PANIC ATTACKS
Moms View Message Board: General Discussion Archive: Archive October 2005:
PANIC ATTACKS
I am posting anon as this is just too personal to reveal right now.
I have had problems with anxiety for quite a few years but I have always been able to manage it. I take an anti-depressant that is supposed to curb anxiety as well. A few months ago I had two full blown panic attacks at the dentist's office (long difficult procedures) even with the gas. I started to hyperventilate after it was all over and I got home. Since then I have been walking around most of the time with these strange feelings in my chest. I know that it is anxiety. The only way I can think to describe it is that my lungs feel like I have breathed in a chemical that has burned them raw. I haven't been to the dr. since it has gotten so bad because I was hoping I could learn some new coping skills or something to get rid of it. I also have to take meds for insomnia and I don't want my dr. to think that I need a pill for everything. I can't really afford to go to a psychiatrist because my insurance only pays 50% of the bill.
Has anyone ever had a problem similar to this? If so, please share with me. I feel this way most of the time and there isn't really anything significant in my life bringing it on. That is what is making me feel crazy.
TIA
I was put on Paxil 5 years ago for panic attacks. I've actually been to the hospital a few times for them, most recently with chest pain a few months ago. They seem to be under control with the Paxil, and I've actually had very few since going on it, with that one exception. I'm thinking about weaning off of it soon too, though I've been told that I should wait for all of the post-hurricane stresses to settle down. What anti-depressant are you on?
{{{Anon}}} I can relate to what you are saying. I have had panic attacks since 1985. I don't have the burning in my chest but my chest feels like there is a ton of bricks on it, and it difficult for me to breath during a attack. I also get this very shacky feeling not so much on the outside but my insides get a shacky feeling. Hard to explain. Then we I get nervous about the attack my heart starts to race.
I have never been on meds for it as the doctor told me what it was and actually it took me along time to learn how to cope with the attacks, but I have got much better coping. Most of the time as you said nothing significant in life brings mine on either. The 1st attack I ever had I was camping and had no idea that it was a panic attack I was having, I was taken to the ER. That is when the Dr. diagnosed that it was panic attacks. I then went to my family doctor and told him that nothing was going on in my life to bring on the attack. He said that it was probably the camping and not thinking it was stressful, but in the back of my mind camping was a little bit scary to me at that time so I am guessing thats what brought it on.
I still get them at times, not as bad I have a really bad problem with panic attacks when I am driving....don't know why. I just think because I was always so afraid of having one while driving I get my self worked up about when I do drive.
I feel for you because I know the feeling, but like I said when I feel one coming on I try and talk myself out of it , I think to myself, you know what it is so don't get stressed because that only makes it worse. And I have got better with the attacks after all these years.
Hope this all made sense to you. If you need to talk you can email me at kernkate (at) hotmail.com.
Best of Luck to you.
I have had one panic attack several months ago during a period of time when I was experiencing post-partum depression. Mine was very much like what Kernkate described. It was an absolutely terrible feeling that I hope I never experience again. It sounds like there is medication to help them and by all means I would go for it. I will never forget what that felt like. My dh almsot took me to the ER, but I was so obstinate about going I talked him out of it. Best of luck to you.
I started taking Zoloft for post partem depression many years ago and it worked wonders. I switched to Lexapro because it was less likely to cause sexual side effects. It worked pretty well until I started being treated for insomnia. The dr thought the insomnia might be because my depression wasn't under control. I am really not depressed. I have an anxiety problem, and I can not sleep, period, without taking something. I take Ambien every night and have for quite a few years. When the dr thought the insomnia was a result of depression, I switched to Cymbalta because the dr. said that Lexapro stops working after you have taken it for so long. I hated the way it made me feel so he switched me to Paxil. Paxil made me feel like I was going to freak out all the time. My family told me that I acted strange when I was on it. I went back to Zoloft and I felt sure that it would help with the anxiety because it did before. Even though I know that the physical symptoms I am having are from anxiety, not matter how hard I try, I can't calm myself down. In fact, I will just be going through my daily routine and notice the pain in my chest coming on. I also choke on my food if I don't eat very slowly and chew it up very very good. If feels like I am swallowing rocks.
Oh yeah, I have tried Buspar, which is a maintenance drug for anxiety, but it did not help.
Maybe I should just give the Zoloft a chance to work since the dr switched me up a couple of times. Maybe that's what made it worse. I have been back on the Zoloft for about 5 or 6 weeks.
To me if you have been back on the Zoloft for 5 or 6 weeks it "should" be working, all people are different I know. .
I have suffered from anxiety/panic attacks since 1995 off and on, I have been on Zoloft, Paxil, and Lexapro all at different times throughout this time period. FOR ME the only medication that truly took them away was the lexapro and Clononzapan combination. Lexapro daily and the other only as needed.
I'm now off of medication as of May (I think) and so far I've been able to hold them off by positive thinking and I'm able to handle them a little better. I also have figured out what "causes" them to some degree and that helps.
I hope you find something that works for you, I've been there and now how frustrating and how out of control it can make you feel at times.
Sending you big hugs...
You know dentist bring on panic attacks in people who never get panic attacks. My mom has them at dentist too.
You should not be ashamed of this. The dentist is especially scary. Get the extra medicine you need or tell the dentist to give you knock out medicine and get your teeth fixed!
