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[babyjane]

CBT helped me, it gave me tools to cope in the day to day, but my problems are over 50 years old (I am also 59) so need something deeper hence the psychotherapy I have started.

Two people this week have commented on the fact I am more relaxed that when they last saw me so my ADs and beta blockers are clearly doing something other than upsetting my tummy 

[coldethyl]

JJ I do think you need to go back to GP and ask for some therapy to support you in all of this. The CBT lady I saw today was very nice and hopefully she can just set me back on a more even keel with my panic disorder which she thinks has led to and is feeding my ongoing health anxiety. She said lots of menopausal ladies suffer from increased anxiety and that CBT techniques can help whatever the cause- it's all about changing how we react to and view things. Sitting talking to her I could feel my heart race and chest pains start up which tells me it's far more likely to be psychosomatic than physical physical. She did say anti depressants would be useful but I don't want to go down that route after my recent bad experience so will try this first.
I also have psychodynamic therapy through MIND which I am hoping to continue with as that has been useful too in exploring the beliefs I have that underpin all this anxiety.

[babyjane]

we sound very similar coldethyl x

[Justjules]

Well I hope the ADs are going to help as I was so much better on the Citalopram for years. I asked the GP ages ago for therapy and all they offer is the CBT because that is the NICE guideline and have had that after waiting 5 months! Can't go back for a further lot for 6 months after you finish so I am having to go down the private route again, which I can ill afford but I am desperate to try and sort it out.  Interested to know what the psychodynamic therapy consists of Coldethyl? Babyjane suggested we start a private therapy thread so we can share our experiences a little on there if we wanted to.  I am here at my daughter's babysitting overnight and I have just made a note of the postcode just in case I needed an ambulance during the night and the address isn't enough....that is a sick mind if I have ever known one!!

[Dorothy]

I am here at my daughter's babysitting overnight and I have just made a note of the postcode just in case I needed an ambulance during the night and the address isn't enough....that is a sick mind if I have ever known one!!

It's when you start taking notes of your funeral arrangements with you that you know you've really gone overboard... 

[coldethyl]

Well I hope the ADs are going to help as I was so much better on the Citalopram for years. I asked the GP ages ago for therapy and all they offer is the CBT because that is the NICE guideline and have had that after waiting 5 months! Can't go back for a further lot for 6 months after you finish so I am having to go down the private route again, which I can ill afford but I am desperate to try and sort it out.  Interested to know what the psychodynamic therapy consists of Coldethyl? Babyjane suggested we start a private therapy thread so we can share our experiences a little on there if we wanted to.  I am here at my daughter's babysitting overnight and I have just made a note of the postcode just in case I needed an ambulance during the night and the address isn't enough....that is a sick mind if I have ever known one!!

The therapy I  am having is through MIND. They offer CBT and other sorts of counselling so I opted for non CBT as I wanted to explore issues rather than do the more rigid CBT stuff- I'm not sure what she is actually practising as I spend a lot of time talking to an empty chair with an aspect of me in it (!) and I don't think it has helped with the anxiety much- rather it has put me in a place where I think CBT might help again as I now know what and why I think a lot of the things that precipitate my anxiety. It might be worth contacting local MIND and seeing what they can offer- usually only a donation is asked for and if you can't pay they don't expect it.

[babyjane]

my therapy is psychodynamic as I heed to get into my childhood and see how it affects me in the here and now as CBT didn't go deep enough. The therapist I found is private and is registered with the BACP and he was willing to negotiate a mutually acceptable fee.

I need to get better so I am prepared to pay for it instead of having other things.  I have a small allowance which is enough to cover it, unless the DWP decides I can't have it any more 

[CLKD]

What part of being a Psychiatric Nurse isn't medical  ……… usually they have more hands-on knowledge of the suffering of patients than the Doctors  [long story short].

JustJules - chest pain is usually stress related.  The whole body gets tense …… think about how many muscles are involved in the top part of the body and there will be a knock-on effect ……… sometimes when anxious my chest area feels bruised  .  If you had problems with the heart there would be other symptoms. 

How did you get on with the Grandchildren?

Citalopram can work for some, I take the 'sister' AD which helps enormously.  It's the Trial and Error which can be tiring :-(.

CBT did nowt for me because my first panic attack was at aged 3 …… so engrained.

[newbeginnings]

Joining this forum has been life changing - I've never joined a forum properly before and always felt far too vulnerable to express my feelings or couldn't see it would help. But reading MM posts on all sorts of subjects has helped so much. I now look forward to coming on here to see whats happening. And just saying I'm having a terrible day and knowing that people understand is amazing. I never thought it would have such an effect. Anyway for me personally although I still have crippling fear and anxiety every day I seem to be coming through it a bit quicker and stabilising whereas it could just be 24/7 it comes and goes through the day. I dont know if this is the HRT but I think it must be helping. The femseven patches are a bit worrying as theyre not sticking well I'm on the 4th patch in 2 weeks.
I'm looking into seeing Dr Annie Evans in Cornwall does anyone have experience of her?

[Dorothy]

It's lovely to hear the forum has been helpful - it's been a lifeline for me too. 

[babyjane]

Citalopram can work for some, I take the 'sister' AD which helps enormously. 

I do too and I feel a bit better but it is still upsetting my digestive system but I am loath to go back to anxiety attacks just to get calm guts again 

[Lizab]

Forgive me. I feel like a bratty child. But I don't understand why this is happening. I know my anxiety is coming about from my hormones. It used to be very low level cyclical, can we call it normal? It popped
up for a day around ovulation. In fact, that was how I knew where I was in my cycle. I would feel that little flip-flop in my brain and have this weird feeling for a day or two, then life as normal. I actually loved the PMS days. The physical PMS wasn't too bothersome, and I was powerful those last couple days before my period. I scheduled important meetings by it. I used it to my advantage.
How am I supposed to override my hormones and put this to rest? All the meditation, relaxation, mindfulness in the world can't override what is physically happening to me. I'm incredibly mindful. I'd feel better if I had a little less mindfulness (I'm kidding, but not). ADs seem like the obvious easiest fix, but I don't want to do them. I want my hormones to step in line. I need to sort how to work with this just as I did my cycle when I had a cycle, but it's like I'm stuck on that one or two bad days of the month all the time now.
I'm sorry. I needed to vent. I should probably journal, but you ladies are so good with picking up clues and comparing with your experiences.

[dazned]

Hi Lizab
I think perhaps one positive step you might want to consider taking is to accept the perishing hormones aint going to fall exactly back into line 
The most one can hope to achieve is to mimic as close as possible what they might be doing,which as the goal posts keep moving will be a tall order ,especially if peri. It really is "the change " and i personally found after I accepted this hard to swallow fact I didnt waste so much energy and stress chasing my own tail. We are all different though and what helps one wont always help another,but I m sure we will all find our own solutions.

[Lizab]

You are right, dazned. It is a change. But I can't accept that feeling like this is going to be my new normal. I can't work with this. It's obviously out of my control, so I'm going to have to learn to work with what I've got, but this is debilitating. I just don't know what to do.

[dazned]

I have/still....always been a control freak and after meltdown early this year because of precisely being this way in as much as I just couldn't accept that this was something I couldn't conrol but with help from people on here and by reading post I realised by not fighting against it it actually became better for me perversely. Sorry this all sounds rambling ......
Well you know what I mean hopefully