Dear All,
I just wondered if anyone has taken medication to help with the grief and if it worked?
I’m having terrible panic attacks whenever I think of my loss and the impact it has had on my life.
x
1 Like
Hi @AlysonandSteve, I was prescribed propranolol as I kept having flash backs & anxiety. I take 2 but sparingly. I find it takes the edge off that restless feeling. It’s definitely worth a GP visit if it’s impacting your life. X
1 Like
Hi Alyson,
I have found a low dose of beta blockers to be really helpful for anxiety and they are
also prescribed for migraines which I’ve had for many years so have worked well for me. My worse time of day is on waking in the morning when it dawns on me that this is my life now so I make a cup of tea and take 2 /10mg tablets which are also known as propranolol this I’m told is a low dose .I do some deep breathing and I can face the day. I only take them when I know I’m going to get anxious. My doctor said they can be given to people prior to making a speech or maybe a job interview to just calm your system down. They seem to work within about 20 minutes for me.
Might be worth a try as once you start overthinking I found that my mind just went into overdrive and it becomes a vicious circle. I also listen to some calming music and try to think positively about what I have which is not easy.
It’s a journey that none of us wanted but hopefully being on this site will help us through as it’s only folk who have lost a loved one can fully understand what it’s like.
Thinking of you and sending you good vibes…
Love Jenny x
2 Likes
Hello @AlysonandSteve
This subject has come up many times on the forum and I am not a very good person to reply to you as I strongly feel that no person grieving should be given antidepressants as we are not depressed we are grieving but this is the only thing that a GP seem to be able to do they can be a bit too keen to dish out drugs. Please remember that medication can be dangerous and addictive especially when grieving and there is no short cut for grief, we have to learn to get through it and no pill has yet been invented to take away grief. If you want help then there are plenty of natural products on the market that might give you a little respite and they are not as dangrous to take.
Shortly after losing my husband I happened on something written by a Psychiatrist and he strongly advised against drugs for grief and if someone was sent to him and on drugs he stopped them immediately claiming it was a highly dangerous practise.
2 Likes
Alysonandsteve cee kingfisher
My doctor prescribe Propranolol but I haven’t take them I also suffer with migraines and stress ,she also gave me Mirtazapine ,
Which I only tried twice as it made me feel hungover was to help me sleep which I don’t sleep well ,
Not sure if I should give the Propranolol a try
Feeling stressed today as I have to go to a funeral ,my cousin husband
Take care everyone
Big hugs
Sue
Hi Susie, I to declined to go down the antidepressant road when offered them but was willing to try the propranolol as although my Doctor said it probably wouldn’t help with the depression it would slow the heart rate down which they are prescribed for and help with the anxious thoughts which it did, otherwise my mind would go into over drive in the early days.I have them as a stand by and only take a couple if going to a funeral or a social gathering. Have to say though that they are benificial if you have migraines and only some one who has these can understand what they are like, Thinking of you,
Love Jenny x
1 Like
I very much doubt there is a tablet of any kind for any illness on the market that doesn’t come with a price tag,i,e, such as side effects or addictive potential.
I say this as someone who during the last four years suffered a number of illnesses that required such as steroids and morphine plus any number of other tablets to counteract various side effects.
Without any help from my G.P. I came off morphine “cold turkey” as they say because I had become severely attached,it was horrendous.
Medication may help some people through grief and having lost my beautiful wife just over two weeks ago I crave something to take this unbearable pain away so yes ! I have been tempted to ask the G.P.for help. Nothing wrong with using medication short term providing you know it’s potential and the G.P. controls the amount and length of time they prescribe.
I woke up this morning feeling much as you,the day so far has been about hiding away from people while I absolutely sob my heart out and again yes ! it feels like I’m losing control.I don’t know how to stop this pain and grief that comes from losing the only person on the planet that I wanted with me,I keep thinking she’s sitting there on the sofa,I call out when I come in “it’s only me,” I cannot stand being in the beautiful home that we created and I run away into the streets,as early as 5am and by 10 am I’m exhausted … the rest of the day fighting off the insanity that is grief.
Medication would help,you,me most people on here but it would just become another battle that you don’t need.
I do apologise if this sounds as though I am trying to persuade you one way or the other because I’m not,I just know this grief and pain that you speak of,the last 17 days have been taken up by it,every minute of every hour and I know how close I am/have been to asking the GP for help.
I wish you so much of everything at this quite horrendous time in your life.
3 Likes
Kingfisher
Thank you so much for your advice,
May give the Propranolol a try ,
As sometimes I feel as if my heart is racing,
And since my husband passed my migraines are more frequent
Take care
Big hugs
Sue x
So glad you replied Susie and look forward to hearing from you again.
Love Jenny x
1 Like
My doctor prescribed cetraline and its working for me. Plus i have photos of sue and say good morning or goodnight. It really helps and bereavement counselling is helps immensely. Put a lot of things into perspective
1 Like
Doctor now prescribed antidepressants. Anyone else taking them?
Me and there helping me a lot
Hello mornings are bad for me too. My GP prescribed antidepressants to.help me sleep.and they hsve helped I now sleep about 6 hours most nights but nothing seems to ease thosw anxious thoughts I have every morning. I just want to run away and hide untill they go away… This 2nd year seems so much harder somehow and I find no comfort in livung alone in what was a noisey and bust house .
1 Like
A doctor once told me that they had no idea what to do with someone that was grieving. No tablet is going to take away the pain. As far as I’m concerned I think that time and learning to cope with the pain is the only way to come through grief. Who wan’ts to be filled up with addictive drugs and have another problem in the future. Each to their own though and drugs do seem to be the norm for a lot of people.
2 Likes
Hi @Pattidot , I so agree with you about DR and antidepressants. I have been having a lot of issues health wise recently. I had to go and get blood took. I told the nurse I had given up on myself , and then after she asked me if I had a husband .the flood gates opened and I was sobbing. Their answer was I need antidepressants, it’s almost 22 months since my husband died. I haven’t needed them in all that time .I go to work, and help look after my grandkids.I try and keep up with housework and garden.( I hate gardening)I don’t feel as if I have a life worth living ,but I am living it the best I can. So really how would antidepressants help me. Am I not allowed to get upset and cry ,when something triggers my emotions.obviously this is how I feel and do understand some people might need some sort of meds to help them. I just think the DR/ N urse should of just talked to me and listened to ME talk .rather than think straight away i need antidepressants .All xtake carex
3 Likes
Hello @Broken2222
How I agree with you they should have listened to you, but it seems to be their answer to the problem of grief. We are not depressed we are suffering from grief… But they know no other way. I struggled the same as everyone else but I was determined to cope with it and at least feel something. What good are they??? I agree. Pills can’t take away the pain. Lets face it we know what the problem is for ourselves.
Pat
xx
4 Likes