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[Eastside]

Hey all, I hope everyone is OK, or bearing up anyway!
I'm wondering if anyone has encountered any non-pharma/more natural solutions for quite crippling anxiety?
I'm veering more rapidly than before towards SSRIs (my GP surgery goes on about them/Sertraline every time I go there and mention anxiety). I'm not as resistant to the thought as before, but I'd rather eliminate any natural alternatives that could be worth a try first.
On a day to day level I'm managing ok. That could be due to doing 20 mins of deep breathing a day, yoga stretches, exercise, diet etc. and maybe HRT is helping on some level, but early days for that. I'm also on board with somatic approaches and self-compassion etc.
But, unfortunately, my generalised anxiety is still there to an alarming degree when it comes to potential big life changes. E.g at the moment I'm trying to find a small property to buy, but I get taken over by crippling terror even sometimes at the thought of viewing somewhere, never mind about buying it. I know it's to do with my turbulent and unstable childhood and the feeling of being chronically unsafe. And I know I probably need trauma therapy, which I was intending to get once I'm settled. But if anxiety is going to prevent me from finding anywhere and getting settled I'm thinking that I need to do or take something now to get me over that line. I'm a little scared of Sertraline etc, but my GP describes it as 'harmless'. If anyone has any thoughts, that'd be great. I'm on the waiting list for NHS CBT therapy - 7 months and waiting- so I hope that helps a bit when it eventually arrives. Thank you!

[Minusminnie]

Have you looked to see if there are any charities national or local to you who could offer you some kind of help that would suit ?  That would address childhood issues ahead of the NHS.

Sertraline seems to be the first ‘go to’ nowadays.

It sounds like you want to give HRT some more time too.

[CLKD]

My GP was never reluctant to prescribe Valium - 10mg 3 times a day then down to 5mg twice a day and then as necessary.  I was also prescribed Propranolol at night in later years to ease early morning anxiety surges.  I quite understand the panic setting in , I would love a view and have found 2 properties in Plockton  .  However, we have 'stuff' and DH knows that once we put this on the market, anxiety will set in. So 4 us it's not worth discussing  . I do have an emergency drug to swallow when anxiety floors me.

If U use Sertraline and if after 8-9 months U don't think that it is helping, it is possible to stop taking it.  My problem is making arrangements: spontaneous I'm usually OK.

[Eastside]

Thanks both. Great idea. I have tried charities/other orgs in the past but they have huge waiting lists too. I was in a bit of a bad way with housing again about a year ago and they took 3 months to get back to me to even have an assessment. There may be others, though.
Sorry to hear that CLKD. I think the inevitability of it is the most depressing part: knowing that anxiety will set in! I think I've reached that realisation now. If it was just feel the fear and do it anyway, that might be manageable. But feel the abject terror is a slightly different matter 😱. I hope you get some relief from the meds

[CLKD]

'feel the fear and do it anyway'  - who ever decided that was the way to go had never suffered anxiety surges    Fortunately anxiety is well controlled unless my bowel becomes a problem!

[Eastside]

I couldn't have put it better myself. In fact I was just saying the same to my friend last night who also gets crippling anxiety. Feel the abject, paralysing terror and do it anyway, more like 😱🤪🥺. I think I may be making a GP appointment quite soon as this is off the scale.
I am glad yours is well controlled, though. Although bowel problems don't sound ideal. I hope they are manageable

[bombsh3ll]

A low dose of as-required diazepam is a million times kinder and more effective than taking long term SSRIs, which only marginally outperform placebo in studies funded by the manufacturer in people with depression.

I am even less convinced that SSRs do anything for anxiety.

Benzodiazepines are an absolutely marvellous and very safe medication, however there is now tremendous fear of prescribing them amongst clinicians due to abuse by a small minority, which can occur with any substance, and the risk of which with judicious use is grossly overestimated.

[Minusminnie]

I am even less convinced that SSRs do anything for anxiety.

My daughter was given Sertraline for anxiety by a GP who had not read previous bipolar diagnosis on her notes.  Advised to increase it it pushed her into another manic attack.
Sertraline seems to be given now for anxiety I know of others on it.

