Nervousness

[LisaS]

Hi

I’ve had a battle starting AD’s and currently on 15mg for nearly 3 weeks but the last week I’ve been having near constant feelings of nervousness. It’s so consuming. How and when will it go!?
It is there most of the day and it wakes me up at night.
Any help appreciated.
Lisa

[Quinn1]

Hi Lisa

How are you, I know the AD I was taking took around 6weeks,in that time I had the same feelings as you,but gradually tapered off.Now I am taking Valdoxan but it is way too costly and doesn’t seem any different than any other AD I have taken.
If you don’t find you are feeling an improvement,see your GP.

[LisaS]

Hi

I appreciate your reply. That’s good to hear yours went away. Gives me some hope.
My dose has been changed quite a lot so I imagine it will take a while for it to settle. It just gets so frustrating as you just want to get back to your old self as soon as possible.

I’ve not heard of Valdoxan. I hope it’s giving you some relief.

[pulisa]

Lisa, are you on escitalopram? My son had a lot of issues on it including insomnia. As Quinn said I would go back to your GP if you are finding your symptoms hard to tolerate. Sometimes a lower dose works better.

[LisaS]

Yep Escitalopram. I have a post on there with my various dose changes and in hindsight I wish I had stayed on 10mg for longer.
I went from 5mg, 10mg, 15mg to 20mg within about 6 weeks. 20mg was way too much so I’m down to 15mg and will stay for at least a month but this nervousness and heightened anxiety and spaced out feeling is all consuming.
I did have some good days when I first went to 15mg so I’m just hoping it settles.
I would rather not change dose yet again for a while.
Thanks so much for helping!

[pulisa]

Of course I can understand why you want to keep your dosage stable at the moment. It was certainly increased very quickly so you will need some time to adjust to a consistent dose. Would you consider a short course of diazepam to help you with the constant anxiety?

[LisaS]

. Would you consider a short course of diazepam to help you with the constant anxiety?

Thanks Pulisa

I do have some diazepam but I am always reluctant to use them. I always think I will be able to get through it without them.
I have a 5mg dose so once in a while I will break it in half to help me sleep or get through an event. I’m also paranoid about feeling weird on them! My psychologist always try’s to encourage me to just take them but I hesitate. Maybe I will!

Thanks again x

[DustingMyselfOff]

I had 8 weeks of hell when I started my AD, but my doctor urged me to hang in there and that it would get better, and it did. And he also urged me to take diazepam while going through the adjustment phase, which I was reluctant to do, but glad I did. Hang in there and be kind to yourself and give it a few more weeks if you can.
Sue

[LisaS]

Thank you for your help everyone.

You encouraged me to be brave and take the diazepam and I had a much better day than I was anticipating.

Hopefully my AD will settle down soon but until it does I’ll try not to white knuckle my way through it.

Thanks again x

[pulisa]

Diazepam does make you feel more human and you're hardly an addict, Lisa. The diazepam tablets were prescribed for a reason and you will use them sensibly and when needed. And sometimes they are very much needed to cope with either meds side effects or just unbearable anxiety which stops you from functioning and makes life so hard.

I hope your AD helps you very soon x