Im new....Would like to speak to people?

[Pakadillis]

Hi everyone. I apologise in advance for the long post but would REALLY appreciate it if you would read this and chat with me..... I could do with talking to people.

Im new to this site and I am interested in hearing your advice/views/opinions.

I have been feeling ill for nearly a year and a half now (Pretty much since the birth of my gorgeous little boy). The main problems started with the fact that I had a constant period that would not go away (I have bled every single day for the last 18 months). My mood has been fine and I have bonded with my son. No signs of post natal depression.

There is obviously a problem with my periods - but the doctors have never really been interested to be honest.

Over the last few months I have felt physically more and more ill. I am constantly fatigued, have sleep problems (sleepwalking, waking up with choking feelings, trouble getting to sleep). I have began to suffer from migraines, and have recently been diagnosed with IBS.

I have also had strange symptoms such as tingling and numbness in my hands. Burning feet at night and double vision.

The last couple of weeks I have began to feel breathless.

The reason I am posting on here is because I have recently been told that these symptoms are actually steming from an anxiety disorder. I even went to A+E the other night as I felt ready to collapse (thought perhaps the blood lost had caught up with me) - the nurse had the same view - anxiety.

These statements have forced me to have a "talk" with my self. The last few months I have felt genuinally physically ill like something is seriously wrong, and to be told this is caused by my brain....well its a very strange feeling indeed.

After some soul searching and reinterpretation of my symptoms I think that this diagnosis is probably correct. I have been unrealistic in my views that perhaps I have some chronic illness. Its clear that I CAN infact breathe....otherwise I would surely be dead, but these symptoms feel very real.

I think I have ignored some of my problems - for example not being able to stop moving when home alone (I cannot just sit and relax....if im not cleaning I feel guilty and nervous. Perhaps some one will knock on the door and think im lazy?). I rarely leave the house alone - summer is a particularly bad time for me as I have a completely irrational fear of insects that has really got out of hand this year.

I refuse to be alone in the house at night, I wont chew chewing gum or eat boiled sweets for fear of choking. I feel nervous when feeding my son incase he chokes... just a general uptightness. My husband tells me that he has spent the last year walking on egg shells because I am uptight and snappy.

I thought this was just who I am...but thinking back I did not used to be like this. Although I had a fear of wasps for example....it didnt stop me opening the window or standing at a bus stop. Being truthful to myself I am pretty much a walking nervous wreck.

So next week I am going back to the doctors and she is considering putting me on Citalopram with is an antidepressant. It is a SSRI. Can anyone identify with my symptoms and has anybody had any experience with this drug?

I would really like to feel normal again so I am willing to give it a shot, although I would like them to sort out my constant bleeding first as I think this may well be why my problem started in the first place.

The strange thing is that I am a psychology student. I never thought in a 100 years I would suffer from a problem like this.... but I can see it is genuinelly an illness like any other physcial one.

Talk to me people. xx

[forwells]

Hi Pakadillis :D

Welcome aboard .

I am a male so bear with me hear and i am only going off somethings i have read .

You said the problem started after the birth of your son. Have you had your hormones checked out . I am pretty sure that they can play into anxiety .

Was the fears and such there before hand and just got worst after his birth .

I would say that there is anxiety there . There is a lot of fearful thinking there thats for sure . I think maybe from your post it might have always been there but just got worst after your sons birth .
for example not being able to stop moving when home alone (I cannot just sit and relax....if im not cleaning I feel guilty and nervous. Perhaps some one will knock on the door and think im lazy?).
I use to be like this but it came from the way i was raised .

Not sure how long you have been a psychology student but i will tell you from everything i have read and been though the last 2 years Drugs will not fix the problem and often make it worst .

If you are handling life at the moment then i think it is best you work with a good psychologist on ways of counter reacting the thinking that is behind alot of this . I also think you need to find a good doctor , one that will listern to you and do different test to find out what is behind the problem with your bleeding .

You can get past this i was much like you with many of the things you are trying to handle and i got past it but had to work on it hard and truely understand what was happening behind it .

cheers kev :D

[Pakadillis]

Hi Pakadillis :D

Welcome aboard .

