Hello,
Since my relapse in October, my anxiety seems to get triggered more readily and sometimes makes me spiral. I am due to start a new job in a few weeks and really want to make sure I am at my best.
My day to day MS symptoms are manageable and do feel very blessed that I can pretty much lead a full life. I am learning to adapt to a slower pace and be kinder to myself. I also do have a morning routine I stick to for my mental health.
However, I am concerned about my anxiety and wondering whether I should talk to my GP about options for medication. Does anyone have any thoughts or experience with taking medication?
I have recently moved to Edinburgh from London so am aware this combined with my MS is not helping my anxiety.
Any thoughts would be welcome.
Thank you,
Manisha
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I’ve tried (not very well, I’m afraid) to recreate a graph that an NHS clinical psychologist drew for me and others in my newly diagnosed group, many years ago. She was explaining how having a chronic progressive neurological disorder will tend to reduce your baseload capacity to soak up the stress of life’s everyday ups and down. 1 shows how your capacity goes down once MS arrives, 2 shows how that looks when you then overlay the spikes of everyday stressful events. You can see that things that you would have taken in your stride pre-MS will now spike you into overwhelm territory much more of the time than before. She wasn’t saying that you can’t learn to manage that better - far from it, she was keen to stress that you CAN learn to manage it better - but she was saying that the risk of getting overwhelmed emotionally does rise. Personally I found that really helpful when I was asking myself why I seemed to be making such heavy weather of things.
I do not know whether you need medication or not, but just wanted to reassure you that increased feeling of anxiety is a perfectly natural response to the level of upheaval that an MS dx brings with it.
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I find Citalopram has managed my anxiety & depression really well , without any side effects.
It’s worth having a chat with your GP or MS nurse.
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Hi Manisha, I am sure that you are totally right about being kinder to yourself! The simple fact and diagnosis of having MS is a lot to deal with. Similarly with moving home - one of the biggest life changes to deal with ( as I remember when moving from London to just outside Glasgow many years ago).
I think that a lot of people with the uncertainty of MS are dealing with anxiety. I’ve been taking 25 mg of Citalopram for years now - sometimes going through periods when I take a whole tablet one day and a half the next day. I haven’t experienced anything negative about citalopram- I know some people are worried that taking antidepressant/ anxiety meds might dull everything and turn them into a bit of a ‘zombie’ but certainly from my experience that just isn’t true. I’m quite relaxed about taking Citalopram- relaxed to the point that i sometimes forget to take it for a day.
I’m wondering if you could perhaps try something for a while and see how you get on and then review after you have had time to adjust to your new home , job and city (Edinburgh is a fine city)?
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I love that you took the time to draw a graph for me 
Alison It is so true, my capacity to manage every day stresses has dropped and seems to vary each day. I totally relate to both graphs, I have felt that very definite dip and when those spikes hit, they are exhausting and wipe me out.
I am trying my best to maintain a routine to manage my own health which I hope will put me in the best place to manage external factors when they hit.
I hope you are well, its been a while since we spoke.
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Thank you @claret57, you are the second person to mention Citalopram. I will give them a try.
Hi Hank. Thank you for responding to my post. I hope you are keeping well and managing your MS. It’s been a while since I posted as was busy trying to brush my MS under the carpet and carry on as normal. But you’re right, the move was a huge challenge and one I underestimated, especially as I did not factor in my MS!
I will speak to my GP about Citalopram, it’s assuring to know they won’t have a dulling effect as last time I took meds I did end up feeling like a zombie. I am quite anxious about starting the new role so if I can give myself some support, it will help. I have used CBD oil but it gets so pricey.
Yes, Edinburgh is beautiful 
You are welcome on the graph – I hope it helps a little. Trying to re-create it didn’t half take me back, I can tell you. 
With all the changes going on for you, life really is coming at you fast, and that is bound to be disorientating. I hope that you reach calmer waters soon and in the meantime please try not to ask too much of yourself.
I am doing very well, thank you. If someone had told me 25 years ago that I would be as well as I am despite high active MS I would have been relieved to hear it. No one knows what’s around the corner in MS as in life, but today life is good.
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This is a really good explanation and picture @alison100, thank is for describing
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Thank you for that reminder Alison, my life has always been super busy so it’s been quite an adjustment. I am learning to slow down and be kinder to myself.
I hope I continue to be as well as you and you continue to be stable too.
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A quick update. I have started Sertraline and I really hope they help though I know it can take up to six weeks. I did ask for Citalopram but my GP recommended Sertraline.
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Hi I hope it works for you , however. I found Sertraline made me feel numb , and quite low.
I also had to keep increasing the dosage and was on 150mg a day but I didn’t feel it really helped my anxiety/depression.
I had a completely different experience with Citalopram , it’s kept me on an even keel without any side effects.
Obviously we all react differently to medication and fingers crossed Sertraline works for you .
