I think I posted before but my mind is going round and round. I was diagnosed with gastritis in August. This caused severe anxiety. I was on Citalopram for years and increased the dose. This didn't help and after a few weeks I got worse. My gastritis is a vicious cycle of pain and gastritis induced anxiety. I was put on Sertraline on a low dose of 25mg 2 weeks ago. I am now in uncontrollable anxiety. I've lost 3 stone in 4 months. I now have diarrhea and nausea. I've tried anti sickness etc , sleeping tablets but they seemed to aggravate my dizzyness and then the anxiety. I'm scared I will never recuperate at all as I can't eat. The mental health team are trying to help but my mind will not stop focusing on anxiety and physical symptoms. My cortisol levels were marked as high on a saliva test and my thyroid meds are getting messed up because I'm losing weight. I'm terrified of being committed to a psychiatric place. Can this be really helped? I've tried so hard for the past few months but my strength is going and I'm losing any rational thinking. I'm sorry but I find it helpful to write how I feel.
Can I be helped?: I think I posted... - Anxiety and Depre...
Can I be helped?
sending you lots of love ❤️
First off, don't feel sorry at all. Writing helps the brain sort things out. I find it helpful to write things down as well, as I'm sure many others do as well. You're not alone in that!Secondly, I believe anyone who asks for it can be helped.
Thirdly, I'm glad your team is caring and helpful!
I'm sorry for your diagnosis. I can only imagine how you must feel. Give yourself time to digest this news. Be gentle with yourself.
Hope you take care
So sorry to hear you are suffering right now. I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease a couple of years ago so I completely understand how GI problems affect our daily physical and mental health. Not getting immediate results to my stomach issues has been exhausting, which adds to anxiety and depression. I’m learning that the healing process is going to take longer than I thought. Time is what it may take. I will say a prayer for you.
Thankyou for your kind words. It's so debilitating and the nausea it causes is awful. Not sure if that's gastritis or anxiety or the new antidepressants but I would not wish this on anyone. I hope you can find answers to help you with Crohn's disease that's a horrible illness in itself. Take care of yourself.
Hi Helen
I can totally relate to your anxiety associated with the gastritis I have it too. Mine comes and goes notably gets worse if I have a stressful situation going on or worrying about an event taking place in the future. I wake up every morning and know what my day is going to be like from the start. I have dreadful nausea that often lasts the whole day. I try nexium sometimes, gaviscon or andrews liver salts. Sometimes it helps but some days I can’t get rid of it. It makes me agitated and I have horrible thoughts of my life being like this forever etc. Do you find it difficult to plan ahead or comit to certain things in case you don’t feel well? I hope you get to feel better soon, take care
Yes I never make plans. I have let so many people down due to anxiety or gastritis. It is life changing. Especially because I'm going round in circles. Gastritis causes anxiety and vice versa. I just want to heal my stomach so my brain can heal but it's such a difficult process. I feel the same as if I never will get better. I now I should be more positive but every day is a challenge now.
What were your symptoms of gastritis? Because sometimes I think I have stomach issues and I'm not sure..Also I'm sorry you're going through all this. I also find it helps writing how I feel out. I type it all in my notes and like just some days by journal how I'm feeling and what's up with my mind and it helps some
I get severe pain under the top o my ribs that can radiate to the back. Sometimes it can be intense pressure in the centre of the sternum. I am now on a bland diet but get a lot of nausea from the acid. All in all not pleasant and really not good for mental health issues.
Did you have an endoscopy? Are you on anything for the gastritis? I was on protonix for a while and other meds. After one endoscopy was diagnosed with gastritis, esophagitis and duodenitis, and an ulcer. Luckily all have cleared up. Had also been on omeprazole at one point.
Yes the endoscopy showed gastritis and esophagitus. I'm trying hard with a diet of clean fresh foods but nausea stops me eating much. Omeprazole made me unwell so I don't take anything. I've just been prescribed yet another antidepressant called Mirtazapine which may help my stomach as well as my anxiety. I'm experiencing awful side effects on my current antidepressant so advised to stop and change it now. Just praying I don't get too many side effects from this one and I can rebuild my life.
Hope the new med helps and you get to feeling better!! I can't take antidepressants anymore, became treatment resistant. TMS really helped me.
I'm not sure what TMS is.
TMS is transcranial magnetic stimulation, a noninvasive treatment for depression. It uses magnetic pulses targeting a part of the brain to relieve depressive symptoms. Each treatment is about 20 minutes 5x/wk for 6-7 weeks. You are awake and afterwards can go about your day.
Oh my goodness I've not heard of that. Are you in the USA? I doubt very much we have that here in UK. I can imagine it is very stimulating and gets the neurons working properly. I'm lucky as I don't really get depression. I'm low due to feeling so unwell but not depressed. I can't imagine how that must feel.
I am in the US, but there is TMS in the UK. Feeling low due to health issues is quite understandable. Going through that myself. If it weren't for the TMS I got a year ago, I would probably be in a deep hole right now. Hope you feel better!
For dizziness take meclizine. It can be purchased over the counter. Zofran works well for nausea. Please keep trying. There is an answer out there even though it can be hard to find. Sending positive healing thoughts.
One of the things that helped the most with my anxiety was learning that it really is a paradox and the more we resist or try to fight it the more it persists so the solution is to surrender to the anxious thoughts and feelings. I know it sounds like b.s. but it's true and it's not easy initially but it does help reduce my anxiety if i don't fight it and actually feels better than continuing to struggle with it. It goes against our instinct which is to fear the anxious feelings but all it is is adrenalin flooding our body and it will soon dissolve if you just let it alone but understanding what is happening and being rational about it helped me.
It could be that your gastritis is caused by food allergies/intolerances and you might benefit from finding a naturopath to work with to sort it out if you are not.
Yes I do have a gluten intolerance. The gastritis is a massive trigger for me. It's hard to stop the gut/brain reaction. I'm hoping I will get better. I'm trying special diet etc but I feel trapped in anxiety at the minute. If I could afford it I would see a naturopath. Maybe in the new year I can save up and give one a try. Thankyou for your advise I do try and ride the storm as best I can.
You're welcome, I am gluten intolerant also, thankfully there is a lot more gluten-free options available now than before although a lot of them are pretty expensive. I found taking a good probiotic helped and I also take digestive enzymes before protein heavy meals which has helped. Best to you, hope the storms are minor.
Thankyou.
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