What is wrong with me? Need help
Question:
my husband does not understand any of this, and I think my 6 yr old daughter may have inherited mental illness from me!
Wrong thinking! Mental illness or wellness is like physical illness or wellness–we’re all subject to days when we’re mentally or physically more well than on other days. Your daughter may exhibit behavior based on what she sees you and your husband doing, but she isn’t likely to be in need of psychiatric treatment at age 6. There’s not much that I or anyone short of Bill Gates can do about your financial situation, but if you need to vent or to invite comments on your feelings, you’ve come to the right place.
Response:
klonopin is a short term treatment. if the dose is increased, it will just have to be increased again in a couple months. a therapist can help with the long term stuff. don’t knock cognitive behavioral therapy, sometimes it works. just my 2 cents dormant
Klonopin is NOT a short term treatment. Many people are on benzos for years, and often DECREASE the dosages, with time. Stop giving out misinformation here. Maria : (
Response:
klonopin is a short term treatment. if the dose is increased, it will just have to be increased again in a couple months. a therapist can help with the long term stuff. don’t knock cognitive behavioral therapy, sometimes it works. just my 2 cents dormant I’ve been on Klonopin for 13 years and it still works great! How much longer do I have? I’ve been able to decrease my dose, from 5 mg/day to 2 mg/day. What is long term stuff? CBT is pretty much common sense: don’t let a PA scare the shit out of you, and face your fears in small doses. Chip
Response:
klonopin is a short term treatment. if the dose is increased, it will just have to be increased again in a couple months.
You don’t know that for sure. a therapist can help with the long term stuff. don’t knock cognitive behavioral therapy, sometimes it works.
That’s true but don’t knock Klonopin, sometimes it works. just my 2 cents dormant
You should also say YMMV! NightHawk
Response:
Perhaps the Klonopin controlled your anxiety in the short run, but it’s not doing a very good job in the long run. You may just need to try to find an antidepressant that helps, or you may just need a slighty higher dose of Klonopin.
klonopin is a short term treatment. if the dose is increased, it will just have to be increased again in a couple months. a therapist can help with the long term stuff. don’t knock cognitive behavioral therapy, sometimes it works. just my 2 cents dormant
Response:
I think this is great advice from Di. Six years ago, my body was giving me little messages that I was overdoing it, which I ignored, and then my body forced me to stop everything by giving me the biggest panic attack you can imagine, and has kept me permanently "slowed down" with PD ever since. We are all trying to do too much in our society based on a stress for success mentality. Pierre – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Dear Seven, I think you need to take a look at what you are doing. You’re working full time and going to school at night. You have money problems to worry about and a daughter and a husband to take care of. Your office is going to close, so that is a worry, and your husband is probably causing repressed anger in you if he’s not understanding of all this. You need to give yourself a break! Anyone would have IBS and headaches and anxiety with all of that going on. You’re not mentally ill! I think your body is telling you to slow down. Humans aren’t built to take all this stress we put on ourselves. If I were you, I would try to eliminate what I could to give myself time to heal and recover. Maybe school will have to wait. Concentrate on your daughter and repairing your marriage. Something has to change or you will just get sicker. Take a break! I had to do this and it took some time to start to feel good again. More and differant meds aren’t always the answer. IMO! Di Either I just need to vent or I am having a full blown nervous breakdown. I have had depression/anxiety for years and been tried on almost every antidepressant. About 6 months ago, I was finally prescribed Klonopin and my anxiety and panic attacks vanished! But now, they are back and bad. In the past 2 months I have been diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome and chronic tension headaches (which might really be daily migraines?)and have been tried on several meds with no relief. I feel like crap ALL THE TIME. I always look tired, because I AM. People tell me I look sick or tired, or ask what is wrong with me? I am trying to work full time and go to nursing school at night, am financially strained, my office is about to be shut down any day now, my husband does not understand any of this, and I think my 6 yr old daughter may have inherited mental illness from me! My insurance company who I pay large sums of money to each month finally agreed (after months of begging) to allow me to keep seeing my pdoc instead of starting over with someone new. And before I can even make an appt to see her, the insurance co tells me today that my coverage had been changed to a different mental health carrier. So now, I am back at the beginning of this whole mess. I told my pdoc that I think I may have built up a tolerance to the Klonopin and maybe I should change or something. She keeps saying that I "look fine" when she sees me. She doesn’t like prescribing benzos and I am probably lucky to have the stinking Klonopin in the first place. What does she expect me to do — run around screaming my head off for everyone to see? It is VERY VERY difficult to keep up the charade I put on each day so the people I work with or go to school with will not see that I am crazy. That is probably why I am so tired, the mask gets heavy after awhile. Today, I am really feeling at the end of my rope. I want to lock myself in my house or crawl under the bed or just get away and stop pretending I am not crazy so no one will know. Sorry to be so long. I have no one else to talk to. Thanks for listening. — Seven Before you buy. Before you buy.
