Anxiety

I have had SAD for quite a long time and sometimes have had anxiety with it. This year though the anxiety has been so intense that it has built to the level of panic attacks and has been at this level for 2-3 months. I'm finding it hard to cope with and wonder if other sufferers have experienced the same symptoms and if so if they have found anything that gives relief.

My normal treatment is herbal, supplemeneted by lights at this time of year. i am thinking of going back to Prozac it has go so bad.

Would be interested to hear of others' thoughts experiences.

mercurius

I suffer a lot more panic symptoms during the Winter, not quite panic attacks but no fun at all. I tried herbal calming tablets, sadly it didnt seem to make much difference.

Not all meds taken a night help you sleep julia. The SSRI that I take has to be taken in the morning to prevent sleep problems in the evening.

I have also suffered from panic attacks during the winter for years and years (anxiety) and was taking anti depres. medications to treat it. This is the first winter I am ok ( sofar) taking a high dose of Vitamin D.

I didnt think that I had anxiety, but...

Ive got to write a CV, oh the drama of it all!!! Its only something trivial, so why on earth am I feeling so utterly vunerable!

Me x

Citalopram or escitalopram seem to be the med that the GP's are recommending as this combats anxiety as well as depression.

Hi everyone. I have been on this website before to talk about my daughter Crystal who suffers with SAD. We managed to get through Christmas ok with me worrying about her. It is as i am sure you know not a good idea to drink while on fluoxetine but she did and it didn,t go down too well. She knows that now. Other than that she was ok until last friday when she suddenly came home from work in a dreadful state . Depressed , life wasn,t worth living , no one would miss her. I tried to think why she suddenly had this dip and could only conclude that she hadn,t been using her light box enough and that the three grey days that we had had didn,t help either. She seemed to perk up the next day and coincidentally the SADA newsletter came. A young women had written her account of how she deals with sad and much of it could have been my daughter, the way she felt etc. Sorry to go on so but i as her mother want to understand more and be able to help. I think maybe she also feels the panic attacks that other sufferers mention and paranoia .Anyway luckily i am able to take her away for a break to find some sunshine but couldn,t be doing this too often. I also think she needs more exercise.
Roll on the spring.

Its funny how prozac affects different people, I found it wonderful for depression in the day time, it didnt make me sleepy at all, I found it even better than citalopram.

I have been suffering with awful anxiety/ stress/depression since Septemeber time and have realised this is a pattern and I am more vulnerable in the darker months. I have managed this myself in the past with st johns wort which I take in the winter but this winter for some reason it stopped working, I had to give in and go to the docs. I have started citalopram this week and I really hope that it works for me. I am deperate to feel better, I have also started using a light box every morning and that seems to lift my mood.

Dont worry about giving in, going to the doctor was the most sensible thing you could have done, I hope the medication and lightbox start to make you feel a lot better soon.


paul

I seem to manage my anxiety ok until I have a difficult day at work, then it goes through the roof and I feel crappy for a couple of days, its very frustrating, just wish it wouldnt happen.

My anxiety seems milder than yours, but the frustrating thing is, almost anything can set it off.

hi everyone. i have been suffering with anxiety for a year now. the best thing ive found is a book called 'healing without freud or prozac'. it has loads of info and self help ideas that do work, i still take my cipralax and have found that toghether they are making a big difference.

I like to sit there and imagine that I'm sitting in the rays of the sun... it quiets me. I find the bright light very soothing, yes.

I struggled a lot with anxiety, particularly in the beginning of the SAD season, with anticipation of facing the onset of the symptoms! Whenever I feel a panic attack starting up, I would feel my body tense, my breathing change and I'd get even more scared and then of course, it'd escalate!

It's been helpful that when I feel panicked, instead of telling myself, "Oh God, it's happening again... I'm going to have a panic attack!" I will now tell myself, "My muscles are tightening... My breathing is changing... I have to ease up. Breathe slow and deep... flex my fingers... close my eyes and settle down... Breathe... Just breathe slowly..."

Sometimes I'll consciously try to shift my thoughts to something pleasant or enjoy a pleasant body sensation like wrapping myself up in a comfy blanket... having some hot tea... taking a hot bath. Just trying to do thing to keep it from getting a real grip or me getting more scared and feeding into it instead of trying to head it off before it gets worse.

