GAD and Doctor won't help

[Danath]

ello all, I'd just like to relate where im up to now, also perhaps my situation will be clearer to me also if i write it down.

Ive been suffering with anxiety for about 3 years now (im 22) and when I was initially diagnosed by one of my old doctors I was given Prozac, which worked initially despite the fact I was also drinking quite a lot at the time. I started to get better and to settle down. about a year later I had a relapse and have been bouncing to and from the doctors ever since. I was given amitriptyline, then i was changed to citalopram which seemed to work for a while, until I stopped working, I was changed from citalopram as I thoguht it was making me irritable, this was probably a bad move, I was put on venlafaxine, months later i was still having trouble so was changed back to fluoxetine.... then again to mirtazipine.... then again to citalopram...... then again to fluoxetine, somewhere in the middle i was given paroxetine but those were given up after 2 days as the side effects were too rough on me. Now hes put me on amitriptyline and gabapentin and I still feel like crap, last night I slept from 9pm til 2pm today with only a short break for food in between at about 10am. A psychiatrist diagnosed me with GAD but said he would'nt prescribe anything as he didnt feel it was appropriate. I'm quite fed up of all this I feel like a bloody human guinea pig, and my doctor won't seem to prescribe anything thats actually approved for GAD, I asked him if he would try pregabalin but he said it was a marketing scam and too expensive so gave me gabapentin instead, which seems to be useless for anxiety.

I am ringing him today at5:40pm to see if he will perhaps try me on something that is ACUTALLY indicated for GAD, like escitalopram, and if he will try me on seroquel or something to help me through the first few weeks of treatment. If he wont I think I might have to change my doctor as I can't put up with this messing around anymore. Some sort of action needs to be taken, and stuck to solidly if its working.

any advice or comments would be thoroughly appreciated.

Dan

[Danath]

well, rang him but it looks as though we're keeping it like this, perhaps its a good thing i dont know

[Danath]

well thats just bloody depressing, barely anyone has even looked at the thread. :huh:

[ladybird64]

Are you having any other therapy such as CBT alongside the meds?

[Danath]

no, i was seeing a counsellor but that didn't go too well, She was a trainee one from Mind, and I don't think it was CBT i was getting from her.

[ladybird64]

Hi again.

Please don't be offended by my reply as it is said with good intentions. :blush:

You seem to have taken so many different types of tablets, maybe you are expecting them to provide you with a cure without any other input?

I don't have much experience with meds but I do believe that isn't a good idea to place all your faith in them and not expect to have to do anything to help them along, I'm surprised your doctor hasn't suggested some kind of therapy to see if that could help.

I can understand your frustration but to be honest I'm not sure what you want your doctor to do, it seems as if you want him just to continue to prescribe more meds, something the psychiatrist didn't feel was suitable for you.

Maybe you should consider looking at other self-help options as well as something like CBT, perhaps a combination of both things will help you start to take charge of your own recovery (with docs help of course).

Good luck :)

[Danath]

no, i'm not. however i would at least expect them to have helped slightly.
I am more than prepared to try CBT and work hard at it, however that psychiatrist shrugged and said 'i can give you this but there is an 18 month waiting list, other than that, there is nothing I, or anyone else can do for you'.

I am currently working on self help options such as exercise, and following the advice of a book called 'overcoming anxiety for dummies'.

the counsellor from mind was both rude and generally unfreindly, and I was not the only one at the centre who thought so, indeed, one of the people who remarked she was unpleasant was a member of staff there. I appreciate however that this doesn't mean all counsellors are bad, in fact I would still like to see one.

[newbie76]

Hi Dan,

I am sorry you feel this way. Unfortunately I am struggling to cope with anxiety as well. I am on my 3rd week of Escitalopram and I thought I was getting better after Day 10 but now I feel like I am going back to where I was, with waking up at 4.30 in the morning and having constant butterflies in my stomach, loss of appetite (and weight!) etc.

Talking of you, I am just wondering if you are giving the meds enough time to kick in seeing as you have switched so many. As you probably know, there is no magic cure and as you have probably read so many times in this forum, you normally feel -much- worse when you start on them before you start feeling better. So maybe you should stick with whatever your psychiatrist thinks it's better for you and give the meds time to work?

[Danath]

yeah i know, it seems like the dochas switched them shortly before they might have started helpiung, but ive decided to stick with what hes given me now - the amitriptylene and gabapentin and just see where im at in a few months time.