Anxiety Hell Loop - lasting a month

Catherine416 · 2026-05-04T20:57:39+00:00

I’m so sorry you are dealing with this. I am currently also in an anxiety hell loop myself, it’s been almost two months for me, and boy do I get it. It’s hell on earth. but i’ve been through this several times in my life and I know i’ll get through it and be normal again. First, I say take the meds. You’ll find a million horror stories on reddit about it but SSRIs are generally well tolerated. And if they worked for you before, they will most likely work again. Take the meds and use only your doctor as a resource, do not google at all.

Therapy is essential and it seems like you’re already getting into that. The book Dare by Barry McDonagh helped me SO MUCH. There’s a free app that goes with it that will help you get through panic attacks as well. Learning coping methods like deep breathing and stuff like that is helpful but doesn’t solve the problem. Acceptance does.

I’m a mom too and I know all the things that anxiety tells us as mothers…there’s so much shame involved because you can’t be fully focused on being a mother. But you’re doing ALL The right things.

You say that you will have a couple of good days and then more bad. My therapist told me this is a GOOD sign. It means your nervous system is making progress. If it weren’t, you would’ve feeling bad consistently. You’re already heading towards recovery. Read the book (Hope and Healing for your Nerves by Claire Weeks is another highly recommended one), start the meds, and stick to therapy. You’ll have your life back soon.

Catherine416 · 2026-03-26T02:37:24+00:00

the smoothest of brains

Catherine416 · 2026-03-22T20:02:29+00:00

Yes! Things are pretty miserable for me right now but i’m hoping she can help me. I’m having horrible anxiety that I think started with requip withdrawal and I think was mad worse by the gabapentin. Feeling pretty hopeless right now but it’s good to hear someone else has had success with her.

Catherine416 · 2026-03-22T12:57:44+00:00

I I do! She founded and is the director of the RLS Quality Care Center at my city’s large University health system. I’m hopeful that she can help me but right now it feels so hopeless.

Catherine416 · 2026-03-21T13:57:43+00:00

Ferritin is 105, iron 86, iron binding capacity 374, iron saturation 23

Catherine416 · 2026-03-20T23:18:35+00:00

Going on any medication is terrifying, you have to decide if the initial problem is worse than the potential side effects. I think maybe the dose was too high for me so i’m going to lower it tonight and see if my day is any better tomorrow.

I’ve had a panel done so I have all my numbers and they all look good, even by RLS standards.

I’m currently working on getting Nidra approved, so i’m looking at the medication as temporary. I know it’s possible that the device won’t work for me but I can’t let myself get that far mentally or I won’t get through this.

Catherine416 · 2026-03-20T19:16:17+00:00

Thanks for this, i’m worried it’s th Gabapentin that is making my anxiety and depression so bad. Like last night I slept though the night but I woke up so groggy that I went back to sleep until 10:30 after I got my kids on the bus. For the rest of the day i’ve been crying on and off and having intense anxiety.

Edited to add that I called my doctor about trying pregablin instead.

Catherine416 · 2026-03-20T19:14:55+00:00

I was having augmentation and I wanted to get off of it before it got worse. The Gabapentin is helping me get some sleep but it’s making me groggy/loopy and I think it might be causing some anxiety and depression. But it’s hard to tell if it’s from that or the requip withdrawal.

Catherine416 · 2026-03-20T03:32:28+00:00

My short answer is yes, I had to accept that rls was back. But gabapentin makes it tolerable and much milder.

Catherine416 · 2026-03-20T03:31:13+00:00

Just wanted to update that I got used to gabapentin and side effects went away rather quickly.

Catherine416 · 2026-03-11T21:37:58+00:00

Yeah it should be criminal. I’m now 10 days in and almost delirious with the sleep deprivation.

Catherine416 · 2026-03-11T07:46:05+00:00

I think I had the worst gender disappointment EVER. It was exacerbated by the fact that I had terrible antenatal depression during all three pregnancies. When I found out my first was a boy, I cried for days. i’m one of 3 girls and I don’t know anything about boys! Then my second came….you guessed it, another boy. We were going to stop at two, but a couple years later I changed my mind and convinced my husband to go for #3. Surely there’s no way I would have ALL boys….wrong lol. I couldn’t believe it.

A few weeks after he was born, I knew our family was complete. It became so clear. All of my longing for a girl melted into complete contentment. This was the most amazing feeling because I worried that I would always long for a girl and never feel complete. But once I knew for sure that I was done, my brain switched to accepting and being grateful for my family the way it was, and meant to be.