Response:
Hi Seven, I’m kinda new here but I have suffered IBS for 11 years now and in the midst of my second severe anxiety/depression in my life. Don’t have much advice on the anxiety since I am just trying to hang on but can tell you that IBS will drain the energy out of you, some days its all I can do just to get out of be from being so tired and in quite alot of pain. As for being crazy they tell me I’m not so I guess I just must believe them. I just try to numb my feelings the best I can because the fluctuation of emotions really reak havoc on my
IBS. embarassing too, isn’t it? my IBS used to be a LOT worse than it is now- when i was in junior high it was unbearable. nobody ever knew i had a problem and i’d sit there in immense pain freaking out and the teacher would call on me and i’d have to remember what class i was in before i started thinking about the answer. nobody ever found out. TWICE i shit my pants in school and walked home. (mile and a half is a long long way sometimes) never told anyone. really wish i could figure out what made it (almost) go away. bet i could really help if i could. all i know is i was 15 then and i’m 21 now. guess that makes all the difference in the world. dormant
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Either I just need to vent or I am having a full blown nervous breakdown. I have had depression/anxiety for years and been tried on almost every antidepressant. About 6 months ago, I was finally prescribed Klonopin and my anxiety and panic attacks vanished! But now, they are back and bad. In the past 2 months I have been diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome and chronic tension headaches (which might really be daily migraines?)and have been tried on several meds with no relief. I feel like crap ALL THE TIME. I always look tired, because I AM. People tell me I look sick or tired, or ask what is wrong with me? I am trying to work full time and go to nursing school at night, am financially strained, my office is about to be shut down any day now, my husband does not understand any of this, and I think my 6 yr old daughter may have inherited mental illness from me! My insurance company who I pay large sums of money to each month finally agreed (after months of begging) to allow me to keep seeing my pdoc instead of starting over with someone new. And before I can even make an appt to see her, the insurance co tells me today that my coverage had been changed to a different mental health carrier. So now, I am back at the beginning of this whole mess. I told my pdoc that I think I may have built up a tolerance to the Klonopin and maybe I should change or something. She keeps saying that I "look fine" when she sees me. She doesn’t like prescribing benzos and I am probably lucky to have the stinking Klonopin in the first place. What does she expect me to do — run around screaming my head off for everyone to see? It is VERY VERY difficult to keep up the charade I put on each day so the people I work with or go to school with will not see that I am crazy. That is probably why I am so tired, the mask gets heavy after awhile. Today, I am really feeling at the end of my rope. I want to lock myself in my house or crawl under the bed or just get away and stop pretending I am not crazy so no one will know. Sorry to be so long. I have no one else to talk to. Thanks for listening. — Seven
Seven, I agree with the prior posts given, they each make good points. As for the Klonopin, it’s common for benzo users to build a resistance to the benzo and need to up the dosage; most of the time an effective dosage is reached and then you don’t have to up it anymore. That’s what happened to me with Xanax. I have been led to believe that many benzo users are under dosed. Judging from all you have going on, you probably don’t have time for exercise. I have had dramatic results from aerobic exercise (running). The more I run, the better the help. After 6 months of so, I had dramatic results, but even after a few weeks I could tell a difference. YMMV, of course. You may want to cut back on all you’re doing for a while. When I’ve gone on vacations, I usually get hit a low point in anxiety. God bless, Mark Before you buy.
Response:
Perhaps the Klonopin controlled your anxiety in the short run, but it’s not doing a very good job in the long run. You may just need to try to find an antidepressant that helps, or you may just need a slighty higher dose of Klonopin. Cmat — Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Response:
I think I left out the part about being on Pamelor (60mg now) in hopes of preventing the headaches. So far, no luck. It’s a tricyclic and I have mostly tried the SSRIs in the past. Perhaps the Klonopin controlled your anxiety in the short run, but it’s not doing a very good job in the long run. You may just need to try to find an antidepressant that helps, or you may just need a slighty higher dose of Klonopin. Cmat — Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
– Seven Before you buy.
