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[Penguin]

Has anyone seen a psychiatrist for their anxiety? Mine is part OCD (all health related) and I don't feel the ssri I've been on for 18 months is doing enough. My spikes are still really high and I lurch from one thing to the next.

Was wondering if anyone has seen a psychiatrist and / or been prescribed alternative drugs to antidepressants for anxiety/ intrusive thoughts/ compulsions?I already have some emergency diazepam and a beta blocker I can use ad hoc but I need something I can take all of the time as its constant at the moment and I need to slow down my thoughts.

[Minusminnie]

Are you able to see a psychiatrist privately Penquin ?  about 2 to £300 in our area.  You may find it a long wait otherwise.

[kathryn22]

Hi Penguin
Can only sympathise with you in this I have been told I have severe anxiety syndrome (or something like that) which means I’m in a permanent state of panic for hours at a time
Have only managed to be referred to local mental health services and due to have first CBT today .. phone consultation..
GP didn’t want to prescribe medication and said I have to go through the stages of treatment
Totally exhausted all the time unable to function and really can’t see an end to it all. But just hang onto the hope that it will pass eventually
So try to live a day at a time and grab any glimmer of normality you see.
Sending you a virtual hug and positive thoughts x

[CLKD]

Yep.  For several years I paid through work insurance to have sessions with a psychologist - talking therapy really helped.  It enabled me to vent.  It didn't help my anxiety though I did get rid of a lot of background 'noise'.  I was paying £70.00 per hour which never accounted for an hour.  By the time she had left her client to walk across the hospital to where her office was, it took 7 mins.  Then she began winding up after 40.  I stopped going.


When my depression was severe a psychiatrist visited me at home and worked out that I have a 22 month cycle of feeling low, followed by depression treated with medication; then as I felt better I stopped the ADs = repeat cycle.

In the 1990s [at the same time as I had the talking therapy], my GP prescribed 'valium' 3 times a day for a week followed by as necessary.  In the early 2000s I was given Propranolol which helped ease the early morning surges.

Is there a particular point of the day when anxiety is worse Penguin?

[Penguin]

Are you able to see a psychiatrist privately Penquin ?  about 2 to £300 in our area.  You may find it a long wait otherwise.

Yes I can pay, I know there's no chance otherwise. I was wondering if they have access to a wider range of drugs to prescribe than the GP. I've found one near where I live with good reviews. I'm feeling really desperate now.

[Penguin]

Hi Penguin
Can only sympathise with you in this I have been told I have severe anxiety syndrome (or something like that) which means I’m in a permanent state of panic for hours at a time
Have only managed to be referred to local mental health services and due to have first CBT today .. phone consultation..
GP didn’t want to prescribe medication and said I have to go through the stages of treatment
Totally exhausted all the time unable to function and really can’t see an end to it all. But just hang onto the hope that it will pass eventually
So try to live a day at a time and grab any glimmer of normality you see.
Sending you a virtual hug and positive thoughts x

Oh gosh I'm sorry you are going through all of that. I hope you get treatment that works soon. I wonder if this is how mine is developing. I don't know but I am just scared as the gaps are getting closer and the spikes are lasting longer.

[Penguin]

Yep.  For several years I paid through work insurance to have sessions with a psychologist - talking therapy really helped.  It enabled me to vent.  It didn't help my anxiety though I did get rid of a lot of background 'noise'.  I was paying £70.00 per hour which never accounted for an hour.  By the time she had left her client to walk across the hospital to where her office was, it took 7 mins.  Then she began winding up after 40.  I stopped going.


When my depression was severe a psychiatrist visited me at home and worked out that I have a 22 month cycle of feeling low, followed by depression treated with medication; then as I felt better I stopped the ADs = repeat cycle.

In the 1990s [at the same time as I had the talking therapy], my GP prescribed 'valium' 3 times a day for a week followed by as necessary.  In the early 2000s I was given Propranolol which helped ease the early morning surges.

Is there a particular point of the day when anxiety is worse Penguin?

It was also just in the morning and then would pass as my anti depressant kicked in and hrt started working. But yesterday it started suddenly in the evening, seemingly out of the blue and it hasn't gone 13 hours later. I've just taken diazepam but I'm so scared, I can't calm down from this one.
I have a counsellor but feel like I need a psychiatrist who can actually prescribe and maybe have access to a wider range of drugs than the GP has. I feel like I'm going nuts, the fear is horrendous right now. I increased the citalopram from 10 to 20mg about 12 days ago now and I am wondering if this is the short term side effect of the increase.

[Penguin]

Yep.  For several years I paid through work insurance to have sessions with a psychologist - talking therapy really helped.  It enabled me to vent.  It didn't help my anxiety though I did get rid of a lot of background 'noise'.  I was paying £70.00 per hour which never accounted for an hour.  By the time she had left her client to walk across the hospital to where her office was, it took 7 mins.  Then she began winding up after 40.  I stopped going.


When my depression was severe a psychiatrist visited me at home and worked out that I have a 22 month cycle of feeling low, followed by depression treated with medication; then as I felt better I stopped the ADs = repeat cycle.

In the 1990s [at the same time as I had the talking therapy], my GP prescribed 'valium' 3 times a day for a week followed by as necessary.  In the early 2000s I was given Propranolol which helped ease the early morning surges.

