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Looking for suggestions regarding anxiety....

Posted: Sep 25, 2014

Particularly homeopathic, not the usual SSRI as they made me feel worse. I'm perimenopausal and about at wits end...nervous, anxious, trouble sleeping. Any advice is appreciated.

;

I have the same thing; I think many of us do - mary tyler moore and a dramamine...

[ In Reply To ..]
Hi; I hate to state the obvious but the best remedy for this condition is exercise. Late in the afternoon/evening is even better. I climbed a mountain yesterday, thought I was going to die. Took 5 hours...I hit the bed at 10ish and slept until 6 A.M. Woke anew like I haven't in so long. Otherwise, I usually take one 'night-time' sinus pill of some sort, any kind really, or just 'P.M.' pill in general--not 2, but 1 only --2 gives me nightmares...and/or one-half or one full Dramamine. For the middle of the night anxiety, in which you're awake and wondering aimlessly throughout the house--I usually pop in an old Mary Tyler Moore DVD or Three's Company or something for about an hour, until the 'problems' subside as we remember a 'kinder, gentler time'; for me it was the '70s, when grandparents, parents and pets were still alive (!), all the hopes and dreams still lay ahead to be realized in the futures of our young minds...etc. Oh, I recommend the DVD in particular versus TV so you don't have to hear the blaring, late-night commercials--not exactly the anxiety antidote! This is not the best advice, but I share your angst and these are some ways that help me make it through the night/s! Best to you:) P.S. No "news" before bed! I would say "try not to turn onto problems that upset you" ('Jesus Christ Superstar,' I think, right?) hours before bed, really, if you can help it...like not after noon :)

Find right combination for you - no caffeine

[ In Reply To ..]
I love, really love, coffee. I got supersensitive. I am pretty good if I do not drink a drop; if I even smell it, I cannot sleep and am a bundle of nerves.

I exercise in the morning--it gets me going for the day. I need to get my heart pumping and then stretch out to keep from getting too stiff. I have a smoothie with kale, some carrots, broccoli, Greek yogurt, oranges, bananas, or whatever fruit I have, plus berries, almost every morning.

I try to stay away from wheat and refined carbs.

I am better if I do not use any electronic equipment during the night, but I do read on my Nook and have not had too much of a problem when I just read.

I also have a very low-dose of Effexor. Really helps me sleep and calm me down. Doc felt it was safer for me than Benadryl or Ambien and studies show it helps menopausal women.

also do some deep breathing techniques - no caffeiine

[ In Reply To ..]
I will practice deep rhythmic breathing while exercising and also if I wake up in the middle of night, it helps me get back to sleep. I will count backwards from 100 by 3's or 7's or whatever.

Used to meditate, but I found that when I hit the perimenopausal years, I could not turn off my thoughts to where I could relax.

Arts, crafts and hobbies - flowerchild

[ In Reply To ..]
Making some time to do something you like can get you to refocus. Playing piano, singing, sewing, painting, teaching your dogs tricks. I think if you can teach yourself to do something new it will give you a fun goal to accomplish and something new to think about and plan for.

All very good suggestions. I will try anything at this point. - thank you!

[ In Reply To ..]
I feel so lucky to have such support. It's such a lonely time. Talking about it seems to help, but if I could get some decent sleep, that would be amazing. Thanks again.

it's 4 o'clock in the morning and here I am, UP... - didn't exercise, wide awake and worried, 4 AM

[ In Reply To ..]
About the literal sleep issue, per se, not withstanding things to "make your life better so you sleep better," etc., I know we have a slew of hormonal things going on (or 'dying' hmones, as the case may be!) as well, but I think the bottom line is, we don't get off our arses enough...! Not in the way you need to be able to be really tired enough to sleep through the night, especially at this age! I know the night before last after I did extreme exercise, I slept like I hadn't since the last time I'd done extreme exercise...probably a year ago! I thought, why don't I do this every day? The "experts" seem to say it's actually best to exercise at about 3 in the afternoon, for a better night's sleep. Also, an antihistamine should work. They say now that melatonin is addicting, "not good for you" in general, is being misused/overused and people have been taking in doses too high, and it's not meant to be used as a sleep aide, evidently...so I stay away from that one, as I probably took a bottle a couple of years ago over time and actually felt odd about it, that it didn't work very well and stopped. Oh yeah, you need more and more (melatonin) they've said, and you begin to feel terribly groggy/hungover in the morning and perhaps even throughout the day, over time. Well, going to pop an antih and hope to turn in for another 3 hours. Might watch something too for a while, but something innocuous...not Dexter...:) Hope you're not awake, not reading this...!

Why not exercise at 3 or 4 am? - wheres_my_job

[ In Reply To ..]
My work schedule is such that I am up pretty late. Because of my living situation, this works for me (blessed midnight silence. blessed, blessed silence of the "wee" hours of the morning.)

I might be tutoring an hour or so at midnight-1 am soon. Still thinking about it.

Why do people need to get up so early, if they aren't working 8-5? Habit? If you're in a situation where your sleep schedule can change - then try changing it.

