Hello everyone i haven’t been on my blog for a very long time i just lost time and motivation to sit down and write a post but i’m back, i have deleted most my posts just left a few that i wanted to keep and the rest are in my drafts for now.
For today’s post i’m going to be talking about my experience taking medication for my anxiety. If this helps just one person then ill be happy.
I remember like yesterday , getting home from my therapist appointment and crying in the car because Id just been told they think the route of medication will be the best way forward for me to start feeling less anxious and feeling happier. At first i was all against taking them. I didn’t need ‘Happy Pills’ I felt terrified the fact i needed to take medication too be happier and not to worry.
Sertraline
I got prescribed Sertraline last year in June . This really was a last option for me i had Tried (CBT) Cognitive behavior therapy twice , i had been at CAHMS which is a children and adolescence mental health service in the UK for about 6 months and then after leaving school which at this point i wasn’t in good place at all my psychologist decided too try me on medication too see if it would reduce my anxiety.
Before getting put on medication i was absolutely ridiculous. My anxiety was uncontrollable , i was feeling sick all the time about such small normal every day things . I used to get anxiety over anything and everything I had such bad mood swings and was just constantly sad and feeling stressed all the time. It became obvious at school that something wasn’t right like the amounts id panic over nothing . If i had to go somewhere id get up four hours early just so i would be ready because i always feared being late. I cant explain how bad my anxiety was but i knew when i left school i couldn’t be anxious the way i was it wasn’t normal.
I was terrified to go on sertaline.. i did the worst thing and read every single ‘possible side effect’ like with every medication there is possible side effects but their was a chance with this medication that with some people it could make you feel worse .. you could be sick, end up depressed and so on. So i really didn’t want to take it.
I started on 50 mg .. I got told it would take up to four weeks for me to start hopefully noticing a difference in my self. I went back two months later for my check up so he could see how i was finding the medication. At this point i was noticing no changes what so ever in my self and felt like it hadn’t helped me in the slightest if anything it had affected my sleep as i wasn’t sleeping much. He told me to stick with it for a few more weeks and if i still felt it wasn’t helping he would increase my medication. At my next monthly check up i still felt like it was pointless. So he increased it up too 100 mg and then i really did notice a difference. It took four months for me to start feeling more relaxed i didn’t feel so stressed and i didn’t feel as panicky as usual it was amazing.
Some times i feel like i dont need my medication anymore so i stop taking it and then i soon realize how much i really do need it. It has helped me with so much.
This year i have managed to stay on a course at college studying Beauty Therapy doing something that interests me which i’m really enjoying and i have made new friends and also manged to keep a job as a waitress dealing with the public , which is such a big deal for me. Without my medication i would not of been able to hold a job down and attend college at all. Because these little things once felt impossible to me.
I am feeling so much better since taking Sertraline, dont get me wrong they dont make everything disappear, sometimes i still have really bad days but i know for a fact i wouldn’t of got to where i am know without my medication.
Never be embarrassed to have to take medication for your mental health because your mental health is just a physical health.
Thank you for reading and i will be back soon with another post.
Luce x x x
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