Dentist are used to giving people panic attacks so you don't need to hide it either. Some people would rather die than go to the dentist or doctor.
I dunno, I maybe would try changing the ambien. You have been on it for a number of years. I know that when I took ambien I had to stop because it was messing up my dream cycle and I started hallucianing. I am thinking that maybe the sleep meds might be making it so that you are not dreaming and you are having attacks because your brain cant get rid of stuff. Maybe you are not able to resolve subconcious things in sleep so they pop up during the day. So maybe a change to sonata or lunesta would make a difference.
Seems to be that if you have been back on the Zoloft for 5-6 weeks, if it were going to work it would have kicked in by now. As for the difference between anxiety/depression, I know there are differences, but I suspect that both result in you being in a state of depression - which is what you sound like in your post.
As for the psychiatrist, two things: One - several recent studies show that medication COMBINED with cognitive therapy has much better short and long term results than medication alone. Two - my youngest son has struggled with depression for years, and was hospitalized 4 times. He was also in therapy for a lot of that time, but didn't click with his therapists and was also holding back and not opening up with the therapists so it didn't do any good. But, after his last hospitalization, about 18 months ago, he was hooked up with a therapist who has been the right person for him AND he decided it was time for him to get on top of his mental health issues and work at controlling them instead of them controlling him. He was also on pretty heavy medication - lithium and something else - for all of this time. He told me last night that his shrink cut back his meds to a barely maintenance dose about 6 months ago. He has been on top of and controlling his life and his emotions and his reactions to stress quite well throughout this six month period.
My point is that while the co-pay is 50% (and GD the insurance companies - they have a low co-pay for meds, but high for therapy, which is absurd and for long-term issues not particularly helpful) - in the long run it may be cheaper for you to get some therapy to figure out what the stressors in your life are at the root of the anxiety and depression. There may be therapy clinics in your area that have sliding scale fee schedules, even with you having insurance. But even if there aren't, I urge you to think again about psychiatric/psychological/counseling therapy. It may be better for you emotionally and cheaper in the long run. (Particularly if your doctor is giving you meds for depression when you believe your problem is anxiety - family doctors, even with the best intentions, are not trained in psychiatric issues and don't always know which meds are best for which conditions.)
I tried Lunesta when it first came out and it gave me a HORRIBLE metallic taste in my mouth. It was so bad that it would wake me up. I know that my sleep/dream cycle is screwed up, but I am really at a loss as to what to do. I am getting so that I am afraid to switch my medication around because I have been so messed up with it the last few months. I just depend on the medicine because I work and if I don't sleep then it is hard for me to make it through the day.
I guess I need to give up this facade that I have going on about being totally in control of my life and get some real help from a qualified dr instead of my family dr. My dh knows that I don't sleep, but, other than that no one knows how hard I struggle with the anxiety. I have always been able to maintain the appearance of having it all together. Scary thought, huh?
Anon, I renew my urging that you seek help from a qualified psychological/psychiatric counselor. In my experience (and depression doesn't run in my family - it gallops!), struggling to hold it all together often ends in a real explosion and/or meltdown - something to be avoided if at all possible. I have been around some meltdowns in my family, and it is not at all pretty for anyone involved, especially the person who finally loses control.
YES! My chest was really bothering me and I went to my Dr. and he did an EKG (his routine for a physical anyway) and it kept bothering me still. I was tested for asthma and then we tried something for acid reflux, which only gave me heartburn! Anyway, I finally went in to a chest x-ray, which was completely normal. Finally, my depression got worse. I was in a total foggy like feeling--not like a "my boyfriend broke up with me. Poor me feeling." (That's the best description ever, Ginny!) Finally I took some medication and low and behold my chest issues went away. It wasn't severe, but it did feel like something was happening in my lungs or something. Now, I know that from my anxiety, my chest must have been tightening slightly, but constantly and it finally started bothering me. Really amazing! I totally can relate!
Yes, please seek some help. BTW-I had wonderful results with Prozac short term. It sounds like you are smart enough to know that it's a chemical imbalance and you need to watch it. Just like someone with high blood pressure or anything else. You may have certain triggers like Ginny said and getting some help to find those and also to find some coping mechanisms would be really helpful. Take care of yourself now! Don't wait until your health suffers--you deserve the money to spend on this. You're worth it!((HUG))
And yes, Anon - give up the facade, at least with your dh. He is not a mindreader, and if you don't talk to him about how you feel, he can't even try to help. One of the things that my son says has been very helpful to him in the past two years is that when he was under stress (and I could tell), I pressed him to talk to me about his day, about what happened, to get him to vent - to get it out and talk about it. He has learned that having someone trustworth to talk to about what is stressing him helps to relieve the stress.
By trustworthy, I mean someone who will listen, offer sympathy and support, maybe point out another way of looking at it but NOT tell you how you could/should have "handled it better", and who will not bring up event A when you are talking about event B a month later, except maybe to validate your feelings.
I hope your dh is such a person - he loves you, so I am sure he will try hard to be supportive and sympathetic. And he may be wondering but not telling you he is wondering why you are not sleeping, why you seem so uptight some times, what is bothering you. It may be a relief to him to know that you are struggling with anxiety and seeking his support - and not worrying or thinking about things that could hurt your relationship. Presumably he's not a dope and can see that you are stressed about something, and heaven only knows what may be going through his mind if you don't talk with him about it.
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