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Hi
I have been away from npm for a few weeks now having been feeling much better, but again I feel I am on downhill slide again. I hate feeling like this and fed up of wasting my life worrying about anything and everything. One minute I feel fine and can tell myself that everythings OK and I dont need to worry, the next minute the 'what if' comes back or I find myself wondering what was I worrying about again??
Anyway I have had cbt in the past to good effect and I am trying to use the techniques which dont seem to be working this time. I have been up and down since january. Now I am on summer break from uni I have more spare time to worry about things - I am trying new hobbies to avert my thoughts - but I find myself thinking more and more whilst painting, walking etc.
So my question is - do I go to the gp's on monday to ask for medication? I have always avoided this in the past apart from when I had pnd 13 years ago.
If I go down the meds route - what is the best to take with the least side effects?
Thanks for reading and thanks for any advice
Deb x
hi Debs
I think it depends on if you think that you can get better on your own.
when i first experienced pa's/anxiety - i was determined to try and beat it myself as when the doc recomended anti depressants i said no way. I lasted 2 months without medication - seeing a cousellor, no caffeine gave up smoking, started to relax. But eventually they gradually creeped up again and i had to start citalopram/propananol - side effects were not good the first 2 weeks -but worth it in the end - have been on them since december and have been living life 95% normally with only 5% anxiety and panic left - still get the odd bad day.
good luck whatever you decide!
hi - what sort of side effects did you experience?
sb001f8994
15-07-10, 22:31
Hi debs,
I was on meds when I was 16 and becoming agoraphobic due to panic attacks. I took anafranil (it has a different name now and there is info on here about it) and I took 2mg valium. For me they worked a treat and having therapy soon led to recovery. I dont recall having any side effecets apart from feeling a bit sleepy, which being a teenager could just have been the norm!!! I had many years free from anxiety but it did come back about seven years ago and I chose not to go down the meds route. I must admit to wallowing in self pity for a while but then picked myself up and started fighting to get my life back. It is liberating knowing I am doing this without the aid of meds but I believe they do have a place and if I thought I was struggling I would go back on them.
Hope this is a help to you, take care.
To help you decide which avenue you think you would prefer to take, ask yourself the following...
fed up of wasting my life worrying about anything and everything. One minute I feel fine and can tell myself that everythings OK and I dont need to worry, the next minute the 'what if' comes back or I find myself wondering what was I worrying about again??
Do you feel meds will stop you worrying about anything and everything?
Do you feel meds will allow you to feel fine for all the other minutes when you're worrying and don't feel fine?
Do you think meds will stop you thinking about all the "what if's"?
Do you feel meds will stop you wondering what you were worrying about?
Do you feel taking meds will cure "worry"?
Just a couple more questions to consider...
Do you feel meds will ease your anxious feelings enough to help you stop worrying so much?
Now I am on summer break from uni I have more spare time to worry about things
Do you think you're feeling more anxious because you have more time to worry and therefore more time to worry about your anxious feelings which then make you worry more?
Do you feel meds will tie you over until your mind is occupied again when you're back at uni?
Do you feel meds are what you need or do you feel you need more enjoyable "involved" things that would Really occupy your mind rather than painting, walking etc. which allow the mind to wander to worries?
Do you feel you really need meds because you "feel" just "too ill" or would you prefer to put what you learnt in CBT into practice? By the way, if CBT techniques don't work, it'll probably be because we've got too much time to think and/or we're too busy worrying about worries which keep anxious feelings alive.
I know what I would do but I'll leave the answers to you because it's a personal choice.:winks:
Meds dont stop the thoughts but challenging them does. Its when we understand why we are having the thoughts in the first place that we are able to deal with them.
