Never felt this bad...pacing and panicking since 330 am

[alicegreen]

Im not sure if its the sertraline or not, am on day18 , but i woke up in a panic with racing heart at 0330 and have been extremely agitated all day long. My heart is beating between 100-145 depending on the waves of terror and im terrified. I feel so so terrified and actually cant keep still. I took a sleeping tablet at about 5 to try and calm me back to sleep but i woke again after an hour with the heart racing still.
Ive tried walking my dogs, twice for over an hour each time and mowed our gardens which is a big job, but still i cannot relax and be still. Im typing this on my phone as i pace. Ive spoken to nhs direct and they were kind but of no real help. My hubby is trying to support me but its hard as the kids are all worried too now. I confessed to him earlier that i dont want to live, which was a relief to say it out in the open, but i know that i will not act on this, i just want to be well again and not feel this way.
We are waiting for a call back from the on call dr service to see what they can do.
I have never ever felt so anxious for so long...thought adrenaline burnt itself out!

[ellie1971]

im sure its anxiety n doc will sa perciveer a little longer he did with me yesterday let me know xxxxxxxxxxxxx

[alicegreen]

I cant bear it. I feel like im going totally mad. Im terrified.

[jaded jean]

Alicegreen, You are not going mad love honestly its just the begining of taking sertraline. It will take a while to kick in but as Ellie said you have to persevere and carry on,Do you do breathing exercises at all. deep belly breathing helps me a lot. If you do it for twenty mi nutes or so you will notice the difference.
Take care Jean

[lynn1960]

you are not going mad the meds take a while to get in to your system they do say you will worse before you get better try to go with the feelings and they will start to die down remember as bad as they feel they cannot harm you try to go for a walk with the dogs take a nice warm bath and i always find lavender works to relax but some in the bath or on your pillow hope you have a peaceful night and better day tomorrow if you have any dizapam or other meds try to take one to relax

[alicegreen]

thanks for the replies everyone, would you believe that im still waiting for a call back with appt from oncall service. Hubby has chased it up and we keep being told 10 more minutes...
Im still the same, seem to have reached breakdown today. Ive never ever experienced anything like this, total inability to relax of even keep still,its horrendous

[alicegreen]

finally got appintment for midnight and gt seen at 1am. She was a lovely doctor and spent a long time with mr. She gave me 2 diazepam 2mg to take tonight and a prescrition for propanalol to pick up tomorrow.
Trouble is i took diazepam at 2 and its now 415 and they havent even taken the edge off so dh is in with ds1 trying to sleep whilst i pace and feel dreadful....

[ElizabethJane]

Dear alicegreen I'm so sorry that are feeling like this. I am not taking setraline I am on mirtazapine. I hope that you have managed to get some rest last night. Try not to pace. Is there any chance you could go out for as long walk today? If your anxiety symptoms don't settle then I suggest seeing your own GP. I'm sure that there are many of us who can relate to this and will give you support when we can so keep posting. EJ.

[Jannie2948]

Hi Alicegreen, I am so sorry that you are feeling so bad, but as everyone says, it will pass. Those feelings of being terrified are so awful, and the shaking too. Believe me I think we have all been there, I know I have, and I thought I was never going to be 'normal' again. I'm not on your meds, I'm on citalopram, but the symptoms seem to get much worse in the beginning and then gradually I started to feel somewhat better. I had an increase in the meds and am now as near to 'normal' as I ever was :-)
You just have to persevere and hopefully you will start to feel better soon.
I wish you all the very best and will be thinking of you.
Jannie x x

[angels22165]

Hi, Alice green Im so sorry to hear your feeling really bad, I was just like you last weekend it was so awful, Im currently waiting on Citalopram to start working again, it is not nice and you do feel like your going mad, and nothing seems to stop the feelings or thoughts, please just keep thinking its a new day tomorrow and every day Im going to be getting stronger.

Take care Julie xxx

[heavenly]

Hi Alice, how are you this morning? I feel for you really, I do understand. I had a 48hr panic attack a couple of weeks ago, frightened the life out of me. Heart racing, agitated, and got about 4 hrs sleep over 2 days. I spoke to a lovely nurse through NHS Direct, got to the hospital and was given 2 days worth of Diazapam which helped, then got to see my GP, I am on Olanzapine, which has been a life saver. Also, I have downloaded a relaxation CD onto my Ipod, also Claire Weekes' Pass Through Panic Self Help CD is on order, to put on my Ipod.

Please keep us posted hun, you are not going mad, and this will pass. xxx

[alicegreen]

well i managed to sleep for 2 hours then did stay in bed for a further 3 despite being anxious and aware my heart was still bloody racing. Ive just got the propanolol from chemist and taken 1 with some complan as i cant eat right now either.
Im really really anxious about taking a beteblocker too and worry it will slow my heart till it stops.
My mum is coming over later and she had a nervous breakdown about 20 years ago and totally underdtands how i feel.

[angels22165]

Hi, Im on a beta blocker propanolol 40mg it does stop the palpatations, wont stop your heart beating, your heart is a very strong muscle, just try and think that when you have the palpatations it won't stop its very healthy, are you having any other symptoms? x

[alicegreen]

its mainly palps but also i get really shaky and feel a sense of impending doom and utter terror. I get a really dry mouth and an upset stomach too.

Ive been told to start the propanolol at 10 mg three times daily though i can increase it up to 40 if needed. Ive taken 10 this am and do feel slightly more able to be still, unlikr yesterday where i could not physically stop myself pacing round or jigging and rocking if sitting down.

I cant imagine ever beimg able to get back to work, and though i hate being off am actually going to ask my gp to sign me off for another month when i go on wednesday. Being a nurse makes the health anxiety worse!

[heavenly]

its mainly palps but also i get really shaky and feel a sense of impending doom and utter terror. I get a really dry mouth and an upset stomach too.

Ive been told to start the propanolol at 10 mg three times daily though i can increase it up to 40 if needed. Ive taken 10 this am and do feel slightly more able to be still, unlikr yesterday where i could not physically stop myself pacing round or jigging and rocking if sitting down.

I cant imagine ever beimg able to get back to work, and though i hate being off am actually going to ask my gp to sign me off for another month when i go on wednesday. Being a nurse makes the health anxiety worse!

Your symptoms sound exactly the same as I had a couple of weeks ago, the Prop wasn't strong enough for me though so I was put on Olanzapine, which has worked. But see how the Prop goes, keep in contact with your GP. Do not worry about work, in the state you have been in, its the last thing you need to think about, you need to get calm before you start to learn how to cope, and then whilst learning how to cope, you will then think about when you may be able to get back to work. Baby steps! Keep us posted. xxx

[alicegreen]

Just another update from me, ad also to say that everyone that replied to me really helped me through this dreadful day.
I feel much calmer tonight so far. Taken 2 of the propanolol now and my pulse and BP is back to normal and I have managed to eat 2 sandwiches, have a bath and a lie down this afternoon. I have not paced the floor of jigged around once! That may not sound much but it feels like a huge achievement considering yesterday I really could not settle or focus my mind on anything other than the terror that I was feeling.
I am hopeful that I may actually sleep for more than 2 hours tonight as well rather than dreading bedtime.:yesyes:

I am not sure if I am allowed to post a link here but NHS direct advised me to use a website that you can link to via theirs, which I have registered with and it looks really helpful for learning life skills. I hope that may help somebody else.

[anxiouschick]

Pleased you're feeling better. Please can you pm the link, sounds like it could be useful for me.

Thanks