(Apologies in advance for how long this post is, but it’s worth reading)
Looking for hope and encouragement!!
I was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder at 12 years old after a traumatic event. Been taking Zoloft/Sertraline ever since and functioned normally for 15 years. Finished high school, graduated college, got married with no issues. Recently went off medication to consider starting a family, and the anxiety relapsed severely, now weening back on to medication again, currently in the thick of it, and waiting to feel like myself again. It’s been 2 and a half months of hell, anxiety so bad that I took several days off work, sitting on the couch, stuck in my own head. Waking up with adrenaline shakes, struggling to eat enough food, having a plethora of physical symptoms, and feeling hopeless and terrified.
As of today, I’m on week 3 of 150 mg of Zoloft (I was on 200 for 15 years and did fine). Had a week and a half where I felt great, almost like myself, but this week is much worse. Struggling to eat again, taking magnesium to help me sleep, but I’ve never been this severely anxious for this long and it’s terrifying.
As a Christian, I know there are spiritual and physical aspects of anxiety. It’s a very real chemical imbalance in the brain. But I’m very discouraged after having a week of feeling better to now feeling much worse. I’m seeing a counselor and a psychiatrist to manage the medications, and trying to surrender my desire to control when this difficult season will end.
Any advice/encouragement/prayer/uplifting stories of hope would be greatly appreciated.
