I'm just starting Lamictal, but My pdoc also wrote a prescription for Xanax for panic attacks. My past pdoc gave me klonopin. My primary care physician gave me Ativan. I'm sort of a walking pharmaceutical. But I try not to take them because I know I could become addicted.
My panic attacks are severe. I've tried to leap from moving cars several times when the panic hits (yay for child safety locks in vehicles). I've gone up to homes of people I don't know and collapsed on their porches for them to call 911 because I couldn't breathe.
So I HAVE to have something to shut the panic down....fast.

SSRIs never really helped. They'd give me headaches, and I'd still panic.