Response:
Dear Seven, I think you need to take a look at what you are doing. You’re working full time and going to school at night. You have money problems to worry about and a daughter and a husband to take care of. Your office is going to close, so that is a worry, and your husband is probably causing repressed anger in you if he’s not understanding of all this. You need to give yourself a break! Anyone would have IBS and headaches and anxiety with all of that going on. You’re not mentally ill! I think your body is telling you to slow down. Humans aren’t built to take all this stress we put on ourselves. If I were you, I would try to eliminate what I could to give myself time to heal and recover. Maybe school will have to wait. Concentrate on your daughter and repairing your marriage. Something has to change or you will just get sicker. Take a break! I had to do this and it took some time to start to feel good again. More and differant meds aren’t always the answer. IMO! Di – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Either I just need to vent or I am having a full blown nervous breakdown. I have had depression/anxiety for years and been tried on almost every antidepressant. About 6 months ago, I was finally prescribed Klonopin and my anxiety and panic attacks vanished! But now, they are back and bad. In the past 2 months I have been diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome and chronic tension headaches (which might really be daily migraines?)and have been tried on several meds with no relief. I feel like crap ALL THE TIME. I always look tired, because I AM. People tell me I look sick or tired, or ask what is wrong with me? I am trying to work full time and go to nursing school at night, am financially strained, my office is about to be shut down any day now, my husband does not understand any of this, and I think my 6 yr old daughter may have inherited mental illness from me! My insurance company who I pay large sums of money to each month finally agreed (after months of begging) to allow me to keep seeing my pdoc instead of starting over with someone new. And before I can even make an appt to see her, the insurance co tells me today that my coverage had been changed to a different mental health carrier. So now, I am back at the beginning of this whole mess. I told my pdoc that I think I may have built up a tolerance to the Klonopin and maybe I should change or something. She keeps saying that I "look fine" when she sees me. She doesn’t like prescribing benzos and I am probably lucky to have the stinking Klonopin in the first place. What does she expect me to do — run around screaming my head off for everyone to see? It is VERY VERY difficult to keep up the charade I put on each day so the people I work with or go to school with will not see that I am crazy. That is probably why I am so tired, the mask gets heavy after awhile. Today, I am really feeling at the end of my rope. I want to lock myself in my house or crawl under the bed or just get away and stop pretending I am not crazy so no one will know. Sorry to be so long. I have no one else to talk to. Thanks for listening. — Seven Before you buy.
Before you buy.
Response:
Either I just need to vent or I am having a full blown nervous breakdown. I have had depression/anxiety for years and been tried on almost every antidepressant. About 6 months ago, I was finally prescribed Klonopin and my anxiety and panic attacks vanished! But now, they are back and bad. In the past 2 months I have been diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome and chronic tension headaches (which might really be daily migraines?)and have been tried on several meds with no relief. I feel like crap ALL THE TIME. I always look tired, because I AM. People tell me I look sick or tired, or ask what is wrong with me? I am trying to work full time and go to nursing school at night, am financially strained, my office is about to be shut down any day now, my husband does not understand any of this, and I think my 6 yr old daughter may have inherited mental illness from me! My insurance company who I pay large sums of money to each month finally agreed (after months of begging) to allow me to keep seeing my pdoc instead of starting over with someone new. And before I can even make an appt to see her, the insurance co tells me today that my coverage had been changed to a different mental health carrier. So now, I am back at the beginning of this whole mess. I told my pdoc that I think I may have built up a tolerance to the Klonopin and maybe I should change or something. She keeps saying that I "look fine" when she sees me. She doesn’t like prescribing benzos and I am probably lucky to have the stinking Klonopin in the first place. What does she expect me to do — run around screaming my head off for everyone to see? It is VERY VERY difficult to keep up the charade I put on each day so the people I work with or go to school with will not see that I am crazy. That is probably why I am so tired, the mask gets heavy after awhile. Today, I am really feeling at the end of my rope. I want to lock myself in my house or crawl under the bed or just get away and stop pretending I am not crazy so no one will know. Sorry to be so long. I have no one else to talk to. Thanks for listening. — Seven Before you buy.
Response:
Hi Seven, I’m kinda new here but I have suffered IBS for 11 years now and in the midst of my second severe anxiety/depression in my life. Don’t have much advice on the anxiety since I am just trying to hang on but can tell you that IBS will drain the energy out of you, some days its all I can do just to get out of be from being so tired and in quite alot of pain. As for being crazy they tell me I’m not so I guess I just must believe them. I just try to numb my feelings the best I can because the fluctuation of emotions really reak havoc on my IBS. Nothing has ever helped my IBS so most of the time I just wait it out and eventually the degree of it goes down to livable. I hope this helps a little bit. And yeah I look like crap some days too, I just don’t look in the mirror much on those days as long as I don’t have to see I don’t care if others have to look at it. Let them suffer a little too.
Response:
Thanks, P.P. Now I don’t feel like a dumb brunette anymore! :-)
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Ok, Philip. Now can you explain to this dumb brunette what the heck IME, FWIW, or YMMV mean???? Thanks! Aimee LOL! (This means Laughing Out Loud) Welcome to the wonderful world of Internet abbr. 
