topic Bumping my medication up!!! Nervous in Treatments, health professionals and therapies

Bumping my medication up!!! Nervous

Ballza — Mon, 06 Nov 2017 07:49:34 GMT

Hi there....

Im very new to this kind of thing... So bare with me...

I was diagnosed as agoraphobic when I was 28, started using medication and within a week, started feeling so much better...

41 years old now and things have taken a turn.. I’m very anxious all the time now, my depression is coming back!!!

I’m seeing a psychologist and today I visited a psychiatrist...

They are bumping my meds up to a higher dose and to be honest I am very nervous about this!!!

Has anybody got any positive feedback or stories to try and keep my anxiety levels down????

Cheers guys

Matt

Bumping my medication up!!! Nervous

geoff — Mon, 06 Nov 2017 22:03:20 GMT

hi Matt, this is common if you've been on the same dosage for a while, simply because your body can get used to the medication so the effect is not the same as it used to be, but if it's been good for you then you shouldn't have any problems.
Depression can come and go because once we have had it then we have it forever, even though you maybe able to get on with your life, however it can always come back.
If you have any trouble then go back to your doctor. Geoff.

Bumping my medication up!!! Nervous

Doolhof — Mon, 06 Nov 2017 22:23:37 GMT

Hi Matt,

Welcome to the community here. It is good you are seeking help for how you are feeling. The medical profession will not increase your medication unless they feel there is a reason to do so.

Regarding the return of your symptoms, or an increase in them, has something happened to trigger how you are feeling now? I know there doesn't always need to be a reason, something may have started to set you off.

Sometimes our minds grab hold of a negative or unhelpful thought ands then run with it until we find it difficult to turn the thoughts around to something more helpful and supportive.

Follow through with the suggestions from your Dr. and other mental health professionals. Seek clarification from them as well.

Hopefully the increase in medication, your own will power to see this through and other techniques you learn will help you through.

Cheers from Dools

Bumping my medication up!!! Nervous

Ballza — Tue, 07 Nov 2017 01:19:46 GMT

Thank you....

i am just so scared at the moment, I’ve got a wife and 2 little girls who really need there Dad!!!!

But when I’m feeling this way, I’ve just got nothing to give.

My trigger is work, I just can’t seem to cope the way I used too, it all just seems to stressful....

It’s a battle every dam day!!!

The only reprieve I get is at night, when I can chill out at home..

Then boom, the next morning it hits me like a ton of bricks

Thanks for your kind words, I need all the support I can get at the moment 😰😰

Bumping my medication up!!! Nervous

Ballza — Tue, 07 Nov 2017 01:20:37 GMT

Hopefully things will get better mate

Bumping my medication up!!! Nervous

Doolhof — Tue, 07 Nov 2017 08:42:46 GMT

Hi Ballza,

I certainly know what it is like to feel so overwhelmed that I think I am about to explode or collapse totally.

Sounds like home is a good place for you, do you have photos of your wife and daughter on your phone? Is it possible to take 5 seconds out of your day now and then to look at a photo of them and know how much they mean to you.

Are you a list maker? Would it help to write down the priorities for the day, then break them down into smaller more manageable chunks?

Do you have healthy ways to let go of the frustrations, anger, confusion and what ever else you are feeling? My garden is a great stress relief for me. We have a large garden so plenty of bushes to cut back, weeds to pull, twigs to break up. Finding something constructive and useful for built up anxious energy may help.

Can you change your morning routine in some way, so work is not the huge gremlin it is right now? do you drive to work, walk, run, catch transport? Can you change your route to work? Listen to music, think of something else before you get there?

I may be barking up the wrong tree, it is certainly okay for you to let me know if that is the case.

Plus what works for one does not always work for someone else. What works for me one day does not always work well the next day! Some days we need to be experimental to see what helps.

Hope some of my rambling helps!

Cheers again from Dools

Bumping my medication up!!! Nervous

Doolhof — Tue, 07 Nov 2017 08:45:43 GMT

Hey Ballza,

Another thought just came to me.

