Has anyone else experienced depression and anxiety along with your GBS? I am having a difficult recovery and may lose my job. I am getting more and more depressed the longer this goes on.
You are not alone. I have definitely experienced this along the way. It really complicates things. The worst thing for me is finding the right medical support while fighting through this because of the unfamiliarity with disorders like GBS. I'm not the best at rolling with this. I like to understand what I'm experiencing then attack the problem. I'm working to be more patient and focus on any positives I can find in this while striving for the best recovery I can get. I am so thankful for the support on this site. Stay strong!
Yes, I too experienced anxiety as an after effect of GBS. The important thing worth mentioning is how I feel I've returned to being myself again. When I first sought treatment for anxiety I was already taking 300 mg of Gabapentin daily to relieve neuropathy in my fingers and hands. I was also prescribed Amitriptyline and Klonopin at various times to help with the anxiety. Although they helped with the anxiety, the side effects were intrusive and I never felt myself. It wasn't until one day my neuropathy was especially uncomfortable and I took an additional dose of Gabapentin. I noticed my anxiety was relieved which was unusual for that time of day. My doctor then recommended 600 mg per day and eventually 3 separate doses of 300 mg per day. I am back to being myself if I do not deter from the dosage every eight hours. I never thought Gabapentin would be the medication that would bring me "back to reality".
I have also suffered from depression. Gabapebtin helped. I also take medication for depression. Within 4 months of gbs, I lost my job, insurance and almost lost my home. My church came through and paid 4 months of house payments. My mon and dad both died and it has been hard. Life goes on and so do we. I am so grateful that I continue to get better. I know 2016 I will be back to walking.
Depression was one of the worst aspects of having GBS. I had never had to depend on other people before and at 63 to have to depend on other people to sit me up, get me out of bed, wipe my butt, etc. was horrible. Medication didn’t help me, some made me sick, others turned me into a zombie. What made me turn the corner was recovering enough to drive. I still have one foot that doesn’t work and I have difficulty walking but when I’m behind the wheel I’m normal again as if nothing happened. However, what got me through to that point was therapy. Find someone to talk to, many organizations have low cost to no cost counseling.
And by all means, get involved with the support group, so many of us have been through the same thing, and people who have never had GBS really don’t understand what we are going through, full recovery is possible, but it’s not easy and its not fast. Many of us can give insight into what to expect during the recovery period, and what helped us through the recovery process. Hang in there and keep pushin’ on