Diazepam is given in small amounts and only for a short time.
Isn’t the caution more to do with the Valium/diazepam that was given too freely years ago and being unable to get off it ?

[Eastside]

Thank you both. Something as and when sounds ideal. I'm going to trial ashwaghanda first, which is unlikely to be able to tackle severe anxiety, but maybe worth a go. And then it'll be off to the GP I think.
So sorry to hear about your daughter. I also know someone with bipolar and SSRIs did not go well for her either. These medications seem to be dished out very liberally in my experience and seem completely normalised. Which is probably how over 8 million people in the UK are on them. My GP surgery literally can't wait for me to sucumb! 😜

[CLKD]

What wrong with being normalised if such medications save lives 


A good practitioner will over see any medication which may be seen as 'additive'.  Yes Minusminnie - it was given out like sweeties in the 1950s/60s but there wasn't much other choice.  Because I know that it works for me I have never required an 'extra' dose of Valium ............ and the go 2 emergency drug is the same, 1 and it knocks me out or enables me.  It's about not reading what 'might' happen perhaps?

When panic attacks strike I hit the floor, no way could I 'do X anyway'  other than crawl into a river !

[Eastside]

Of course it's wonderful that the meds exist and, you are right, that for some they can be life-saving. However, what I was referring to was more the over-reliance on, and tendency of, some health practitioners to dish out the meds liberally without really exploring root causes or other interventions alongside the meds, such as therapy. E.g some mental health issues are a result of life circumstances and it could be more effective to tackle that. And/or it may help to fully inform people of the other things they can do to help: diet, exercise, yoga etc, alongside the meds. Medications do have side effects and aren't suitable for everyone, and not everyone wants to take them. So my concern is about too much emphasis on meds at times. And there have been well-established concerns expressed generally about their use in some situations e.g some people with milder levels of depression, and whether they are the most effective treatment. But of course it is, and should be, a personal choice and people have to go with what is best for them and their particular situation.

[Minusminnie]

A good practitioner will over see any medication which may be seen as 'additive'.  Yes Minusminnie - it was given out like sweeties in the 1950s/60s but there wasn't much other choice.  Because I know that it works for me I have never required an 'extra' dose of Valium ............ and the go 2 emergency drug is the same, 1 and it knocks me out or enables me.  It's about not reading what 'might' happen perhaps?

Yes you are using Valium as it is now administered …..for short term use. (as is Lorazepam).
Good that it works for you.

[CLKD]

Good points.  However when my depression hit I was already doing exercise - walking the dog at least 3 times = 5-8 miles a day.  Eating freshly cooked. Working part time.  I do wonder now whether it was peri kicking in but I was unaware of that.  GP treated my symptoms - causation of depression is rarely tracked.  I have both clinical and organic depression.

When depression took over I was unable to get out of bed, if my dog wanted out in the day I would crawl down stairs, open the doors, lay on the floor until she hopped over me, then crawled back to bed  .  An emergency house visit by a Psychiatrist pointed out that my depression is cyclical in a range of 22 months = regular ADs help.

Anxiety is 4 me a separate issue, which began when I was 3.  It's taken me years to realise the why's and wherefores.  I'm still having flashbacks which give me inklings. 

[Eastside]

That's such a hard thing for you. I totally know what you mean. I do all the right things - exercise, diet etc. It does really help with day to day matters, I find, but not with the abject terror!! That's really deeply ingrained. Like you, from an early age. Very unstable and, at times, violent family life etc.
I have had depression but not like what you've experienced, and I think in that situation, like you say, meds can be a life -saver, I'm sure. And I'm sure peri really doesn't help either. It seems to be fairly well documented from what I can tell that this time of life can bring with it a resurgence/worsening of previous mental health issues. Lucky us! I wish you all the best with how you feel and manage things. It sure isn't easy sometimes! But, like you say, there are tools to help us, at least 🌞

[CLKD]

   Eastside.    Let us know how you get on?

Good points bombshell311 - 4 me it was about getting help immediately.  Fortunately my GP has always been supportive even in recent weeks.