Following on from my previous thread about my complete inability to cope with work, seems I’m actually having a few problems coping with quite a lot of stuff, and I’ve been signed off work by my GP till the middle of next week.

I have to go back to the GP at the beginning of the week to discuss whether I’m fit to return, and where we go from here. I have a preliminary counselling session booked for Tuesday, but the GP was previously discussing trying either sleeping pills to try and help me start sleeping properly again, though they could make me a bit dopey, a course of anti-depressants which will take a few weeks to kick in and will last a full 6 months at least, or beta-blockers which I believe would be intended to try and reduce the physical reactions to the stresses.

Not sure I really fancy any of these attractive sounding options, but I’m not sure how I’m going to face up to going back to the office without some sort of additional support, so has anyone been in a similar mess and used any or all of these options, how did it help you get back on track?

Not read your other post.

Can’t comment on medication.*

I’ve been signed off work by my GP till the middle of next week.

Nothing will change with a few days off work, take the maximum amount of time away from work that your allowed, DO NOT feel guilty or beat yourself up about it. Take time off to get to grips with where you are actually at. Your worth it.

*Only comment on meds is, look for the cause of the problem, don’t use them to mask the symptoms, however they may well give you the therapy you need.

Get the counseling session done first. You may find that talking with somebody is all the support you need at first. Medication should, in my experience, be done as part of a strategy, but as a last resort unless it has a specific aim. I’d also suggest looking for something cathartic – you need to find ways to reveal, confront and alter the behaviours that you’ve developed to leave you in this state. Good luck.

I went down the anti depressant route via the gp and to be honest it didnt really make much difference. I found trying to sort the root of the problem and change my outlook was the only thing that really helped. As well as a good bike ride and chat with a mate of mine.

My initial thought was that the counselling might be more beneficial, the GP supported that view I think but discussed using some sort of meds as a support to help buy me time to get back on top of things.

Rather confused about taking more time off work – work was the thing that tipped me over the edge, but having had 10 days off so far, I’m really starting to dread returning. However, I had already applied to transfer to another agency before this all kicked off last week, not sure how that application would proceed if I am signed off sick. And I’m also aware that it doesn’t look good to go off sick just before the kids break up for the summer. Though the weather has been pretty shit so far 😕

My line manager is back from his holiday next week, so I expect I will be called in for a discussion even if the GP does feel I need more time off.

You need to identify what you are worrying about and why? If it is just your job then take some more time off and try CBT. cBT will help teach you to react differently to what your doing at the moment. But it also depends on the job your doing, say they expect you to do 12hrs worth of work in a 9hr day, every day then you will feel stressed (especially if you are a consciencious type) and then it mayby time to move on.

If you are worrying about everything in general, chance is you have sensetized your nervous system, and need to lower that level – see books by a dr claire weekes. This general worrying will include worrying about how you feel, a vicious circle. The worrying feeds the feelings, and the feelings feed the worry, its like battling in quicksand.

You have to put your own health before your job.

i was on beta blockers for 4 years. they are pretty crap if you want to do any exercise.
a bit like being in a pressure cooker, with the pressure building as you heart rate rises. then dripping cold sweat and blacking out a few times.
followed by total exhaustion.

Cheers ton, had a feeling that there might be issues with beta blockers.

Pretty sure I don’t fancy sleeping pills either, potential to make me dopey, and when I’m not sure giving sleeping pills to someone with depression is all that clever.

I’ve taken all 3 in the past, at various times but the beta blockers were for migraine. I can’t tolerate any of them very well so I have to manage without. Beta blockers were the worst- they made me feel so tired I could barely walk upstairs so I ditched them after a few days.
I had 2 weeks off work earlier this year on the orders of my GP and it helped a lot.

Currently taking propranolol , beta blockers for anxiety, upto 40 mg tabs at the minute, not sure they have helped if im honest and dont really want to increase dosage but doc says i can ?
pretty certain its work causing the issue so im looking at changing jobs as no job is worth getting ill over
Good luck in sorting it

Calling in while you are signed off is a big no-no. Tell him to Foxtrot Oscar you’ll be in when the Dr gives you the all clear. Raise a grievance as well as it is tantamount to bullying/harassment.

if the Anti D’s are Prozac type you won’t need a sleeping table for long. I could sleep for England. Mental exhaustion doesn’t help either.
Take a deep breath, nothing will be sort is a few days or even weeks.
Keep talking and get well

I went down the anti depressant route via the gp and to be honest it didnt really make much difference. I found trying to sort the root of the problem and change my outlook was the only thing that really helped. As well as a good bike ride and chat with a mate of mine.

Amen to that. I went to the doc a while ago with depression and was prescribed fluoxetine. I picked them up and took them and put on the side, thinking about whether this was a route I really wanted to go down. In the end, I decided I didn’t want to and made a conscious decision to change my life, in small ways at first.

My main issue/symptom was engaging the people around me and also stressing about projects I was working on, even though things were going OK: I live on my own and sometimes can go a whole weekend without speaking to another soul, if friends aren’t out etc. and I found I didn’t really communicate with others and found myself constantly thinking about work. I started joining in the banter at work a bit more. This took a bit of effort to begin with but the more I did it, the more people responded and it just snowballed.

