Q. Whenever I arrange to go anywhere I get very nervous – my stomach churns up and I feel quite nauseous. Can you recommend any tablets that would help?
A. Although we all occasionally suffer from anxiety or nerves, some people suffer to such an extent that it’s classed as a mental health condition. At this level, symptoms, sadly, tend to interfere with everyday life.
There can be physical symptoms too, such as stomach pains, a racing heart, shortness of breath and nausea.
Although we all occasionally suffer from anxiety or nerves, some people suffer to such an extent that it’s classed as a mental health condition
The good news is there are clear guidelines for treating anxiety, and the first focus of treatment would be therapy. Anxiety responds very well to cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), during which sufferers learn to change their behaviour and actions in response to certain thoughts. Weekly sessions can take place over a few months, and can be arranged via a GP.
In many areas now there are facilities to do this via an online chat, one-to-one with a therapist, which may work well if going out is a problem.
Medicine is also used to treat specific anxieties. If anxiety occurs only on specific occasions, it may be worth considering a tablet that you take only when needed.
One option is a prescription for a beta-blocker, such as propranolol. Here, a tablet is taken when the sufferer expects to feel anxious or when it has started. By calming down the heart rate, the symptoms can be halted.
For people who suffer symptoms more frequently, a daily tablet might be a better approach. Serotonin selective reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are a group of drugs that are antidepressants. One used often is escitalopram, as it is known to work well to reduce the physical and psychological symptoms of anxiety.
After suffering severe pain under my breast, I tried to get a GP appointment, only to be told there wasn’t a slot available for more than six weeks. Is this the norm?
Surgeries are certainly very busy these days – there is a GP shortage and we also have far more demands on our time than ever before. This is because many chronic diseases, such as asthma and diabetes, are now looked after primarily in GP clinics rather than in a hospital.
However, six weeks is far too long to wait for an urgent problem, so I wonder if a misunderstanding about the types of appointment may have occurred.
If you have an urgent or emergency problem, the surgery can offer an on-call or duty GP who can see you the same day. You will not be able to see your doctor of choice and you may be expected to come at an inconvenient time, but that is tolerable to be seen urgently.
Many surgeries offer a book on-the-day service, where you phone or queue from a specific time – but you will be seen the same day and may get a choice of GP. The final category would be routine and booked in advance with the doctor and time you prefer – this may involve a three-week wait.
Waiting six weeks would be considered incredibly long and certainly not normal, unless a very specific time was requested or a doctor was on leave.
Q. After suffering severe pain under my breast, I tried to get a GP appointment, only to be told there wasn’t a slot available for more than six weeks. Is this the norm?
A. Surgeries are certainly very busy these days – there is a GP shortage and we also have far more demands on our time than ever before. This is because many chronic diseases, such as asthma and diabetes, are now looked after primarily in GP clinics rather than in a hospital.
However, six weeks is far too long to wait for an urgent problem, so I wonder if a misunderstanding about the types of appointment may have occurred.
After suffering severe pain under my breast, I tried to get a GP appointment, only to be told there wasn’t a slot available for more than six weeks
If you have an urgent or emergency problem, the surgery can offer an on-call or duty GP who can see you the same day. You will not be able to see your doctor of choice and you may be expected to come at an inconvenient time, but that is tolerable to be seen urgently.
Many surgeries offer a book on-the-day service, where you phone or queue from a specific time – but you will be seen the same day and may get a choice of GP. The final category would be routine and booked in advance with the doctor and time you prefer – this may involve a three-week wait.
Waiting six weeks would be considered incredibly long and certainly not normal, unless a very specific time was requested or a doctor was on leave.
Not all mums can look as fab as Amal
New mums look away now!
Pictures of Amal Clooney last week show that just two months after giving birth to twins, she has already regained her slim figure.
But do not despair. Eight weeks is certainly not the normal period in which to lose your baby weight – eight months, or even longer, would be far more realistic.
Pictures of Amal Clooney last week show that just two months after giving birth to twins, she has already regained her slim figure
For celebrity mums, post-pregnancy weight is usually shed with the help of a personal trainer and chef, at the very least.
There is too much pressure on new mothers these days: to lose weight, to breastfeed, and to be engaging with their baby, all while posting pictures on social media.
The fact is it’s an exhausting time, and the pressure to be perfect merely fuels feelings of inadequacy.
The Government’s latest brainwave to tackle obesity? Free bikes and supermarket vouchers for families who exercise. The obesity crisis is not so much about a lack of exercise, but the amount of garbage we put in our mouths. We have snack trays on buggies, free drinks at supermarkets, after-school treats, and super-size snacks at cinemas. You can’t walk off a bad diet.
The airline snacks putting lives at risk
Planes are problematic because dust from nuts can be circulated around the cabin by the air-conditioning system
Devastating TV footage showed Amy May Shead returning to This Morning, the show where she was once a producer.
Amy suffered a serious anaphylactic reaction to nuts and is now severely brain-damaged. She and her parents used her appearance to call for a ban for nuts on flights – something I support 100 per cent. It is a scandal that people’s lives are being put at risk for the sake of a snack.
Planes are problematic because dust from nuts can be circulated around the cabin by the air-conditioning system. I was on a plane once when a mother walked up and down the aisle asking people not to eat nuts due to her son’s allergy – because the airline refused to make an announcement.
In cases like this, it really could be a matter of life or death.