View Full Version : need some quick replies/advice please
hi all have posted on here few times before but not for a while.
i started having anxiety/panic attacks when i was 17. i took my first anti depressant at 18 and the side effects were so bad i though i was going to die :(
im now 26 and have 4 beautiful daughters and am married and still living with this dreaded thing called anxiety. i have been on 5mg cipralex for 4 years constant but feel its not doing a thing for me now and has not been for a while. 5 months ago i went to doctors and he suggested i up my dose to 10mg a day so that night i took the 10mg cipralex and i could not sleep and i was shaking really badly it really frightened me so i did not take another and went back on the 5mg.
i went to the doctors this morning and told him i was not coping too well (im struggling with school run and never go food shopping) and he suggested i up my meds to 10mg and stick to it. i said i was so frightened of the side effects he also gave me a script for 2mg daizapam to take up to 3 times a day to take when i am shaky etc its to take the edge off the side effetcs. i am also frightened by this med. i worry so much about not being fit enough for my children. i am at my wits end and seriously do not know what to do or think.
i constantly worry about my anxiety symptoms. my head feels all over the place all of the time. i feel tired and drained and not quite 'with it' i feel dizzy a lot and when im really bad my heart pounds and beats so hard and fast. im so frustrated by all this please someone advise me :weep::weep:
mandyclare
13-11-09, 14:10
Hi. sorry you are feeling so bad.. im a mum of 3 and know how hard it is to raise a family when anxiety is bad like this.
I havent used the medications you have... i have 40mg propranolol a day and its amazing.. really helps.. maybe your dr could try you on that.
As another mum who understands how difficult it is when you feel you cant go out food shopping etc just know that I am at the other end of a pm if you ever need to vent.
This can and will get better.. its just a matter of time before you find the right meds for you.
Love of love
Mand x
thanks mandy means so so much xxxx
was hoping for some other response :(
Hi
2mg of Diazepam each time is not a high level. I have used it off and on only when needed and to be honest it helped. The main thing is not to use it for more than a few weeks.
Just wondering if you do any sort of exercise because I have found that it is really good for all round wellbeing. As a result I have not used any Diazepam for about a year and a half.
hi utility
thanks for the reply
to be honest i do not really exercise :blush: i used to enjoy walking but because of my anxiety i am very restricted in what i can do just feel so helpless really
Hi
I am not going to pretend for one minute that I can understand how difficult it may be for some people to even leave their house at times, because I have never been in that situation.
When I mentioned exercise I should have clarified that I meant even simple things like 5 mins worth of something at home. Please believe me over time it will make all the difference in the world.
I used to worry that at any moment I was going to drop down dead and it was leading me towards not wanting to do anything that involved effort (just in case I brought on a heart attack). It was through the slow build up of exercise (and I mean over a time scale of about a year and a half) that my whole outlook changed.
If you can, give it a try.
Good luck!
i took my first anti depressant at 18 and the side effects were so bad i though i was going to die :(
i up my dose to 10mg a day so that night i took the 10mg cipralex and i could not sleep and i was shaking really badly it really frightened me
i said i was so frightened of the side effects
i am also frightened by this med.
i worry so much about not being fit enough
i constantly worry about my anxiety symptoms.
i feel dizzy a lot and when im really bad my heart pounds and beats so hard and fast.
I've highlighted the above because I wanted to show a common theme that runs with anxiety - Worry and Fear of physical symptoms that create a constant cycle of Worry and Fear.
I think that alot of mothers will probably relate with how you're feeling which is why I wanted to say what I feel goes wrong and what I feel is needed to get cope better.
I'm sure a mothers role must be very stressful but sometimes the stress can build so much that we feel unable to cope.
When we reach stress overload, our minds try to tell us we can't take anymore but often we don't realise what it's tryin to say. When the breaking point is reached, physical symptoms occur which make us feel we must be ill but what's actually happening is that the symptoms are created by adrenalin due to too much stress. For instance, if we saw a lion, our mind would react in exactly the same way by producing adrenalin preparing us to run. However, in the present time, when we feel too stressed by what's happening in our daily lives, we have nowhere to run because we can't escape the issues causing our stress and therefore also our physical symptoms.
