Panic attacks

There's no rhyme or reason to panic attacks. They can be work-related, they might not. Work might exacerbate panic attacks that originally began for a different reason or for no reason at all.

Same thing with physical condition. I have (a healthy) low blood pressure and (shockingly) no cholesterol problem, but yet, they occur. Turns out my heart valve problem kind of works with my low blood pressure to create the condition.

Like Mizzou, I have taken Alprazolam, though a medium dosage will knock you on your ass. I often cut them in half when needed and that does me just fine.

There are times when I will not take them. Driving a long distance is number one.

Before I learned about the ramifications of the medication, I took one of my pills and Zyrtec on the same day and had to drive about an hour for an assignment. When I began to sleep at the wheel at 4 p.m. after a full nights' sleep, I knew I had made a big mistake!

 

I just want to add that you WILL come out on the other side of this. And you'll puzzle over why it hit you so hard.
When I had an issue, I was really, really beside myself with worry over things that, in retrospect, just weren't that big a deal. Mostly money. Still don't really know why I freaked out. But I did get through it.

 

I hope I'm not speaking too soon, but it seems to be getting better. I went all weekend and barely noticed anything - I'd feel something weird and then focus my attention elsewhere and it'd be over in less than a minute, and that only happened two or three times. I've got a doctor appointment today and they're going to hook up some heart monitor thing to read my heartbeat for 24 hours and make sure that it really is just anxiety and not a physical issue. At this point I'm feeling confident that it's all in my head, but of course the next time one of these occurs I'll swear I'm dying.

 

My wife was diagnosed with General Anxiety Disorder probably 20 years ago, maybe more. The hardest thing for her was admitting that it was a biological issue, not something she could just deal with on her own, and she's been on medication since. Whenever she tries to lower the dose, it gets worse. Even with the medication, she has times fairly regularly where she feels anxious and can't explain why. It's exhausting and frustrating for both of us. The worst was about seven or eight years ago, the paper we were both at at the time got a new ME who was a complete nightmare and my wife, who worked pretty much directly for the new ME, just fell apart and was almost catatonic for 3 months, just in bed, unable to function, unable to work, unable to communicate much, basically just a body lying there. It was a horrible experience for both of us (luckily this was before we had our kid). Eventually she came out of it. The anxiety was also directly responsible for her difficultly, especially early on, in dealing with our son when he was first born. Almost everything seemed to cause anxiety.
So that's why, daily, I ask her, several times, "Did you take your medication?" Because I don't want her to have to go through it, and I don't want to go through it.

 

wow. this is a great thread. i am stunned that there are so many SportsJournalists.commers in the same boat because i've never spoken with anyone outside of my wife and doctor about my panic attacks and anxiety.

i weaned myself off all medications for my anxiety about eight or nine years ago. i was taking paxil and ativan for about five years. later switched to some other drugs. the best drug i ever took was serzone, which basically took the edge off of everything and made me feel great all the time. then the fda put the kibosh on it because it apparently destroyed people's livers. but i only took it for about eight months so i never had a problem with my liver. it's been about 8-9 years and i still miss serzone.

the thing is, although i weaned myself off the meds (mostly because paxil was making me have major side effects, which affected my marriage, if you know what i mean), i still have this generalized anxiety i was diagnosed with. i'm 38 and i was diagnosed with this 15 years ago although i'm sure i've had it my entire life.

i've learned to live with it as part of my personality. i still kind of wish i could get some meds for the times when the anxiety is particularly intense, but i haven't really done anything about that. i would like to find something i could take as needed, but none of the meds i tried would work on a case

i also spent about 5 years seeing a shrink, but i quit that about 10 years ago because it was a waste of time, money and mental energy.

 

I saw one of my best friends take the same drug that I sometimes take and I said, "Is that Alprazolam?" and he said, "Yeah, how'd you know?" and I told him that I take the same thing and recognized the pill.

I feel fortunate that I have never had to take anything daily, but I think more people take something than any of us know...

 

I take Alprazolam as well, though as mentioned, I have to cut one in half if I don't want to be zoned out all day. I've never taken the 1 milligram version, can't imagine how that one might zone someone out, though for many, its very helpful.

 

I haven't had panic attacks, but I was getting pretty quick to anger over the last couple of years. Now, I'm on Wellbutrin, which I understand is the Sesame Street of meds like this, but I have noticed a difference for the better. I am now much more calm, especially with my wife and kids. The last time I went to the doc, it was the first time in a long time that the nurse didn't say anything about my slightly-high blood pressure. It wasn't much lower, but it was just under the level that's considered high. I do have to take it every day. If I miss just one day, two days later, I notice my stress level rising.

 

Anxiety is something that's haunted me all my life. Panic attacks, phobias, obsessive thoughts etc.. Diagnosed as GAD. I have been taking Alprazolam for about 5 years now on an as-needed basis. I've built up some tolerance to it over time, so 0.5mg doesn't do much for me these days. 2mg is what I'm prescribed and that dose works well, especially if I go 3-4 weeks or longer between uses. I'm also on Clonazepam (generic Klonopin) 1mg twice daily ... Clonazepam has a lot longer half-life and is, as my pdoc would say, "smoother" and supposed to prevent some of the anxiety. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (when practiced by a good counselor who understands it) is a great complement to the meds, and I think ultimately it could more or less cure my anxiety in the long run.

 

Well in advance of my first panic episode (in 1984, the year my dad died .... yeah) I went through a long phase of OCD behavior, mainly confined to not being sure if I had locked whatever door I'd just walked out of.

I finally worked through that, but clearly the brain chemistry was there for me to eventually tumble into panic attacks.

 

I've been there, too, many times.

Through the roughly 15-month process of my marriage unraveling after 20 years, I was on Lexapro to basically keep me level. I had stopped eating and lost 40 pounds (which took me from 162 to 122, so yeah, that was bad), and was waking up between 3 and 5 every morning with my heart rate well into triple digits.

I weaned myself off the Lexapro after about six months and turned to yoga and fairly heavy physical activity. I can certainly tell when it's been too long between workouts; I apparently need to keep my body moving pretty hard to keep the chemicals properly shaken and stirred.

Good for all of you who don't just ignore it or think it'll go away. Anxiety is often exacerbated by outside stimuli, but the root of it is clinical, and there's plenty of help available, whether it's pharmaceuticals, therapy, or just increased physical activity (in my case, a pretty decent mix of the three.)

 

I had to wear a Holter monitor yesterday for them to track my heart rate for 24 hours, just as part of ruling out that it was anything serious. I was told to press a button on a little box attached to a bunch of electrodes if I had an 'episode' and I did not have one, of course. Then this morning, about 12 hours after that thing came off, I felt like I was having a heart attack again. I had this weird, stabbing pain in my side, shortness of breath. I got up and walked around and it went away in just a couple of minutes. This sucks. I just want to be normal again! Where did this come from?