Feeling anxious before my period is due?

[SUZY Q]

Hi everyone, Been on escitalopram for 6 weeks now was upped to 10mg 3 weeks ago today. Not sure if anyone can help me but The last week i have been feeling really great even up until yesterday. I have been doing so many things that i havent been able to do for months. But today , i am feeling very anxious,dizzy tearful and having what i can only describe as hot flushes. I am due on friday. I seem to feel abit like this when i am due on just feels a bit worse this month. Or could it be that because ive had so many good days that it has completely thrown me. Am i being irrational that the tabs might have stopped working please can someone reassure me. :weep:

[cheekycharlie]

do you take evening primrose oil? I found this has helped me. x

[SUZY Q]

Hi, thankyou. Yes i do take primrose oil. I think it has just thrown me feeling like this again after i have had quite a few good days.

[SUZY Q]

Could someone also tell me can you still have days of feeling anxious after 6 weeks. Just feel upset that i am feeling like this again today. :weep:

[alias_kev]

Hi Suzy, a bloke here but I'll do my best. :) With Escitalopram even at 20mg daily I could still feel very anxious. I have severe GAD and Esc only moderated it a bit. Its one of the reasons I changed Meds. It nuked all depression and negative emotion though.

I think we can still be anxious for a lot of reasons:
1. fluctuation in the meds - time taken, digestive upsets, etc
2. we vary every day before the meds so its not odd to differ some days.
3. external factors - stressful situations etc occur and push us harder
4. biology - you ladies certainly have far more scope for that. From observation its quite common for hormones to mess some up for a week before, or even for the week of/after - both because of the change in hormones.

So yeah, don't give up just because of a bad day or two.

Also does your blood sugar feel any different especially say in the mornings. Mine was very wobbly/poor at the start and the Esc' seemed to make this a bit worse. I balanced that by having a snack at bedtime. Didn't help my figure (ha-ha) but on the whole I felt better in the mornings.

[Oceanblue]

I suffer real bad with anxiety/depression etc, when it's the time of month. I feel really bad sometimes up to two weeks before and on the first day of my last period I was bleeding so heavy it was effecting my mind in a horrible way. I was taken to hospital because I was experiencing mild delusions, I was also under a lot of stress that had built up too.

I'm still trying to find a way to help. PDocs or GP's can't seem to offer much. I think it's insane that nothing is out there that can help us.

[Danny_dingle]

Hi SuzyQ

I am on Citalopram 20mg and it started working exactly as everyone said it would, until the week before I was on when I felt the same PMT emotions as I did before I started the meds, and as soon as my period turned up they went away again.

The tabs help with anxiety and depression, but seemingly period hormones are there to stay, no matter what drugs we take to sort them out lol!

Please don't give up hope with the tabs tho. You will feel better as soon as you're back on again.

Danny xxx

[kt79]

Hi there

I am on 20mg of Citalopram and though I did not have anxiety around my period, I did have really bad hot flushes and dizziness which I had not experienced before. I reckon these must have something to do with the meds

[NoPoet]

Hi Suzy Q, a lot of the ladies on NMP who are taking SSRIs report weird effects around the time when they need to use Dracula's tea bags. You are probably going through the same as them. Does anyone else appreciate the brutal simplicity of male biology? ;)

[SUZY Q]

Hi, thankyou all very much. It has made me feel better reading what you have all written. I am just going to say to myself that ok the next couple of days i might not feel great on and off but its not going to last forever. Thanks again. :)

[Nutmeg]

I get really anxious before my period but I always have it's not the medication it's just that I'm now worse and need medication so the anxiety before my period is worse as well!

[SUZY Q]

Hi Nutmeg, thankyou for your post. It really has helped me hearing what people have said. Its not much fun sometimes being a woman is it (Ha Ha). Evan though i have been feeling a bit more anxious, flushes and dizzy the last few days i must admit that it hasnt stopped me going out where as a couple of weeks ago i wouldnt of gone out at all feeling like this. Also taking my son into school in the morning (my mum has been coming with me) i have been able to get rid of the anxiety alot quicker than i would of before. I keep telling myself that its just pmt and it will pass in the next couple of days. Thanks again. :)

[SUZY Q]

Hi, thought that i would just update how im feeling now. I have now been on cipralex for just over 8 weeks. When i had my period i felt rough the first day and then felt so much better after that (so was definately the problem with the anxiety). The last week and a half i have been feeling so much like my old self. I had a rotten cold last week but it didnt stop me from going to my local shopping centre with my husband i spent ages in a jewllers picking out our daughters 18th present. Had a cup of tea in BHS and was able to sit in there for about half an hour without having the feeling that i wanted to run out. Went and had a lovely pub lunch. And im feeling loads better going to the school to take and pick up my son with my husband. Next week i am going to take him on my own. Im finally waking up without the dreaded fear and anxious feelings. Also seeing my friends, Just being able to sit and have a chat and a laugh with out fear of feeling anxious is wonderful. After a few weeks of being on cipralex i did start to wonder if it would work. But i am really feeling the benefit now. I know that with anxiety and panic you still have to push yourself to do things. But now when im feeling very nervous about going somewhere i know that each time i do it, it will get that bit easier. I made a mistake last night my brother stayed over and i had a few to many wines. I have been feeling anxious on and off today but im sure that its because of the drink. I have read that this can happen so i have learnt my lesson in the future i will only have the odd one or two.:D