Is this whats known as a relapse?

[serendipity]

Hi all

I have suffered from anxiety for under 2 yrs now since birth of baby. Have been off medication (clomipramine) since June due to side effects. I was doing quite well. Bouts of anxiety but manageable.

Anyway I had to have a smear a month ago and it was the first since treatment for cin3. I wasn't aware I had cin3 until my gp mentioned it in passing and when I left the docs I worked myself up into a frenzy for days thinking my smear was going to come back abnormal and basically played my own death and funeral over and over in my head.

Since this the past 4 wks have been awful. I have had panic surges, upset stomach, muscle tension in neck and shoulders and for around 10 days on and off have had a funny feeling in my head that makes me stop in my tracks as I think I'm going to collapse. Last night I ended up in bed because the head feeling got to me and I felt exhausted, nausea, stomach cramps and felt hot all over with surges into my stomach. My two worst days were xmas day and new yrs day as I had to have lunch with the whole family and the head feeling got bad on both occaisions.

Today not been so bad but am worried about going back to work this week. I'm not on meds (only omeprozole for acid and thyroxine) but maybe feel I need something to help me get back on track, if this is a relapse.

My smear results came back ok and hopefully they will be ok in the future too, but my anxiety hasn't left.

I cannot have ssri's, has anyone here had antihistamines? I believe they can be used?

Any advice appreciated. Is this a relapse? I'm driving myself mad!! :unsure:

[judipat]

Hi
I could have written that myself!!
I too am having a bit of a blip. I suffer with fibromyalgia and have relapses which then triggers my anxiety/panic. I think the two are very closely related, my anxiety came before the fibro and I have been suffering with the anxiety for nearly 30 years (I'm 53).
Most of the time, I'm fine and can control my anxiety. But now and again, I have these blips and although I keep telling myself "its only anxiety again", it does get the better of me sometimes and I feel absolutely crap for a few days/weeks. Just before Xmas, I started feeling very dizzy, off balance, lightheaded. This gave me stonking headaches. I few days ago i started with stomach cramps and nausea and today I've been on the sofa all day - really exhausted.
I too take omeprazole as I have GERD and I think that has got worse too.
I am off to the docs asap as I came off propanalol a few moths back and hav'nt really felt well since.
As an anxiety sufferer, I think we have to accept these blips. However, the key is, not to let them get out of control and accept them for what they are - too much adrenaline causing nasty, horrible physical symptoms.
Hope you feel better soon
Judi

[serendipity]

What is propanolol like for anxiety?

I have been offered this, in fact have it but afraid to use it.

Seren

[judipat]

Propanolol is a beta bloker and is used for several conditions including anxiety. It slows the heart rate. They also use it for irregular heartbeats.
I just felt better on it.