Totally fed up!

[lenor]

Hi,

After successfully (I thought) coming off meds 6 months ago which i had been on for 10 years, i find myself spiralling down again and I am very annoyed! I was on such a low dose for the last 2 yrs that it should have made no difference phyiscally and was more for my peace of mind while i planned my wedding (which went very well indeed), however it seems that it was making a difference and now I feel as if i am back to square one again.
The anixtey and panic attacks are taking over again and scarerly the Dr thinks I could slip into depression, which I never thought I would have again.

Over the years the Dr has pointed out that with my family history (mum and nan have similar condiditions) and that there is no truma or event to have triggered this it is likley that I just have chemical inbalance and will be on meds the rest of my life.

The sensible thing would be to go back on the meds, but does anyone have any other advice or alternative treatements?

[Bill]

I have had panic attacks since I was 7, tried lots of therpies and though nothing has 'cured' me I can pretty much cope with them now.

However they do get worse when I am under emotional stress.

I found the above in a post you wrote from nearly a year ago. I've also read that you get panics at your desk or in the car.

I therefore think it's highly likely that your depressed state is caused by anxiety which becomes worse when you are feeling under more stress and so has no connection to stopping your medication. Your medication "may" have helped to ease your anxiety symptoms and lifted your mood but I feel sure that the actual cause is your minds reaction to too much stress.

When we're feeling under too much stress, we can feel "trapped" under certain circumstances just as you do at your desk or in the car. You feel a need to run and escape but it's this trapped feeling due to too much stress in your life that is the underlying cause.

A year ago you were getting married so you had a lot to sort and prepare. However, it was also keeping your mind busy so you didn't get time to think about the stress you were feeling. Now that things have settled down and you're working a daily routine, you're still feeling stressed but maybe now your mind hasn't enough to stimulate it and keep it occupied allowing you to think more about how you're feeling inside. When we focus on our feelings, our anxiety becomes worse and then the constant battle against these anxious feelings can make us feel depressed.

Going back onto medication may ease your anxious feelings and lift your mood but it's stress or even perhaps "boredom" stress that is the actual cause to your anxiety making you feel more depressed than usual rather than coping without medication.

If you can't ease the stress at work, I feel you need to try and find time to relax and find enjoyment in life such as something to look forward to when you get home or at weekends so that life isn't just a boring stressful treadmill. I think that would help you more than medication.:hugs:

[Lauren C]

Hi, I am just new to this forum, but am delighted to have found it. It is reassuring to know that I am not the only one who suffers from panic attacks and depression. I have had panic attacks ever since I can remember - as a child it felt like my feet were suffocating, sounds silly I know but that was the only way I could describe the feeling I had - I used to get beaten for being so silly. Anyway to fast forward through the years to present, I am now forty four years of age, been on medication for depression when I was in my twenties, and had thought I had put all that behind me. Then, as things do, bad stuff happened and I found myself on medication again as well as sleeping tablets, which I am finding almost impossible to give up, despite being told that they were non addictive - I think maybe what is addictive is the knowledge that I can take a pill and I will sleep. sometimes I just dont want to wake up, this is not what I saw happening in my life. Anyway, thanks for letting me rant

[smudgie]

Hi Lauren

Im so sorry you have found yourself in this situation again after being successful coming off the drugs. Bill is so right and I find it hard to follow up with anything he has written.

I would just like to say one thing, In my past I have been on and off meds all my life, thinking I was able to cope without. Sure enough it didnt last long but i have resided to the fact im better off with taking them for the rest of my life. I dont want to go backwards anymore.

If the meds are safe surely its better than anxiety and panic hindering our lives. no one needs to know and its certainly not a failure .

I hope I hav'nt said anything to upset you.
Take care what ever you do, best wishes
smudgie:hugs:

[always anxious]

Hello Everyone!!

im suffering quite bad at the mo. have jus had viral tonsillitus but feel like im goin insane!! feel so spaced out, confused and paranoid that im going mad or that im about to die!! this is the worst ive ever felt during my 2 yeasr of anxiety!! anyone got any helpfull methods/ideas??

thanks!! X X X

[lenor]

Hi Bill,

I think you have hit the nail on the head! I know my anixity is to do with emotional stress, at the moment there is a lot going on most of which i can nothing about, or it is taking longer than I want to sort out. I am so bored at work! However I have taken the positive step to see a professional careers advisor and I hope to change careers into something more interesting and creative.
It just gets me down that after years of therapy and now being much better at recognising when it is creeping up on me that I have let get this far again.
I guess it will be constant thing in my life and that it will take a change in lifestyle. Medication is great to help give yourself a break or just control the symptons but it doesn't actually fix the problem.
I know that I need to go back on the meds, if I had diabetes then I wouldn't be questioning taking stuff.

Thanks for all your posts, all have been very helpful.
X