My Health Anxiety experiment has badly backfired!!!

[CharlieM]

Hello everyone,

Back on here after 3 months. Hope all my old acquaintances on here are getting better and all the new users are finding the site helpful.

I stopped coming on here on the advice of my CBT counsellor as she believed it was a security blanket that I needed to discard until I felt I could manage my HA on my oqn.

So, after 9 months of serious heart anxiety, with the full range of symptoms that led me to believe my heart was about to stop, I eventually got a diagnosis of neuropathic pain with panic attacks. I was prescribed Amitriptyline and things improved dramatically. I had a period of homelessness in August and then moved into my new flat. I have started working again and getting out. Although I still got occasional pains in my left arm and chest, I was able to dismiss them.

I saw my GP three weeks ago and decided I wanted to come off the meds. Omg, big mistake!!

I am now worse than ever. Got a whole load of new symptoms. My teeth have started dying - literally in a fortnight. Two have just gone black. Nerves are dead. My left arm doesn't work. I try to move it and it goes sideways. I've drpped 8 items from my left hand in the last week. My chest is in constant agony and my temples pulsate 24/7.

How is it possible that coming off meds can cause such dramatic deterioration. Could they really have masked such a serious set of symptoms.

I am lost as what to do next.

[katesa]

Hi Charlie,

First of all, huge congratulations on making so much progress. It may not feel like you progress right now, but you've been through such a lot, fought it and got yourself on you feet. That took huge strength of character and you should be smugly proud of yourself.

I know that side affects are very common when discontinuing mind altering medications. But the medication won't have been "masking" these symptoms. These are not the sort of issues that that sort of medication could cover.

What is happening is that your mind is going nuts because it's lost it's little prop. Think of it as being similar to when a smoker stops smoking - they get all kinds of side affects as the drug leaves our body and the mind cries out for it.

That said, these symptoms sound very distressing so I think you should see your GP and discuss what you are experiencing. Maybe an alternative to "cold turkey", such as a gradual reduction of dose would be better for you.

[CharlieM]

Kate,

Thanks for reply. You might have a good point regarding withdrawal. My concern is just how intensely my symptoms have returned. Also the new symptoms are worse than my old symptoms.

I am going back to GP on Monday.

Charlie x

[katesa]

I hope that what I'm about to say makes sense Charlie - it does in my mind!

Just think calmly and seriously for a moment - doesn't the fact that your symptoms so massively improved when you took medication designed to relax your brain and anxiety and then got worse when you stopped taking said medication, tell you that your symptoms were probably caused by your anxiety and mind?

That is not to say that they are not real symptoms - they are.

[cpe1978]

Hi Charlie

Is that drug and anti depressant? Anyway I have had two stints in my life where I agreed to take medication for anxiety or depression and I can honestly say that coming off them was quite a long and at times hellish process. I got all manner of side effects but they gradually subsided.

Anxiety kicked in again and my inclination was to head for meds. Thankfully they didn't work at all so I decided to stop and focus on therapy approaches which at the moment seem to be helping.

[Fishmanpa]

CP,

Amitriptyline is an anti-depressant and it's also used to treat insomnia and nerve pain as I was on it for a while after my heart surgery. I was having trouble sleeping and some major nerve pain and it took care of it. I slept so hard I didn't even recall dreaming!

Positive thoughts!