I am a male so bear with me hear and i am only going off somethings i have read .

You said the problem started after the birth of your son. Have you had your hormones checked out . I am pretty sure that they can play into anxiety .

Was the fears and such there before hand and just got worst after his birth .

I would say that there is anxiety there . There is a lot of fearful thinking there thats for sure . I think maybe from your post it might have always been there but just got worst after your sons birth .
for example not being able to stop moving when home alone (I cannot just sit and relax....if im not cleaning I feel guilty and nervous. Perhaps some one will knock on the door and think im lazy?).
I use to be like this but it came from the way i was raised .

Not sure how long you have been a psychology student but i will tell you from everything i have read and been though the last 2 years Drugs will not fix the problem and often make it worst .

If you are handling life at the moment then i think it is best you work with a good psychologist on ways of counter reacting the thinking that is behind alot of this . I also think you need to find a good doctor , one that will listern to you and do different test to find out what is behind the problem with your bleeding .

You can get past this i was much like you with many of the things you are trying to handle and i got past it but had to work on it hard and truely understand what was happening behind it .

cheers kev :D

Hi Kev, thanks for the response.

I think that possibly it has always been brewing. For example I have had a handful of panic attacks over the years but thats all they were. Panic attacks that very quickly resolved.

My problem is that im under the NHS in England. Being referred to a psychiratrist or psychologist is pretty near impossible!

I have been dealing.... but right now im not. Im fearful of night time, and the evening. Because I know im going to get breathless. Its such a horrible feeling and I dont want it anymore.

As for hormones you are most probably right. This is what my doctors dont seem to understand. The fact that I have bled every single day for the last 18 months would suggest there is some kind of problem there and I dont think I am overreacting with that!

No tests. NHS are rubbish. I had a blood test for anemia 6 months ago. And a thyroid check around the same time (which I literally had to beg for!).

I think the reason (if it is indeed anxiety) that it has got so bad is possibly because I have spent the last 18 months bleeding and worrying that something has wrong, which has made me superalert to every other symptom and generally made me anxious.

It doesnt help that 9 times out of 10 when I see doctors about bleeding I leave the surgery in tears. The problem with the NHS is that if a doctor refers you it costs the surgery money. So its usually an endless circle of different medications to see "what works"....bearing in mind they dont even know whats causing the bleeding.

I think if they sort this out...I will feel different in my self. Its a real pain to be honest, because I have no way to be sure if something is genuinelly wrong physically.....which is causing me to be anxious.....or just anxiety which is producing the symptoms.

I really wish I could just go private and see a proper specialist.

Thank you for your response x

[forwells]

I think the reason (if it is indeed anxiety) that it has got so bad is possibly because I have spent the last 18 months bleeding and worrying that something has wrong, which has made me superalert to every other symptom and generally made me anxious.

I understand this 100% , my first time with anxiety was not to bad but came from shocking treatment i got with a virus ( cfs, pvfs)when i was younger . It was that not know what was going on that was feeding the anxiety . I always said i could handle being told i was dieing but not know what was happening was killing me .

It doesnt help that 9 times out of 10 when I see doctors about bleeding I leave the surgery in tears. This says it is effecting you pretty bad and i guess its playing into alot of other things also .

Can you go and see a natropath , I believe they can test some hormones and they may be able to find something else .

I do think there is anxiety there and this has only sort of bought it out more in the open .

I am a member of anxietycenter , Its a small fee site run by past sufferers all recovered and all trained . You may like to join and have a read there are 100s of pages . Jim the owner also drops in the forums so you might be able to ask what he thinks . This site helped me recovery from it and i was pretty bad and messed up from the drugs the doctors put me on .

I hope you get to the buttom of it , I know what you mean about doctors not wanting to help , they all seem so busy these days that all they can do is hand pills out which is a real shame . There are good ones out there but they are hard to find

cheers and good luck kev . :D

[SmileyGurl2o04]

Hi there,
Im new too just signed up yesterday and looking to chat with people as for it will help. My periods get thrown off or all out of whack when Im under alot of stress.