Some times our days seem so horrid we can't see the silver lining in anything.

I have a challenge for you. When you are at work try and think of three things you are thankful for at work.

If three is far too many, than think of one. It can be anything.

For me it might be knowing where the toilet is...due to a physical injury this is very important to me!

Dools

Bumping my medication up!!! Nervous

Ballza — Tue, 07 Nov 2017 09:02:30 GMT

Thanks again.... Everything you said makes so much sense....

I have got to work out how to release the anger, confusion and frustration, healthily.... Those 3 emotions scare me so much that in the last month, most weekends I end breaking down on the edge of my bed crying. Door shut so the kids don’t see me!!! Once I’ve had that release I feel totally spent.. Then I start my day again...

In saying that... I’m feeling pretty good right now...

Ive got a positive feeling that things may be on there way back up 👆🏻👆🏻

Cheers again Dools....

We just gotta push on through 💪🏼💪🏼

Bumping my medication up!!! Nervous

Ballza — Tue, 07 Nov 2017 09:05:51 GMT

P.s The photos of my family on my phone always help!!!

There the reason I keep on pushing!!!

Bumping my medication up!!! Nervous

Doolhof — Tue, 07 Nov 2017 21:09:22 GMT

Hi Ballza,

That is excellent news that you are starting to feel a little better. Capture this moment in your mind, so if you have a day when it starts to slide down hill, you will know you can get out of that mindset. It may take time and a lot of effort. It does for me some days!

Learning how to deal with feelings and thoughts of anger, frustration, grief, shame or what ever can be difficult. They are not words and concepts that are generally brought up in every day discussion nor accepted easily.

I am a Country Fire Service Volunteer. Before heading to training one night I was so angry, frustrating, agitated and cranky I didn't know how to release any of that.

At the station we had an old car we used to practise car rescues scenarios. I put on all my protective CFS uniform, grabbed a tool off the truck that is generally used to rip into cars to help get people out, and went crazy on that car wreck until I was exhausted.

My male colleagues were too scared to come near me that night. Ha. Ha. I scared the hell out of the guy living next to the station as well!

Gardening when possible is my release. Some people go to the gym, have a punching bag in the garage or go for a run or walk. Trying to control those thoughts before they grow into a volcano helps as does writing it down and getting it out of my head.

For some people it is as simple as having a rubber band type thingy around their wrist, they ping it when they become stressed or anxious and it helps to remind them to calm down again.

Regarding the photos on your phone, that is excellent.

Pushing on through is excellent, we also need to build up techniques that will help us along the way.

Cheers to you for making progress. From Dools

Bumping my medication up!!! Nervous

Mag2 — Tue, 07 Nov 2017 21:22:11 GMT

i am on an ssri. I was in one type and gradually went up to highest dose.. but still had massive anxiety. My doctor put me on a different ssri and we started on lowest dose of that ssri and I got heaps better.

do, maybe talk to your doc about trying a different med in same category??

Bumping my medication up!!! Nervous

meercat — Wed, 08 Nov 2017 20:44:09 GMT

Hello Ballza. meercat here. Im sorry ur feeling anxious..thats part of my bipolar bp as well.

Re adjusting meds. I think they are very personal to each of us. What works for you may not work for me and what worked years ago may not have the desired effect now.

I was on a large dose for 43 yrs. "sleeping" for weeks then up up. This occurred about once a year.

Then recently i fell asleep for 3 weeks. I was frozen..did absolutely nothing; couldnt eat walk see..nothing.. i was so anxious and worried about making wrong decisions.. till i found a new doctor.

Now on a lower dose, life is a little calmer and im thinking clearer. Im about to hit a cyclone of family issues so he has added a tiny half tab of anti d to the mix.

If ur not happy with doc's suggestion about meds is there another one you can 'really' talk to. Im glad iv found a new doc.

meercat xx

Bumping my medication up!!! Nervous

geoff — Wed, 08 Nov 2017 20:45:04 GMT

hi Matt, you know it can become so confusing as what you need to do, because you're not feeling well and sometimes a change can be scarier than the outcome, at the moment this is unknown and uncertainty is a large problem that tags along with depression. Geoff.