When we worry to much its like the following
We start with a clean window but through time it gets dirty and at first we dont notice after a while it gets even more dirty, we notice but dont do anyting about it. Then it gets so dirty we cant even see out of it. Here we have a choice....to live with the dirty window or to start to clean it.
worrying thoughts stop us seeing things clearly
just a thought
Don't start about windows!!!:mad::D The windows here were filthy so I tried to clean them but they smeared every time until my mother brought round some window cleaner! What a relief to see clearly again!:shades: Certainly stopped me worrying about them!:yesyes:
hi
Thanks for your advice - its certainly given me something to think about. I realise meds wont stop the thoughts - but i think i need something to help me cope with the thoughts just at the moment. I feel I'm on a downword spiral and need something to give me a kick start - wine works a treat :roflmao: but i dont really want to rely on that now do I?!?!?!:roflmao:
So I think I need to do some more reading over the weekend - and make a decision as to wether to go to the gp's on monday
Thanks again - any more advice greatly appreciated
Hi Debs,
I think you need to think about whether you can cope with these feelings or not. If you can (although maybe with a bit of a struggle) then I would try and stay off meds. If however it gets to the point you can't cope and are actually making yourself more ill then go to the docs.
If medication helps, great. Even if it means a tablet a day for the rest of your life (highly unlikely of course!) but so be it. If it means you lead a better life.
I know i'd rather take a tablet a day and feel calm and able to cope than struggle each day just for the sake of not taking meds.
See how you feel come Monday.
We are all here for you over the weekend, if you need us x
S. x
I feel I'm on a downword spiral and need something to give me a kick start - wine works a treat
You do realise they advise not to mix meds with booze....and that booze is a depressant so could make you feel even more depressed...that's how people sometimes end up taking too many meds after drinking too much!:winks:
Hi
Thanks again everyone for their advice. I hope I didnt make myself out to be a wino :ohmy: I like a glass of wine at the weekend - nothing more.
However the fact that you cant mix alcohol with the meds has I'm afraid made up my mind as I am going to a families 40th party next week and I'm going on holiday in 4 weeks. So I guess I will just have to cope.
Somedays - like today I feel fine, then one day something happens to make me worry and within 1 second my mood is in my boots and it takes me about a week to get out of it, :weep:
How do you other guys get out of your bad mood, will it just improve with time?
Deb x
Like with all worries, the more we dwell on them the more anxious we become and the lower we feel because every worry takes us down a spiral as we analyse every possible outcome trying to reassure ourselves.
My phiolosophy about worries is if you can do something practical to sort a worry then get on and do it because then the worry is done and dusted so you no longer have the worry to dwell on.
If you can't do anything practical about a worry whether in the short term or in a plan to resolve in the longer term then it's probably beyond your control so there's no point worrying about it and so I feel the best course of action is to find other things to occupy the mind.
If we sit worrying about worries it does nothing other than to feed anxious feelings making us feel low which is why the "cure" is held within ourselves. We can either make ourselves "ill" through worry or we can learn how to turn the fuel off whenever a flicker of worry starts to surface.
You have a party and a holiday to look forward to so when any worries surface, try to think about those two events and enjoying yourself and hopefully those thoughts will help to distract you from dwelling on bad thoughts.
A bad mood is easier to prevent than cure because a bad mood is often due to frustration of feeling anxious all the time. Frustration causes tension which then fuels anxious feelings. If we nip anxious feelings in the bud, we don't get frustrated so we don't get in a bad mood because we feel more relaxed and so feel happier.
If however we end up in a bad mood, I always find something fun to do which makes me laugh and then I don't feel so fed up and depressed with life!:hugs:
Hi Bill - thanks again for your inspiration. When you say 'look forward' I dont know how to explain this - but I find it really hard to look forward to things - I think its because either I think I dont want to get to exited and build up my hopes just in case for some reason it doesnt happen - or something goes wrong - a sort of 'plan for the worst case scenario' philosophy. Or when my mood is low I feel as if I am not able to feel happy about something - almost like I am not aloud to. Really hard to describe!!
Anyway on a positive note - I have felt much better over the weekend and decided that meds are not worth the side effects (I would probably get them all :lac: ). I keep trying to get it in my head that I dont want to spoil my summer hols from uni in a bad mood!!
Maybe if I keep thinking in that way I may be able to 'look forward' once again.
Deb x
a sort of 'plan for the worst case scenario' philosophy.
You're just a pessimist!:D The glass is always half empty rather than half full.
It's part of your negative nature which is why you're always worrying. You Expect things to go wrong or turn out bad because you can't view things with positivity.
