Just go away. Please. Making me feel terrified to the point of almost throwing up - is that fun, huh? FUCK YOU. You suck rancid NPD jizz.
PS: Lysanxia tastes like crap.
Err…well, they’re not Flintstones Chewables, ya know. Sorry—just had to bag on you. Been one of those days. I can empathize. Never had a panic attack, but I have anxiety problems and it’s no fun.
Try Citalopram instead.
Benzodiazapines (like Lysanxia) cause panic attacks, through rebound anxiety. They don’t get rid of anxiety, they merely postpone it. Sooner or later, there will not be enough benzos in the world to prevent your panic attacks. If you have been taking them for more than a couple of weeks, talk to your doctor about weaning you off of them. Benzodiapines are like vodka in a pill, and are responsible for destroying just about as many lives.
One month after starting on Prozac I was wandering through an outlet mall, enjoying myself. Yeah, the crowds on Superbowl Sunday were much larger than I expected, but I didn’t care.
Two things:
- My meds had worked in an unexpected manner.
- I shoulda bought one of those Nintendo VR headsets/games for twenty bucks when I could.
Sorta-kinda. They can work if you are on them continuously, and don’t happen to be the type who get addicted. But, if you do, it can be bad. And it’s a crapshoot. If your medicine is not working as well as it used to, you’ve probably are addicted, as you have reached tolerance.
If you ween off, be sure to do it really, really slowly. The best solution is 10% less every 2 weeks. Make sure your doctor is not the type that thinks you can get off it in just a few weeks. I did that, and I’m still in withdrawal 6 months later. (From FI’s description, I’m experiencing the rebound anxiety for the 2 years I was on a benzo.)
I sincerely hope you are not just being medicated for your panic attacks. You also need to be taught how to handle them. I’ve gotten to the point where I can have them without feeling like I’m dying (though not always). Heck, I feel one starting right now, but it’s not gonna be that big a deal.
Oh, and definitely get on a good SSRI (aka antidepressant) before you try to go off. They can be a lifesaver, but their hard to get used to during withdrawal.
I never liked the way The Sopranos portrays panic attacks, given that they are a central plot point throughout the whole show. Whenever Tony Soprano has a panic attack, he blinks his eyes for a few seconds, then falls to the ground, unconscious. This is in no way representative of what a real panic attack is like for most people. During a panic attack in real life you do not have the luxury of passing out and becoming unconscious. You are painfully conscious, fully alert and fully aware of every negative thought and paranoid idea and amplified emotion, and your heart is beating rapidly and your chest tightens and maybe you even shiver or chatter your teeth, and it lasts and lasts and lasts, at least until either your medication kicks in or you grit your teeth and let it pass. It is a really terrifying experience, especially the first few times when you’re not really used to the feeling of it yet.
I think The Sopranos used the passing-out panic attack because it caused the effects of Tony’s anxiety to be plainly visible, both to the audience and to the people around him. A more realistic panic attack would be tough to portray on screen, without the use of some kind of internal monologue or voice-over.
BRAVO.
BigT, I am already on Seroxat too.
Amber in Treasury, yeah, panic attacks totally suck. I’ve been through a few, and have had (and still get) generalized anxiety and horrible insomnia, and you have my sympathies. I remember getting a panic attack while driving to pick up my wife and son at the airport (I wasn’t sure what was going on, I’d never had a panic attack at that point); I somehow got there and picked her up, then told her she had to drive because I couldn’t. I somehow managed to act like everything was okay in front of my five-year-old while I was scared out of my wits the whole drive home.
Nitpick: SSRI’s are antidepressants, but there are antidepressants that are not SSRIs. For example, the widely used psych drug Effexor is an SNRI.