NHS not helping me?

[Ssmith]

Thank you for your in depth replies Terry and Lior.

Hopefully I'll see the step 2 guided self help service in the next few weeks. I rang them and they said they haven't forgotten about me and that i should have an appointment just after xmas. That will make it 5 months after i was initially refered.... For a bit of self help! In decades, they'll look back at these times and find it unbelievable that people with mental health difficulties face months or possibly even years to wait for treatment.

Lior, I'll keep a hold of that list you've made and use it as a safety net. Thank you all for being so understanding when I'm like this. Without people like in this thread, i would genuinely feel a lot more hopeless than i currently do. I can overcome this and i will

[MyNameIsTerry]

You've got plenty of people who understand all the struggles with anxiety as well as just getting help for it so just talk or vent or whatever you need to. It wound me up something rotten having to chase my own GP and therapists around at a time when I needed less stress but once I got started with the IAPT service they were very good at communication.

Sadly, Xmas is going to slow these services down. It's not too long now though and people on here can support you through it.

[pulisa]

I got referred for CBT straightaway but I'm not sure how much you could absorb in the severe anxiety state. Actually staying seated and in the same room for a session could be really difficult- I think it's essential to have less anxiety when you start these sessions. In my opinion guided self help would be far too lightweight for your needs.

[Ssmith]

I definitely understand the not being able to sit still. At my worst, a few weeks ago, i was pacing up and down for days. It wasn't anxiety, it was like i was being driven by something. I initially put it down to a bad effect of fluoxetine which i was 4 weeks into. For me, anxiety, i can gradually calm down from. This was something else is and is the scariest thing i have ever experienced. It eventually calmed down a bit over time but it scares me just thinking about it.

The tiredness affects me more than anything else as well. I'm using zoplicone at the moment short term which seems to work, but i look and feel exhausted. I have the biggest bags under my eyes and for a 25 year old, doesn't look very attractive. I have a doctors appointment next Tuesday. I'm going to demand something be done now instead of 'just waiting to see if i get better' as they put it. I've had to wait for 5 years to see if I'll get better and never been referred for specialist help and i feel like it's about time i became a lot sterner and assertive

[Boydo]

hey ssmith am a 25 year old and all.... and terry up here is brilliant he saw all my post from my worst to my progress ... i was the same ... so bad sweating and couldn't stay still went to a n e 4 times in 3 days... eventually what helped me was sedatives .. not the best route but diazepam was good enough to calm me down enough to learn more and more on how i would cope and i found joy in things slowly but surely after a month on it i came out better but not fixed .. it taken me a year to get to comfortable place, i still have episodes but life defently worth living, i didn't work when was at my worst either but slowly but surely am working again and have a life... i know it hard to see the light at the end of this tunnel but it will happen for you!

[MyNameIsTerry]

Thanks James, I really appreciate that mate! I hope all is well with you and your family.

ssmith - my Guided Self Help was over the phone and I did it standing in my kitchen looking out the window. I couldn't sit still through it back then.

I think it's very likely it was the meds. I had adrenaline rushes and pretty bad agitation when I started Duloxetine. I would wake up to a rush for about 2 hours being scared but wanting to run a marathon sprinting (think the lift scene in Crank) and then I would panic if I had to sit down for hours & hours and would be rocking against the kitchen doorframe. 10 days of that was the worst I've ever been by a long way, courtesy of Duloxetine. It was like nothing I had felt before, like you.

Pulisa knows what agitation is like and how it's hard to do much of anything and if you do, it's all now now now and lacking in patience. If you need to take a break at any point, just tell them, they will understand.

[Ssmith]

So I've just come back from an emergency appointment that I've booked this afternoon. I was in a state and mentioned how bad i am. I've been told to up my dosage of citalopram as I'm probably not well because I'm not on a high enough dose. When i mentioned that i had already been on a high dose without it working and tried all SSRI's without much success, he told me they will be working, i just need to tell myself that to get better.....

I asked for another referral to the psychiatrist as this has been going on for years and getting more and more severe, to be told that i don't have the option. I literally feel like the only way i can be heard is by going to A&E.

Feeling really deflated and down about this. I'm sick of not being treated and being banded around SSRI's by GP's for 5 years. Is there anyway i can put in a complaint or demand to see a psychiatrist?

[Carolin]

GPs are not mental health specialists.

I have also spent years being told SSRIs are working, and just to give it time. They do not work for everyone, and sometimes make things worse. I know all about not being heard and how difficult it is to get expert help. The trouble is, the longer things are left, there is a possible risk things can deteriorate.

Look at Liors list, it is useful. A and E is for emergencies. That includes mental health emergencies as well. Use it and you will hopefully be listened to and referred to a specialist who can guide you .

Don't give up even if it feels like a battle.

[pulisa]

Go to A&E-you will have to wait to see the duty psychiatrist but you will be seen and assessed. Go before the Xmas party fall-out tomorrow night. It's the only way to get taken seriously

[Ssmith]

Thanks for your responses guys. I don't feel like i'm in an emergency at the moment, plus the standard 4 hour wait puts me off. But i think I'll have to go that route soon if nothing changes (got another appointment on Tuesday with a different doc).

It really angers me that due to trying to save a bit of money, lifes could be cost. I, myself, wouldn't do anything like that, but i wonder how many people cry out for help and don't get it