I can still be a grouchy so-and-so but I have learnt that when that happens, I either crack a joke, ask a question, respond to someone else etc and the mist slowly lifts.

This will sound odd but recently, I have found a cup of coffee in the morning has helped give me that initial lift in the morning, meaning I find it easier to get over that initial hurdle. Not a long-term solution, though.

The other suggestion is to take up a hobby that takes your mind off work when you are away from it. I have found that focusing on something else when not at work means I’m not so stressed when I go to work as I don’t spend the entire evening stewing over things that have gone on. These can be hobbies, goals, studies (I’ve signed up to do a Cert HE in Geology, nothing to do with my job)

In short: I appreciate you may be completely different to me but I do feel there are small changes you can make without going down the medication route and I’d try these first. If all else fails, then go for the med route.

Am also on propranol, though for consistant headaches and migraines. (Think i put this on other thread).
Had a bit of a rough 6 months going from nothing to brain scans finding out had a stroke, and sbsequent damage, to being on multiple perscriptions.
Not had any of the issues above with the beta blockers though.

As mad as it sounds driving to work with either no radio or classic FM has helped. The frantic constant short interupted style of other stations just didn’t help.

Consider taking melatonin tablets to help with sleeping.

If it is reactive depression from hating the job, then chuck the job.
If it is something more general, then stick with the GPs advice for now.

Anti depressants whilst being councilled will help . They will slightly mask your issues whilst you get them sorted out . To be honest the one thing you need to do and you know it is to quit your job. Easier said than done I know but clearly your a worker and you will find work . I quit a job after 6 years when I suddenly started getting migraines caused by stress . Best thing I ever did . Like a load off your shoulders .

I spent about 6 months on fluoxetine with counselling towards then end of my first year at Uni. It was the counselling that really helped, but the drugs leveled me out enough to appreciate and understand the counselling. They certainly had a few side effects I was not to keen on though! And really you don’t want to get on the beers…… some very odd nights when my younger wiser self decided to ignore that bit of advice.

I have a preliminary counselling session booked for Tuesday, but the GP was previously discussing trying either sleeping pills to try and help me start sleeping properly again, though they could make me a bit dopey, a course of anti-depressants which will take a few weeks to kick in and will last a full 6 months at least, or beta-blockers which I believe would be intended to try and reduce the physical reactions to the stresses.

I had a nervous breakdown in 2008 and was rendered an unemployed gibbering wreck as a result of work related stress. I was down to about 1 hour a night sleep and wasn’t functioning at all. I had to beg the GP for anti-depressants but as so glad I did as very quickly (under a week) my sleep improved considerably (5 hours a night) and they really helped stabilise me so I could cope with working again. It took a long time (years) to get my full confidence back, but I’m convinced I only survived the episode thanks to SSRIs.

I am very wary about giving advice about meds. When I took some in the 70s I felt like a nervous wreck when they wore off. I found other university pursuits much more therapeutic. Anyway, check out this guy. He has very funky ideas as well as a funky name. Within the wellbeing research and discourse he is a significant figure:
http://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow?language=en
In summary, get out more and do really engaging things. I was going to name my daughter Flo after him but thought people would struggle with the spelling.

One thing I’ve learned about beta-blockers is they make my hands and feet cold. You may be started on the generic one, try others and eventually find one that avoids this. It took repeated visits to my GP to be put on the right brand. Riding a bike with fingers that you can’t feel is scary.

One thing I’ve learned about beta-blockers is they make my hands and feet cold.

Me too. They really slow your circulation down to the point where less than 10degC is chilly!
I was on Bisoprolol for about 5 years and my resting heart rate was less than 30 and I suffered from dizziness and confusion
Other side effects were more unpleasant. I started suffering from Gout, and also had kidney stones a couple of times. Both VERY painful and presumably as a result of the promised renal problems. I had never suffered from any of these symptoms before or since I stopped taking them.
Hateful things.

Sorry to hear you’re not well.
When I got signed off with stress it led to 2 really important steps
1. I resigned and got a new job. Didn’t solve the problem 100% but was a really important step to get away from an unhealthy environment
2. I realised I had a mental health problem which needed dealing with and booked myself if for counselling. That didn’t solve the problem 100% either but it has, over the years, changed the way I talk to myself and given me far more self-respect and confidence. IMO counselling really can change your life and if everyone did it the world would be a far far happier place.

See the current situation as a launch pad/opportunity for dealing with what are almost certainly deeper issues, the beginning of a journey, the end of which will be you as a happier person.

I like to face my problems head-on and as such have found self-help books a good way of feeling like I’m doing something about it, and making progress rather than sitting around waiting for someone or something else to heal me.

I found the best way to find a good book is go into a proper bookshop and just browse all the self-help books they have and bought the one that grabbed me.

However I can recommend:

Feeling Good

Life And How To Survive It

Families And How To Survive Them

Good luck with your recovery

+1 Feeling Good book. I didn’t even get through the whole thing, I found the first few chapters enough of a springboard.

Cheers guys for keeping this going for me.

Plans to change jobs are underway, but a wife and two kids stops me just jacking it in.

Tomorrow will be interesting when my line manager returns from his holiday and finds me missing.