trying to cope

lonely · ‎11-12-2013

Hi everyone im new to this whole process, I have just been diagnosed with anxiety after having a stay in hospital to have my appendix removed. It was 4 days of crap, and then my nana fell and hurt her leg and has had currently 4 surgeries to fix, she is 95 and in the mean time I went to the ed having trouble breathing and chest pains to be told it could be a blood clot, i recently had a friend loose her husband to a blood clot , so all very worrying, so after another 3 days in hospital multiple tests and scans turns out no blood clot, but same day I was sent home I starting feeling awful, teary, sweaty, nausea, struggling to breath and like there was always something in my throat, so back to any doctor I could find on a sunday and he said anxiety stress and prescribed a short term medication to help me relax, but of course i now have anxiety over taken this addictive medication. So have seen my doctor who has suggested taking it for a few nights and get a good sleep and see how I feel from there and only take them if I feel I really need to. So I have gone from being very happy and outgoing, to struggling to get out of bed everyday and even the simpliest things can be to difficult somedays. And of course now feeling worse as christmas is right around the corner and I have 2 kids and a husband that dont understand. And of course still havent taken any medication yet 😞

Damien · ‎11-12-2013

Hello lonely,

Wow, you're right at the start of everything there aren't you? No wonder it's all a bit of a puzzle right now.

My remembrance from starting medication for Anxiety (and I'm on the type called "SSRI") is that you actually feel WORSE for the first few days, it really takes about two weeks to start to feel the benefit from them and then it's a whole lot better. I am pleased to read that you're talking with your doctor about this, but rest assured that this is a process that (almost) everyone goes through when beginning to make use of prescription medication.

Husband and kids will find it hard to understand, that too is a common story for many who experience Anxiety. I don't have husband or kids, (or wife!!), but I know the struggle to explaining in whys which will be understood to those who I rely upon for support just how hard it is to even roll over let alone get on with "life". I'm not five years into my journey and things are going well now, but yes it did take some time in the beginning.

There is light at the end of the tunnel, and even if you can't see it there are plenty of us here with torches and cups of tea to keep you company while you look. 😉

strangebrew · ‎11-12-2013

HI Lonely,

I suffer from daily anxiety which can lead to nausea, vomiting, sweating, intense fear. I am currently been prescribed addictive short term medication for use when first feeling onset of a panic attack. I have worried about going back on them too, as I had been on similar medication in the past a few years and got dependent on it. However I have been trying to be moderate with its use this time and have found keeping it on hand during the day, even if I don't use it can actually reduce my anxiety. I get intense fear from the idea of being in a situation like a meeting or presentation at work and feeling helpless and uncomfortable of being in a situation I cant easily get out of. But today I had a meeting which I was dreading, and feeling onset of a panic attack but knowing I had meds on me I felt like I could get through it. And it went well.

I get a lot of anxiety of the idea of getting a panic attack so having meds or something I know I can take to help seems to help me. Even if I don't always take them.

lonely · ‎10-01-2014

So things have gone from bad to worse with my anxiety, my nana ended passing xmas day so im now on daily medication and since im only 3 days in im feeling sick and tired all the time hoping after the first few weeks things settle down. Just not sure if there is a light at the end of the tunnel at the moment, im so tired and over feeling sick all the time. Im very lucky to have a wonderful supportive husband and thank god every day for that. I just cant believe where I am at after just 4 weeks of feeling like this.

Neil_1 · ‎11-01-2014

Hi Lonely

I'm really sorry to hear about your nana, and of all times, on Christmas Day. I lost an uncle years and years ago on Christmas day.

I am pleased to hear though about how wonderfully supportive your husband is. That is a huge bonus for you.

We're only just scraping the top off the start of this year ... so we're not that far in and what I'm saying here is to not try and beat yourself up too much about how you're feeling now.

When you've got an illness such as what you have and then to be faced with the loss of a loved one, with those two things combined it can lead to that person spiralling downward.

I think it was mentioned in an earlier post where if you begin taking a medication that it can have the effect of making you feel sick and unwell in the first few days to a week. It's just something that the body then begins to deal with and once it then masters how to function with this new medication in your body, you will then begin to feel better. Then after a few weeks, that's usually when the medication begins to function for you and hopefully this might be just the turning point that you need.

I know you probably don't feel like it, but please keep your food intake to being regular and eat good nutritious meals and if you can try to take in lots of water each day as well. Water is a huge thing (actually for ALL of us to take) and even more so as we're all seemingly going to be experiencing a good blast of summer pretty soon. We need to keep our bodies hydrated.

Lonely, I hope I've helped with even one small thing above ... and please I hope you can post back to us as often as you feel able to.

Kind regards

Neil