Any suggestions for dealing with my anxiety? To cut a very long story short over past 8 years I have had two periods of depression and anxiety the last in 2015.

Finally this year I managed to finally get off the anti depressants and felt good.

However suddenly over the last few weeks the anxiety has started to come back which I have not suffered for 3 years.

I don’t really want to be using medication for ever has anyone else had this, is it just a blip from the meds stopping, can I try something else to help before I go back to the doctor?

How old are you? Anxiety and depression are normal once people get into their fifties and sixties, especially men who have been confident and assertive all their young lives.

I went though a bad patch about 3 years ago when I realised the intimate part of my married life was at an end and Mrs Gti and I were just two people living under the same roof. A few times I even wondered how I might end it but then I thought about the effect it would have on other people.

I came off meds for anxiety and depression at the beginning of the year. It’s been a roller coaster since, which I kind of expected. A lot of the underlying issues and concerns are still there, maybe I should have paid more attention to the CBT, but I do at least now understand that while I can’t control all the problems, I can mitigate it’s impact to a degree.

On the days I’m paralysed with the jitters, or wondering if and how I can get through it, I remind myself that it will change and seem better – not always as often as I’d like, but it will change and it does.

I’ve also decided to actually face up to some of my problems and properly start to work on them – I think the meds numbed me to them so I forgot they were still there.

https://beta.nhs.uk/find-a-psychological-therapies-service/

Heading out on the bike helps me, but this summer I’ve gone out for recreational rides far less than the last two summers, which sent me into a bit of a downward spiral about going out for a ride. Once I’m out there I love it, but beforehand I get get all anxious about stuff like the weather; the traffic escaping suburbia (seeing lots of orange and some red on the Google Maps traffic report can put me right off, even though I’m typically only dealing with that for the first ~10mins of the ride); where can I go in the time I’ve got available etc. It’s got to the stage now where going for a 2+ hour ride feels quite intimidating, last summer I was typically doing ~3 rides a week of 3+ hours.

Anxiety and depression are normal once people get into their fifties and sixties, especially men who have been confident and assertive all their young lives.

Really?

quit coffee and sugar, try L-Tyrosine

quit alcohol too

‘Learn’ to breathe again. Not flippant advice. Meditation is a great tool for stressand anxiety. For me it came in a surprise package via swimming lengths at a local pool and taking slow evening/night local-loop bike rides with nowhere in particular to go. Change your schedule and habits. Maybe a late-night grocery shop, it can be relaxing instead of in the daytime/lunchbreak. Cut down caffeine and internet/screen time, do some engrossing yet low-frustratiin analogue stuff?

I also use a free app called ‘Oak’to help with simple breathing exercises and reminders. I know there are subscription services to more popular meditation apps but I save the dosh for the swimming pool 👍🏼

Sorry to hear about this.

Focus on your physical health and your mind will follow. I listen to r4 all in the mind, it’s a weekly podcast, I find it fascinating and have listened to all of them now.

The above about alcohol is true im afraid, hydrate with water you will soon lose the taste for alcohol. Go for a walk in the woods, canal or somewhere peaceful. Chat to your friends you will soon find someone similar.

Don’t stay in and ruminate in a downward spiral.

Ianad btw, just helping a friend at the moment and making progress, albeit slowly. Pm me if you want, I have loads of ideas.

And look after yourself.

as a long term anti-depressant user, I feel your pain.

What I’ve foin helps is the following:

Meditation
A bit of cycling
less caffiene
healthier foods

but most importantly, get as far away from the internet as you possibly can. Read a book you’ve been putting off an lose yourself in it a bit.

Everyones different, I just know what I do and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t…….good luck

I think that there is an NHS service for anxiety that you can self-refer to, can’t find any details at the moment though……………….

Sorry to hear that.

I find its a mixture of things that help…..but cycling and exercise are a big help for me. I might start off anxious, but it quickly changes and I feel a lot calmer after about 20 minutes.

