Really struggling to understand what's going on

[Deepest Blue]

Hi Everybody,

I've been struggling for a while now to understand what's wrong with me. I seem to always be on edge and I panic about almost everything, I seem to struggle sleeping and even when I do fall asleep it normally ends up being a nightmare so it's cut short.

I've tried meds before namely citaprolam and effexor but these have not really helped other than make me too drowsy to do anything and I need to be fully alert due to the job I do.

It's really affecting my life and I thought I had a hold on it, but I don't know if it's depression or anxiety or both, and even so I don't even know what kind of anxiety it is, some say social anxiety but I don't think it's that, I am quite a shy person anyway but the fact that I have anxiety I think makes it appear like social anxiety, however, I can handle being in a social circle if I am not feeling anxious so that questions that one.

I also feel sick a lot of the time and my apetite is poor, or then sometimes I feel really hungry to the point where I can eat everything in sight!

My GP hasn't helped that much in the sense that he just tends to prescribe meds and nothing more. I've also tried Propranolol even though they didn't give me side affects, they also didn't do much in the way of relaxing me.

I think the fact that I panic about everything is probably the cause, my thinking is always blown out of proportion and I always tend to think something bad will happen and I hate continually thinking this way, I want to feel positive somehow. I really don't know what else to do :(

Thanks for reading.

[Yvonne]

Have you had any kind of talking therapy? Had gp not offered any counselling?

Some of the meds do make you feel very sedated so you could try others. Prozac isn't a sedating med to my recollection. You have to try until you find the med that works best for you. Also, depression and anxiety make you feel very weak and tired anyway. If you are anxious and panicky a lot of the time this is draining you - it's possible it isn't always the medication. Having said that I have had meds that are very very sedating and so I know what you're talking about.

You're not sleeping well at night so you are going to feel tired anyway. Anxiety always affects our sleep.

You are working so that's a plus. Do you feel you can continue working with your anxiety levels or do you think that it's getting to a point where you can't handle your job?

To me, it doesn't matter which type of anxiety a person suffers from - it's all anxiety and if you feel anxious you are hardly going to feel comfortable in any situation be it social or whatever.

Have you tried cbt? Ask your gp about it. You sound like a good candidate for it. Do an online course like Fearfighter for the cbt if you don't get anywhere with the gp. Do some relaxation each day - get yourself a good cd to listen to.

Good luck and take care.

[Magik]

I take it that Fearfighter costs money? Not like a charitable organization or the sort? Would be nice to think not everyone is out to make money, although, I agree, people should get paid for services rendered, I just noticed how much my doctor copays are piling up. X.x

The economy and trying to raise a family right now doesn't make money that much easier to come by.

[Yvonne]

Magik

I see you're in USA so I doubt if you could get this. Fearfighter is accessible through MIND and it is free. However, there are other free cbt programmes on the internet that you can do.

[Deepest Blue]

Thanks for the responses everybody.

My gp has never offered counselling but to be honest I've not really gone to see him that often enough for him to maybe think it's severe. Maybe I should.

I am trying to fight this battle within me and I am not 100% if why I am feeling the way I am is because of some things going on in my life that seem very difficult to control and also don't seem to have a clear resolution right now so I am always on tenterhooks about everything rather than trying to stay calm. I try to keep busy too but this ends up me losing the motivation to carry it through. I work long hours 12hr shifts and on my days off I am tired. When I go out I often have to go out alone or take my girls with me to places like the Cinema, many of my friends seem to be busy and don't bother too much in getting in touch anymore which is another contributer.

I think there's just so many things happening at once and I've lost control of every single one of them. I sometimes have ideas on what I can do but then I become overwhelmed and I panic which grinds me to a halt.

I really have to try and take things a little slower but I don't know what to tackle first.

Thanks for reading.