To think it would be wonderful living without anxiety

[Dreamiy]

I have always experienced anxiety on and off; mainly health anxiety when a close one isn’t well; however I think I have been experiencing more anxiety lately; probably menopausal. I am 53.

I am waking up during the night with shortness of breath and tight chest. If I don’t have any coffee during the day I go back to sleep; but if I drink coffee I stay awake. I don’t drink alcohol.

I do excercise, yoga, meditation, started on Menopace today. I don’t want HRT as I don’t have any other symptoms.

Are there any natural treatments to help get rid of this? As it is impacting my work. I read acupuncture and CBT could help? Has anyone got experience of it.

I need to stay healthy for myself and my family

I’ve honestly just leaned into it now. I quite enjoy the feeling of a panic attack these days. I know I’m not actually having a heart attack, I can see it for what it is.

I know that’s really fucking odd though.

Therapy can help, but honestly sertraline is the only thing that helped me. It cleared the fog and meant I could engage with therapy, exercise, fresh air, good food etc. It's shocking how well you can feel when properly treated, I spent decades feeling anxious and turns out I didn't need to.

Maybe I have to embrace it

EMDR

Thanks. May give it a try if nothing else works. Any side effects?

Thanks. Will check that one out but I imagine is expensive. How many sessions do you need?

Yes! When is the last time you got your bloods checked?

Im a bit younger than you but used to have many physical symptoms of anxiety. I decided to get private blood tests done to check levels of Ferritin, Vit D, B12 and a few others. The reason for this was shortness of breath and lack of energy. Didn’t think for one minute that my anxiety would be related to any of these things.

Anyway, all my results came back low. Not deficient by NHS standards, but not optimal. I fixed one at a time to see which one would make the most difference but I could have done it all at once. As soon as I optimised my ferritin, Vit D and B12 my physical anxiety symptoms disappeared. My mood lifted, I had more energy and that combined with the lift in mood meant I started wanting to eat better and exercise more, which also then improved my mood further. Some symptoms I had that I thought were Peri disappeared (night sweats)

I highly recommend looking in to this. I’m early 40s now and have way more energy than I had ten years ago.

No long ago but will do it again

Just take HRT and your life will no longer expensively and time consumingly revolve around tackling anxiety, which will leave you free to spend time doing things you enjoy.

When my df died I became mildly depressed for about two years and it was such a relief from the anxiety. I still had the intrusive thoughts, but instead of “we’re all going to die, aaaaarrrggh!” it was “we’re all going to die, oh well”

It was a weird experience but it helped me recognise the thought patterns, and detach a little bit. The early morning anxiety is back now with a vengeance. But I find myself reacting more with a “ffs! this again?” mindset instead of believing the drama my brain is concocting.

That’s not very helpful sorry, and I’m not recommending killing off a loved one.

Surely only if the anxiety is trauma based? Wouldn’t CBT be better for most people (and an SSRI)

If you get this done through your GP try and get them to test you for the things I mentioned. If your levels all come back ‘ok’ they won’t flag them, but I would honestly have a look in to getting them all up to optimal.

For example, my ferritin was 34. Not low by NHS standards but I had read a study that said it really should be between 75 and 100.

If any come back too low, be sure to get the correct strength supplement to correct it. Regular iron tablets aren’t strong enough but you can get them from the pharmacy at a higher strength. Vit D comes in different strengths too and I pay for a private B12 jab every 2 - 3 months. They’re £29 via a company called Vitajab and I can feel when I need a top up!

Good luck!

As a side note, for anyone reading this, I read another study that said that low B12 can exacerbate ADHD symptoms.

CBT helped me in my younger years, but really only how to deal with the situations I struggled with. It didn't actually remove the deep feeling of anxiety. I suppose learning how to cope with what seem like difficult situations, is an improvement though. Try it and see how it works for you.

as a formerly anxious person who hasn't had a panic attack in years, can confirm that it is indescribably wonderful living without anxiety. I'd explore every single option if mine got bad again rather than just living with it like I did before.

I have Citalopram for anxiety and it has made it completely go away

Which one?

Thank you. Any side effects?

Thank you.How did you treat it with?

It really is odd but strangely inspiring!

I’m a similar age and have similar symptoms. I’ve been prescribed propranolol for anxiety. It’s a beta blocker and deals with the physical symptoms of an anxiety attack. You can either take it when you start to feel the symptoms, or you can take it as a preventative, particularly if you are planning to do something stressful. I do the latter and I find it helped me enormously. I don’t take it every day as just having it in my bag helps because I know it’s there if I spiral. I was quite sceptical but it really does help me.

I have considered HRT but I have endo and my periods are still going strong and I’m worried that it will make it worse.

I also have low ferritin as mentioned upthread so I wonder if that also exacerbates things.

Chat with your GP - it’s all oestrogen and progesterone. Research it.

Citalopram, although I am trying to come off it, although so don’t really know why as it’s hard to come off.

Hopefully I can manage without?

What I found, years ago when I was put on an antidepressant, was that I realised I had become addicted (I use the term loosely) not to the feeling of anxiety but to the feelings of relief and relaxation once the stressor and panic had passed. I realised I’d almost been working myself up in order to experience that.

Sertraline worked really well for me but it also completely destroyed my libido, which has never recovered, and it made me feel quite flat emotionally. It was good not to have daily terror, but never experiencing any real joy was a big downside.

I’m on HRT now and it helps loads.