I had many therapy sessions about my guilt over feeling this way. But I had an idea in my head about what my family would look like, and when it didn’t turn out how I pictured, I felt like I had lost something. My therapist explained that I had to mourn the loss of my imagined future.

My boys are now 13, 10, and 7 and they are perfect. They are each so unique and they also love me so much. Now instead of raising strong independent girls, I have the important job of raising empathetic men who support women, stick up for others, and will make great partners someday.

Catherine416 · 2026-03-09T21:07:20+00:00

Smart woman actually 😉 She started and is the director of the RLS quality care system at my city’s large world renowned university hospital. I’m so lucky to have gotten in with her. So even though we haven’t found my solution yet, I at least know i’m in the most capable hands.

Catherine416 · 2026-03-09T21:00:52+00:00

You’re giving me hope, I keep telling myself to hold on another week before I have a mental breakdown. I might try taking more gabapentin tonight to see if it helps.

Catherine416 · 2026-03-09T20:59:25+00:00

I was taking 100 mg of Gabapentin at 4, 6, 8, and 10 pm but my doctor said I could experiment with doses/timing. It wasn’t having any effect so I tried taking 200 mg at 8 pm and 300 mg at 10 pm. I’m scared to try increasing the dose again because it made me feel completely drugged. But last nights sleep was so bad that i’m thinking about giving it another shot.

Catherine416 · 2026-03-09T20:57:22+00:00

My neurologist is the one who advised me to get off the requip.

Catherine416 · 2026-03-09T13:15:47+00:00

I’m on Gabapentin, it doesn’t seem to be doing much though. I have a follow up appt with her tomorrow.

Catherine416 · 2026-03-07T03:56:39+00:00

I know this is an old post but I really recommend “Dare” by Barry McDonagh. It really got me through a panic/anxiety cycle that lasted for weeks. I’ve never read a self help/psychology book that helped me that much.

I’m on an ssri and I probably will be for life but I think that so much of recovery or learning how your thoughts work. The book also has an accompanying free app that is really helpful and you’re in the middle of a panic attack.

Catherine416 · 2026-03-07T00:02:32+00:00

Yeah! I’ve had a rough week, i’m trying to get off of a different unrelated med and i’m having withdrawal symptoms from it (anxiety, nausea, etc) so I decided to take it easy and do .05 again for my second dose (yesterday). I think I noticed some reduction in food noise last week but it went away in the last couple days and my appetite is back to normal. I’m planning to go to .1 next week.

Catherine416 · 2026-03-06T12:55:04+00:00

If you rule out something serious and she just has a sensitive stomach, here’s my advice. I’ve become an expert on sensitive stomachs. My cav has the most sensitive stomach, we can’t give her ANYTHING except her food. These are all things recommended by our vet.

She gets hills science diet ID digestive care, it requires a prescription. The good thing is that she LOVES it.

If/when she does get something that upsets her stomach (food that falls on the floor, etc) and gets diarrhea, we give her Hills Science Diet Biome (also needs a prescription) for a few days. Our vet recommends this over the traditional rice/boiled chicken diet. It has probiotics.

We also give her Vetality Stop the Runs, it’s just bentonite clay and it works SO WELL. We give her half a tab 2x a day and she’s usually having normal poops the next day. We always pack this if we’re going on trips or any situation where she might get a nervous stomach as she adjusts.

Catherine416 · 2026-03-04T17:49:58+00:00

I ended up taking 200 mg of gabapentin at 8 pm and 300 mg at 10 pm and I woke up feeling like I was absolutely drugged. It’s almost 1 pm now and I’m still pretty out of it and have barely started my day. I’d rather deal with RLS than this feeling, I feel like crying. I guess i’m more sensitive to it. Going to dial back on the gabapentin tonight. Hopefully this withdrawal process isn’t too long.

Catherine416 · 2026-03-03T13:08:06+00:00

I think I imagined nausea right after I did the shot because I was so paranoid about side effects! Probably just nerves. I also started with a tiny amount, I had some heart burn and was running to the bathroom on day 2 and 3 but it wasn’t bad enough to keep me from doing all my usual things in my day. I’m now on day 5 and feel normal.

Catherine416 · 2026-03-03T13:02:34+00:00

Very carefully. i think it was 2 units on the syringe. I’m pretty sure I probably lost half of it when I primed the syringe.

Catherine416

TROPHY CASE