The adrenalin has no means of being used for its purpose so it builds up in our body constantly making us "feel" ill.
The build of stress therefore causes physical symptoms that "frighten" us and then this triggers "worry" which then creates more "fear" because the symptoms feel so bad that we become frightened of what we "feel" will happen to us. We therefore fear we're going to faint or worse which makes us worry which creates more adrenalin which makes us "feel" ill which then causes more fear in an endless cycle.
When we "feel" this ill and so frightened of our symptoms, we seek immediate relief from the doctor who prescribes meds which we then think will cure us of our symptoms. However, if you remember what I said in the beginning, our symptoms are produced by Worry and Fear and these have resulted from being under too much stress. Therefore, while the level of stress exists in our lives, the cycle will continue regardless of meds because the underlying cause isn't being treated. All that the meds are hopefully actually doing are easing the "symptoms" but not actually working on putting the fire out (the causes to our stress that are creating our symptoms).
However, one of the dangers is meds is as you've experienced - the side-effects which can make us "feel" even more ill. These feelings then fuel more worry and fear which then keeps our symptoms going so we actually end up adding fuel to our fire. We become confused and frustrated so the doctor increases the meds or provides an alternative so we become drawn into the thought that the right med will cure us when in reality no med provides a cure because the symptoms we're feeling are created by a "normal reaction to stress (fear)". For instance, as I said, we experience the same symptoms whe confronted by a lion but would taking a med make the symptoms And the lion go away? Of course not. Therefore, how will a med make the causes of our stress in our lives go away? They can't. they can only make ease the symptoms but not cure us, but there is this danger that meds can actually make us feel More ill and create an addictiveness because we then become afraid of stopping them because when we try, we feel more ill. What's actually happening is that the fear associated with stopping them then starts the cycle of worry, fear and symptoms all over again so we feel we have to take meds to stay well when there are other ways of learning to cope.
Therefore, to effectively treat our anxiety requires two steps-
Firstly, we have to be shown that the symptoms we're so afraid of are created by a perfectly natural reaction to too much stress. In this way, once we learn to accept them, we feel more relaxed in general because we don't feel frightened of them returning. This means that we feel better in ourselves and the symptoms remain at a much more manageable level so that our confidence is greater and we therefore feel more capable of coping.
This then leads to the second part-
We cannot avoid natural symptoms but we need to accept them just as we would if we sneezed! However, nor can we avoid the causes to the stresses in our lives. For instance, looking after children or being in a stressful job often can't be avoided. What we can do though is learn "stress management" so that we learn coping mechanisms to prevent the stress from creating so much adrenalin that we feel too ill to cope and therefore avoid the dangers of the meds route.
Such coping mechanisms would include exercise because it burns the excess adrenalin that causes the symptoms. Also learning how to relax through relaxation techniques such as breathing exercises, taking time out to chill out etc. Listening to music, meditation etc. Also finding time to ourselves to enjoy a hobby to stop us from worrying and feeling stressed.
Life shouldn't always mean stress. We also need to find enjoyment in life.
Hope that's of some help.:hugs:
i took my first anti depressant at 18 and the side effects were so bad i though i was going to die :(
i up my dose to 10mg a day so that night i took the 10mg cipralex and i could not sleep and i was shaking really badly it really frightened me
i said i was so frightened of the side effects
i am also frightened by this med.
i worry so much about not being fit enough
i constantly worry about my anxiety symptoms.
i feel dizzy a lot and when im really bad my heart pounds and beats so hard and fast.
I've highlighted the above because I wanted to show a common theme that runs with anxiety - Worry and Fear of physical symptoms that create a constant cycle of Worry and Fear.
I think that alot of mothers will probably relate with how you're feeling which is why I wanted to say what I feel goes wrong and what I feel is needed to get cope better.
