[BlueJay49]

I have been dealing with a lot of very stressful things in my life for the past few months that have caused me a great deal of worry, fear, anxiety and uncertainty. I have also noticed that with each new thing that pops up, the stressful feelings accumulate to the point where I often feel completely overwhelmed, panicky or trapped. It has gotten to a point where my system feels overloaded so that even small things end up becoming huge worries. It affects me morning, noon and night with very few breaks in between.

I went on a medication merry-go-round for awhile trying to find some medication (or combination) to help me get through all of this and just relax but the anxiety and panic were so bad that it didn't help much. Lately, I have been taking a beta blocker, Ativan and Atarax in the evenings and feel a little better. I don't have much trouble falling asleep but sometimes I wake up several times during the night with these adrenalin rushes and panicky feelings along with very disturbing and stressful dreams that have no basis in reality. Almost always, I sleep in very late, wake up feeling like a zombie and am completely unmotivated for most of the day. Then the anxiety, stressful thoughts, panic, worry, etc start up all over again. It's a vicious cycle.

While I have suffered from (and been treated for) anxiety for a long time now, it seems to have gotten much worse over the years. Things that used to not phase me at all now become huge worries and things that are cause for some mild concern send me over the edge. It's almost as if I was becoming less and less "worry-resistant" or something.

For awhile I tried Celexa and thought it was working at first. About 5 days into it however, I woke up at about 5:00AM in a huge panic with adrenalin shooting through me. I closed my eyes and tried to go back to sleep and just about the time I started to drift off I started seeing this kaleidoscope pattern consisting of all kinds of brightly colored geometric fragments and shapes. These fragments got brighter and brighter until they seemed to morph into a volcano of extremely bright lava. I woke up in a huge panic with adrenalin pumping through me. Then I finally went back to sleep again but just about the time I started to nod off I had this very strange (and sudden) sensation and it felt like my body was levitating above the bed a few inches. I finally went back to sleep and when I woke up I felt like I had been through the wringer. The next few nights after that were not quite as bad but I would still wake up throughout the night with rushes of adrenalin going through me. I discontinued the Celexa eventually but even before I began taking it I was still having nocturnal panic attacks, very intense dreams where it was crucial that I complete some "task" and there was a "deadline", etc.

Can anxiety (GAD) and stress bring on all of this or could it be a combination of different medications?. I feel like I'm losing my mind sometimes and it is really interfering with my life and normal routine. I used to bounce up in the mornings, grab a coffee and be all excited about starting my day. Anymore, I sleep in late not wanting to get up and then feel washed out, hungover and unmotivated most of the day. Anyone else dealing with this?.

I am a middle-aged male with a history of GAD, panic attacks, OCD, depression, etc and have had numerous tests over the years and been to lots of different doctors and specialists. I just don't know what to do anymore. I wish there was some medication I could take that would make me stop worrying and having all these adrenalin rushes. I just want to feel normal again.

Thank you for reading this.

Hi Anxiety, extreme anxiety, can cause all sorts of things. The things you experienced while taking celexa sound like they were related to celexa.
Have you had a physical exam and blood work to make sure there are no physical problems causing or exacerbating your symptoms?
Have you had any therapy to help you deal with anxiety? I understand that therapy alone isn't going to get your anxiety under control at this point but maybe when the meds make the symptoms manageable therapy can give you a long term solution. Good luck.

[Odee]

So sorry. Sometimes it takes a really keen specialist to really pinpoint the solution for you. As for the celexa -- a combination of buspar and buproprion made me hallucinate and subsequently panic. The kaleidoscope you described reminded me of that experience -- I would see shapes and coloring 'drawings' on the walls around me, often very rapid repeating patterns.

I wish I had more to tell you. I really do. A lot of us understand how you feel and a lot of us also do find relief! Hang on there.

[Leed]

Hi ~ I used to have horrible attacks like that, and it drove me insane. My doctor put me on a beta blocker, PERIOD. That slowed down my heart rate, and it worked for a LONG time. The medication was Inderal.

I've also suffered from Depression since I was a small child but was in my 20's before I got treated, so if you're still suffering from depression, there are a lot of medications for that. It takes awhle before they start working tho. Some of them don't start working until you've been on them for about 6 weeks! Others, it can be as quickly as 2 weeks or so. Right now I'm on Cymbalta, and that has been working very well for quite some time.

Talk to your doctor about this. Perhaps just a beta blocker will help the panic & anxiety. I know you've tried it before, but you used it along with another medication. Try it alone and see if it works. It sure did with me.

I wish you the very best. Please take care & God bless. Hugs, Lee