Cycles?

[Mart0310]

Does anyone else find their anxiety runs in a definite time cycle - for me Always at it highest early am, much more settled by lunch time and phasing out through the afternoon into evening?

[MyNameIsTerry]

Absolutely Mart. I've always had mine worst for the first half of the day.

I know many people say it is either AM or PM for them.

What I have also had ever since I started Duloxetine is an on/off effect. I have periods of more intense anxiety and often depression which start one day when I wake up and then completely reduce back to the normal levels after a few days. This was originally 3 weeks bad to 1 week ok when I was really bad and I've got it down to 2, 3 or 4 days nowadays. I don't know whether this is something others have had but I believe it to be related to my medication as some form of side effect but its been going on for several years now so its been hard to move forward as how can you live/work/go on holiday with it coming with no trigger?

[Mart0310]

The up and down must be really difficult to manage, have you talked this over with your GP? Ive never experienced this, but equally Ive never actually used the medication, for me its been a gradual downhill slide to full on anxiety and then a gradual climb back to recovery.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Yes, it is. It makes it impossible to plan anything or move forward with something more continuous as this happens no matter what.

I haven't discussed it with my GP but he is pretty useless with mental health medication and has given me incorrect infor before about side effects and just blamed it on my anxiety when I checked with the manufacturer information that proved it was becausde I has never had that symptom until taking these. This is the same symptom so he will only blame it on anxiety again so I'm tracking my swings so there is some data ready for when I do approach him.

I thought I might be bipolar but I just don't have the mania. I can be motivated & positive but I don't have the risk taking mindset foudn with mania.

I disengaged from my GP really when he started saying there was no further help available after finishing CBT. I know this is complete rubbish since joining up with mental health chatities and this site.

[Mart0310]

I think for most GP surgeries treatment comes down to cost sadly, and they seem hellbent on handing out medications rather than more sustainable treatments, always seems incredibly short sighted to me :unsure:

[MyNameIsTerry]

Yeah I agree.

I've always thought that medications like these were expensive until I joined this forum and ended up searching for some of the local trust's cost documents. I found that in the case of many of these meds, they are cheaper than the prescription charge we are paying!!!