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[Charlie62]

Hi ladies, I have posted on here a couple of times but wondered if anyone has tried talking therapies. My local council offer sessions 1 to 1 or in groups. I am at the point where I need to find out if its the menopause causing my anxiety & mild depression or if its just me.
I am on patches & my gp has prescribed ADs but im reluctant to take them.
Any feedback would be gratefully received ☺TIA

[CLKD]

How would symptoms be 'just' anything?  Symptoms are caused by something.  We don't dream them up.  I had talking therapy intermittently through-out the 1990s, either through private health care insurance or on the NHS.  Often it was the same therapist. Due to my problems I refused group therapy, what would happen if I met someone from the locality  my problems would be back to the village B4 I was  .

Discuss, decide, ditch.  Helped enormously. 

Do you keep a mood/symptom/food diary to chart how you are feeling on a daily basis?  How are your periods?  Menopause can throw up symptoms but 1 should never assume they are down to menopause.  i.e. a change in bowel habits must be discussed with a GP. 

R U using the patches?  Have you put the name of the product into the search box on this Forum to see what pops up?  Make notes 

As 4 depression and anxiety.  How were you during your menstruating years?  Were you aware of either ?  I have treatment for both as well as an emergency anti-anxiety tablet or I wouldn't be here 

Maybe see if the patches help and take the ADs if those symptoms don't go or worsen.  Nothing is worth advising medication for it you can find relief, after all, nothing requires taking for ever [other than diabetic, heart conditions etc.].

Let us know how you get on!

[Charlie62]

How would symptoms be 'just' anything?  Symptoms are caused by something.  We don't dream them up.  I had talking therapy intermittently through-out the 1990s, either through private health care insurance or on the NHS.  Often it was the same therapist. Due to my problems I refused group therapy, what would happen if I met someone from the locality  my problems would be back to the village B4 I was  .

Discuss, decide, ditch.  Helped enormously. 

Do you keep a mood/symptom/food diary to chart how you are feeling on a daily basis?  How are your periods?  Menopause can throw up symptoms but 1 should never assume they are down to menopause.  i.e. a change in bowel habits must be discussed with a GP. 

R U using the patches?  Have you put the name of the product into the search box on this Forum to see what pops up?  Make notes 

As 4 depression and anxiety.  How were you during your menstruating years?  Were you aware of either ?  I have treatment for both as well as an emergency anti-anxiety tablet or I wouldn't be here 

Maybe see if the patches help and take the ADs if those symptoms don't go or worsen.  Nothing is worth advising medication for it you can find relief, after all, nothing requires taking for ever [other than diabetic, heart conditions etc.].

Let us know how you get on!

Thank you CLKD for your response. Sorry, I didn't explain that very well. What I meant was is my mental health separate from my menopause symptoms. I could blame everything on the menopause but unless I find out for sure then I can't help myself to understand & hopefully feel better. I used to suffer with pmt and have taken a progesterone only pill for many years, until i was 55. I cannot tell when my periods stopped naturally.  I am using everol patches. I was on femoston conti but felt unwell so switched to patches a few months ago. I have tried a mood diary but got fed up of looking at my negative comments. Im trying to get more exercise & take extra vitamins. I'm worried about taking the ADs atm as I start a new job next week & will need to function as best I can & I know they can take a couple of weeks to work.
It's all a minefield & I'm just hoping I can wade my way through
P.s what isvtge emergency anti-anxiety pill you take. Is it prescribed by your go. Iv tried rescue drops but not sure they actually help.

[CLKD]

I use Rescue Remedy drops and sweeties too, never think about if they work/not.  They enable me ;-).

I can't remember the as-necessary medication, my GP gave me 'valium' for years and now I have another.  Travels everywhere with me but I haven't needed one for months.

I had specific problems that I needed to discuss and 1 NHS therapist told me that I knew more about the subject than she did  . It was when the 'experts' quoted ideas at me and I could tell them which paragraph and book they were quoting from ........ it looks simply written down but if ideas worked, we wouldn't need therapists.  They didn't get it!

