Anxiety comes back every 4 weeks

[Lalunia82]

Hi,

I am just wondering if anyone experienced something similar to me.

I suffer from acute anxiety from Feb 2018. Since March I started my medication on antidepressants and I regularly see my Psychiatrist and Psychologist.

The first few months were the worst when my organism was getting use to the medication. After 2 months I had few weeks of relief and I felt like me again. unfortunately my anxiety came back and I was living the true hell for the next few weeks. My psychiatrist incrased my medication to maximum dose and after 2 weeks I went back to normal. Since then my anxiety is like a wave. 3-4 weeks I feel great, sleep like baby, laugh, go out with my friends and then another week anxiety is backs. I can’t sleep, can’t eat, cannot get up from bed, loose interest in any activities, don’t want to see my friends. Going to work in the morning after 2h sleep is a real torture.

i don’t know why this is happening to me? Why I feel so great for almost a month and then I back in hell. Would my life always be like that?

[jess334]

Hi Lalunia,

I'm sorry that you are having a hard time lately.

Anxiety is always a bit up and down. Although it sounds as though your medication isn't working as well as you could have hoped.

I notice that if I am more tired, sick, or stressed in other areas.of my life then I have no back up reserve for anxiety and it takes over for a little while. Usually some self care can bring me back to 'normal'.

You definitely don't need to always be like this. Have you spoken to your psychiatrist again? Maybe this medication just isn't right for you. Unfortunately finding the right medication can take time. It can also be really hard to cope while you are trying different types so its important that you have other supports around, like family, or a psychologist, or the beyond blue forums. 😊

Please keep posting if you can.

Jess

[Star_Jasmine]

Hey Lalunia,

Couldn't entirely tell from your post if you are a girl but the first thing that popped into my mind when you said that the symptoms occur every 3-4 weeks was PMDD - pre-menstrual disphoric disorder. Not sure if you or your therapists have looked into this. I have no experience with it (other than the usual PMS which makes depression worse) so I can't provide any more info.

Good luck with your journey, I hope you get some answers!

💮

[Lalunia82]

Hi Star Jasmine and thank you for your post. I’m a girl and never thought that worsening of my condition can be related to PMDD. How can I check it? Is there any way that this can be prevented from happening? I mentioned to my psychiatrist on many occasion that I have this occurring conditions and he recommended to increase the dose of my medication further above the manufacturer’s recommendation.

Im also planning to do the candida check, although my blood test came back normal, I eat huge amount of sugar that can be perfect environment for developing candida. Candida can also cause depression and luck of energy.

[Lalunia82]

Thank you Jess. Do you have experience with different medication? I’ve been only on one and I’m start doubting in its effectiveness. I’m afraid to change to different one because it’s going be even worse before the second medication will start working.

[jess334]

Hi Lalunia

Unfortunately my experience with medication was not great. These days I find ongoing acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), proper nutrition, and exercise helps keep me stable better than medication. However I know many other people on these forums have had success with medication.

I was on the same medication for 5 years or so before it started loosing effectiveness. At the beginning it really helped me cope with my depression and get started living again. I never felt normal on medication though. I still had panic attacks, but I wasn't able to be really happy or really sad. I kind of felt grey all the time. I ended up switching through 3 types before I was finally able to come off a few years ago.

Switching can be hard in the short term, but in my mind it is better than staying on am ineffective medication.

Kind thoughts,

Jess