Anxiety & Depression: On SNRi's-if not walking every day meds cant work properly ?.....!

[Beetle]

HI all

I am looking forward to your expereinces and ideas please.

I have MDD and GAD and was diagnosed 5 weeks ago after having suffered in silence for years.I was too emberassed to see a GP.

I had/have panic attacks, and suicidal thoughts with substance abuse and self harm.

Now im on SNRI's which  kicked in nicely. However i have to say i aso have walked every day 5 km along beach sinmce diagnosed since i love that.

Now over the WE i visited frinds and didnt do my 5 K walk a day and felt the 'beasts' depression and anxiety creepig up.I got restless, had suicidal thoughts and paranoid thoughts. I got them under control after a while but it did very much concern me,

Has anyone expereinced the same effect? I mean not doing exercise while on SNIR's and feeling blue and anxious because of it?s it possible that the meds cant work properly if i dont do exercise???

Today i felt off as well and once home i went straight to the beach for my walk, even though it was raining!!

 I was so concerned that the beast might come back!! :0    Now i feel better and not blue or anxious anymore...... So glad

I am really interested about your opintion and experiences

Beetle

[MaryG]

Hi Beetle,

I have been taking SNRIs for just over a month now and the effects weren't quite so immediate for me. I believe they are working now and my anxiety levels are definitely reduced. The depression is also not as bad and I would say I am just starting to have more good days than bad. It is hard to know if it is just the drugs though. I have also stopped drinking alcohol completely and although I have always done a lot of exercise I have changed my routine a little and do a lot more intense strength and cross training type stuff now. My body is fitter and healthier than it has been for a while, so is that a factor in my state of mind? I would say so. If I miss a training session I don't feel as good and my routine is messed up. I am probably a little obsessive about it atm and it's possibly a replacement for my other addictions that I have given up. There is a bit of a gap in my day without the exercise and I want to fill it with something that makes me feel good. If I can't then my mood drops and my unhelpful thoughts that are always lurking in the shadows take the opportunity and jump right in. I imagine it might be similar for you.

I have also been having weekly sessions with a psychologist and I've been working through quite a number of deeply suppressed feelings that I realise have been with me for a very long time. All of these things are moving me forwards and I think it would be unlikely to think that the drugs alone can do the complete job. 

Sounds nice to walk along the beach. 

Mary

[Beetle]

HI MaryG

Thanks for your lovely post 🙂

Yes I agree with you that meds alone would't do the job. But thanks to them I am at least able to analyse how i feel and what does me good and what drags me down.The drugs seem to work like a "protective shield" givining me the oportunity to refelct on my behaviour. I also have reduced my alcohol intake and try to give my body what it wants: if im hungry i eat , im sleepy i sleep and if im edgy i try to walk. certainly it doesnt work at work, but at other times i try to stick to a routine.having my own space and the ability to retreat if needed is also so important. maybe thats why didnt feel well at my friends place, because I was outsided my 'secure nest'.I also see a psychologist to help sort out my feelings which are often still very confusing and contradictive. But in general i feel good. its so complex Maey-i feel like an explorere in my own body/ brain!!

Good vibes your way

take careBeetle

[geoff]

dear Beetle, firstly can I say that MaryG has achieved a mammoth effort being able to stop her drinking, I know how hard it has been for her, but I am so proud of her to be able to do this.

Beetle, I have been taking aSNRI for a long time and now on the max. dosage, but it took a long time for it to even begin to work for me, but it has now.

Being away from home and crashing because of this could be PTSD, but I also wonder whether or not you suffer from OCD, and I only say this because 'you need to walk along the beach', just saying. Geoff.

[Beetle]

HI Goeff

Thanks for your post. As always your answers are so helpful 🙂

I agree that it must have been hard to stop drinking for Mary G-Well done-Whoohoh!!I also wondered if i have PTSD. nonone said i got it. I havent really read up about it since the trauma I had were such a l,ong time ago. My father sexually abused me when I was eight and off course i got the occasional beating. i got no emotional affection from both of my parents. I wasnt aware how a hug feels or a "i love you" or just those little touches partents give their kids. But i think my parents were the "no touchy feely' generation......for me this all is still normal. I still think my childhood was sort of normal, even though i slowly realise it wasnt.....years later i got knocked down on the street in the middle of the day by a stranger, thats when the panic started, the drinking and the self harm. At the same time i wasin an emotional abuse realtionship. that broke up years later when i completly fell apart and had some problems with alcohol and pills.So yes i dont know, PTSD is only for war veterans or people suffering torturing , isntr it? not sure....OCD? well I dont know, i thought about it. I guess at times i am a bit set in my ways. But i dont feel like having to repeat things and i dont freak out if i havent done a certain task. But 10 years ago i was suffering from anorexia nervosa,which came on after my realtion ship breakup and the loss of all my savings and our house. So i can see that i used the 'not eating' as a tool to have some control in my life......

Beetle