It could be easy to be negative, I'm not great. I've been completely scrambled for about 3 weeks laid up at home worrying my mum. I had depersonalisation, insomnia, agoraphobia, fogginess, constant panic, intrusive thoughts. I'm sat on the couch feeling pretty uneasy, having managed to calm to an acceptable level after my nap was destroyed by memories of my ex girlfriend earlier this afternoon.
It would be easy to forget that my depersonalisation blew out last week. I went on an aggressive campaign of day trips and walks last week, and the world feels like a safer place already. My appetite has returned, and I'm making the most of that where possible. I can't quite break into feeling good yet, at any point, not raging with stress is a victory. but I always have confidence in tommorow.
Despair is often a common theme I see on these threads but don't give into it. Recognise that recovery is process with few lightbulb moments. You all deserve peace and health, and you will have it. Don't give up, don't give in, no matter how dire it might seem right now.
It sounds like you are doing well, or at least on the road to recovery :-).
I think even focusing on positive thoughts rather than negative can help. I've been really trying to work on that lately. Concentrating on the good things (I went shopping yesterday with very little anxiety!) rather than the bad things (had to take two trazedone to sleep last night).
I’m on week eight of citalopram 20mg and I’m having a bad day today. Over the last week though I have kept a note of three good things that I’ve achieved each day and felt like I was getting somewhere but today I’m finding it hard because I had a bad night so sleep with panic attacks this morning. I’m just hoping for a better day tomorrow, I’m trying to be as positive as I can but I just want this to end now. What dose of citalopram are you on? I’m so pleased that you feel like you’re making progress is there’s anything else that is helping you also in getting better?
Thank you kelly, I think it's very important to focus on the positives and that sounds brilliant you were able to achieve that! I think I was trying to say, take some time to appreciate the progress, no matter how bad you feel right now. Well, I can only hope the tablets worked
Hey I know how much a nights sleep can bring you down, just remember there is nothing mystical going on, it's the lack of sleep! I'm on 20mg citalopram aswell. I was on sertraline until a few months ago and my body tends to favour a lower dose so I'm confident that this can help.
what I am doing to aid my recovery:
No caffeine.
No alcohol.
Strict 11:00pm lights out.
No phone scrolling at night
Exercise 2-3 times per week.
Walking everyday.
Talking to friends.
Temporary suspension of my masculinity (crying when I need to).
3 meals per day minimum (important).
2L water per day.
Avoid negativity!!!!
I'm in the fairly good position of having a little breathing room from work and other commitments so sleeping in as I need to
Thank you there’s some things there that I could do to try. On a bad day I struggle to eat because I’m so anxious but I think it makes me worse so I’m going to have to work on eating three meals a day or even eating more than I am, and I definitely need to be more positive.
Yes nutrition is important and has a big link to anxiety. I listed all of these things because it's really about cumulative effects, and they all link with one-another, but it also depends on what is happening in your life
A very good site that really helped me before to complete recovery was called anxietynomore, it really helped me before and definitely worth a look