so this morning i had to go get some shopping i felt ok but as soon as i got in the taxi i began to sweat i managed to get my shopping and calmed down a bit mid shop im so scared of having a public panic attack that it makes me panic more!! i made it home though im sick of this evil illness
are you on an antidepressant?
Well done for keeping going.. I know exactly how you feel. I am at CBT and this is part of my homework! I have to keep doing it seems I will do it without thinking about it after a while! Again like you I am so afraid I will make a fool of myself in public… but I have to keep at it and it is getting a bit easier. Its not easy, what I also do is write down the thoughts going through my head before I go & when I get back I answer my “what ifs…”
Then at night I write down my “highlights” of the day and it is good to look back on as if you are like me I think of the stuff that i didnt like, but this reminds me of what I have done good.example your highlight today is you went to shop, you stuck it out and home again… again WELL DONE GIRL x
i started sertraline two weeks ago but i couldnt deal with the side effects i like fluoxtine (sorry cant spell lol) but im not just depressed anymore ive developed health anxiety since my mums sudden death last year
thankyou so much for your reply your method sounds great and i will definatly try.. writing it down
i also have time anxiety i have lots to do but feel like theres no time in a day even though there is!! since i had one panic attack in a supermarket ive also developed a fear of having another one in public
Ah Tania thats even better as it must be so hard to go somewhere that had happened. I find thinking about going or doing something is actually worse than the doing. The other thing that might help, I know it does me, is to distract yourself, example, I braved it to the shop, didnt look at the time and landed in the lunchtime rush… anxiety decided to join me!! So as someone told me, look at what people are wearing, shoes, coats etc., or whats on the counter etc., it works for me well mostly! one day I went into the shop, saw a really long Q took out my phone pretended I got a call and left again - someday I will do that and the phone will ring - lol.
Or
I will shout at the people infront of me to pack their shopping quicker or just pay and go - lol
So once again very well done and keep it up x
are you taking an antidepressant jean?
ive found sucking on a sweet or cough sweet distracts my mind and helps me!
yes, for a number of years, I have recently had my dose upped and as before I am going through the yuckie side effects, but after two weeks I am so much better even if I have a wobble every now and again daily. I am taking sertraline. Another couple of weeks I will be even better as I truly wish for all. x
i am on devenlafaxine 50mgs for 28 days for severe anxiety.it takes a while to kick in doesn’t it. what do you take?
Hi Tania and I am so sorry to hear you are suffering so badly with your anxiety. It can be really difficult to find a suitable medication because in the early weeks one side effect can be increased anxiety which can be impossible to tolerate when things are already bad enough.
Have you looked into your options with therapy? Some are self referral now depending on the area you live in and what type of therapy would be the most suited to you.
Medication can indeed be extremely helpful to many people but it isn’t for everyone and your doctor should be willing to try different types if one isn’t tolerable to you, personally I take one medication, I have been on it for years and I’m not even sure it works anymore but I don’t want the disruption of coming off it.
I like some of the self help books available but I can’t mention them here because my reply would be removed by a moderator, it’s worth looking around to see if you can find one that meets your needs,
For 20 years I have had anxiety disorder, rarely left the house without my husband, I have had huge breakdowns, physically survived anorexia twice and I don’t know exactly how I did it but I think at times I got angry with it all, I looked at the positive things in my life, gained an understanding of what was happening to me and thought ‘You are not going to take this from me, you are anxiety, an ED, a liar’ just like you would a toxic friend I suppose.
I still do suffer very badly now and I know I could relapse again but the way I see it is all we can do is our best, we take the help that’s available, we battle on as much as we can and that’s the most that can be expected of us.
If you feel you want to go to bed after a bad morning or trip out and it is practical to do so then do it, I do and anxiety is draining, it can’t hurt you but it’s still a very real condition and if you were physically unwell the advice would be to look after yourself and to rest so do it if you can, you have to be kind to yourself.
Good luck and I hope you find a way through it, I don’t want you to read this and think you’re going to end up like me, everyone is different, you could feel well again much sooner with help and support and have peace in your life back again x
thankyou so much for your reply its so sweet of you to answer in depth
isnt this awful im so sorry all you battle with food i over eat but then some weeks can barely drink some water
my anxiety has gotten out of control since my mothers sudden death im scared of everything i know none of us make it out alive but im not living im in constant worry until something bad happens its like a demon in my head ive questioned wether im havinv a breakdown please can you tell me how you no?? x
Hi Tania.
I’m so sorry to hear of your mother’s sudden death, mine died very suddenly too and it was the most awful year of my life but even then I didn’t make what was a very obvious connection to me now, I was in shock and questioning everything including my own mortality too.
A breakdown can mean a number of things but my understanding is that it’s an overload of stress and we reach a point where we can’t cope anymore, sometimes that can manifest itself in panic and anxiety, depression is common too.
Don’t worry too much about food at the moment, I think that as long as it’s a side effect of the anxiety then worrying will make you feel worse because we tend to observe appetite changes as an indication of health, as long as your doctor is satisfied that the cause is anxiety then these things tend to balance out naturally in the end.
During my worst ever episode of anxiety I could barely keep anything down, it was awful and then as it eased a little I found myself eating all day long, quite alarming I admit with my history of anorexia but a while after that it calmed down and I was just eating regular meals and snacks, I stayed away from the scales too, I didn’t feel I needed more worry and I just let my doctor weigh me when I went for appointments if she thought it was required.
It was a terrible experience in so many ways but it taught me a lot about food, our bodies are really quite smart so don’t worry if you eat a lot especially if you have times when you can’t eat much at all, that’s just your body protecting itself.
Don’t be too hard on yourself about anything, you are doing your best, you have seen your doctor, you may benefit from bereavement counselling if you haven’t had it already and any therapy can be a huge help.
Another thing to consider is that you never have to feel scared or panic alone, I am lucky enough to have a husband who is my full time carer but he needs some rest at times so if I get too desperate and it’s the middle of the night I call the samaritans, they have always been wonderful and patient, they’ve been a true lifeline to me and I still suffer now, I just made myself one promise, I will do whatever it takes to survive, anxiety, anorexia, anything that life so unkindly throws in my direction all I can do is my best.
Good luck and take care of yourself, don’t think it will be this way forever, there is help available and when you find the right type for you it will start to get easier again xx