The therapist is trying to get you to face your anxiety and deal with it. Going to bed and covering your head is not facing but running from it. The truth is we have to face the anxiety and accept it for what it is. Only by facing it without adding a fear of it can we overcome it. That’s the truth. You have to make a choice, face it or let it remain in control. When you are willing to do what it takes to overcome, you will make that choice.

Hi Ohcarol,
I’m sorry you’re having a hard time. I have really bad PTSD & couldn’t sleep last night so I’m not so good with my words today. But I just wanted to send you some ocean waves sounds if it could help you at all

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zqY1ZE8pr1w

Gentle hug <3

suffering, whether chronic or acute, is not okay, but i don't seem to get much choice in the matter. however i choose to judge them, those fleas, ticks and rattle snakes of life just keep on biting.

gentle empathy and steadying support while you ride out the storm.

Thanks to all for the replies. I do try to face things and be strong. Two of my direct relatives have anxiety disorders, so there may be a genetic component. The psychiatrist believes my brain chemistry is off, but can be corrected. And the nurse who told me to suffer through it did admit that the SSRI receptors in my gut are reacting as a side effect to the sertraline. So, part mental, but also some physical issues that are harder to control. The side effects should pass in 4 - 6 or 8 weeks. In the meantime, just deal with it I guess. I modify my life so I don't eat anything or go out when my stomach/gut is acting up.

Hi OhCarol,

I am unhappy with how some medical people are not compassionate to patients who have anxiety. I have a relative who has anxiety and PSTD. They were suggested to take a medication that begins with the letter "C". The doctor who suggested it had named the side effects of the medication and said the worse part about it is that most people would get suicidal thoughts if that happens they should call the doctor immediately. I am not saying that I do not support the idea of taking medication for anxiety and that it does not help. Some people are satisfied with taking medication and some are not. My point is that I understand what you are saying when you said that you do not like to suffer. I totally get that, When a person is put on a new medication, they have to wait at least a month before their body gets used to the new stuff entering into the body, while the body is getting used to it, the person is suffering and having different side effects. When talking to the doctors about it, the doctors do not seem to care, sometimes they get upset thinking the patient does not want to give the new medication a chance to work, I believe the doctors had already ruined it when they tell the patient about the bad side effects from the medication. They would even tell the patients what happened if they stop taking the stuff, which puts fear into the patient more. My relative had been treated badly in ERs by doctors and nurses. My relative was told that they had to take medication or they would die and other negative stuff.

I understand where you are coming from about taking medication and suffering. Mtd, I like your advice about putting your head under the covers. You were saying it is better for the person to deal with it or at least find someone (if they can) and talk about what is bothering them rather than holding it inside, or hiding their head under the covers. It makes it look like the person is letting anxiety take over.

Anxiety is no more than a thinking disorder that can be corrected. We have to put in the work to do it, no one can do it for us. I was the same way, I would bury my head under the covers. But while I was under those covers. the anxiety was still there with me. There was no place to hide from it, no matter what I did. It wasn’t until I decided to take control of my situation that I began to recover. That’s when I discovered that anxiety clouds the thinking and basically showed itself to be just one gigantic distortion of reality. What I thought were problems were actually nothing more than delusional thinking on my part. It is like living in a world where you create all the monsters that plague you. And that’s exactly what we do. Once I started acceptance practice, the lights have kept popping on, one by one. I can recognize my faulty thinking now and have the tool to use to put that faulty thinking into it’s proper perspective. Medication? Heck yes. It does help with the symptoms but it does not correct the faulty thinking. We have to learn to recognize it and correct it ourselves. It isn’t easy, but staying under the covers isn’t easy either. With practicing acceptance and seeing myself improve, I have hope, there is nothing staying under the covers has to offer except darkness.

Their choice of word, "suffering", said to you was unfortunate on their part. Try to disregard that, if you can. Don't dwell on that one word.

There IS a period of adjustment when switching medications, the SSRI's, Did you stop the Paroxetine completely and are only taking sertraline (Zoloft)?

Yes, it will take 4-6 weeks to start seeing the benefits of the new medication. It is not easy to wait it out, but try to be patient, keep doing your usual daily stuff, and keep well hydrated.

Do you have a therapist you can talk to about your anxiety? I take medication daily and talk to a therapist once per week by phone. I have read many times that therapy is very helpful in dealing with anxiety.

And last question (sorry so many questions), but did something happen or change in your life last November that caused you more stress? I feel this is important to know, since that is when you said the medication stopped working.

The biggest thing with sertraline is the necessity of staying consistently hydrated throughout the entire day.

For hydration sensitive systems, it is obvious when the side effects are as strong as they are in this trial period.

As mentioned, it takes up to 4-6 weeks for everything to smooth out on the 'good' days, and to help on the '...' days.

It's why keeping a daily private journal helps to sort through the patterns of the thoughts. When the medication previously taken stopped working, and the adjustment to this medication lead to the possibility that your system became overwhelmed.

Here's to your healing and improvement and know you are not alone in this.