What to do when nothing calms you down?

[xvolatileheart]

I felt really depressed yesterday which had me thinking a lot of bad thoughts. Getting to sleep was impossible, the thoughts and feelings of dread were overwhelming. I've hardly slept at all which is only making everything worse. How do I break this cycle? I can't focus on anything, not even my usual distractions like watching a film. I'm so scared I'm going crazy. :weep:

[Logan_Five]

I've had a poor night's sleep too and that's supposedly with the help of a sleeping aid (10mg Temazepam) Change in routine I think, with the wife and daughter back at work/school today. Best thing I can advise today is to try to keep busy, doing little tasks - visit some friends, etc. Also try and fit in some time for some relaxation, which I'm going to try and do (self-hypnosis MP3's)

You aren't alone at this moment - even though it's sometimes hard to remember that. :)

[xvolatileheart]

I'm sorry you've had a bad night too. I wonder if I should ask the GP for a benzo to help calm me down so I can sleep. I'm scared of everything right now - my thoughts, my feelings, going to class, not sleeping. I'm on week 2 of citalopram and I'm scared it isn't going to work. :(

I have to soldier on, I have a 3 hour class and a small presentation to give. Then I will try to do some exercise and maybe some yoga before bed and have an early night.

Thanks for listening and responding! It helps to know I'm not alone (although I wouldn't wish this misery on anyone.)

[nicnac1987]

I'm also on week 2 of citalopram and I can't feel any difference but some side effects have calmed down. My gp upped my dose this morning so will see how that goes. If you are struggling definitely have a word with tour doctor and see what they suggest.

[xvolatileheart]

Hi nicnac, I hope the increase helps! Are you on 20mg now? I'm still on 10 but have a review next week where I'm certain my dose will be upped. Do you take the pills morning or night? I think taking them at night is massively affecting my sleep so I'm thinking of switching.

[nicnac1987]

Yeah I'm on 20mg now so fingers crossed it starts working. I take them at night and I find that now the side effect have settled abit I just wake early and then can't get back to sleep through anxiety. Not sure if its the meds or just my mind.

[lior]

Hey, I'm about 3-4 months into citalopram now. It really affected my sleep in the early days. I'd take it in the morning and then feel sleepy for the rest of the day. When I switched to the night, it interrupted my sleep so I felt like I couldn't really win. I chose to have interrupted nights than sleep the day away. After a few weeks it stopped interrupting my sleep. It does get better - the side effects do settle down. It's usually worth sticking at it. Drugs are the closest thing we have to a magic wand for settling anxiety and depression, and they take a couple of months to work. Relatively, drugs are a quick fix, compared to therapy. Therapy and self work is what most people find to be a long term solution that works and keeps away mental health problems. Self work requires patience, time, and investment - learning to love yourself more and work out your problems. It's a big old journey and it's not unusual to feel crazy along the way.

Daily challenges can seem too overwhelming. I just focus on taking one little step at a time. Overall mood will change over time. I forgive myself for not being able to do everything I want to do. Yoga is a fantastic habit to have. Do you cultivate any other good habits like that? Making sure you speak to friends, taking notice of the good stuff in your life, rewarding yourself with little treats? Over time, it's the positive habits like that which will make the difference. On a day where I'm unhappy and overwhelmed, having faith that doing a positive habit will pay off in the long term can make all the difference. That's enough motivation for me to do it, even if I don't feel like it's working at the time.

My yoga teacher says to accept where ever I am in my practice today, so I forgive myself if I have crappy balance during the class. Accepting where I am means I don't feel like I'm not good enough. I know that I will learn something in every class, and strengthen my practice, even if it doesn't seem like it at the time. Sometimes I only realise what I've learnt in hindsight.

Does any of that experience ring true with you?

[NoPoet]

When I first started cit I had horrendous sleep for the first week or two (although my sleep was badly affected by anxiety before then), but I had started sleeping normally within about three weeks of starting it, and have never had a bad night's sleep since, at least not because of anxiety.

The attack of relentless negative thoughts represents a storm of electrical activity in your amygdala, the emotional processing centre of your brain. The thoughts themselves might not actually be "real", in other words some of them may NOT be connected to actual fears or problems, they may be artificial constructs which you use to explain what's happening to you. If you've ever wondered "Why the hell did I think THAT?", this could be the answer.

So you think these thoughts because you're experiencing a storm in your amygdala - the storm is being generated by a normal (for someone with anxiety) physical process, and you create negative thoughts to explain this process, as you don't understand it, and don't understand how/why you feel the way you do.

These thoughts then reinforce your anxiety, and you get stuck in the anxiety trap - you spend months or years running from or fighting these thoughts, but they keep coming back.

This is all theory but it seems to fit and I have progressed very, very far towards recovery in the months that I've suspected it - A LOT further than I ever did by thought-challenging. (How can you challenge a fearful thought when you KNOW there's no reason for it to occur, but it keeps coming back anyway?)

It puts the power back in your hands; it normalises your experience (makes it less scary/threatening/abstract); it makes the whole thing seem more logical, less arbitrary; it explains the inexplicable thoughts; it also makes you less afraid of these "storms", makes you more aware of your body and how it works, and because you know when it's happening, you get better at telling it to sod off.

Anxiety is a loss of personal power. Recovery starts when you begin taking the power back. Listen to Uprising by Muse.