Bumping my medication up!!! Nervous

Ballza — Thu, 09 Nov 2017 01:59:47 GMT

I am just scared and confused!!!

Bumping my medication up!!! Nervous

Ballza — Thu, 09 Nov 2017 02:01:42 GMT

I just want it all to go away!!!!

Ive got a wife and 2 little girls that I want to be there for 😢😢

Bumping my medication up!!! Nervous

Doolhof — Thu, 09 Nov 2017 08:31:41 GMT

Hi Ballza,

Sounds like you have taken a bit of a nose dive. Really sorry to read that.

Your words "I just want it all to go away" have inspired me to start a thread called "What I want to go away today". It is in the depression section. You may like to try to locate it, read what I have written and share there if you feel like it. Same for anyone reading this.

Many of us I am sure have days when we wish it would all just go away and leave us alone. Trying not to feel this way can seem like an humongous effort at times, in the long run it is worth the struggle when we find a sense of acceptance, of hope and an opportunity to move forward.

One step at a time Ballza. Just one small step.

Cheers from Dools

Bumping my medication up!!! Nervous

Ballza — Wed, 15 Nov 2017 06:17:06 GMT

9th day today...

Still not feeling real good, starting to think I won’t be the same person...

Managing work, not eating much, a bit of raised anxiety some days, low mood on others!!!

Can someone please tell me everything will be alright 😩😩

Bumping my medication up!!! Nervous

Doolhof — Wed, 15 Nov 2017 10:51:33 GMT

Hey Ballza,

I'd love to tell you that everything will be okay, sometimes it isn't and that is oaky too!

It might not seem like it right now, but life can get better, it will take work, effort, trust in your Dr that he/she knows best, and trying to put one foot in front of the other again and again.

On a different thread I wrote that to me "struggling" means that I am still alive. That I have not given up.

Ballza it is okay to admit and tell yourself that life really sucks right now. I get that. Many of us here get that. Acknowledging how I feel makes me realise I don't want to feel this way any longer than I have to.

My Psychologist keeps telling me to change those unhelpful thoughts into helpful ones, to accept them, to find worthwhile things to do in life to feel better about myself.

I yelled at him during my last appointment, "Do you want me to enjoy how I am feeling right now because I can't do that right now." He told me he understood that moment in time was very difficult for me, and he agreed it is hard to put strategies and actions in place when you feel so low.

At that moment it was all too difficult. A bit later on it was easier to consider his words. Later still I was able to put his words into action. It was a start to making positive changes.

I'm done with beating myself up, hope you can find a way to let go of the stuff you may be holding against yourself!

Once again I'd love to tell you everything will be okay. I can tell you that you have the ability and the power inside yourself to make each day the best it can be. We do have choices. We just need to find the strength to try our best at that particular moment in time.

Dools.

Bumping my medication up!!! Nervous

Ballza — Wed, 15 Nov 2017 23:31:23 GMT

Cheers dools...

The thing with me is, when I’m using a certain dose of my med, I feel good.. Then for some reason i’ll Slip a little, we bump up the med and I feel worse, real bad anxiety, crying, fearful, stop eating, just generally bad...

After about a month, I’ll drop the dose back down to the usual dosage and then everything is great for about a year!!

3 years in a row this has happened 😳😳😳

I just don’t know what to do..

Bumping my medication up!!! Nervous

Doolhof — Thu, 16 Nov 2017 06:13:29 GMT

Hi Ballza,

I don't understand either why medication can act that way. I have a similar issue. Only thing is my system seems to go quite toxic with the build up of the medication, then I have to withdraw completely and the Dr. then has to try something else.

Hopefully your chemistry will settle quickly when the changes need to be made. It isn't pleasant experiencing all of those things though.

Does your Dr increase slowly or just bumps the level up? I am certainly no expert in these things, just wish your transition was not so harsh!

Hey, hopefully next year this trend will not continue!

Cheer from Dools