CBT helps a little too, throw in breathing and relaxation into the mix too. I am in the process of coming off meds, of which I feel a lot more comfortable with now.

Just being outside with nature makes a big difference too, reducing time indoors watching rubbish on the TV, cutting down online time, all these things make a difference.

And people keep telling me to go easy on myself, not to punish myself……anxiety will and does pass, its only temporary……

Anxiety and depression are normal o

Common, maybe. Not normal. It if were normal, they wouldn’t prescribe meds.

Some people are just further along the anxiety continuum. Like some diabetics can control their blood sugar without medications and some can’t. You may just be more prone than others and might need to use meds to live anxiety free. If so, then working with your Dr. to find a med you can tolerate long term. Or is it the idea of meds ling term?

Counselling IMO. Meds control the symptoms but do nothing about the causes. the cause may be simple to see – your job or similar – or may be hidden

Anxiety and depression are normal once people get into their fifties and sixties, especially men who have been confident and assertive all their young lives.

Really?

Not something I pretend to be an expert in, but when researching my own anxiety there’s a lot of evidence to suggest that as our testosterone levels dip in middle age we lose a lot of confidence that we had as young men, couple that with the extra responsibility we often find in work as our careers peak and usually a family to support and it can make for a lot of anxiety. It’s been described as a male version of menopause.

Thanks for the advice already do plenty of exercise but I will try reducing my caffeine and look at improving the diet.

Just got caught out as there had not been anything to trigger it not been feeling down so hopefully it will pass

Start humming for extended periods and make your exhalation twice as long as inhalation …not joking..two of several effective ways to stimulate the vagus nerve which in turn turns on the parasympathetic nervous system ( rest/digest/relax ). Google it ..good article on psychology today.
Bill ( 30 yrs first hand experience of anxiety and depression )

Bike riding has made a huge difference for me. It’s not gone away, but it’s a way of managing it when things get too much. Almost to the extent that I have to be riding as much as possible, or at least doing something out of the house and away from any place of work that can occupy my time without complexity. Exercise though definitely makes a difference for me.

Avoided the drugs which were the instant answer from the GP. They may be the answer to manage it for many, but it definitely should not be the first thing after a 10 minute session and you’re not looking like you can’t cope at all! Counselling was offered. Waste of time in a way. Holistic stuff that looks to pin it on something in my childhood or whatever. It’s nothing to do with a particular event causing I concluded, so at least it was useful in that sense.

It’s far more likely it’s partly down to coffee and booze, which is hard to give up, and potentially hereditary as most the family has had it in various forms and all for no logical reason.

Most the time I get it without having anything to particularly worry about. Major things to worry about don’t seem to bother me in that way. They become things to deal with and just get on with it knowing it will get sorted.

I found meditation useful but it made more sense after reading this

https://www.google.com/shopping/product/6307923723068984768?q=mindfulness&safe=strict&client=ms-android-motorola-rev2&biw=360&bih=592&tbs=vw:l,ss:44&prds=epd:7429644153508171844,paur:ClkAsKraXwa0Z2sM2yc-gUQ9PRZPO3Ja6_GbUd9bihNNNCSF0UD2UhShijD_tuFE1j9zUK2crCZIOqeZR5vs2zXIXI7HfUUmzAVzv1NB0LyI9ZahePSQqKjjlRIZAFPVH72niqJFfiwEd5qmhddeRRsUpU4Sww,cdl:1,prmr:1,cs:1

Proper book written by people who got mindfulness approved as an nhs treatment.

All the best. You’ll be feeling more relaxed soon. Things pass

Cut down the booze, increase the exercise, eat well and CBT helped me enormously to the point where it’s fairly easily manageable

I think that there is an NHS service for anxiety that you can self-refer to, can’t find any details at the moment though…

Scrolling up the thread might help.

I had the service recommended to me by someone who used it. I self referred for an issue at work. Appointment takes a couple of weeks after initial email.

Get out in the fresh air and exercise, bikes are great for this. CBT helps but you have to buy into it and practice it. Go see doc and get help