Is there a particular point of the day when anxiety is worse Penguin?

CLKD I have only ever taken 2.5mg of diazepam in one go - I cut a 5mg tablet in half. Do you think if I take the other half it'll make a decent difference? Will I still be able to function as I need to be able to pick my kids up later (walking not driving)?

[Minusminnie]

Are you able to see a psychiatrist privately Penquin ?  about 2 to £300 in our area.  You may find it a long wait otherwise.

Yes I can pay, I know there's no chance otherwise. I was wondering if they have access to a wider range of drugs to prescribe than the GP. I've found one near where I live with good reviews. I'm feeling really desperate now.

Great that you can pay. You will need a referral from a GP.
Family member went recently to sort out their medication regime.  It was worth every penny as little joy and no confidence with the GP. 
I don't know about wider access to a range of drugs but was given a way to come off one drug with a plan and advised of a different level to be able to go to with another drug which the GP hadn't mentioned or maybe that was just wasn't within their GP scope.

[Penguin]

Are you able to see a psychiatrist privately Penquin ?  about 2 to £300 in our area.  You may find it a long wait otherwise.

Yes I can pay, I know there's no chance otherwise. I was wondering if they have access to a wider range of drugs to prescribe than the GP. I've found one near where I live with good reviews. I'm feeling really desperate now.

Great that you can pay. You will need a referral from a GP.
Family member went recently to sort out their medication regime.  It was worth every penny as little joy and no confidence with the GP. 
I don't know about wider access to a range of drugs but was given a way to come off one drug with a plan and advised of a different level to be able to go to with another drug which the GP hadn't mentioned or maybe that was just wasn't within their GP scope.

I think that's what I'm looking for actually, just a bit more expertise, particularly in the OCD side of things as I've already tried what is the NHS gold standard of treatment and it hasn't worked,  in fact it's got worse and it's happening more frequently. Besides I find it so hard to get across how I feel in the short amount of time you get with a GP even though my GP is lovely. I feel like he thinks he can't do anything more for me  but I can't live like this, it just isn't sustainable.

[Penguin]

And we're due to go away tomorrow for the weekend, me and husband for a long awaited break, and I feel like I can't cope and that I'm going to ruin it for him.

[CLKD]

Penguin - I was on 5mg 3 times a day initially.  Then 5mg in the morning and eventually, took it the night B4 an event that I was unable to get out of.  Visiting family   


2.5mg isn't much at all, cutting doesn't always give a measured amount of active ingredient. 

So take another dose now.   When I was desperate to go into hospital because I felt unsafe, the Nurse there told DH to give me more 'valium'  having discussed how often and which dose I was taking daily. 

It's designed for that purpose, relaxation, it was used as a pre-med as well as relaxant for patients in acute back pain for example.  Ah: the dreaded pre-holiday anxiety!  I get that when I decide to book a hotel  .

It's better to get the anxiety under control as 4 me it spirals: Take the extra with a glass of water then sit and relax.  It will give you breathing space.  Is DH aware?

[Penguin]

Penguin - I was on 5mg 3 times a day initially.  Then 5mg in the morning and eventually, took it the night B4 an event that I was unable to get out of.  Visiting family   


2.5mg isn't much at all, cutting doesn't always give a measured amount of active ingredient. 

So take another dose now.   When I was desperate to go into hospital because I felt unsafe, the Nurse there told DH to give me more 'valium'  having discussed how often and which dose I was taking daily. 

It's designed for that purpose, relaxation, it was used as a pre-med as well as relaxant for patients in acute back pain for example.  Ah: the dreaded pre-holiday anxiety!  I get that when I decide to book a hotel  .

It's better to get the anxiety under control as 4 me it spirals: Take the extra with a glass of water then sit and relax.  It will give you breathing space.  Is DH aware?

Thanks, I'll do that now. I'm still shaking after 2.5mg so obviously not enough.
Yes DH knows and sat up with me last night, he's amazing but even he has run out of things to say when im focused on worrying about something that intellectually i know isnt real - my panicked mind says otherwise. We've both agreed I need more help, so I've spoken to someone this morning and filled in the referral form for a private psychiatrist. No referral needed but they need to liaise with my GP which I'm fine with.

[CLKD]

Anticipatory anxiety is the pits  .  It's haunted me for years.  Usually once I've got there I feel better, once home I am great.  I would like to get to the end of the holiday first, to know whether I've had panics or not  then I can enjoy myself. It that makes sense?

R U under any pressure to 'do' stuff once there ? 

[Penguin]

Anticipatory anxiety is the pits  .  It's haunted me for years.  Usually once I've got there I feel better, once home I am great.  I would like to get to the end of the holiday first, to know whether I've had panics or not  then I can enjoy myself. It that makes sense?

R U under any pressure to 'do' stuff once there ?

No pressure to do anything, DH wants to do as little as possible so he can unwind from work. We can do little walks, relax in the room, use the pool, there'll defo be no pressure to sightsee or anything like that unless I feel up for it.
It's happened before that I've been this anxious, gone away and it's distracted me enough to snap me out of it. But for me it is definitely the anxiety about being anxious and dreading it because I know how bad that feels. Plus the dread of the travel itself when I feel this bad. I guess that's where the diazepam will help.