[Logan_Five]

I'm 8 weeks in to Citalopram and recently upped my dose from 30-40mg, mainly because the anxiety comes and goes. Am aware that it's possibly still settling into my system, especially with the dose being fiddled about with. I was on 40mg per day prior to coming off Cit at the turn of the year - which I did via the GP and on reflection, wasn't the right thing to do - but it's very much trial and error.

I've got some sleeping aids from the GP, which I take as and when. 10mg Temazepam and 7.5mg Zopiclone, which I'm gonna take tonight just to I can get some sleep after a fitful kip last night (despite taking a Tem) I've also had 6mg diazepam so far today, which again I take as and when. My worry is that when the anxiety has become over-powering as it did about 4 weeks ago, I ended up having not good intrusive thoughts. :( That still scares the bejesus outta me.

[xvolatileheart]

Thank you all sooooo much for your kind words. Really helped me through today.

Lior, you have some really good advice and thought patterns. I will try to add those to my repertoire. :) I do a good bit of exercise and yoga, I live with 5 of my friends so I socialise with them (we always have dinner together), I am in medical school so keep myself busy with my studies. I feel like I do all the right things but my brain is just messed up. :wacko: I hope that the medication reduces my anxiety and depression so I can correct my thought patterns and see things more rationally.

NoPoet, that's a fantastic explanation. It doesn't make the bad thoughts and feelings go away, but it hopefully will help me frame them in a better way. It's all about breaking the fear cycles. I totally agree about disliking thought challenging. It just makes me think about the thoughts more which fuels the fire. I prefer the mindfulness method or Claire Weekes' "floating" idea, but I have not mastered them yet! At least not when I'm having a bad episode anyway.

Logan, I hope your upped dose gets you back to a healthy place. I suffer daily with the overpowering intrusive thoughts so I know how terrifying they are. Sending you good thoughts for a better sleep tonight.

[Dan1975]

I've read a few books on anxiety and the one consistent thing that comes across is that the struggle is the route cause of continuous anxiety. Let it go. Stop fighting the symptoms. Stop trying to find a cure. This is the cause of your anxiety.

Read at last a life and the happiness trap. Great books that helped me a lot.

[Logan_Five]

Thank you all sooooo much for your kind words. Really helped me through today.

Lior, you have some really good advice and thought patterns. I will try to add those to my repertoire. :) I do a good bit of exercise and yoga, I live with 5 of my friends so I socialise with them (we always have dinner together), I am in medical school so keep myself busy with my studies. I feel like I do all the right things but my brain is just messed up. :wacko: I hope that the medication reduces my anxiety and depression so I can correct my thought patterns and see things more rationally.

NoPoet, that's a fantastic explanation. It doesn't make the bad thoughts and feelings go away, but it hopefully will help me frame them in a better way. It's all about breaking the fear cycles. I totally agree about disliking thought challenging. It just makes me think about the thoughts more which fuels the fire. I prefer the mindfulness method or Claire Weekes' "floating" idea, but I have not mastered them yet! At least not when I'm having a bad episode anyway.

Logan, I hope your upped dose gets you back to a healthy place. I suffer daily with the overpowering intrusive thoughts so I know how terrifying they are. Sending you good thoughts for a better sleep tonight.

I was on 40mg per day before Xmas, so am no stranger to it. I have slept better, thanks but I took a Zopiclone - will see how I get on tonight. :)

[xvolatileheart]

That's good to hear. :) I also slept better, only woke up once feeling quite anxious, was up for about 40 minutes before I dozed back off. Then I had to get up early for class so I'm shattered but on the whole feeling a bit brighter.

[An0chick2]

I find it interesting how no one here mentioned diet. Have you looked at your diet? Are you taking a good multivitamin? Not the centrum crap but an actual good multi that has fruits and veggies. Our bodies were made with the ability of being able to cope with stress. However if you don't have the right nutrients then our bodies prioratize and focus on keeping us alive rather than helping us cope with stress. I really do think that diet makes a big diffrence. I guess I'm just giving you a different opinion. Hope you get better soon.

[xvolatileheart]

Diet is definitely important. I have a very healthy diet, I'm pretty meticulous about eating a range of fruit and veg, the right amount of protein, healthy fats and limiting simple carbohydrates.

Like I said before, I have a pretty textbook healthy lifestyle - good diet, plenty of exercise, keep my brain active with my studies, socialise with my friends, no drugs or alcohol, consistent bedtime, yoga and meditation, yet I'm still suffering with severe anxiety and depression. Unfortunately mental health problems run in my family so there's only so much I can control. I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong, but I've come to accept that I'm not to blame for what I'm going through.

[An0chick2]

Oh I'm sorry. I must've missed that part. Have you tried magnesium oil? I have had all day anxiety for the past week and I'm I was finally able to sleep last night by spraying some magnesium oil on myself. I'm going to see a therapist too tomorrow and I am looking into my diet.

[xvolatileheart]

That's good that you've found something that helps! I haven't heard of magnesium oil that can be sprayed. I have taken magnesium supplements (along with a few other supplements meant to boost mood and brain function) but didn't feel any different.

[An0chick2]

Hmm have you ever tried acupuncture? I guess I'm just throwing out some ideas that might work for you. Last year I was having major tummy issues and acupuncture worked! It also works for stress. I'm actually going to go back.

[Davit]

Read memory on the internet, it explains all the things you speculate might be happening and actually explains why.