2 months in a fog...

[steve7777]

Hello all,

I am a healthy, fit, 40 year old male and slightly over 2 months ago, I started feeling a strange anxiety. Just a feeling of worry and concern that had no real cause that I could name. I have never felt like this before so I went to my Dr. He recommended deep breathing, and reducing my caffeine intake. (I am very fit and get regular exercise) He said that if the feelings continue, to return to him in 2 weeks or so.

The feelings quickly changed...I started feeling like I was in a haze. I couldn't seem to quite feel the level of happiness I once did, in fact all of my emotions seemed some what "deadened". It is like I have a strange and unpleasant "perspective" now that I have never felt. When this started 2 months ago, I would suddenly, feel "clear" again and feel exactly as I always have! It was like the cloud suddenly lifted and my perspective completely changed. Everything around me seemed as it once did and I feel perfect. Unfortunately, I always seemed to return to the "deadened" state and the moments of feeling great are fewer and fewer and shorter in length.

The odd thing to me is, my life truly has never been better! I am in a fantastic relationship and I wouldn't change anything about my social or work life....my girlfriend has been incredibly supportive and I speak to her about it often. (something very out of character for me...I'm more of a "solve it on your own" type and rarely share my troubles with others)

I now get frequent bouts of panic and worry as I see my entire life through this new and upsetting "filter". Seeing the joy I normally feel and the love I have for my girlfriend tainted by this, is truly devastating to me and I worry about it constantly. Literally every waking hour it is in my thoughts in some way...I am severely stressing out about this.

After 2 months of trying to just focus on the good and get over it.. (I convinced myself that it was just due to a long and cold winter) ..I realized that I need to see someone.

Finally, I tried to make an appointment with my Dr. and he was away so I spoke to one of the psychologists at the office...she spoke to me about possibly causes for my anxiety, and once again discussed deep breathing. I see my MD on Tuesday.... My concern is that, I feel at a point where "talking it out" simply isn't enough...I truly have spent 2 months trying to address this cognitively and am hopeful that my MD can give me some advice. I know myself and the "anxiety" I feel is the stress I feel about the real situation which is my worry over my "perspective". So, I feel that talking about when do my bouts of anxiety start and trying to find triggers etc. to be completely unproductive. At this point, I am hoping for some more aggressive action. After dealing with this for 9 weeks now, I really don't want spend many more weeks spinning my wheels..

At this point I am terrified. I am a happy go lucky, laid back person by nature and have no idea how to deal with this change. I fear that this will change everything about me and negatively affect all the good in my life..

Any thoughts, or advice? Does this seem like depression of some type. Is there hope?

[jptr297]

Hi, Steve:

Yeah, it does sound like you're having a bout of depression. I think medication would help you here. I don't want to recommend anything that might make things worse for you, but I've found Xanax to be helpful with anxiety. Pamelor should give you a good night's sleep, if that will help. Xanax is a " controlled substance", meaning you need a written script from a doctor. Check those two out. They could be helpful.

[shellie.k.b]

Hi Steve,

I can definitely relate to your '2 months in a fog' experience, it does sound similar to what I have been through, I was normally a happy,energetic, positive person but after being engaged, building a house, starting a new career and alot of stress at the time (as you could imagine), something had to give. I became run down, exhausted, but just kept trying to push through. I found that I didn't get any joy out of life anymore, basic things throughout the day became a struggle, I became distant from my friends also (alot of them didn't understand)...one of the main problems was that I had alot of issues with my now husband's family at the time...Instead of letting things go I just went over things in my head, for well over a year!! There was alot of tension which eventually weighed down on my health, I became paranoid and would take someone's comment and blow it completely out of proportion, read into it etc.

I couldn't cope at work and had about 3 or so weeks off, I lost my sense of self worth because I felt like a failure that I couldn't cope at work, to make matters worse, it was very difficult at this time to find a new job due to the GFC, and we had a mortgage we needed to start paying with the house etc...I eventually went to my General Practitioner who helped me alot...he went through a questionnaire with me about depression, and I found out I had it. He put me on some medication called 'Effexor' which really helped, when I found things were getting tough again he increased my dose for me, I then got a small side effect from it (constipation) so he switched me over to 'Pristiq' I was on 50mg initially for about 6 months but then I was extremely stressed out due to some work related issues, so I asked if I could go onto 100mg which he was happy to do, I felt much better. The Pristiq not only helped my depression, but also the panic and anxiety that went along with it. I also get strength from God which helps me.

More recently I have got my GP to drop me back down to 50mg and I'm hoping to come off completely in the next 6 months as we are hoping to start a family. I feel like having the medication has made me stronger, I have also been put on a psychologist referral plan and seen her about 3 times which has been so beneficial, for over a year I had the referral and was just trying to avoid it, I kept thinking 'why do I need to see a Psychologist, there is nothing wrong with me!!' but she really helped me to put things in perspective, to realise my limits (I am an overachiever and a people pleaser) and helped me find ways of dealing with family issues, to take a step back. It is just a casual chat and she made me see things in a new light (I brought my husband with me as I didn't have the confidence to go on my own).

I hope these things have helped a bit, I think my main message is to find a GP/Doctor who will listen to you and if you feel medication is what you need to make you stronger, go for it. It is not always a long term thing, it might just be something that you need for a short period of time until you feel well.

God bless and take time out for yourself,

Kind Regards,

Michelle