Hi all!
So am on my 3rd week on 20mg of flu and as i expected ive been upped to 40mg. Its not my first time on that dose but it's been many years and this time everything seems to be working out differently and worse.
Im having the worst ride of the past 14 years and although i trust the process i find myself in need of reassurance...
Ive also been given zopiclone to sleep to help me in these first weeks. (Quite scared of liking those too much but i need them right now...) do was going to prescribe beta blockers too (for my anxiety) but changed her mind when she saw i had asthma.
anyways, can someone offer a word or two in terms of how it was to increase so early?, my SE were just starting to calm down a bit , what should i expect? Strugglin to see benefits still...
Hi Ana
Rough time, eh? Is that from the Flu or do you mean you're having a rough ride in life right now?
I've been on 20mg Flu for seveeral months and feeling great. I don't know what it is like to increase to 40mg but I can tell you a bit about Zopiclone. I was on it before I started Flu, certainly stayed on it during te early weeks and for a while afterwards. Then I noticed I was sleeping well enough and decided to come off Zopiclone - I had been taking it every night for ages. I did it by decreasing a half tablet every other night and when I got to no Zopiclone every othherr night I just extended the number of no drug nights until I didn't even think about taking any. I was scared at first, not taking any - concerned. BUt all was well and a slow decrease worked well for me. I am still sleeping soundly.
So I'd say don't worry about the Zopiclonne. Take it while you need it and until you find you are sleeping well enough again, then wean yourself off. Might take several months, as it did me.
Flu has worked and continues to work for me - and I hope it does for you, soon. You know it's a rough ride getting onto it - and I assume the same for an increased dose, but don't know - but there should be great benefits once you are fully on it.
Good luck, stay with the programme and think of the summer months ahead.
Thanks for that carl!
Am having a rough time depression and anxiety wise, fluoxetines side effects just add to it but that i hope and know it will settle so its ok.
Its really good to know zopiclone neednt be a problem, good to know you were able to wean yourself off without problems. I just dont want to think ill be adding any more issues by taking them. They are helping me A LOT,so ill take the relieve they give me for now until im in a better place.
Thanks for the reply!really helps!
Sounds like you have it sussed, Ana. I wownder if you are doing the right things for you whilst the Flu 'side effects' are giving you hell? Distraction, nice things to eat, treats, getting out for walks in the sunshine, being gentle and kind and loving toward yourself?
Zopiclone is an aid to your recovery, same as Fluoxetine. You have to stop Zopiclone sooner or later - but that is a decision you need not worry about just now. Now is the time to be good to yourself - and hopefully it will become a habit you don't give up.
Hi, Ana. I have been where you are. It is a rough road. This is not my first time being on flu either, and this time seems rougher and taking longer to get better. I was put up to 40mg. as I was the last time. When I went up to 40mg. the anxiety did increase for a good week or 2. Then I would start having good days and bad days. Sometimes the first half of the day would be bad and around mid-afternoon I would start feeling better. And sometimes the other way around. Everyone is different. I'm now at 5 weeks on 40mg. All last week was very good and I thought I was over everything, but 2 days ago I felt really depressed and cried alot. Today I have some anxiety. But on the whole I am getting better. Ups and downs and ups and downs seems to be the norm. You just have to keep telling yourself that and coming on here and talk about it. Others can help you get through this, I know it really helps me alot. Be sure and take Carl's advice to be good to yourself.
Thanks for your words, they mean so much,
I have recently started to look after myself a bit. I always tend to put everything and everyone else before me because i think i can do without or i can push myself a little more and obviously it hasnt been working very well... so trying to put me first a bit and do what i need to to get back on top of life. Am starting therapy soon also, that should come in handy. It just seems like a never ending road sometimes but i will get there, just a matter of time
X
Thanks Karen,
I find that too with the ups and the downs and try hard to not forget the ups when i hit a low but still find it so hard to put things into perspective sometimes. Am hoping anxiety will not arise too much again, i find my mornings very anxious but i have had overall less anxiety since starting flu. Hate the anxiety the most, just eats you up.
I keep thinking how glad i am to have found this site because im finding you all so helpful i cant even express it.
XxX
I know what you mean, the anxiety is the worst. What I've been doing to help me remember my progress is I write on my calendar a smile for a good day, a staight line for an acceptable day, and an frown for a bad day. And I put two for each day, one for the morning and one for the evening. This helps as I can look back and get an overall picture of my progress. Hope you get better really soon! Keep us posted and ask questions any time.
I forgot to mention that I pray alot and that really helps me, too.
Really love the calendar idea! Going to give it a go. Easy way to quickly see how I've been doing and not concentrating on the bad times 
i find myself praying too and i haven't prayed in years....
Today i found myself quite hyper and upbeat, quite good actually but do have quite a bit of anxiety. We'll see how it goes!
xxx
Hi Ana
It seems you are getting some great advice on here - Carl....wow! You have hit the nail on the head.
This is about having confidence in you - you are the important thing here. Whatever your duties/responsibilities to others are - if YOU are not right, there IS NO you and others will suffer for that too.
