Jumping out of my skin

[Muchneeded]

I was given lexapro by my doctor I took it for two days and it made me feel like crap. I felt like it made my anxiety worse. I went to church yesterday and I felt pretty good. Came Home passed out most of the evening. I was sleeping finally pretty good. I did not take the lexapro because I was afraid of the anxiety issues and the head aches. Around 3am I felt like I was going over the edge. I have been walking and praying through my house.

I took some nature calms and I finally too a xanax because I could not take it anymore. I feel like I need to go to the hospital and sort it out.

In the middle of the night to early mornings are the toughest!

[Hidden]

I too try praying, need to build my faith up. I barely take my Xanax but have in very ruff situations. I'm on Zoloft for my anxiety which seems to help a little but tired of the feel good for a moment then terrible the next moment ughhhh wish it was a cure...

[RobynC]

I was prescribed lexapro but I never took it . I know myself and I know my thoughts are causing my anxiety and medication is not going to change how I think so for me it's why bother with meds since they have side effects . I'm currently working on controlling the worries . I use an app called calm . I like it . I meditate with it ! In July I experienced intense anxiety that led to insomnia and I've never had that before to it took me two weeks to snap out of it and I was ok and feeling normal in August but just the other day I started feeling intense anxiety and then one night I couldn't sleep but instead of two weeks of insomnia , it was one night . I find laying down and relaxing the body and accepting the anxiety feelings and letting it come and pass can help . The mind and body are so hugely connected! I guess for me some days I'll worry but won't feel so anxious and other times I feel the anxiety so it's like weird how that works , I'm trying to understand that more . I had my first panic attack in January that was caused from a bad reaction to a mixture of drugs and I thought I was dying and most ppl do during their first panic attack . And before that I was not a generally anxious person . I'm hoping this isn't forever but I will continue to try to stay positive regardless . I've tried journaling but didn't make it a habit but I want to try again . I tried L-theanine (google it) and it really worked the first time but then it didn't really . It's all natural apparently! I have started praying again since July and am definitely trying to find my faith again . I hope you find what works for u to calm yourself and that you feel better

[Muchneeded in reply to RobynC]

I has surgery on August 3rd I'm scheduled to go back to work tomorrow and I feel like I'm never going to make it. I want to call the doctor and tell him to put me in the hospital until the meds work. I'm the bread winner. The pressure is awful. If I don't succeed I'm afraid my family will be homeless and that means I am a failure. My mom also died less then a year ago I I just feel like everything came down on me at one time. I try to self talk myself out of the anxiety but it doesn't really work. I need help

[RobynC in reply to Muchneeded]

I feel for you ! The pressure can be so overwhelming . Meds are meant to be temporary anyway and since it made u feel worse , prolly not the best option. When I couldn't sleep , I took it so hard bc I love sleep that I wanted to go to the ER and have them put me into a sleep . So I totally understand you . When I now look back on those two weeks , I see that I made it worse by allowing my brain to associate bedtime with anxiety . "Am I gonna sleep tonight ? What if I don't sleep" , thoughts like that only contributed to the anxiety. Self talk is not always gonna work in every moment . But don't give up hope . I have my moments where I feel clarity and I'm like ahh Robyn , life is so short . Choose happiness , don't worry so much about the future . But then the anxiety comes back . It's a work in progress . I truly believe we can train our minds to think differently but it's of course very hard . I've had self doubt all my life since I was young but nothing is impossible ! I know everything is easier said than done ! But I find the more I focus on the anxiety feelings , the worse it gets .

I'm sorry about ur mom . What field do you work in ?

[Muchneeded in reply to RobynC]

Thank you

I'm in social services I am a program manager that takes care of adults with severe disabilities

My co workers and staff are very toxic and we have been doing a lot of lay offs so it looks like we may be shutting our doors if we don't get more students on the kids side of the school. So all of that is weighing on me.

My boss has stage 5 kidney disease

And every single administrative staff has lost a parent this year seems all we did was go to funerals this year. It's been hard

I thought I was strong

My boss said I did way to good when mom died and that I would crash one of these days but my back went out after my mom died so I thought that was it! I never imagine I would be loosing my mind a year later!

