Your comment about the "cortisol running through me" makes me think 3 things

1. cortisol issue - Cushings
2. graves- hyperthyroid
3. not depression/anxiety but mania which would require very different medications.

There is no way you are functioning on 2 hours of sleep for months unless your body is metabolically doing something to sustain it.

OP you are in crisis right now and you need to take immediate steps to address it. MIL be damned. You cannot keep going like this.

I agree with others that it would be a good idea to check yourself into a mental health facility if you can.

But if you are not amenable to that, my one suggestion would be that you must stop drinking coffee.

Coffee for people with anxiety is.... not good. Start slowly weaning yourself off of it.

The other thing I would suggest is getting at least an hour walk in daily.

I hope you can get help OP. Hang in there.

You need stronger meds. Been there, am there. It's not forever. Klonopin, Seroquel (small dose), Xanax (not all together). The tooth isn't the issue, but you need to rest and recharge. You can't heal otherwise.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In addition to therapy, have you tried meds? When I’m dealing with too much stress, therapy alone just doesn’t cut it and I do meds + therapy. The meds allow me to access the therapy, when I otherwise I can’t.

Yes, I have tried so many and nothing seems to work. Prozac, Zoloft, Wellbutrin... it is so frustrating. I'm so overwhelmed and working so hard just to be normal.

What about Lexapro or Buspar?

At minimum, try some breathing exercises, deep breath in, slow inhalation out. Yoga or mediation if you can. All those kinds of exercises are as good for stress as any pharmaceutical solution. Even finding 5-10 minutes a day to meditate will help you.

I also agree the sleep thing is a major crisis. Are you worried about the kids at night? Is that why you can't relax? I agree you need your husband to help.

Caffeine makes anxiety worse. Btdt. Can you and DH lie about where you are to go to rehab? Helping a friend in another state with a medical issue? How is your spouse helping you deal with all this?

No no no. Forget about the tooth. You are killing yourself from stress and possible underlying medical conditions, OP.

What you need is a complete physical check-up - you could be hyper-thyroid with the symptoms you describe.

If nothing physical is found, then you need to talk to a psychiatrist about anxiety meds and possible anti-depressants and something to help you sleep. Be careful, some of those are not well tolerated, so you need to monitor your symptoms in the first month.

Finally, you need a VACATION. You must stop working, stop doing too much around the house, and rest mentally. Take at least a couple of weeks off, if possible. Ask your spouse or friends or relatives for help. You are in crisis and there is no shame in asking for help!

When I was insanely stressed out, it was due to a thyroid storm that landed me in the hospital and required a long recovery - so it wasn't actually mental, but physical. When my best friend was insanely stressed out, it was mental, and she did much better on medication.

Best of luck.

lack of sleep can literally kill. Fix your sleep first, use something like Clonopin for couple of days, that would get you into sleeping routine.

OP I agree with above about mental misdiagnosed. Sleep is critical to life. Let your tooth rest. Infection in jaw can be painless and long lasting. Maybe ditch implant for now. I feel certain you are on the wrong meds as I have had the same awful year and antidepressants would keep me up all night. Also maybe a night guard to protect your teeth.

Sleep deprivation creates or makes worse mood and anxiety problems. It is the first thing you have to fix. Cut the coffee. No more than 2 cups before 10 am. You may need other meds like trazadone instead of sleep meds like ambien.

If you have failed multiple antidepressants in several different classes, then I believe it is part of the prescribing algorithm to try a mood stabilizer instead of or in addition to the antidepressant.

My concern, with your sleep problems is that you are misdiagnosed with straight depression and are really a high functioning bipolar depression II type. If so, being on an anti depressant will make things worse not better.

Who is prescribing your antidepressant a psychiatrist with a lot of mood disorder experience or a family doctor? Given your level of sleeplessness, you need the former.

For now, get a pill cutter and take half a Xanax when sleep is not happening. If that doesn’t work, take the other half. Call your GP or psychiatrist and ask for something you can take to help you sleep for the next few weeks/months to get you back to sleeping. You’re going to need more then a night at a hotel to catch up at this point.
Please also look into a therapy modality like EMDR, neurofeedback, or brain spotting to help navigate your trauma. Not sure if you’ve tried any of these, but if you haven’t, I think it’s more suited to what you’re going through than talk therapy.

Meditation and Xanax saved me during a super stressful time when I was having panic attacks frequently, couldn’t sleep, to the point that my hormones were out of whack. You need a few nights to reset- do you have a partner who can listen for the kids while you catch up on sleep? My PCP provides my (small) Xanax prescription that I now only use very occasionally.

Also look up traumatic grief. The symptoms are PTSD-like. Op I’m so so sorry for all of your losses.

How many cups of coffee do you drink a day? You need to reduce that to help with sleep. Let’s say you’re drinking 5 cups (or the equivalent if we are talking Venti here), then every day for a week drink 4 cups, then for a week drink 3 cups, then get down to 2 and see how that helps with your sleep.

Also, please try meditation. Head space app is great. Even 3 minutes a day, even if your mind wanders the whole time, keep trying. It can be life changing for some.