I upped after 3-4 weeks (initially to extra 20 every other day) and the side effects were bad. It didnt seem quite as bad as others on here, but when i think back to it they were.
I have shared both my treatment/side effects and my reasons for being in this situation with some work friends. It is amazing the support that they give to me. In turn, they have shared their problems and we seem to have formed a small mutual understanding community. It is really nice to have others you can trust and talk to without the stigma that goes along with mental health issues (however minor).
I recommend this to everyone - a small number of semi-strangers (now friends - good friends) - it is easier to share things with them than closer family.
Wow - just typing this has made me realise how important this is to me.
Hi ana like u i have upped my dose to 40mg an its awful i feel like im going crazy. It will be 2 weeks on monday since the increase and im hoping the side effects will leave. Im constantly exhausted and my anxiety levels r through the roof. Im so glad i joined this site im only 36 and im terrified im not going to get better. I pray that things will improve. Just take it day by day i hope u feel better soon x
I share my mh issues with 2 people at the moment, i have though opened up about personal problems to 2 work collegues ( i never ever share my problems with anyone) and this has helped a lot, although completely different circumstances one of them has just opened up to me and she is going through something similar. Its great to be able to relate and be more open. I realise we're never as isolated as we think we are if only we reach out.
Am hoping for these pills to kick in already and staying hopeful itll happen sooner rather than later
Hi dsrc
Am on the second day on 40 and waiting to notice side effects, not looking forward to it but i guess its all on the way to better things. After having the worst anxiety attack(this weds) since starting fluox i can say that im having a pretty decent two first days on 40.
I feel hyper, yesterday i felt like i was on a high for half the day, mood's better than it's been lately but do feel anxiety constantly (not bad, just there) guess my body is a bit shocked by the increase. Hope this high lasts me a bit, it's a nice change.
I turned 30 earlier this year (great way to start a new decade) my personal life has taken the biggest turn yet, and a lot finished for me when i turned 30, now im on a mission to be mentally healthy We are doing what we need to do to be better and we are going to get past this and then look back in awe at our lives. We'll probably even be better than we thought we could ever be so keep pushing because this is just gonna be temporary.
Ha! Sorry for the super long post! (Am too hyper today)lol
How soon after the increase did you start feeling side effects kick in again?
Hope you're doing good!
You say it all, right there, Ana -
"( i never ever share my problems with anyone)" - and now I'm taking pills.
"I realise we're never as isolated as we think we are if only we reach out". - and that's the way to get back to good mental health and off the pills.
I don't know a single person who does not have troubles and concerns of one sort or another. Sharing ourselves is te only way to dicover we are not alone, not weird or strange or so very different. We are just part of the human experience in all its richness and diversity.
In my experience Flu does not 'kick in' - it kinda creeps up on you along a wavy line. I'm eight months in and still noticing change with good days, better days and the ocassional chocolate and ice cream day.
Carrying Anxiety through life leads us to bottle up, not face and hide our problems from others.
When I have people I can tell stuff to....AND... they still talk to be as though I am normal (i.e. don't avoid me or the conversations afterwards) it's like acceptance..... it IS acceptance.... My current anxieties are related to a loved one with drink problems.... I sought help - they did not. I can now get through the week without the constant dread of another untriggered confrontation in front of (or involving) my children. I am stronger and not reduced to the nausious, quivering jelly that i was previously. My children need me to be able to face life and it's challenges - not run away and quake. My "friends" offer me advice, comfort and sympathy (when I need that most). This helps me to be me, whatever happens.
There you go - once more shared!
"In my experience Flu does not 'kick in' - it kinda creeps up on you along a wavy line. I'm eight months in and still noticing change with good days, better days and the ocassional chocolate and ice cream day."
Thank you, Carl, for saying this. I so needed to hear it! I'm 14 weeks in and last week for almost the whole week I felt really good and now I'm back in a bad slump, which was making me really worried. I guess we just need continual reassurance that everything will even out eventually.
Thanks again for your words.
Hi, Ana. I upped to 40mg. 4 weeks ago. My first 10 days I was really high, too, but then the ups and downs kicked in again, and I'm in a bad time right now. I'll just be glad when this all evens out.
Hi carl
You are very right indeed.
Although i know is not good for me to keep things and wouldn't advice that to anyone i do tend to do that myself. Find that i can be of such great help to others but somehow don't apply my own words to myself. Im trying to start now though .Little step by little step .
And yes, while they dont just kick in, i cant help but hope for a time where i have more ups than downs i guess. Just looking forward to a bit of inner peace, instead of the extreme lows, the anxiety and the constant monologues i have trying to rationalise things and convince myself that im gonna be ok. The more i type the more im realising im my own worst enemy! Haha a lot of selfwork on the horizon for me!
Hi, dsrc. I upped to 40mg 4 weeks ago. I know what you mean. After an initial high, I plummeted and have been up and down since. My anxiety levels were through the roof, too. But they are slowly decreasing with each down time. Hope you feel better really soon. Keep us posted. And when you need more reassurance just post again. We all need it often.