mind, I could dismiss them more easily. However, when I'm feeling down and anxious, they enter my mind more frequently and they stick around for longer.
I'm supposed to make a follow-up appointment with my doctor to tell her how I'm getting on now that I've been off the meds for a few weeks. I'm not sure what I should say or do - would it be best if I go back on them or should I wait a few weeks and see if the symptoms settle down?