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ok I need help . My Husband has been having an anxiety level of about 5 to 7 every day for all most 2 years now. We have been to several doctors and he has been on several different medications. The Doctors had him on paxil and it was better for awhile but not completely gone. The lowest level was at a level 3. Now in the last few weeks it has esclated badly and full blown panic attacks and now they are trying to get him off the paxil and he is having withdrawel from the paxil. The doctor just started him on Buspar. This has gotten crazy. Is their no way to control this or other options with out using all the pills. This has been a nightmare watching him go through this . Does any one have any suggestions?
I suggest staying as far awy from SSRI drugs as you can. Paxil is an SSRI and the withdrawals are awful. It's necessary to go through it though to get off that poison drug.. The company making that drug need to be sued more so than they are now and the doctors prescribing it should take a few courses on it!!! Took my husband 6 months to completely withdraw...........
Now there are meds made for anxiety--SSRI drugs are not one of them!
Buspar didn't help me but may help others.
Xanax is the only thing that kept me from going off the deep end. I will swear until the die I die that had it not been for Xanax I would have done myself in.
I wish you and your husband the very best. Panic attacks may seem trivial to others but when it's happening to you and it begins to be an all day,everday thing--life can sure suck.
I ended up seeing a wonderful neurologist who understood and got me the right med.
sure there has to be another way than SSRIs; maybe holistic meds, what about exercise, walking, yoga?
I feel it's similar with depression, the side effects to the meds and the withdrawal symptoms are horrible.
I don't take anything for my depression, I've learned to recognize when it gets worse and walk more, listen to music, do something to make myself feel better; I found all that helps to calm me down and make me feel better. So I suggest going that route. I know depression is not the same as anxiety but lots of time you get prescribed pills for something that's treatable in another way.
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Xanax is the only thing that kept me from going off the deep end. I will swear until the die I die that had it not been for Xanax I would have done myself in.
I agree completely. There was a time when my attacks were so severe I was taking 7 to 8 mgs of Xanax a day but now I'm down to 3 (or 4 to 5 on a really bad day). My panic attacks have lessened considerably. Had it not been for Xanax I probably wouldn't be here today.
UGH!! Panic attacks are horrible!! I feel so bad for your husband and you. I've had them for years and years. My worse ones was when I was working. I had done some work for this company and they loved it. They praised me over and over. That night I convinced myself I screwed it up, that I messed something up and they were going to point that out. How embarrassing. So, I went to work, in the parking lot, a major panic attack hit me. I couldn't breath, I couldn't see, I thought for sure I was going to suffocate and die right there. I had to sit there for like 3 hours before I drove home.
I have been on a lot of meds, I am not sure about the SSRI's I don't remember all of them. I take Clonapan (I think that's the right spelling) now. It helps, but I still get them. I have come to feel the start, and I try to stop it ahead of time. I try to talk to myself "You are fine. You have gone through this before. You feel like something bad is going to happen to you and you are going to die. But you will not die, You are going to be fine. It is scary but keep breathing in and out." I started counting. I would breath in to the count of 5 hold it for 5 and breath out for 5, I would hold something solid in my hand and stare at it. Trying to connect the feeling of it with the touch. Like an orange. It feels round, and I would move my hands around it. hard and I would squish it a little. I had to try to occupy my mind, while trying to make my mind, body and soul relax. Trust me this is NOT EASY!! There are times I can do it and it helps, there are times I can do it and it doesn't help, and there are times I just can't do it. But it doesn't hurt to try. Other things I try is sitting in a hard chair. I make myself FEEL the chair. I concentrate on how the wood feels, hard, solid. I look at the chair, does it have slats, or is it one piece, what does my back feel like leaning against it, put my feet on the floor and plant them down solidly. Keep reminding yourself that you are HERE, that you are SAFE, and that the people around you are ok.
When I was in the hospital once, I found that having someone talking to me through this stuff helped, doesn't mean it did all the time. But I would be starting to panic, and someone would bring me to a chair, they would talk me through it, "look see the chair? we're going over to sit down" asking questions, "can you feel the chair on your back?" "what does it feel like to have your feet on the ground" whatever, ya know? just to keep them focused on the now and present. remind him of the breathing and stuff.
I hope these ideas help you a little. I wish your husband and you relief from these painful attacks!
has anyone suffered with the kind where you wake up at out of your sleep with one? i have never really found many people who have suffered with those...with me it was usually when i was tired, fell asleep, and then work up soon after...it was like i was almost not myself...and would get the fight or flight sensaton, about 5 or so years ago when i was in college i woke up with one..freaking out...and drove home from college which was about 40 min away...just very strange and terrible feeling...
i have been blessed with not getting those much anymore...
has anyone suffered with the kind where you wake up at out of your sleep with one? i have never really found many people who have suffered with those...with me it was usually when i was tired, fell asleep, and then work up soon after...it was like i was almost not myself...and would get the fight or flight sensaton, about 5 or so years ago when i was in college i woke up with one..freaking out...and drove home from college which was about 40 min away...just very strange and terrible feeling...
i have been blessed with not getting those much anymore...
anyone else expereinced those types?
I have panic attacks also,I've woken up gasping for air and noticed it usually happened when I went to sleep really stressed over something.
has anyone suffered with the kind where you wake up at out of your sleep with one? i have never really found many people who have suffered with those...with me it was usually when i was tired, fell asleep, and then work up soon after...it was like i was almost not myself...and would get the fight or flight sensaton, about 5 or so years ago when i was in college i woke up with one..freaking out...and drove home from college which was about 40 min away...just very strange and terrible feeling...
i have been blessed with not getting those much anymore...
anyone else expereinced those types?
Quote:
Originally Posted by mystree
I have panic attacks also,I've woken up gasping for air and noticed it usually happened when I went to sleep really stressed over something.
Well, after a summer starting with palpitations and then moving on to weakness, fatigue, lightheadedness, dizzyness, headaches, etc ... I have been diagnosed with anxiety. Of course they had to rule out heart issues, head issues, and such things first through numerous tests (which apparently I am mostly fine and just another hypochondriac).
Funny though, I have never ever been an anxious person before this summer (nor ever had a barrage of these crazy symptoms before), but I do have family members who have had anxiety issues in the past.
They only time in my life (about 7 years ago) where I have gotten bad symptoms that lasted months at a time ended up showing itself finally as acute apendecitis, so I guess I got pretty worried this time because of that. I don't know .
Sorry to hear about your husband's panic attacks. I have anxiety and panic attack problems and have begun attending an anxiety suport group in Minneapolis where I live. We use a book called Embracing the Fear by Judith Bemis and Amr Barrada. Though I'm new to this group it has already helped me a great deal. Perhaps there are similar groups in your area. Good luck!
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