All I had to do was BELIEVE in myself!

Okey so I had to take once again another trip to the GP as my anxiety got so bad nearly a month ago hence why I haven’t written anything since my last blog 21 days ago. It turns out I needed a huge change in my medication and to do this I needed to have a safe way to come away from my current medication of Citalopram. As I was taking 40mg a day in the morning my GP asked for me to stop doing this and reduce my dose by half to only 20mg daily for 2 weeks and then reduce the dose again by half to 10mg every other day for the final 2 weeks. Because of this reduction in medication I was signed of work.

When I started this process I wasn’t too keen as I was very concerned that I wouldn’t cope. Let’s just say the first couple of weeks were an absolute nightmare… I didn’t want to communicate with anyone, I didn’t want to leave the house and if I did manage to do either of these I would become angry and snappy very quickly. Eventually I got used to this new routine and myself and my partner noticed the difference. I am unsure as to say whether it was a good difference or a bad difference, neither of us could decide which it was.

The new medication I am taking now is an anti-depressant called Sertraline. If you are like me who didn’t have any clue as to what this was like with taking any new medication I always do my research and hope you do too.

Sertraline is an anti-depressant which is in a group of drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)

Sertraline affects chemicals in the brain that may be unbalanced in people with depression, panic, anxiety or obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms.

Sertraline is used to treat depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD)

Since taking this medication myself and my partner have noticed a huge difference between this medication and the Citalopram I was taking previously. We have both noticed that since taking this I have suffered less regular panic attacks and don’t feel as anxious as before. I am not saying that I am 100% better but I am like 70% better which is a lot better than I was at the start of all this. I would say to start with I was only at about 25% okey, so knowing that I have jumped up so much makes me feeling brilliant and gives me more determination to get 100% better.