My father was just the same. When something was good he'd always say "Not bad" rather than "Really good". He used to say just like you, "Well, you're never disappointed that way" but then you never get to look forward to getting up each day either!
I think what you need to do is build up your confidence so that you have more self-belief that things Will turn out ok. Remember the saying?...If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. In other words, don't allow disappoints to hold you back because sooner or later with time, effort, willpower and determination things Do turn out ok.
Something I've learnt from sport...if you play a shot expecting to miss, you almost certainly Will miss. If though you believe in your ability and feel confident in the shot, you're much more likely to score! I've found this to be true time again not only in sport but in life too. If you believe things will turn out good, they will, even if at first it doesn't seem they will because perseverance always pays off eventually if it's something we Really want to achieve. Alot of winning is in the mindset. Just look at any successful sportsplayer and you'll see what I mean. Life IS a game and it's how we approach it that often determines whether we end up winning or not....so keep going with a more positive approach and I Know you'll get there!:hugs:
Hi
Thanks once again Bill x
So do you think I have a confidence issue? Your probably right to some extent - as for sport - I was always told I was rubbish at school so I most certainley have a issue with that!! Always left behind in cross country, no one ever wanted me in their team etc etc you get the picture!! I have always made a point in encouraging my kids cos of this. However in other parts of my life such as uni and my job I am very confident as I know I am good, I got my first year results back yesterday which include an A and one AA :D
Only problem there is that I went in with the intention of getting a 1st class and I know that is very difficult - but if I get anything less than a 2:1 I will be disappointed!!!!! I have the next 3 years to come to terms with the fact that a pass is good enough I work with some wonderful people who got a 3rd class.
Wow I think i need help!!! Anyway thanks once again Bill I never thought I had a confidence issue but maybe you are right - thats what this website is all about.
Deb x
Hello Deb:hugs:
So do you think I have a confidence issue?
fed up of wasting my life worrying about anything and everything. One minute I feel fine and can tell myself that everythings OK and I dont need to worry, the next minute the 'what if' comes back or I find myself wondering what was I worrying about again??
I would say the above is a lack of confidence issue.:winks: You're obviously very confident when tackling things that make you think which you know you're good at but when it comes to areas you're uncertain in or have too much time to think, your self-doubt surfaces causing you to worry about all the "what if's".
There "may" possibly be a clue as to why in what you've said...
no one ever wanted me in their team etc etc you get the picture!!
When we're children, alot of our time is spent in play. If we're not a sporty person, it's possible that the others will pick up on this and rub it in. This would certainly knock our confidence as we grow older, especially if we have a sensitive nature.
It isn't just in sport though. If we're born sensitive, whatever those closest around us tell us, we'll absorb, so if we're constantly made to feel we're no good, we'll take it to heart so develop self-doubt.
Also, if we're left on our own alot, ignored or made to feel we're unimportant, these issues will also knock our confidence.
Often though, there are those among anxiety sufferers like myself who are born worriers who just love to worry about everything. If our minds have something complicated and involved to work on, we forget our worrying nature because our minds love to be stimulated which is probably why you've done so well at uni.
You may also have a perfectionism trait which could be why you expect the best all the time. You are driven by high expectations of yourself but when you have time to think, your worrying nature surfaces and then you worry about being disappointed in yourself. That's your lack of confidence and self doubt.
You don't totally "believe in yourself" in fulfilling your goals "generally" because your expectations of yourself and everything around you are just so high. You seek perfection but perfection isn't always possible to achieve so your self doubt makes you worry about being disappointed with life. I think this might account for the following...I went in with the intention of getting a 1st class and I know that is very difficult - but if I get anything less than a 2:1 I will be disappointed!!!!! I have the next 3 years to come to terms with the fact that a pass is good enough
If you lower your expectations and had more confidence generally, you may not worry so much because you may not fear being disappointed. Allow yourself not to seek perfection and just try your best.
I'm not certain about the above. Some of it might apply to you but other parts might make no sense at all! It's just my gut feeling but see if you can relate to any of it...or if you think I'm talking @@@@!:blush::shrug:
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