please give me advice on treatment, relatively new to anxiety and suffering

Hello everyone
I need some serious advice please. I have suffered with debilitating anxiety, panic attacks and fear for about 4 mos now and it has basically taken my quality of life, I am depressed, unable to work sleep right etc, moved in with parents and I am 41 with a family, I have been seeing a therapist for about 10 weeks who says she is using cbt, but so far I am little improved, I am scheduled to see a pdoc in two weeks and am very scared, I have never been to a doc like this and never had any health problems. I am extremely afraid of meds, I have read about the horrible side affects from these drugs, brain zaps, withdrawal etc. My pdoc has a very high recommendation, but I tried Zoloft and celexa once from my family doc and the first day both gave me a horrible panic attack, not sure if it was placebo affect or not but it felt like it was from the drugs. I am currently taking about two .25 xanax a day now just to function at all. Could someone give me any encouragement or offer their views on this for me, please nothing scary as I am really struggling through this time in my life and need support. And feel like I don’t know where to turn. Thanks so much to all.
chris

Hi - I'm so sorry you're suffering right now.

I'm absolutely terrified of doctors, but my experience with my pdoc has been very positive so far. I met him in an office similar to what my therapist has. We talked. He asked me about what I'm experiencing, asked me about my medical history, talked about what my therapist had told him about me, and then talked about my options. I was a nervous wreck, but it really wasn't all that bad.

About 7 years ago, I went through a period of daily panic attacks, in addition to my normal high level of anxiety. My family doctor put me on Lexapro, which I did not handle well. There was no follow up, no options to consider other things...overall, a very bad experience with meds. Fast forward 7 years, and my current therapist (whom I've been with for 3 years) finally managed to convince me to just talk to a pdoc. I went to my appointment with him, and after talking with him, I was impressed enough to be willing to consider medication again. We're working to find the right medication and the right dosage, but he IS working with me on it. Everything is totally in my control. If I don't feel right about taking something, we talk about it. If I don't like the way the meds make me feel, we talk about it. The first med he had me try took the edge off my panic, but it wasn't enough. The one I'm on now is working much better to help me control my panic, however, it's having too strong of a sedative effect. I'll meet with my pdoc next week, and we'll see what can be changed so that I'm satisfied with the medication.

So, I guess what I'm saying is that I completely understand your fear of meds, but they can actually work. The trick is to find a pdoc that understand anxiety, and is willing to work with you. You also have to be your own advocate. If you don't like the way you feel on the meds, tell your pdoc. If the meds aren't doing enough for you, tell your pdoc. You have to let them know what is and is not working, so that you can get results you are satisfied with.

Sometimes, when your level of anxiety is SO very high, you need the help of meds to bring it down to a level where therapy can help you learn to control it. If you're always in panic mode, you can't learn the skills you need to control your panic on a daily basis. Once you are able to function beyond the panic, you can work with the therapist on other options to control the panic, and then once you have those skills solid, you can talk to the pdoc about going off the medication.

A lot of times meds can have paradoxical start-up anxiety/depression. It's possible that sometimes the brain reacts against the unusual surge of serotonin by depleting it instead. AD's take a long time to finally work for you, which has a lot to do with long term changes in your brain.
(maybe, you know, as far as we know)

It's hard to say if the panic is from the med or your usual anxiety. Consider that you've already been experiencing panic attacks without the medication. It's also easy to get the idea "in your head" that the meds are screwing with your mind, gonna mess you up, make you worse, etc. And with the horrible spiraling effect that comes with anxiety, a little nudge of an effect you recognize from the meds could easily cause someone to think it's actually more than that.

A lot of people take ADs and ultimately feel worse. Yet a lot of people feel initially worse and then get much, much better. Start-up anxiety doesn't mean that the medication couldn't be ultimately helpful.

First of all - huge hug.

Panic attacks are so scary, and I'm sorry you have them. I experienced them for several years in my late teens and early 20s. I was also afraid to take medication for them. Without medication or therapy (no insurance), I just lived with them for a few years until I went on Lexapro and small amounts of Xanax and it helped my anxiety greatly, and ultimately the panic attacks vanished. It did take time, but personally I was not able to overcome them on my own without medication. Everyone is different, though and I have read success stories from people who were able to overcome panic without medication, and maybe someone will be able to provide some insight there.

Please update when you can along your journey. I agree with BlessedRhiannon that finding a pdoc is probably the best first step. It can be difficult to find one that you click with so if you feel that the first pdoc you see is impatient, or anything negative, keep searching because you will find one who will be able to help you. If you choose this beginning path, you will have to allow yourself to let go a bit and place your trust in the hands of a doctor, which I know is scary but worth the risk for a lot of us if it comes down to a quality of life issue. It just takes time.

<3

I'm sorry you're going through all this. I've never had a panic attack but can relate to general anxiety.

I don't blame you for not being eager to take meds. There are lots of alternative treatments for anxiety that would be worth looking into.

Here are some good articles on treating anxiety with supplements such as amino acids, vitamins and minerals and herbs:

http://www.naturalnews.com/028452_an...c_attacks.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/031034_ma...m_anxiety.html An easy way to get magnesium into your system without it causing the laxative effect is to soak in a tub of epsom salt that is magnesium sulfate.

http://www.naturalnews.com/035751_an...al_health.html This is a link to a presentation on curing anxiety naturally.

http://www.painstresscenter.com/The-...uctinfo/AEBK2/ This is a book by a doctor who suffered from panic attacks and anxiety, and overcame it using amino acids and other nutrients. I have 2 of her other books, and have found them extremely helpful.