I'm sure a mothers role must be very stressful but sometimes the stress can build so much that we feel unable to cope.
When we reach stress overload, our minds try to tell us we can't take anymore but often we don't realise what it's tryin to say. When the breaking point is reached, physical symptoms occur which make us feel we must be ill but what's actually happening is that the symptoms are created by adrenalin due to too much stress. For instance, if we saw a lion, our mind would react in exactly the same way by producing adrenalin preparing us to run. However, in the present time, when we feel too stressed by what's happening in our daily lives, we have nowhere to run because we can't escape the issues causing our stress and therefore also our physical symptoms.
The adrenalin has no means of being used for its purpose so it builds up in our body constantly making us "feel" ill.
The build of stress therefore causes physical symptoms that "frighten" us and then this triggers "worry" which then creates more "fear" because the symptoms feel so bad that we become frightened of what we "feel" will happen to us. We therefore fear we're going to faint or worse which makes us worry which creates more adrenalin which makes us "feel" ill which then causes more fear in an endless cycle.
When we "feel" this ill and so frightened of our symptoms, we seek immediate relief from the doctor who prescribes meds which we then think will cure us of our symptoms. However, if you remember what I said in the beginning, our symptoms are produced by Worry and Fear and these have resulted from being under too much stress. Therefore, while the level of stress exists in our lives, the cycle will continue regardless of meds because the underlying cause isn't being treated. All that the meds are hopefully actually doing are easing the "symptoms" but not actually working on putting the fire out (the causes to our stress that are creating our symptoms).
However, one of the dangers is meds is as you've experienced - the side-effects which can make us "feel" even more ill. These feelings then fuel more worry and fear which then keeps our symptoms going so we actually end up adding fuel to our fire. We become confused and frustrated so the doctor increases the meds or provides an alternative so we become drawn into the thought that the right med will cure us when in reality no med provides a cure because the symptoms we're feeling are created by a "normal reaction to stress (fear)". For instance, as I said, we experience the same symptoms when confronted by a lion but would taking a med make the symptoms And the lion go away? Of course not. Therefore, how will a med make the causes of our stress in our lives go away? They can't. they can only make ease the symptoms but not cure us, but there is this danger that meds can actually make us feel More ill and create an addictiveness because we then become afraid of stopping them because when we try, we feel more ill. What's actually happening is that the fear associated with stopping them then starts the cycle of worry, fear and symptoms all over again so we feel we have to take meds to stay well when there are other ways of learning to cope.
Therefore, to effectively treat our anxiety requires two steps-
Firstly, we have to be shown that the symptoms we're so afraid of are created by a perfectly natural reaction to too much stress. In this way, once we learn to accept them, we feel more relaxed in general because we don't feel frightened of them returning. This means that we feel better in ourselves and the symptoms remain at a much more manageable level so that our confidence is greater and we therefore feel more capable of coping.
This then leads to the second part-
We cannot avoid natural symptoms but we need to accept them just as we would if we sneezed! However, nor can we avoid the causes to the stresses in our lives. For instance, looking after children or being in a stressful job often can't be avoided. What we can do though is learn "stress management" so that we learn coping mechanisms to prevent the stress from creating so much adrenalin that we feel too ill to cope and therefore avoid the dangers of the meds route.
Such coping mechanisms would include exercise because it burns the excess adrenalin that causes the symptoms. Also learning how to relax through relaxation techniques such as breathing exercises, taking time out to chill out etc. Listening to music, meditation etc. Also finding time to ourselves to enjoy a hobby to stop us from worrying and feeling stressed.
Life shouldn't always mean stress. We also need to find enjoyment in life.
Hope that's of some help.:hugs:
Hi bill
I have read through this and can honestly say i have never had anxiety explained to me like this before and it makes perfect sense what you are saying.
I have definitely taken it on board and i'm going to try and make de-stressing a priority in my life from now on...get rid of all that built up adrenalin:)
sue x
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