I've seen in the news recently, that they are thinking of changing school start times, because kids are having to go to school way too frickin' early in the morning. YES, you can let teenagers sleep in, and start school at a later hour, for better school performance.

I think the whole rise and shine Ben Franklin get up way early and start the coffeemaker is highly overrated = there is no virtue in being someone who gets up at the crack of dawn.

I am menopausal, and I find yoga is just as effective as when I was younger. It has taken a long time to get to the point where I can actually get into it, from stress and so on, and my body is totally stiff, BUT - if I do it daily, even just half an hour, it's GREAT. I can even bend over and place my hands flat on the floor again - I haven't been able to do that in a decade (or so). A great stretch for the back of the legs, the spine. Feels SO GOOD. I love it. Even if it is at midnight. Did I mention blessed, blessed silence?

Just my two cents worth.

I've had good luck getting to sleep with a product - called MidNite, which is melatonin.

[ In Reply To ..]
Doesn't drug you out, just slowly winds you down and sets your brain/body for sleep mode. You can also take it in the middle of the night if you wake up and can't sleep.

Antihistamine allergy medication also helps, but I have to have an 8-10 hour window of time to sleep, or else I'll wake up groggy.

I also have trouble sleeping with waking up - several times during the night

[ In Reply To ..]
Glad to hear about the MidNite, knew about something like benadryl but this is something I do occasionally, not every night, but 2 or 3 ibuprofen helps me to sleep thru the night. If you have any kidney issues, this would not be something you would want to do but for me, it works.

Worst abdominal pain in my life - ulcer

[ In Reply To ..]
Just a caution about taking ibuprofen. Very tough on stomach. GI doctors are always seeing patients because of ibuprofen.

I tried melatonin too. Got a very bad headache from it and felt quite groggy.

Gotta keep trying until something works.

I think you take ibuprofen with food, not just - alone because of causing stomach issues

[ In Reply To ..]
Probably states on the bottle about that, generic of Motrin.

What about milk? It contains tryptophans - (like turkey does, too).

[ In Reply To ..]
I find its benefits threefold: Milk makes me drowsy, it settles my stomach and/or doubles as something to take pain medication with, if needed, and since I go to bed late, long after dinner, I'm usually hungry just before going to bed. The milk makes me feel "full", thus canceling out the hunger pangs.

Yep I got the same way with ibuprofen and the melatonin - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
made me sicker than a dog!!!

Keep doing that and you WILL have kidney - issues

[ In Reply To ..]
NSAIDS should be avoided by everyone, whether you think you have kidney disease or not. They cause damage. They interfere with gastric mucus production, which is what leads to ulcers whether you take them on an empty stomach or not. They are also now associated with venous thromboembolism.

A children's chewable12.5 mg diphenhydramine is all you need and it is safe. That amount should help you get to sleep and wakeup 8 hours later without grogginess.

Reading the post correctly you see I said occasionally, - not all the time

[ In Reply To ..]
As far as the diphenhydramine, have that in another sleep aid I got at Costco and did nothing to help me. I should tell my ortho doctor what was he thinking when he just prescribed Motrin 800 mg to take twice a day, Shame on that doctor!

Original poster, what a great topic! - ETOHPRN

[ In Reply To ..]
What an amazing bunch of people you have supporting you on here!

I too suffer from anxiety, wicked bad, and was on Lexapro for it for many years. Then I stopped it due to pregnancy and breastfeeding. Those oxytocin hormones from pregnancy were THE BEST at relaxing me and making me feel happy and clearing up my acne...sure wish they could bottle THAT stuff up!!

Now that those magic hormones have worn off, my anxiety is back and it seems to have worsened. I'm still not taking anything though. I'm also going the all-natural route but failing. I exercise for 90 minutes a day and although it helps a bit, it's not curing me of my real mental illness.

I'm a face picker. I look like a meth head, my face is so scarred up. I won't leave the house without makeup. EVER. It's embarrassing, I've done it since i was a kid, and I can't stop. I made a phone call to a therapist and got an appointment, but I had to cancel due to anxiety about driving in the city to get there! How ridiculous is that?!

Caffeine and wheat are my triggers, I'm sure of it. The caffeine feeds my anxiety, but it also makes my fingers fly for work, so unless I want to lose my job, I need that "bump." The wheat causes my acne to flare and that is what leads to my picking/squeezing because, frankly, I love to pop zits. Gross, I know, but there it is.

So, I have absolutely no advice at all. Just wanted to let you know there are people struggling with similar issue and you are not alone.
;)

Nice to know I'm not alone, but sorry so many of us are suffering from this. - OP

[ In Reply To ..]
I've been reading a book called "I Want to Change My Life. How to Overcome Depression, Anxiety, and Addiction." I don't have problems with addiction, but the depression and anxiety, oh yes. I finally made an appt with a therapist as well, and I feel your pain on not wanting to drive to the city, but I encourage you to work through that and get to that appt. I've only had one session so far, but just talking it out is immensely helpful. I've also started reading "Feeling Good" by David Burns, very cheap in paperback at Amazon for about $4.50 but worth its weight in gold. He has some truly wonderful advice that seems to lift my spirits just reading it.