Good luck in the new job!  Does this mean setting that alarm clock 

[Charlie62]

Thanks clkd.  We probably do know much more than we give ourselves credit for. Yeah, after being unemployed for nearly 10 months the alarm clock will need dusting off☹

[CLKD]

R U looking forwards to a change of routine and getting back into the work-place? 

[Charlie62]

R U looking forwards to a change of routine and getting back into the work-place?

I'm not too sure but I will give it a go ☺

[CLKD]

Let us know how you get on ...........

[Ladybt28]

Sometimes it's just good to get the stuff which is rattling around in your head - out of you head and have it come out of your mouth.  Preferably to a stranger, they tend to see things with fresher eyes than people who know you, plus because they don't know you they are more likely to question the conclusion you have just delivered to them or questions why you are asking the question you are asking.

I have had talking therapies of many kinds over 40 years. The group ones I found the least helpful, the CBT ones were just ok the best ones were with 8 sessions at a time with a lifeline counsellor.

[Charlie62]

Sometimes it's just good to get the stuff which is rattling around in your head - out of you head and have it come out of your mouth.  Preferably to a stranger, they tend to see things with fresher eyes than people who know you, plus because they don't know you they are more likely to question the conclusion you have just delivered to them or questions why you are asking the question you are asking.

I have had talking therapies of many kinds over 40 years. The group ones I found the least helpful, the CBT ones were just ok the best ones were with 8 sessions at a time with a lifeline counsellor.

Thank you ladybt28. I have had a telephone assessment from my local council run therapy service. I am about to start on a 12 week online support with a therapist as that is the quickest way to get started. I can also call & speak to someone. If that doesn't help then I can request 1 to 1 therapy. Fingers crossed I can get some help to ease the anxiety & manage it successfully

[anais]

I'm on the waiting list for 1-to-1 counselling via Talking Therapies. In my area the services are organised from the local psychiatric hospital. The first thing I did was online guided self help. It was CBT based. I also asked for telephone support for the online course because it wasn't that effective without having someone to explain various aspects of the course. It was better than nothing but without the telephone support it was just like looking at stuff online rather than a “course”.

I was offered group sessions for people living with chronic illnesses (I have ME/CFS)  but for various reasons they weren't suitable for me.

At present, the Talking Therapies are still trying to arrange counselling but I had to go through all this other stuff to “qualify” for 1 to 1. They push the online self help and they push the group sessions as their therapy of choice. Personally I think it's a cheap way of delivering mental health services to non-priority patients — depression, anxiety, phobias, people struggling with life events or change, etc etc. I'm sure it helps many people so I wouldn't dismiss it. I still access my account to work through the CBT techniques on occasion.

At present I'm waiting for a suitable counsellor to become available. I had to turn down one counsellor because of the travel. The counsellor was based at a GP surgery that wasn't easy for me to get to. I'm told I'm near the top of the list, so it's just a case of waiting.

Good luck with the online support.

[Charlie62]

I'm on the waiting list for 1-to-1 counselling via Talking Therapies. In my area the services are organised from the local psychiatric hospital. The first thing I did was online guided self help. It was CBT based. I also asked for telephone support for the online course because it wasn't that effective without having someone to explain various aspects of the course. It was better than nothing but without the telephone support it was just like looking at stuff online rather than a “course”.

I was offered group sessions for people living with chronic illnesses (I have ME/CFS)  but for various reasons they weren't suitable for me.

At present, the Talking Therapies are still trying to arrange counselling but I had to go through all this other stuff to “qualify” for 1 to 1. They push the online self help and they push the group sessions as their therapy of choice. Personally I think it's a cheap way of delivering mental health services to non-priority patients — depression, anxiety, phobias, people struggling with life events or change, etc etc. I'm sure it helps many people so I wouldn't dismiss it. I still access my account to work through the CBT techniques on occasion.

At present I'm waiting for a suitable counsellor to become available. I had to turn down one counsellor because of the travel. The counsellor was based at a GP surgery that wasn't easy for me to get to. I'm told I'm near the top of the list, so it's just a case of waiting.

Good luck with the online support.

Thank you anais. Sorry I haven't replied before. Got a new.job so focusing on that atm. I'm still waiting for the course to start but I'm hoping it's a step in the right direction.
Good luck with getting your 1 to 1 counselling ☺