I am finally coming out of my blue funk and nonstop eating. However, last week I did lose mightily (8.6 lbs), so haven't been very strict (while the mouse is away the cat will play???). Did a lot of emotional eating, too. I weigh in again tomorrow, so we'll see what happens. Either way, at least I have a better attitude.

Do I need to stop replying to this thread since I found out that my "anxiety" attacks were brought on by a medicine I take for neuropathy? I'm not having those attacks anymore, but I can sure empathize with those who are!

Have a great day, folks.

Gobbie

My name is Jan. I think I posted wrong the last time. I created a page and didn't mean to. What it was about was thanking you for all the wonderful information. I also wanted to know if I could join your group please?

I was diagnosed with panic disorder, depression and ocd about 2 months ago. We tried handling it with just cognative behavior but that didn't seem to be enough. I am now taking a drug called Celexa. I was on 20 mg but was still averaging 4 to 5 panic attacks per day. Last week we upped the dosage to 40 mg. I haven't noticed a big change yet but the doctor send it would take a couple weeks. In the meantime I meet with a therapist weekly.

I also have had quite a few medical problems that began about 6 to 7 months ago. I've been off work since the middle of January. Am hoping to be able to go back soon. I started taking insulin for my diabetes about 4 months ago. Am still getting used to that.

Most my days are spent in a grey funk. After reading your board, I found that there is hope. There was a lot of good information. I want to thank all of you for that. It's just so discouraging to feel this way most the time. I just want to get back to the light again. A lot of days are spent crying. Things I used to enjoy doing, I no longer do. Even reading, I get about 3 pages and the concentration just isn't there. Then the crying begins all over again.

I'm hoping if I am able to join this group, you'll be able to help me. In turn, I promise to be supportive to you as well.

I look forward to hearing from someone.

Hey Janney!

You are more than welcome here. I suffer from anxiety and have had a few panic attacks. I generally just have different symptoms with my anxiety attacks and sometimes I just feel yuck! I also see a therapist and I didn't want to take medicine but I decided that if I had any other illness I wouldn't hesitate to take medicine. I've been on BuSpar for about a year and it does seem to help but I still have flair ups.

My son, who is 12, also suffers from anxiety and his manifests itself with a cough-bark. When he has a flair up he does it every few seconds except when he's asleep. Needless to say this is hard on everyone.

Focus on one day at a time and practice relaxation techniques. Good Luck!

Hi everyone and welcome Jan.

You are more than welcome to join our thread. It sounds like you have a lot going on. I have been suffering anxiety/depression etc for the past few months. My Dr. put me on Buspar and it helped a lot. It did take sometime to work, but when you feel so lousy 1 hour can seem like a week!! I too have been seeing a therapist to learn how to relax etc. I agree the support on these boards is very helpful and so much good info. For me it really helps to know we are NOT alone in our struggle. I had been taking my med's for a couple weeks and felt fine, then all of a sudden all the symptoms were back, it sure caught me off guard. Lucky 1Moretime told me it was still normal to have bad days. Here I thought take this med and everything would be better LOL . So things will get better for you to, please post here often and we will give you support.

Daytona

Hi Jan,
good to have you on board (get it...on board our boards....lol) ok ok I am just feeling a bit quirky today.

Post as often as you like...we all take comfort in both giving and receiving support...even just a shared experience often lets us know that we are not alone or going insane...the symptoms of anxiety, ocd and panic attacks don't seem to discriminate...we are all treated equally as bad...it's how we choose to handle these situations that makes all the difference...oh boy, that sound like good advice, maybe I should take some of my own advice.

I was reminded of something I had seen on Oprah...(gee I love that show) it almost seems like the programs are aimed right at me.

Cheryl Richardson author of "Life Make-Overs" mentioned that we should use tragedies or illness in our case panic attacks as a "defining moment" where we decide to use it to move forward in our lives. I'm buying the book after I post this...amazon.com here I come.

Hope everyone is doing fine - I know I am back on the road to feeling better again and life feels so exciting again!

Take care,

MyGirl

Hello. Thanks for the welcomes and letting me join your board. I'm looking forward to it.

I have therapy in the morning and don't want to go. I know that the only way for me to get better is to go but that doesn't seem to matter to me right now. It's after 3:00 am and my appointment is at 8:00 am today. I'll go because I feel I have to.

