Newbie

My name is Claire, i am 24 and I suffer from depression and anxiety:)

The end of 2012/2013 was a hell of a year for me - I changed jobs, moved out of my parents house, lost my beloved Granddad, had to have an operation and was trying to buy a house ( this was all in the space of about 8 months).

I work full time and I hadn't had any annual leave in 10 months so myself and my hubby went on holiday to Tenerife in October 2013 - then it all started. I couldn't switch off, my mind was racing 24/7, couldn't eat, felt like I was in a black hole, cried all day and was having major panic attacks at the same time. Stupidly i forced myself to get back to work after my holiday and with in an hour i was in my bosses office crying my eyes out unable to cope or carry on pretending everything was ok.

Long story short i was put on Propranolol for the Panic Attacks and 50mg of Sertraline for Depression and had 6 weeks off work and counselling. I went back to work in November last year and on the whole i feel i can cope quite well but have good weeks and bad weeks.

I only take Sertraline as the anxiety has subsided now but have reduced my dosage to 25mg a days as I began to feel a bit 'drugged' and flat on 50mg.

I have some weeks where i feel great and i think 'I AM CURED- YIPPEE' but then the flatness returns from nowhere and i feel like I am constantly waiting for the good days to return. Its so frustrating!!!!

Have any of you experienced these ups and downs?

x x

No I still see my counsellor once a month - its useful to 'check in' with her and discuss any issues.

Yeah my doctor was happy for me to reduce my meds but she wants to keep me on a lower dose for a year or so as I am only 24 and staying on the meds might stop the Depression coming back in the long term.

The good days are fab - I want to do everything fun on the good days. I probably do too much and wear myself out hence the down days that follow!

All this has been one big learning curve and though its been the most horrible time in my life I am glad I have gone through it - My new motto is 'Do not mock pain that you haven't endured' as I was not always so sensitive to people with depression before my illness.

Claire