Tired Panicy and worried

[Tom.]

Hi All,

So i have upped by dossage of citalopram from 30mg a day to 40mg a day on the advice of my DR, but this last week i have been suffering stronger panic attacks and seem to be "run down" i have small blisters on my tongue, i am physically and mentally tired all the time and could quite easily sleep 16 hours a day if i didnt have a job, fiancee and 1 year old to keep me going. Today i woke up suffering a panic attack and so far have been unable to shake it off ive tried seeing family, having a nap and walking the dog all to no avail. Im starting to accept that im just going to have to deal with these some how as is the past counselling has not helped and it seems that these tablets are not having much impact either, im at a loss as to what to do i am going back to my DR's this week to talk it over i just wondered if anyone could give me any advice on anything that they have done that has worked or "snapped them out of it"?

Ive seen people mention CBT does any one know if this can be provided on the NHS? if so has anyone got any feedback about this type of therapy?

Thanks in advance for any replies

[scaredstiff695]

hi i dont have much advice sorry i dont take meds sending you a masive hug though.
cbt can be on nhs yes im on waiting list for it now x

[Tom.]

appreciate the hug thank you, hope you get your CBT very soon :hugs:

[bronte]

it is normal to have an increase of anxiety when you up your dose the dr told me i was on citalopram but they didnt suit me neither did sertraline my anxiety seemed to be all over the place with them but my sister swears by them im on prozac at the moment

[crazyhayz]

Your GP can refer you to your local Mental Health Team for CBT.

It does help alot although only 'cured' me for 2 and a half months.

I relapsed but it is permenently successful in over 60% of people apparently. I would deffo recommend it, its good therapy treatment.

I was told id wait 4 months but only waited 2 months so not bad but depends on area.

Do u know wot it is ur anxious/panic about? I never know what im anxious or panicking about which makes it frustrating for me, but hope everything works out for you.

PS. Citalopram is what i take, i take 20mg and i found upping to 40 made me ill for the first 2 weeks, then was better, but i started to feel constantly dizzy so went back down to 20.

[jillyb]

You can certainly get CBT on the NHS. I was really fortunate in that I didn't even have to see my GP as we have a self-referral scheme here in Dorset. I had an assessment (where they could obviously see I was completely barking mad! - well, suffering from anxiety in reality) and they decided I needed High Impact CBT. I only had to wait a month after this before my CBT began. This starts as 6 appointments and then they will review and I can have more. I hope you can get some CBT very soon - so far I am finding the High Impact CBT really good. It is hard work and challenging and I cry every time, but I am very hopeful that we can get to the bottom of my problems and I can sort them out once and for all, instead of forever papering over the cracks.
Take care x

[joannap]

hi tom. it is totally normal to feel an increase in anxiety with an increase in medication and so this may pass within a few weeks and you will start to feel the benefits. unfortunately i would think it is practically unheard of to snap put of a panic/anxiety condition - this is because it usually develops over many months because of stress or simply the way we deal with life (for me - i am an over thinker/major worrier etc!) and is continued because of the way we react to it. instead of thinking - oh - i have stressed myself out and i need time to unwind - this is just my bodies revenge lol - we then panic about feeling panicked and so the condition continues. i can really reccomend the book at last a life by paul david - he suffered for 10 years but recovered naturally without medication. it is the book that put me on the road to recovery. it is not easy and you do have to go against your natural instincts/be really determined but it can be done xx

[Tom.]

Evening all, thanks for the advice, crazyhaz im a complete worrier and am always loking for things that are wrong with me i cant help myself, a headache = tumour a spot = cancer and ache in my belly = prostate cancer im totally and utterly caught up with it and i dont know why or when this started for me it seems to have really escalated in the last 12 -18 months though, i have got a 1 year (1 yesterday :D) and i am so fearful of him seeing me worry over "nothing" and maybe picking up on my anxiety and thinking that it is normal so then obvioulsy that worries me also i am paranoid something will happen to him and he will have something horrible happen, me and partner have had 5 miscarriges in the past and this is our first child so i know a lot of my concerns will be related to that and in some ways that makes it easier to deal with the anxiety as i feel i can justify it sometimes, but more often than not it can and does just blow up from nothing at all .

joanna thank you for your advice and i will definatley look at the book you recommended

thank you all its words like this that give me a bit hope and its so reassuring knowing that there is many more people out there like me (i wish there wasnt though and we could all be happy go lucky)

[joannap]

hi tom - you are only looking for things to be wrong with you because you are over sensitised - too much adrenalin in your system is causing you to over worry. i am not surprised that this anxiety has hit you - we cope with stressful things when they happen and then we think we should be happy - BAM! it hits you. 5 miscarriages is like having 5 bereavments to get over and perhaps it is only now you have relaxed and have your longed for child that all this grief/stress is manifesting itself through worry now? i think you just need lots of tlc and time to regain a balance x

[Tom.]

thanks Joanna your right i tried counselling and they said the same but at the time i was the alpha male who was the shoulder for my partner to cry on and i could carry the weight of the world on my shoulders then all of a sudden my shoulders didnt seem wide enough and the weight seemed to be heavier - the problem i have now is that i have retrained my thought process to see the bad in every situation and when there is no bad i start to create some for eg i constanly worry i am going to walk in to find my son not breathing in his cot, or he get some sort of disease - all completley stupid ive no family history of any concern, my partner makes all of his food freshly with organinc veg each week and he loves his fruit but for some reason i cant accpet that something isnt going to go wrong be it with him or me its horrible.

During the preganancy i was so bad i was starting to think i would die before he was born and would tell my fiancee to make sure she had lots to tell him about me.....crazy i know