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[Roseneath]

So after ending up at the GPs again...after another circle of health anxiety I am on the brink of starting Sertraline (I think...).
I feel I have wasted 5 years of my life with anxiety and this year it has started to effect my family as like yesterday I feel immobilised with it. It is beating me down. Could some of you lovely ladies give me an idea of what type of ' side effects' to expect in the first two weeks?GP said I just need to treat this as Day 1 and be positive. (Husband not supportive at all. He said last night I just need to get over myself and it was as if I wanted to make myself ill. I try and hide my HA anxiety from him as he thinks it is all in my mind but yesterday was so wretched I thought if I was honest as to how it is eating me up he would be there for me....wrong).

[Yammy1]

I really feel for you roseneath and not having a supportive husband can't be easy, mine tries to understand but he's full of advice, eat healthier, exercise, etc. He doesn't realise I have no motivation whatsoever, that just 'getting through' ach day is enough of a struggle. I too am thinking strongly of taking ads but I'm so afraid of side effects. I did try one a while back (the name escapes me) but I had awful night terrors and felt more anxious, doc said to stick it out but I couldn't. I really hope you feel better on yours , I may go back to doc and try another type because I too am fed up feeling so bad all the time. Keep us posted how you get on   I totally get the 'wasting years' feeling, me too. If our eye sight gets bad we wear glassses, hearing we get hearing aid, broken leg crutch so why not something to help us to cope with the emotionl stuff .

[Annie0710]

At Easter my daughter developed anxiety and was put on sertraline.  She had awful side effects and felt worse.  The dr had said to stick it out but she was getting full blown panic attacks so she stopped.  She's had an awful summer and last week went back to a different gp who has put her back on sertraline and persuaded her to stick it out and advised her to get sufficient help with kids' school runs etc.  She's had to give her little cleaning jobs up temporarily whilst she's settling on it.  She said the other day (day 5) it felt like she was feeling a bit better.  Her main symptom of anxiety is extreme nausea and she's gone from 10st to 8st 5lb in just weeks so really was at breakin point.  She's also given her BBs

Menopause has given me social anxiety and it's really affected my life.  Just recently it all started to lift but it's coming back and during the good phase I applied for and got a new full time job .  I'll be hearing any day soon when my start date is .  I just want to feel confident again

I knew nothing about anxiety before meno but it truly is a nasty cruel symptom

[CLKD]

Has the GP given you an anti-anxiety or an anti-depressant medictation?  Each illness is different so requires the appropriate drug.

Let us know how you get on.  I have friends who 'do well' on what you have been prescribed.  Personally I've had dreadful reactions to some ADs, others have been fine.

[Yammy1]

I think it's the fear of the side effects from ads that's putting me off but I'm at the stage where I'm sick of existing instead of living. I really am considering trying medication" please let us know how your daughter gets on

[Roseneath]

My GP has said (and I agree) that the sertraline is for my anxiety (for me specifically health anxiety - I don't worry about anything else at all. I have this morbid feat of not being there for my kids, my son is very sensitive and is terrified of anything happening to his parents so I think this feeds it).  I feel this is not depression as I don't feel down; just in mental, exhausting negative loops which make my adrenaline /cortisol surge all the time . It does come and go but my brain seems to find something to worry about; then I go through all the GP / testing cycle which stresses me out even more, all to find it is either nothing or some minor aliment.  I did a self help / remove councilling sesson over 6 weeks but I think it made it worse talking about it and doing 'homework' on it! Also tried CBT and Mindfulness, you name it. It has definately got much worse in the last 12 months since I came into peri and is much worse just before my period starts. I have been convinced I had dementia several times in the last 6 months only to feel fine 2-3 weeks later.  After spending too many night checking my pulse every 5 minutes and clutching my heart in a sweat thinking it was going to burst something had to change. I have a Harry Potter party for 20 to get through today so I am going to start it Monday. Will let you know how I get on!

[Yammy1]

Wishing you all the best roseneath, really hope ads work for you, I too have sat with my finger in my pulse in sheer panic and I also worry I won't be around for my kids, my daughter who will be 15 next week is very sensitive and suffers with anxiety so I constantly worry about her

[CLKD]

I can never feel my pulse 

[Patience]

Anxiety is so debilitating that it can make you depressed without realizing it.  Benzodiazepines (sp?) are sometimes prescribed along with antidressants to minimize start-up anxiety.  They are addicting, so you would only want to use them for a short while or as a rescue med. 

[rebel2]

How are getting on Roseneath?  I tried Sertraline last week, half a tablet for 3 days but day 3 was so awful that I gave up. Mstrangely I felt much better when I did but only for 5 days.   Now I'm back suffering from stomach issues again.

Have you given it a go?  I think I should have stuck it out for longer.

[Annie0710]

Rebel2, I was talking to my daughter today about you.  She was given sertraline at Easter after suddenly experiencing anxiety, because of the side effects she stopped taking them after 5 days I think.  She went downhill and fast and worse than before she started taking them.  She's been on so much medication since, as it also brought on agoraphobia and Panic Disorder.  Her main physical symptoms of anxiety are nausea and palpitations.

About 10 days ago,  in desperation  she spoke to a different gp who persuaded her to try Sertraline again along with Beta Blockers.  This gp explained she will need to cancel out the following 2-3 weeks while her brain and body adapt to this.  I saw her today and she has started eating a little again and had no palpitations, and has been doing the school runs this week, something she couldn't contemplate the last how many weeks.  She said, just as gp had explained, her settling in period was horrendous but the gp begged her to have faith in her xx

[rebel2]

That's interesting Annie, and really frustrating as my GP assured me that the side effects were minimal to non-existent!  My I wish I had stuck at it now as I can't put aside any time to adapt going forward as I am self-employed and need to work.  Although on the plus side, being out and about working always eases my anxiety as it distracts me.

Hope your daughter continues to improve and thanks so much for your kind support.

[Annie0710]

You're welcome, and if you ever get desperate and need to try again at least you know now that it'll get worse before it gets better x

[LindyLouLou]

It doesn't help at all when a gp says there are no side effects or very little.  ADs take a while to get into the system, and in my experience I felt so much worse before I got better.  You do have to ride out the unpleasant first few weeks unfortunately, but I have always been pleased I did in the long run.

Good luck

Lindyloulou

[Yammy1]

Hi lindylou, can you give example of what to expect when starting ads please. I am going to doc tomorrow to get some as this anxiety has finally broken me. I hot very bad pain in my left arm earlier, it was travelling up and down my arm and really scared me as I have health anxiety focusing on my heart. I sat the past half hour crying an praying that I wasn't about to keel over with a heart attack, I took half an emergency pill(Xanax) and I have calmed a little but I can't go on like this scared all the time