Found out from my employee that they are going to fill my position. That hasn't helped with the aniexty and depression. I guess the policy is that after you're off for 90 days, they can fill your position. Then when you're ready to come back, they want 2 weeks notice to find you something else. If nothing is available, they lay you off for up to 6 months. If nothing is open at that time, they terminate you. It's a bummer because I've worked for this company for 23 years and have never been off this long or on any sort of disability in all that time.

I'm finding it hard to cope with everything that's going on as well as dealing with the work aspect. I'm asking my therapist to talk to the doctor (whom I see on the 18th) to see about getting me back to work asap. I've been off for medical reasons as well and see my regular doctor on the 10th. He's been working with the other doctor on the panic, depression and ocd.

I've noticed some difference with the increased Celexa but am still experiencing alot of panic. The depression seems to be a little better, although I still spend alot of time crying and don't seem to focus very well. The panic attacks strike at all times. Seems alot while I'm driving. Any of you have that happen? Any special tips on how to handle it, besides pulling over to the shoulder of the road?

Again, thanks for listening and letting me join. Any tips would be helpful. Thanks for the support. It's truly needed.

Good Morning all,

Wow, MyGirl, it seems like you are feeling a lot better!! That is so encouraging. Can you place your finger on anything that seemed to snap you out of it, or do you think it was a combo and time? I feel very lucky to feel as good as I do. When you go through mental health issues then feel better it seems you appreciate it much more when you just feel "normal". What is "normal" ? LOL!!

Janney, you will feel better, I remember feeling like every hour was at least a week. It is so hard when you can't sleep. Are you taking anything for that? At least when you sleep you get a break from all the stress. Check out some of the books recommended on this site, they have info on how to deal with panic attacks while driving etc. I use a lot of self talk, deep breathing and reminding myself it is "just my nerves" and I can handle this. I think the type of med you are taking takes 2-4 weeks to really make a difference, so hang in there. Hope you therapy session goes well. You will get through this.

Have a great day!!

Daytona

Wow Mygirl. Just reading your post is so encouraging. It's nice to know that there is light at the end of this tunnel!!! Thanks.

Thanks Daytona for the support. I did make it to therapy today. I was given an assignment to read a chapter from Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy. The chapter is on"Distorted Thinking". I'll let you know. I also have a friend who has panic disorder. We go to church together. I've been having trouble with my faith will all this darkness surrounding me. She sent me a book that helped her through the worst times. It's called: Little Pieces of Light....Darkness & Personal Growth by Joyce Rupp OSM. I"ve only read a few pages and it seems like it may help. I'm having trouble reading alot as I don't seem to be able to concentrate very long.

The therapist did say she thought she noticed improvement. I told her about this chat board and she was thrilled. It's nice to have the support and hopefully be able to support others!!!!

Hope you all have a wonderful holiday.

Stay well......

Jan

Happy fourth of July!!

What's everyone doing today? I am having a cookout with the kids over and using the pool. Having people over is fun sometimes, it gives you a change of pace. I am going to try and stay on my w/w diet program so I don't gain this week.

Janney,
Good for you making it to your appointment. Your work situation will be ok to. Just take things one day at a time and try not to get caught up in the "what if" thinking. So many times we make ourselves sick over things that never acutally happen. I am very guilty of that. My husband always is telling me why do you worry about everything so much? I tell him cause you don't LOL. But I wish I could be more like him. Maybe it's a guy thing?

Well have a good day and post soon.

Daytona

I've nearly completed this message 3 times now. If I have to leave the screen for a length of time before I've finished (I'm at work), something goes haywire and the message disappears. All that work and nothing to show for it! Maybe the software is trying to tell me something.

I'm on Paxil, but my therapist said that since it seems to be diminishing in effectiveness, to ask my doctor to change to one of the other meds in the same category (he mentioned BuSpar) because often times that will restart the antidepression effect. He said that all of the meds in that category are notorious for trickling off in their effectiveness after a year or two.

Janney, don't worry about your loss of concentration...the book your therapist has you reading is not the most interesting book in the world unless you can concentrate. I was also told to read it a couple of years ago and I just couldn't do it. My therapist at the time didn't give me a chapter to read, but rather said--read the book and then we can talk about it. HA!

Being off work and homebound for 6 months between last summer and this spring (I'm still on crutches) made me shut down, too. I no longer had the motivation to do anything but watch reruns of old reruns. I remember waking up in the morning and counting how long it would be before I could go back to sleep. It's part of the depression and it will pass. I was lucky to have the same boss for 19 years and so he had no inclination to replace me while I was out. He just hired temps when he needed them. Even with this, having my dog get up on the hospital bed with me or watching her sleep in the chair next to the bed was probably the most helpful thing to my depression.

