How hard must you try to get rid of anxiety??? [Archive]

View Full Version : How hard must you try to get rid of anxiety???

happycamper

13-10-10, 15:34

Looking for some advice please peeps....

After 4 years of major life stressors, a biggie being my parents having completely different cancers 3 times, plus the usual having children, moving house 150 miles away, etc I developed anxiety (no surprise there!) but it stayed put and got much worse along with the physical stuff that goes along with it.

So in June after admitting it being a problem to myself and select others I started on citalopram 20mgs and am lucky enough to have started seeing a clinical psychologist attatched to a cancer support centre.

But I didn't sit back hoping it would go away and have put alot of effort into making myself better too, such as yoga, self help books, dabble with mindfulness meditation (not as good in practice as on paper), keep alcohol to a minimum, good diet etc etc. No problems going to work which is in fact a great distraction (I'm a nurse....).

I actually thought I'd got sorted within a couple of months of starting the cit and felt quite elated, but the last few weeks have feel like it's all back again and the horrible physical stuff is back too such as bad indigestion. I'm very frustrated and despondent now.

So I'm seeking any tips or advice of what more I should do to get myself back to my normal happy go lucky self again. Can I try even harder???

Mazzmate

13-10-10, 15:42

Sounds like you are doing everything you can do, maybe this is just a blip and you will soon be back on the road to recovery, I hope so. You do sound as if you are very positive with regard to the effort you have been putting in. Don't give in to it, I know it's an uphill struggle sometimes, but we have to keep going for it. All the best.

ladybird64

13-10-10, 19:22

I totally understand what you mean by this, the same thing happened to me a couple of months ago.

I was also put on 20mg of Citalopram but for severe depression, although I had suffered from anxiety and agoraphobia for years I carried on as best as I could and never sought proper help.

Like yourself I put in a heck of a lot of work after starting the Citalopram, trying to learn how to relax, cutting out caffeine, getting out and about as much as poss..yep I felt great too and then a couple months down the line started getting the old feelings back again.

Not in regards to fear as such but feeling edgy, tired, unmotivated..just generally "sliding" and unable to figure out why.

I got in touch with someone who had been a great help to me on the forum and then it hit me..I had been doing all the "right" things to set me off on the road to feeling better but was still surrounding myself with stuff pertaining to anxiety.

Spending loads of time here on NMP (no offence guys, you know what I mean!), ordering a new book about how to cope with worrying, constantly thinking about the changes that I had made in order to change my life..trying VERY, VERY hard.

Too much trying. :) Too much thinking about it, what it entails, analysing how I felt towards it-giving anxiety all my attention when I was feeling so much better,

I went back to basics, reminded myself of how I felt when I made positive lifestyle changes and left it at that. I am an ex-sufferer (albeit with the occasional hiccup) but Im not ruled by it anymore so why behave as if I am?

Only a suggestion but stop trying, you don't need to try. You know how to make yourself feel better and if you feel rough, well..you used to be an anxiety sufferer so it might pop back and visit you every so often but it really has no real hold over you.

If it's there, act like it isn't. Go about your business and if it hits you well...you know for sure it will pass. It really cannot hurt you although it can make you doubt yourself for a while.

I'm slightly going through the same at the moment but know it will clear.

Have faith in yourself and PM me if you feel like a bit of moral support. :hugs:

happycamper

13-10-10, 22:37

Thank you for your support and understanding Mazzmate and Ladybird.

You know it did cross my mind I might be living under a mental cloud of having anxiety ever since I realized that was what was causing my problems as I'd never realised it until a few months ago. But acknowledging it was such a positive turning point I felt so relieved in a way I sort of want that feeling back again, guess it was just the honeymoon period of feeling better.

I will try to stop trying so hard, just feel in limbo of where to go next, feel in a halfway house and the next step just too far out of reach, in fact I was on that step last month but can't get back on it...

Cheers guys X

ladybird64

13-10-10, 22:56

I so know that, honestly.

Don't we feel like we have to be "doing something"?

You don't hun, you're not in limbo, promise. If it helps (it did me) move slightly back to relaxation, not the heavy duty practice but how you feel physically. Let thoughts come and the ones that tell you that you need to move forward, ignore them.

You're fine where you are. :) Acclimatisation is a great thing to learn, just accept how you feel and realise that you are not going back..you're just re-learning how to feel normal.

Take care :flowers:

olderfella

14-10-10, 08:25

If your realy struggling you could ask your gp to increase the citalopram you can take up to 60mg daily hope your little blip soon passes:)

steveo1980

14-10-10, 13:24

HC - just a blip no doubt. it will pass and the good times will be back again for you very soon :)

great inspirational post ladybird!

happycamper

14-10-10, 14:09

Thanks so much guys for your posts.

It's a little crazy all the support comes from a computer, how did people get by 20+ years ago I wonder?? Maybe old fashioned talking, although I would have my doubts on that one seeing as there is an element of stigma attached, more so then maybe too....?

This weekend I'm not an anxiety sufferer, going to leave it behind while I go to Legoland for my sons 6th birthday!

Clare X

steveo1980

14-10-10, 17:13

sounds good to me Clare, the blip will then be gone!

have fun.

boppers

14-10-10, 22:20

Sometimes I feel like the problem is I am trying TOO hard to get rid of it. I have to keep reminding myself that the anxiety didn't come on all at once, it was a gradual buildup. I think this means we have to work gradually to make the anxiety go away and have faith that eventually it will only occur in "normal" amounts in "normal" situations. Of course we will have small relapses, but that doesn't mean we aren't improving.

I hope you have a great time at Legoland!

heavenly

15-10-10, 10:15