) IME = In My Experience FWIW = Fow What It’s Worth YMMV = Your Mileage May Vary Once a week Dan Rhodes posts the ASAP (alt.support.anxiety-panic, in other words: us hm….actually only *one* word) mini-FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions). It’s advisable to read it as there is a lot of info in it, useful links to other PAD (Panic Anxiety Disorder) sites *and*….. a list of acronyms. P.P. (Philip Peters) klonopin is a short term treatment. if the dose is increased, it will just have to be increased again in a couple months. a therapist can help with the long term stuff. don’t knock cognitive behavioral therapy, sometimes it works. Don’t knock Klonopin which is a very good anxiolytic and most suitable as a long term med. Tolerance to benzos among PD-sufferers is very rare. Maybe the dose will have to be adjusted once or twice in the beginning but research and experience show that PD-ers tend to stay on the same dose or even will try to lower it. It doesn’t *poop out* like many AD’s do. And CBT should not be knocked either as it often works. These are verifiable facts. I have the feeling that there have been a lot of posts here lately in which personal experiences are generalized into universal truths. That is *not* a good development IMO. It is quite allright to share with the group what helped or did not help you, but please let’s present our experiences as just that. That’s why the acronyms IMO, IME, FWIW or YMMV were invented. Philip
Response:
Ok, Philip. Now can you explain to this dumb brunette what the heck IME, FWIW, or YMMV mean???? Thanks! Aimee
LOL! (This means Laughing Out Loud) Welcome to the wonderful world of Internet abbr. ) IME = In My Experience FWIW = Fow What It’s Worth YMMV = Your Mileage May Vary Once a week Dan Rhodes posts the ASAP (alt.support.anxiety-panic, in other words: us hm….actually only *one* word) mini-FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions). It’s advisable to read it as there is a lot of info in it, useful links to other PAD (Panic Anxiety Disorder) sites *and*….. a list of acronyms. P.P. (Philip Peters) – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – klonopin is a short term treatment. if the dose is increased, it will just have to be increased again in a couple months. a therapist can help with the long term stuff. don’t knock cognitive behavioral therapy, sometimes it works. Don’t knock Klonopin which is a very good anxiolytic and most suitable as a long term med. Tolerance to benzos among PD-sufferers is very rare. Maybe the dose will have to be adjusted once or twice in the beginning but research and experience show that PD-ers tend to stay on the same dose or even will try to lower it. It doesn’t *poop out* like many AD’s do. And CBT should not be knocked either as it often works. These are verifiable facts. I have the feeling that there have been a lot of posts here lately in which personal experiences are generalized into universal truths. That is *not* a good development IMO. It is quite allright to share with the group what helped or did not help you, but please let’s present our experiences as just that. That’s why the acronyms IMO, IME, FWIW or YMMV were invented. Philip
Response:
klonopin is a short term treatment. if the dose is increased, it will just have to be increased again in a couple months. a therapist can help with the long term stuff. don’t knock cognitive behavioral therapy, sometimes it works.
Don’t knock Klonopin which is a very good anxiolytic and most suitable as a long term med. Tolerance to benzos among PD-sufferers is very rare. Maybe the dose will have to be adjusted once or twice in the beginning but research and experience show that PD-ers tend to stay on the same dose or even will try to lower it. It doesn’t *poop out* like many AD’s do. And CBT should not be knocked either as it often works. These are verifiable facts. I have the feeling that there have been a lot of posts here lately in which personal experiences are generalized into universal truths. That is *not* a good development IMO. It is quite allright to share with the group what helped or did not help you, but please let’s present our experiences as just that. That’s why the acronyms IMO, IME, FWIW or YMMV were invented. Philip – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –
Response:
Ok, Philip. Now can you explain to this dumb brunette what the heck IME, FWIW, or YMMV mean???? Thanks! Aimee
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – klonopin is a short term treatment. if the dose is increased, it will just have to be increased again in a couple months. a therapist can help with the long term stuff. don’t knock cognitive behavioral therapy, sometimes it works. Don’t knock Klonopin which is a very good anxiolytic and most suitable as a long term med. Tolerance to benzos among PD-sufferers is very rare. Maybe the dose will have to be adjusted once or twice in the beginning but research and experience show that PD-ers tend to stay on the same dose or even will try to lower it. It doesn’t *poop out* like many AD’s do. And CBT should not be knocked either as it often works. These are verifiable facts. I have the feeling that there have been a lot of posts here lately in which personal experiences are generalized into universal truths. That is *not* a good development IMO. It is quite allright to share with the group what helped or did not help you, but please let’s present our experiences as just that. That’s why the acronyms IMO, IME, FWIW or YMMV were invented. Philip