After I was able to get out, I changed my hair, bought some new clothes, rejoined WW; I've since put together a booklet of motivational pages from Dottie's Diet homepage and I try to make myself read one before diving into the refrig. when it isn't meal time. It doesn't always help, but it doesn't hurt either.

I've had a lot of health problems in the past, almost, two years on top of a lot of personal stress. Sometimes it's just too much effort to even get out of bed. Having someone on this list to talk to really does help and you might have days right now that are very "gray," but remember the days that aren't and work toward that.

I was surfing the net today and I found a neat anxiety page with lots of helpful ideas:
http://www.algy.com/anxiety/relax.html#top

Give the page a looksee and see if anything there appeals to you. I'd love to have your help and anyone else that needs to lose weight. I have about 120 lbs to lose. I've lost 10 so far since I went back two weeks ago to WW, but I'm having a very hard time holding onto motivation. I know I'm letting my personal problems get in the way and producing the "I don't care" loop. Any suggestions anyone? (Now I can't wait to check this board tomorrow and see if my message disappeared again.

Gobbie

Hi everyone. Hope you all had a very nice 4th.

I went to my aunt and uncle's house and spent the day. I thought it was going to be very rough. Got myself all worked up about going. Even called and tried to back out of it but my Aunt would not hear of it. Ended up having a very nice day. Best I've had in a long time


What did the rest of you do?

Thanks Daytona for the kind and encouraging words. Hope you enjoyed the time with your family. Were you able to stick to your w/w? I was able to stick to my ada plan. It was kind of hard but at least I did. The only bad thing was I didn't get any exercise in. Oh well.....haven't done any today yet either. Maybe later.

Talk to all of you soon.

Jan

hi everyone,
glad to see most are doing well...remember, one step at a time.

daytona...cookouts...mmmm mmm sounds fabulous

gobbie...hang in there! don't pc's just drive you nuts sometimes?

janney...it's always a pleasure to offer some assistance

I finally got my hands on that book I'd mentioned in an earlier post and I started reading it.

One of the first things that the author recommends is to keep a Journal...she says it's a great way to have a dialogue with yourself...I am planning to do this...as it will be a way for me to put my real and inner-most thoughts on paper...I guessin a way it frees up my mind of all the clutter and all the racing thoughts.

I must admit though I do consider posting here as a kind of journal, where I check in regularly with teh added benefit of being an interactive journal...I get to compare notes with great people! like you guys!

Here is some wisdom from the book.

1. Write down your 5 most important accomplishments.

2. Write down your dreams/goals or aspirations - no matter how unattainable they may seem...I like this one because dreams have no boundaries.

3.Do you set boundaries? ie; do I say yes to everything?

This is one I have to work on - I often aim to please others and forget about myself.


That's all for now,
Take care,

MyGirl

Good morning everyone,

How's it going? I been feeling pretty good most of the time. I think I am having hormone problems on top of my anxiety problems, I guess it comes with the age LOL. I have been keeping a journal (very loosley) but I have noticed a pattern to the days I am depressed. I will have to work on that. It doesn't seem fair to have to deal with depression, anxiety, hormones etc. It makes you wonder if you will ever just feel normal again???

Mygirl, you are doing great, are you planning on going back to teaching this fall? We need caring teachers like you so I hope you are able to. I went to the library and requested some of the books listed here so now I am waiting for them to come in. I hate to buy them all as I just don't seem to read them more than once. I will have to resort to buying them if I don't get them soon though. I really like reading inspriational stuff, it lifts my mood and gives me encouragement.

How are you doing Janney? I been thinking about you. Are you feeling even a little better?

Well, I am off to my morning walk and breakfast. I have picked up the pound I lost so I have to stop slacking so much. It is hard with summer and ice cream and cookouts!!

Daytona

Hey everyone!

Looks like I can post again! I wonder what this bug was but I could only post topics and not reply! So many times I wanted to contribute to this thread and I could not .

The panic attacks are still under control. Since I started the visualisation and the positive thinking, they have been so much better!! I do not take the beta blockers any more as so far I did not find them useful enought.

I wish you all the best and I will try to see if the replies work.

{{Hugs}}

Ghislaine

Hi everyone,
just a short visit today to check in on how you're all doing.

thanks for the encouragement Daytona...i've been feeling a bit better than usual that's for sure! the exercise really does help!
I am heading back to work in the Fall and can't wait to get back into it!

glad you can now reply again Ghis ! we've missed your input.

have to run....errr make that walk...lol
take care,
MyGirl