[RobynC in reply to Muchneeded]

Ah sounds like a stressful job . I work on broadway (cleaner/usher) so my work isn't that stressful but I know a thing or two about working with toxic ppl. Constant anxiety definitely makes you feel like you are losing ur mind . It can be very scary. Maybe remind urself it could be worse and try to find things to be grateful for . If you have an iPhone , write it in the notes section. It might help in the moment . Do you have support from ur wife or the mother of ur kids ?

[Muchneeded in reply to RobynC]

I am the mother and the wife that's the problem

[scbanana in reply to Muchneeded]

try basic meditation for anxiety. Also I have read that excersize and music are good too...try I. just need brisk walks..... Does not have to be jogging or anything too strenuous.Use earbuds and walk and listen. Good luck...hope you feel better soon.Hannah

[RobynC]

Oh whoops ! I'm sorry ! So ur husband doesn't work and takes care of the kids ? I know a couple where her husband stays home bc she has a better job . It works for some ppl

[Muchneeded in reply to RobynC]

My husband works. He actually is working two jobs but only makes a 1/3 of what I make

We have two kids one just started high school the other is in 6th grade but he is adopted and has some special needs

[RobynC in reply to Muchneeded]

Ahh ok ! U definitely have your hands full so it's understandable. At least the kids are not very young and need constant attention while ur dealing with this . My aunt struggled with depression all her life and she has two young kids so it's not easy for her . But at least she has her husband and is not alone . So I hope ur husband is supportive and encouraging 🙏🏼

[Muchneeded in reply to RobynC]

Thank you for chatting it helps

[RobynC in reply to Muchneeded]

It really does! When I went thru the two weeks of craziness in July , talking to my friends and coworkers def helped me !!

[Muchneeded in reply to RobynC]

I have to build the strength to get to work tomorrow! I have to be able to function any suggestions?

[RobynC in reply to Muchneeded]

Download the calm app ! See if you like it ! Some stuff are locked and u need to pay to use it but others are free and I'm hearing impaired so I'm not gonna pay to listen to stuff I won't understand ! But the meditation stuff helps me in the moment . And being aware I'm just overthinking and being way into my head helps me to try to gain my focus! I have tinnitus and i woke up at 4am and it was just so loud the noise coming from my head . That and my thoughts that maybe the tinnitus is something more than just hearing loss related (like a tumor on the auditory nerve) made me anxious . Anxiety can make the tinnitus worse so when I woke up again at 8am, I used the calm app . There's a family history of hearing loss . My mom is deaf and all 4 of my moms kids are hearing impaired , the youngest is deaf. Tinnitus is very common with hearing loss but my family gets it in both ears and I only get it in one and that ear is very itchy . Been itchy for years ! I went to audiologist for a hearing test and said I have significant loss so she suggested a ENT and said maybe I would get a MRI . She said it's not worrisome bc of my family history but the ENT just prescribed ear drops for the itchiness . I kinda want the MRI jus to be better safe than sorry but my family thinks it's just all in my head and assure me nothing is wrong and that I'll get used to it . I've had it occasional in the past but never this long . I noticed it since July . Anyways , yeah so try that app

[Muchneeded in reply to RobynC]

Ok thanks!

[Muchneeded in reply to RobynC]

You are so helpful and a nice person !

[Muchneeded in reply to RobynC]

I got the calm app I did the first meditation I'm still crawling out of my skin

[RobynC in reply to Muchneeded]

I'm sorry . It's not a magic fix . I wish it was . I understand it's not going to solve all ur problems . It helps me relax In the moment . For me personally the more I focus on how horrible the anxiety feels , the more I feed it and its realllyyy hard in the moment when it's really intense to not focus on it . My intensity levels can vary . I think what Also helps me is to remember the feeling eventually subsides . Yeah it comes back if I keep worrying . I def wish I could magically just shut my brain off sometimes , I mean don't we all ?!

[Muchneeded in reply to RobynC]

My husband took me for a ride and we listened to it and it's helping

[RobynC in reply to Muchneeded]

I'm glad ! Don't give up ! Keep trying ! It didn't help me a lot at first either but I stuck with it and it did make a difference at calming me . The other day I literally meditated with the app for one hour ! Of course I dozed off a bit too haha

[RobynC]

It might also help to remind urself worrying about what might happen is not going to change or fix anything . Like I'll think about my future and worry about the quality of life I might have , or worry about what it'll be like if I have kids one day and I'm anxious . How silly to worry about something that didn't even happen yet right?! Yet it's hard to shut certain thoughts off , especially if we have programmed ourselves to think a certain way . I know u said self talk does not help you but maybe try telling yourself that even if something happens to ur job , u will find another eventually and it's not a guarantee anything bad will happen and u are going to lose it . Sometimes we imagine the worse case scenario