I hope that can help someone. I've spent a lot of time this winter paying more attention to my physical, mental and emotional needs and the things that make me happy or more comfortable. That's gotten me through the SAD seasons and helped lifted me up during tough times.

Found the anxiety bad this winter never really had it as bad as this year sort of a relief to know its part of the SAD I guess. i can and have learnt to deal with the depression and the sad but anxiety is very hard to deal with also get like nervous indigestion with it not its not nice feeling.

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to respond to my original email and share your experience.

It is reassuring that it is not just me that has had the anxiety so badly this year. It has been very hard to cope with. In fact it got so bad that I had to go to my doctor's who put me on Citalopram and that has helped a lot to stabilise the depression and cope with the anxiety.

i just hope that the anxiety issue is not still there when Spring comes and I start to wean myself off the drug.

Go gently!

mercurius

Anxiety is always my main symptom.

Hi CharChar

I personally would recommend taking the meds. I went for years thinking I didn't need them, or didn't want to take them, and just felt crap for months. You never get those months back, and with the meds, you have a chance of feeling "normal" again and can start enjoying things again.

It take Prozac to get me through and use my light box every morning and also do regular exercise.

Good luck for the winter. The light box should help!

CharChar,
The light box should give you an extra boost. If you're feeling worse instead of better on a medication, report it to your doctor. Not all of these medications agree with everyone. He may ask you to try it longer or he may try a different medication for you. Just please be sure to keep him informed of how you're doing - nobody should go un-monitored when they're first trying a new medication.

Hi charchar!

I do know how you feel because that's how I felt earlier this year. I have had (diagnosed) SAD for at least 17 years and until this year had never put the SAD and the anxiety symptoms together before. But this year it got really bad.

I thought that I could handle it and had been reading a lot on anti-panic / anxiety forums about 'standing up' to the anxiety and not being bullied by it. But it became clear after several months of trying to do this, as well as using my lightbox every day, that I just couldn't hold it together any longer. I got to the point of wanting to end it all because I simply couldn't stand living in that state of mental suffering any longer. Fortunately for me I have a very supportive wife and family who helped pull me back from the edge. When I realised that the anxiety coincided with the SAD symptoms and that there might be a link between them, it all started to make much more sense (though it didn't help to relieve the symptoms).

Eventually I went to my doctor and explained what was happening and my association of the SAD and anxiety which he thought to be highly likely. He prescribed Citalopram and that (suported by CBT) has made an enormous difference.

I would recommend that you follow your doctor's advice, if you trust them and they are aware of your condition. The fact is that you aren't going mad, you don't have to suffer like this and there is a way forward. Citalopram worked for me. You do need to be careful how you come off it (gradually, not suddenly), but again your GP will help with this.

Good luck and please don't despair because things can change!

mercurius

Anxiety, Panic attacks, irregular heartbeat, feeling claustraphobic, irritable, angry, irrational. I used to just think I was insane. until I sat down and read my journals from the past 20 years, every winter the same thing! and in the spring I am a totally different person! Of course now I am dealing with IBS as a result of all the anxiety. but, I usually pray alot, (which has been proven to lower blood pressure and provide hope) take herbals (chamomile, hops, catnip,lavendar,passion flower etc..) and at night take GABA to sleep, it does have a calming effect. other wise I am up 3-5 times a night.

Oops I meant to say I was on sertraline not seratonin....

They banned melatonin?!? For what reason?

Grrr. I don't think companies should be able to meddle with your health. You're not the pilot, right? I can understand requiring full disclosure with pilots, I suppose.

Pure, thanks for the explanation. Interesting! I had wondered about taking melatonin, myself. I take trazodone and flexeril to help me sleep at night because I have fibromyalgia which causes sleep disturbances. I think that SAD also causes sleep troubles and I hope that someday they'll gear research in that direction. Sometimes I wish I could dump the trazodone and try melatonin, but I trust my doctor too much to try to manipulate my own meds without his knowledge.

The main thing which causes me anxiety in the winter is working up to flying abroad!!! So much so that this year I can't face it and am staying in the UK for half term. I can manage flying if I'm feeling happy and on top of things but winter time when I need to go somewhere warm is so difficult. I could never be a flight attendant lol