I also went on the Mayo Clinic website to read about anxiety, where they mentioned an amino acid supplement called Theanine which is supposed to provide a calming effect. I ordered that online today (got very promising customer reviews).

I'm certain this is going to be an ongoing process for some time since, as I said, I am perimenopausal and feeling so much more anxious and sleepless, though tired all the time - what's that about?!

Anxiety and panic - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
There are some over the counter things like valarian root. Kava is good for sleep as well. I have my biggest anxious moment in traffic. Swell huh??! I find interstates and intersections bother me most. I think it must be the constant flow of traffic around me - I start to feel dizzy. I've taken up reading ANYTHING in a car at a stop light. I keep glancing back up to see the color of the light. I'm doing a bit better - trying to expose myself to more and more driving. Getting out of this professional would help, I have no doubt. I've even applied for server positions in a restaurant. I tend to stay in the house way too much with this job and I just can't live with the anxiety it's created anymore. I think being able to hide from the anxiety working at home has made it much worse. Maybe a PT job somewhere, even Walmart to get you out of the house a bit and build up your inner strength....just a thought.

A different etiology - Vestibular rehab

[ In Reply To ..]
I have had problems with the driving anxiety as well. One day I put 2 and 2 together after I had been to see my eye doctor and then doing an MT report. The eye doctor mentioned I must have great difficulty with sports and parking a car due to an eye injury that caused a condition that decreases my distance perception. I too get a bit dizzy when changing my head position and eye movements. I then had a report where they talked about vestibular rehab. I started doing some vestibular exercises that I found on You-tube. I think it is actually helping. Odd that my driving anxiety might be related to a vestibular problem. You might want to check it out. I also feel the dizziness in grocery/retail store aisles.

I used to wonder about a possible seizure type disorder because I sometimes have wondered if my "panic attacks" are related to the dinging of cash registers and the blinking of traffic lights and also bright sunlight. Perhaps could be related to vestibular migraine. It would be nice to find a physical cause.

Ups, downs, and adrenal glands - caffeine-free

[ In Reply To ..]
I would urge you to start cutting back on your caffeine coffee. You are probably finding that you are up with the coffee, then crash and have to have more. Without the caffeine, you will have a more stable energy level. The caffeine stimulates your adrenal glands which probably is contributing to your breakout problems (and can also increase your weight through cortisol stimulation) besides increasing your anxiety. Try mixing your coffee half caffeine with half no caffeine and just keep reducing the caffeine. Start your day of with 30 minutes of the exercise to "wake up".

Also, when I went through the perimenopausal acne, a product called Proactive really helped clear me up quickly. There are generic versions in the discount stores.

I was told to try meditation. I never have because I found a med - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
that does not make me sick to my stomach. I still want to try it. Worth looking in to.

Yoga Stretches - see msg

[ In Reply To ..]
Try gentle Yoga stretches. You don't have to twist into a pretzel. Go to the book store or get a DVD and follow it along. Or perhaps your local community center has classes for cheap. Only stretch to your capacity.

It feels sooooooo gooooood.

Been there - Rusty

[ In Reply To ..]
I tried all the meds, nothing made it better only worse. Then I tried changing my diet, took out gluten and most carbs and took prenatal vitamins, and then I found a hobby I was passionate about. Took me a bit of weeding thru all other stuff, i.e. painting birds-still life-people, crafts, stained glass, mosaics, gardening, etc. I finally found out I can completely lose myself in painting landscapes, visualize I am there, and VIOLA no more stress/anxiety. give it a shot, what have you go to lose except maybe some weight and can give your passions as gifts. Good luck

I've had anxiety all my life - mt2north

[ In Reply To ..]
and it got worse going through perimenopause. It's trial and error to find what works for you to help alleviate the anxiety, but keep trying, something will help, especially exercise. I also found guided meditation very helpful. I am officially menopausal and I must say this is the best I have ever felt anxiety-wise. There is light at the end of the tunnel!

God bless you for saying that... - OP

[ In Reply To ..]
I'm very much looking forward to that "light at the end of the tunnel." I'm still only skipping a few periods a year, so who knows how much longer I will be in this peri phase. So nice to know it will get better! :) thank you :)

Horseback riding, snowmobiling - active sports

[ In Reply To ..]
Skiing, both water and snow. I can't think of anything else when I am "in the moment."

Reading or doing crossword puzzles quickly - makes me very sleepy! (NM)

[ In Reply To ..]
xxx

Sorry not homeopathic but Lyrica (pregabalin) - is excellent for anxiety.

[ In Reply To ..]
It is prescribed for fibromyalgia and neuropathic pain in the USA but outside the US it is actually prescribed for anxiety (as well as other things). It is NOT an SSRI.

I agree with you about SSRIs - they have always made me feel awful, not helpful at all.

To the OP. Some suggestions. sm - helper

[ In Reply To ..]
Oral contraceptives work quite well in controlling the symptoms of perimenopause. If you are adverse to those there is a homeopathic herb called black cohash that seems to have good results.

There are a lot of blogs for women with perimenopausal symptoms, and they may have some answers for you too.

Good luck.

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