Hi there! I feel abit of an old hand at this anxiety malarky. I have suffered for nearly 10 years with GAD, had more therapy than you can shake a stick at. I have a preferred antidepressant Sertraline (through trial and error of other SSRI's) I no longer take any medication (I have a 28 day course of amitriplyine 10 mg for emergencies) and have a wonderful Gestalt therapist who I have seen for 2 years now.
I just want to write about over sleeping and anxiety as many of the posts seem to be about Insomnia! I sleep about 12 hours a night and if I am very anxious and / depressed I can sleep up to 15 hours!! I love my bed, it is safe and warm. I never wake early and the only problem I get is falling asleep, once asleep I can sleep for agggess! Doctors automatically think because I sleep so much I can't possible be depressed! So untrue!
I was just wondering if anyone else's anxiety had a similar effect?
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pixiestix
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Hi pixiestix! I've suffered from depression in the past and I do like you - sleep! I retreat to my bed and feel safe. I take Sertraline permanently and feel it keeps me 'stable'. I'm suffering from stress/anxiety at present, different symptoms - I can't sleep! Awake from 1-6, stomach churning, thoughts racing etc. Saw GP last week & taking Zopiclone for 2 weeks, they help a lot. I think I recognised my stress before I let depression get hold.
Not suggesting the same for you at all. We are all unique and react differently.
ooo zopiclone, nice! made me fluffy and warm! But it did taste like I had chewed tin foil all night =0) and sertraline is wonderful for me.
I think I am proud of myself being medication free. My dr is a friggin nightmare, its an uphill battle so I find not being on anything is easier than fighting the NHS (ps I have changed drs, e.t.c this is a long standing battle!!)
It just so nice to find a blog with ppl just like me! So i was wanted peeps to know that over sleeping is also a syptom albeit an A typical one =0)
Thanks for your kind words! blessings and peace be with you xx
I happily retreat to my bed and love being warm and comfy. I assume my anxiety is full on nervous energy which is very tiring! Most people have no idea of this.
I've only suffered for nearly two years. My doc is great but councelling is non exitent unless I pay.
Hi, I'm new here. I've been suffering from anxiety for a few years and depression for over 10 years. I too want to be in my bed all the time, well it feels like it. I don't like going to bed early, I am just frightenned of what the next day will bring and don't want to get up. I go to sleep at around 12am and if I'm off I get up at 11.30, sometimes later. Like you I feel safe and warm and just can't bear what the day may bring. I'm on mirtazipine and citalopram, which I have been on the citalopram for a few months. Started on 10mg went up to 20mg now on 40mg. Don't know if its helpng to be honest. I feel like nothing can help me. Its all a long story so won't go on.
its so brutal and long term. i think whats so hard is that sometimes things can be fine, then wham you have this terrible anxiety that despite best efforts you just can't shake. its tough going, frustrating and makes you despair. But sharing how you feel with others, researching and keeping yourself safe and soothed, no matter if its as simple as eating your favourite dinner, or having a bath with candles, is what I try to do every day. keeping on bobbing along =0)
How does Gestalt approach work? When comparing the different approaches on offer in counselling I have never been able to quite "get" how that works, it seems harder to understand that other methods? are you willing and able to give a brief explanation of your experience of it pls? P.S. I sleep LOADS as well, and yet I'm a very anxious person.
Hi there funkychicken =0) Gestalt is complicated to explain, there are many facets. Luckily my therapist dips his toe into many pools, Gestalt being his main focus but we also cover Freud, Person Centred and psychoanalytical. Unlike alot of Gestalt work much of my work is to do with my past and the experience there. I have had 12 'person centred' NHS therapists and it made my anxiety twice as bad cos i keep analyzing and over analyzing, I knew how i felt but couldnt for the life of me explain how I got to be in such a pickle.My therapist went back to birth!
'...The emphasis of the therapy is not on talking about what has happened but on fully experiencing both what is, and what can be. ..'
It has been so helpful and because its private i haven't had to have 12 sessions then sign off and wait 6-8 weeks to get more. I lam lucky I am able to pay. i have been in therapy for two years this november!
I hope this helps, I am abit frazzld today and my mind a little fuzzy!!
Thanks, that's really useful. I am the opposite to you, in that psychodynamic/psychoanalytical work drives me mad and depresses me and I won;t have it again, whereas a person-centred approach works much better for me, as I need to feel the therapist is really emapthising with me. I suppose we are all different and it depends on what the problem is and how good we are at relating to other people. Sadly my area don't do anything other than CBT and I can;t afford to go private.
I have trouble going to sleep. go up to bed at 11,30pm and I take my valium which I have been on many years, am addicted to20mgs a day now, In the morni ng at 6.30am I take 15mgs Cipralex, 75mcgs of Thyroxime, and a 80gr SR Propranalol and a 2 mg water tablet, then I go to sleep until about 11am I have depression, and anxiety for many years, and when I wake in the morning like others am afraid to face the day, My husband has altizheimers, and I am so worried about him, there are days, I do not get up until evening time, my sleep pattern has changed. I asked the pscychiatrist if I could take the Cipralex at night, and he said I would not sleep, why do they put me to sleep in the morning, Please answer me from Lindenlea
I thought I was the only one! I also take refuge in my bed and get up very late - because of a half-buried fear of what each new day will bring. I've been like this since I was a child - due to suffering abuse in my family. When I went to university (and suddenly it was "safe" to show signs of trauma without attracting yet more punishment) I would wake up shaking.
At the moment I am going through another bout of mega-late sleeping, or really of huddling under my duvet and indulging in nice cosy fantasies. This has been going on since my Mum died. Luckily I work from home so this isn't affecting my life in a bad way - I just feel guilty about spending so much time in bed.
Thanks for sharing your stories, everyone - it's reassuring (if a bit sad) to see that so many other people are in the same boat.
My anxiety only started after I left my marriage because my father emotionally manipulated me to leave and then six months later my ex decided he wanted me back I was treated like a pawn by my family and my exhusband. Nobody asked me what I wanted, I never wanted to leave but he did not ask me what he should do to make me stay ( I would have said stop hitting me and start putting me first over your mother and brother and let's get away from his family but he said both families and I think in hindsight I should have said okay both families.)
Had severe anxiety ever since and ruins my life and stops it from time to time. Really fed up as I also get sciatica. Don't know why he did not kill me when he hit me? Would have been easier for me but not my family. But this is worse as nobody gets it.
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