Am I nuts?!?!

[tom1]

I'm suffering from anxiety bad as ever at the moment. Vomiting, IBS, disorientation, Panic attacks etc in just about anything. I know I need goto a doctor about it and get on some medication to temporarily keep these symptoms at bay, yet I won't. I won't goto my doctor for the medication. Even though I desperately NEED it. But I don't know why.

I came off anti-depressants several months ago, and it was quite frankly a mistake. I'm feeling much worse again, and while I wait to see someone professionally about it e.g. a therapist I'm really struggling.

Maybe I'm trying to figure it out on my own (a solution) but while I am doing this, my life is slipping from my fingers in so many areas at once. The clock is ticking, and I'm not getting any better. I'm on a limited time constraint to when I can see my doctor, since they are always on holiday out of the blue for several weeks. If I see anyone else they turn me away. Maybe I'm anxious about going and asking for medication for my anxiety? I don't know.

Just wish I could pull myself together and get something done. :lac:

[Hartley Pool]

You might feel like you are somehow 'letting yourself down' by going on medication. Truth is, all of us sometimes need a little help to get through it, and getting some meds while you wait for therapy is going to make your life more liveable.

[andie73]

Hi Tom1

Sorry to hear you are feeling so bad atthe moment. Try and set yourself the goal of ringing for an appointment today. Once you've done it then it's one step nearer to feeling better. Going to the doctors will make you feel that you are taking control of this situation, not being controlled by it.

Medication is not something I advocate really, but I have taken it myself, and when you are so low and anxious sometimes it's the only way to reliveve the immediate crisis. The doctor may just give you something short term. And if it helps, why feel bad about it?

Sometimes we cannot find the answers ourselves, and when the meds make you feel calmer you can start to read up and research about anx and depression which will give you power over it. That's what I did and I now don't take meds. I still get moments, plenty of them too, but I know now that anx can not harm me. Depression is a little more complex, and needs meds and counselling. Medication is not the answer but it will help you feel better so that you can sort through your issues etc with a trained counsellor.

Remember that there is no overnight solution to this, it is a learning process. Learning how to cope with how you are feeling and how to nip depression in the bud before it gets to this point.

You will get there, honestly though, go to the doctors even if it is just to feel you are making decisions about your health rather than letting things take over.

[Ozpanic]

Hi Tom,
I agree with Andie, I am not a big fan of meds, however i do take them diazepam 5mg etc and some pain meds due to back issue, i want of them all TBO, i think they can add to my depression, I would rather learn to deal with my emotions dep if i can, i have some external issues atm though and until that is resolved i feel stuck. I have to say i the years i have taken meds i really have not seen my panic disorders get any better perhaps take the edge of that's about it, i do also do relaxation tech too..OZ :winks:

[tigger1964]

hi tom.

i was in the same position just over a month ago and i found the courage to go get help, with the help of my partner and friend i managed to go, they gave me meds, and although i dont like taking them they do help and they are only a temp solution and it does make life more liveable. Im waiting to see a cbt and im still housebound for most of the time but i am going out a little. Hang in there, there you will there in the end.

take care


sharon

[tom1]

Hi thanks for the warming support.

Today at university I had probably one of the worst spells of anxiety I've had ever! I was in a lesson when all of a sudden I started to freak out. I just a huge overwhelming amount of anxiety strike me. I wasn't even thinking about anything in particular, I was just doing some work... Anyway I managed to hold it together till the lesson finished, but I found myself running to the toilet to be sick though. Took me a while to calm down, but for the rest of the day I felt terrible with my anxiety.

The thing with me is, I don't like being labled. Too many people and doctors are so quick to judge you. I went to a couple of doctors before about my anxiety and they just told me to work on my breathing and eat healthy (which I do anyway). They wouldn't even attempt to put me through to someone who could actually help. So if my family doctor isn't available when I make an appointment I'm going to be stuck.

[Cathy V]

Tom, there are so many uni students with this problem its not true. University life is very stressful and the nature of it is that not many students get the right amount of sleep and maybe dont eat right either. My daughter is at uni in uk and more than one of her fellow students are suffering in the same way and some are taking either a year out doing the year again to catch up.

You cannot burn the candle at both ends, something has got to give and its usually your health.

Cathy xxx

[Ozpanic]

Hi thanks for the warming support.

Today at university I had probably one of the worst spells of anxiety I've had ever! I was in a lesson when all of a sudden I started to freak out. I just a huge overwhelming amount of anxiety strike me. I wasn't even thinking about anything in particular, I was just doing some work... Anyway I managed to hold it together till the lesson finished, but I found myself running to the toilet to be sick though. Took me a while to calm down, but for the rest of the day I felt terrible with my anxiety.

The thing with me is, I don't like being labled. Too many people and doctors are so quick to judge you. I went to a couple of doctors before about my anxiety and they just told me to work on my breathing and eat healthy (which I do anyway). They wouldn't even attempt to put me through to someone who could actually help. So if my family doctor isn't available when I make an appointment I'm going to be stuck.

Hi Tom you did well, apparently if you can it's best to stay there feel it let it pass don't run from it, so 10points, a councillor told me this is how you overcome them , then you see nothing happened or you did not go mad or die, scary though i know, i want to study next year but i am scared whitless about it i will try though, the thought of lots of people on a campus :scared15: Oz

[tom1]

Hi, yeah I know a lot of people who have dropped out from uni because it can be so stressful, including myself. I did a different course a couple of years ago, but I just couldn't manage the stress. So I eventually quit, worked for a bit and then did a different course.

Things in my second year of uni have been so stressful so far, we have about 4 projects going on at once, that need to be completed by christmas. Then after christmas we have some exams then followed by a work placement, followed by more exams. I am totally stressing about the whole thing.

I suppose you can say holding it together for that moment was pretty strong of me, but for me it doesn't seem that way. Since all my anxiety is just constantly repeating itself in the same or similar situations over and over, and just about getting through it doesn't ever overcome it for me. It's just a constant struggle, it's always there and it won't go away. It's like my mind can be in one place (happy, content) and my body will be in another. My body will be all panicky feel as if it's going through the event of something bad happening to me. It's really weird. Sometimes I even feel disconnected, like I am watching myself from a window. I think my mind is totally surpressing these traumas, but my body can't which is why I feel so weird.

Ideally I need to see a doctor very soon because I am not cocentrating very well lately on my work because I'm feeling so ill with my anxiety. I have tons of work to do and the clock is ticking. I can't keep putting this off and feeling like this. Something needs to be done. But I am very doubtful that I will see anyone as soon as this week, my local doctors are ALWAYS, ALWAYS busy. The doctor who is my GP (family appointed doctor) is either on holiday or fully booked and they are the only person I can see who understands my anxiety. All the others tend to just tell me things I already know and show me the door. It's hard for me to book appoitments as well because I am so busy at university or doing coursework at home. When I do actually get round to booking, all the slots have been taken.

[tom1]

Okay quck update.

I tried to make get an appointment this afternoon and was told they are fully booked all through this week and next. Oh well.:frown: