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Dear all
As i have started flaring (pain, fatigue etc. etc) I notice that my anxiety levels are going up and up. I jump when the phone rings, feel edgy and irritable, on the edge of tears for very little reason, but mostly it is this underlying feeling that something terrible is going to happen and that I am edging out of control. It has got so bad that my partner is trying to keep the outside world off me for a bit. I am off to see the doc this week and discuss it. Nice doc but a new one so I want to have info before I go. We have a fair bit of financial stress right now but when I am well this is not something I couldnt deal with but at the moment everything seems insurmountable. But weirdly this feeling comes and goes, worse when pain and tiredness worse. Awful when I wake up (always in pain, always still tired) with my stomach churning, gets better as the pain meds start working then worse again. Not sure this is making much sense.
Does anyone else get this stomach roiling anxiety and if so do you take meds for it. I have had mild CNS symptoms before and wonder if this is that again, but how do i tell?
Thanks
Sara

 

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Thank you so much all of you. Will reply in detail prob. tomorrow. Headache fron **** and computer screen too bright for me today. Sara xxxxx

 

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Hi everyone , thanks for replying.

I cannot take some of the drugs you mention (like Paxil, Zoloft or Citalopram) because they are an SSRI drug (same family as prozac) and both times I have tried that family of drugs I have had a lupus flare (massive rash all over and joints unable to move without pain). The only anti-depressant that I could take was lofepramine and although it worked I kept breaking out into drenching sweats, I do anyway sometimes but I was positively swimming in public when I took this med. I am hoping the doc will give me something very short term to break the pattern of panic but i bet he tries just an anti-depressant, so as one of you said, two weeks of **** waiting for it to kick in and coping with side effects.

I think I need to get to try and find out whether it is lupus and CNS stuff going on (which I suspect as am having blinding headaches and my eyes have become very light sensitive this week) or whether it is stress making me panic and the stress also making the lupus worse. Definitely getting panic attacks.

I am coping by sticking my ipod on or reading a romance or watching something gentle on tv, worse at night and terrible in the morning when I wake up feeling terrified. Not long now to doc appointment. Just hoping I don't panic driving the car as not been out for quite a while. Ho hum, what a lovely illness this is not.

Florrie I am sorry about your fiance being out of work, this is not good news for you is it. I hope he finds work soon. I keep thinking we have adapted to less money but the prices keep rising and without me having energy to cook we eat less economically. Oh well - i keep telling myself that everything changes.

I agree with hardcandy that it is a good idea to find methods to cope with the anxiety, but in the middle of a panic attack I don't think of grabbing my ipod or breathing deeply I just think of climbing under the quilt and screaming.

Anyway thanks again, feels better just knowing I have people here I can turn to.
Love Sara

 

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HI Maura,

I am sorry you get this anxiety too. I know what you mean about everything seeming black and white. I am sure it is the flare making thinking rationally more difficult, whether because of pain, tiredness, depression or CNS involvement. Probably all of them. The fear does seem to have some awful grip doesn't it?

I, too, don't seem to be flaring more often than before. Certainly the meds I am on don't seem to be enough these days. This constant nagging illness and exhaustion are not much fun. Only a day to go to doc appointment. Just hope I don't burst into tears.

Sara
x

 

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Hi Laura thanks for your reply.

I have been on lofepramine before which is similar to amitryptyline so I was thinking I maybe need to go back on it for a bit. I am going armed with info to my doctor. If I can get this anxiety under control i think i will rest more and that will help my other symptoms.

Thanks for you help and kind thoughts.
Love
Sara

 

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Sara
I was thinking have you been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia (sp) again, anyway I also take Lyrica which I think also may have some relaxing properties, ask your doctor, I know what you are going thru so I can sympathize anxiety is one of the worst feelings, and unless you experience it on a day to day minute by minute way you can't really understand it, but I do, I have been there, I take comfort in knowing I have the klonopin if needed and the elevil (I also don't respond well to SSRI's) Please know your not alone and I will be praying for you and keeping fingers crossed you get relief soon!!

Hi cispence ... I don't seem to have fribromyalgia - i don't have all the sore spots required for diagnosis. Anxiety is awful isn't it, like keeping a lid on a boiling cauldren of worries that keep popping out of the top regardless, and most of the worries are pretty irrational. The wierdest thing is waking up anxious, never been like this before. Oh well, thanks again, your thoughts and prayers appreciated.
Take care
Sara x

 

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Dear All
Just to let you know that I have been to the docs and now have a half-hour appointment tomorrow morning with the mental health nurse at the surgery. He is the best person to assess me apparently and then can recommend the right treatment to the doc. Doc says the anxiety is easily helped/treated and that I just need to try and rest today. I also have to phone the lupus clinic and see if my NSAID (arcoxia) can be changed as that may be contributing to the sweating etc. Doc was lovely although admitted that he could not really help with the lupus side of things and that was best dealt with by the hospital. I do feel better, nervous about tomorrow but pleased I got such a speedy appointment.
Will let you know how I get on tomorrow and what the plan from there is.
Sara x

 

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Well... psychiatry referral for me. They can't prescribe from GP practice because of lupus and all my allergic drug reactions. I have started a new thread on this. at
http://www.thelupussite.com/forum/showthread.php?t=71000

thanks for all your support. just need to wait now.