Nothing is helping and when will it end?

[Jenny McM]

My father is in the depths of despair.  He seems to have some sort of nervous disorder.  He has become housebound due to this illness, wakes up during the night with an impending sense of fear, cannot bear to in the company of anyone or even talk on the phone.  His nervousness is taking over his life and he has had it for six months or more.  He can't see it coming to an end and keeps talking about committing suicide, and I believe he is serious about this, as he has made a will and has given me his cash card No. 'in case something happens'.  He has seen his Doctor, but she is not at all sympathetic to his plight.  He has been prescribed Zispin anti-depressant by her, as well as Diazepam.  But these drugs in the quantities prescribed are not sufficiently helping and he is frightened of becoming dependant on Diazepam and having to take increasing amounts of it.  He has admitted himself to a psychiatric ward, but his nerves could not stand the noise and behaviour of the other patients, so he had to discharge himself.  The psychiatrist there said he would tell my Fathers Doctor to stop prescribing Diazepam, and this frightens him as it is the only thing that helps, albeit very slightly.

He has read a number of books and leaflets on what might be the cause and has contacted psychiatric help organisations, but cannot find any cure for his illness, and believes nobody else had suffered as much as him.

He cannot visit a psychotherapist or join a self help group as these situations bring about an even bigger problem with his nerves.

Will this illness eventually come to an end with the help of medication?

Please help, as I am very concerned that this affliction will bring about his death.

[shannon]

I was going through the same thing.I know how your father feels! I thouhgt I was going to lose my mind! I wouldn't talk to anyone I stopped visiting all friends and family,I had the most overwhelming feeling of fear for no reason,my stomach was in knots every second of the day. I couldn't eat or sleep. I would wake up constantly all hours of the night,sometimes I would call 911 because I thought I was going to die or I would drive to a hospital and be seen by a Doctor that would tell me their was nothing wrong with me! Sometimes I would just hope that when I went to sleep I would never wake up. There is help out their for your father. He needs to find a good psychiatrist. Tell him not to give up hope, It will get better I promise. I recommend Xanax for the anxiety,It really worked for me! I also take Zoloft for my panic disorder (200mg) a day. Zoloft,Paxil,and other meds in that family of medicines will help him. It wont last forever It will get better. The sooner he gets on the right kind of antidepressant the better he will feel. I know it feels like it will never get better but it will. Also get the book called The Anxiety Disease by David V.Sheehan,M.D.It helped me through alot of my problems. I wouldn't have come as for as I did with out it. Understanding the problem seems to help you get better and know that you wont be like this forever. Your father is not going crazy like he thinks and he's not going to die. Help him to not let this disease take his life. It is very scary and a very hard disease to cope with. YOU WILL GET BETTER!!!!! It takes about 4weeks for the meds to work effectively. Xanax works really well in the mean time. GOOD LUCK!!!!

[Paul C.]

Don't give up hope!!!! I was suffering panic attacks in sept. and was put on 160 mg. of Inderal(which is a b/p medicine-beta blocker)to keep my heart from racing. My nervousness and discomfort got worse. I felt like i was going nuts and couldn't put my finger on the cause.I was severely depressed and spent some time away from work.The panic wouldn't quit,every symptom i felt seemed to be the end for me.(chest pain,etc.)I was confused and irritable all the time.I was hating life and on and on and on.............
In January i went to a new doctor who started weening me off of inderal to see how i would react,and because he was concerned about the large quantitiy i was on. by the time i was down to 80 mg per day it was like a fog lifting. the depression lifted but some of the nervousness/panic lingered. Today i am down to 40 mg. per day and alot of the confusion and nrvousness are gone.
My point is (sorry for carrying on)it could be something as simple as a medication that is throwing your father into a tizzy like this,i couldn't beleive all that inderal did to me!!!!!!Have someone professional look at what your dad is on and see is it possible it could be the medications???????just a thought!!!      GOOD LUCK

[Paul]

Jenny,
Your father is deeply depressed.  I think the psychiatrist made a good call in getting him off the valium/diazepam.  While valium can take the edge off of some of the anxiety, it stays in the system a long time and will tend to depress him even more over time.   I recommend that he talk to a qualified medical expert about 'xanex'--although I wouldn't recommend that over the long haul either.  It's well accepted drug for anxiety and will be less of a long term depressant than valium.

I think there is little doubt that psychotherapy is called for here, perhaps in conjunction with the right anti-depressant medication.  This is NOT a call for your family doctor--you need a good psychiatrist for these meds and a good therapist to work with your dad.  From what you've described I would ditch that doctor of his.  She isn't helping at all.

[HFHS.MD-AJ]

It must be difficult seeing your father suffer from the symptoms you describe, which may be due to co-morbid anxiety and depression. Both conditions are treatable with a combination of medications and psychotherapy, or Electro-Convulsive Therapy (ECT). Suicidal thoughts and feelings of hopelessness or helplessness must always be taken seriously. I urge you to discuss your concerns further with your father's treating physician/psychiatrist, and to consider re-evaluation or seek a second opinion by another psychiatrist, if either you or your father are not satisfied with his current treatment.