[Muchneeded in reply to RobynC]

You are right on

[RobynC in reply to Muchneeded]

Anxiety is friggin exhausting and it can make even the mentally strongest person feel worn down! Just never give up ! Try to remind yourself of the beauty of life . Yes life does suck sometimes but I try to remind myself to be grateful to be alive and I think of my niece and other stuff that helps me in the moment

[Muchneeded in reply to RobynC]

That's exactly what me and my husband talked about today while we were sitting in the park

[RobynC in reply to Muchneeded]

Hope you sleep good ! Everything is going to be ok ! ☺️

[Muchneeded in reply to RobynC]

I wish I could have met you this summer when I was in New York you are so nice and smart

[RobynC in reply to Muchneeded]

Aww that's sweet ! I'm just very self aware ! But even I can go into denial ! I studied psychology in college . But that does not make me immune to anxiety ! Where r u from ? Well next time ur ever in NY, feel free to reach out ! 😬

[Muchneeded in reply to RobynC]

Chicago

[carrieprice1998]

I am currently on lexapro and all it does is calm me down. Meds work different for different people, I hope you find some relief from your anxiety, I know the feeling. I have been living with it for about 6 years until the doctor gave me lexapro, now I am anxiety free completely.

[Muchneeded in reply to carrieprice1998]

Awesome thank you

[RobynC in reply to carrieprice1998]

I'm glad ur anxiety free ! Do you find you worry less on meds or u still worry but don't feel anxiety about it ?

[mitch404]

Hello. I'm sorry you're going through this rough patch and I hope you will find relief very soon. I, too, take Lexapro and went thru similar side effects, especially headaches. But the one thing I was told is that it takes several weeks for Lexapro to kick in, so maybe you didn't allow time for it to work. I, too, was skeptical about anti depressants and afraid they would make me feel worse, but the truth is, at least for me, the Lexapro takes off some of the edge of anxiety and depression. I hope in some way this helps and again, hope you feel better!

[Muchneeded in reply to mitch404]

Maybe I will try the lexapro again when Ian feeling a little more stable and not under so much pressure

Thank you

[mitch404 in reply to Muchneeded]

The best advice I can give is to always be under a doctor's care and supervision whenever taking ANY medication.

[dannygette]

My doctor put me on Lex as well. My blood pressure spiked to 150/90 for an entire day. I was diagnosed with Serotonin Syndrome because of the meds. I was referred to a Psych Nurse, who confided that she hates Lexapro for that reason and weened me off it, substituting two other meds. I am doing much better now. Good luck.

[Lisamarlowe]

I tried lexapro years ago and took for about a week it made my depression way worse I couldn't take it

[RobynC]

How is ur day going ? How are you feeling ?

[Muchneeded in reply to RobynC]

I'm doing pretty well today. I'm almost through my first day back at work and it went better than expected! Thank you so much for checking up on me. I really appreciate it!

[RobynC in reply to Muchneeded]

Aw that's so awesome ! Happy to hear that ! 🙏🏼

[Muchneeded]

I listen to the calm app all the way to work today. Good news we will stay open at least for another school year but we have a year to recruit more kids! Maybe the billion dollar bill the governor just signed for CPS will help too!

[RobynC in reply to Muchneeded]

I love that !! Keep doing it ! I now have the beach wave noise background on when I use the app . The fireplace one is cool too but I don't really use it . I love beaches . I'm happy to hear u have at least one more year ! 🙏🏼

[Muchneeded in reply to RobynC]

Thank you for all your support theses past few days it got through to a breakthrough

[RobynC]

I'm happy to have been there for u ! Hit me up Anytime you need ❤️

[RobynC]

What's ur name btw ?

[Muchneeded in reply to RobynC]

Maria

[RobynC in reply to Muchneeded]

I'm Robyn

[Eddie83]

I was also given Lexapro many years ago, before I learned that detox/nutritional restoration/hormone restoration is the only true treatment for anxiety/panic disorders. The Lexapro "lit" me up, I felt like I was racing, a most unpleasant situation. Definitely NOT a good med (but what BigPharma meds are really good??) for a person who had the kind of sleep disorder I had.