Is this agoraphobia, or panic?

I am a 32 year old mother of three. I was diagnosed with MVP when i was 14. I was on inderal for years. About a year ago my doctor took me off the medication because he said i had 3 normal EKG's. That i just ran a rapid heart rate. Since I have been off my medication i have noticed that what my family thinks is Panic Attacks/Anxiety. I have been through alot in the past years and always am stressing about something. I want to stay home all the time because of how i feel when i go out. I get shaky at just the thought of leaving the house. Although, I still have to go out. When i leave i will start to feel shaky, and the further i go away from my house the worse it will come on. I will go into a store, and i will began to feel real shaky, my face will get hott, and my eyes will feel funny. They get like twitchy or something, its hard to explain. Like i cant see clearly. I will " hurry" and pay...i feel like i have to get out of the store asap. I feel like people are staring at me, when this happens. I am afraid that i am going to pass out, because i get so lightheaded, but i havent. I just hurry out the store, and rush home. I do wake up in the mornings shaky, sometimes at the thought that i have to leave. I have been grouchy at home, and when im home my eyes feel tired. I make excuses not to even leave home, but with small kids i have too. I know when i was on this medication, i never felt this way. I do have asthma also. This is affecting my life. Has anyone experienced this?? Is this agoraphobia coming??

[MrGreen]

Is this agoraphobia coming??

It seems like you are pushing yourself further and further into the house. It does begin with normal panic attacks when we outside the house. Bad experiences and the likes. To the point were we feel that if we avoid the places it happens to us most of all it will go away. Thus we create a comfort zone. Which is our home. But you don't have to go through all of that. You said you were fine on medication. I am not saying medication is always the answer. It is only part of the answer. About 1/3 of the answer. The hardest part of the answer comes from you. Not running from what you fear the most. But in order to do that you just might need some form of medication to allow you to relax and be able to go back out and face up to things.

It is never easy when you have kids. You simply just can't vanish from the outside world. And I think you know that. That you have to be there for them. So my first port of call would be to see a doctor. And tell him what you told us here. Just to get his views on things. None of us are doctors here on the forum. But you are showing classic signs of anxiety/panic attacks. The longer it is left untreated the more embedded it becomes and then it can be a lot harder to fight back. I know it will even be hard for you to go see a doctor. But think of him as someone who can help you take what will be those early steps to recovery.

We do like to mention theraphy too. Because it teaches us a lot of things. You learn all about panic and anxiety and ways to cope with it. Look at it like you had some skills once upon a time. But now you have forgotten how to use them. What you will be doing is learning those skills all over again. As basic as they are. Going outside and not feeling any anxiety at all. You just have to re learn how to do these things. They are still there with you. Hiding away. On a subconscious level. They have been pushed aside by the anxiety that has taken over. But once one thing falls back into place it will have a knock on effect and you will see other things falling back into place too. To the point were you may even forget about them in a few months. Might be like nothing ever happened at all.

But first things first. Well done for writing your post. That was step one. Now we take step two. The doctor. We see what he has to say about everything. We don't look or think beyond the doctor for now. Because we can get too far ahead of ourselves that it only creates anxiety that we don't need. So take things one step at a time. And keep us posted on what is going on. We are here to help. In the exact same boat. So we know exactly where you are at right now.

[dtsambasis]

This whole experience is scary for me. I am shaky at the house most of the time. Like i am on edge, everyone tells me that i am grouchy. I am not my normal self anymore. This just hit me all of a sudden. I was thinking maybe i have a medical condition, and its not panic...but I feel the worst outside of my house. I dont feel like me, i feel like im in a cloudy atmosphere, and then it hits....the real shakiness, lightheartedness, eyes act funny etc...then i want to run....I get in a hurry to get out of the place i am in....sometimes i will be riding with my husband, and its like i want to open the car door and run. I hurry the person up at the cash register because i just have to get out of there. I am in the middle of college right now, taking online classes....this quarter....and i have been fine. The doctor took me off that medication along time ago, and i was never like this before. I want my life back, and thank you for posting back to me...i am going to the doctor....as much as i am scared to even go out to go to the doctor...i will probably get a panic attack on the way there...and while i am there.

[MrGreen]

Well ask you doctor to send you for tests to rule out other things. One everything else comes back negative can we only say for sure that it is of the mind. I would avoid using the word anxiety when I first saw the doctor. Because he would fob the whole thing off on anxiety and treat it as such. So let him determine what he imagines it might be. I know there are various tests you can have done. We all have to have them done at one point in time. Just so they knew it wasn't anything else. I know Inderal is a beta bloker? I think I was offered it once. Never did take it. So wouldn't be aware of long term use of such a drug. And any effects once you stop. But lets rule out everything first before we jump the gun and say it is only anxiety. It can be frightening to even imagine that it could be just anxiety doing all of this. So much happening at once. So many life changes. Wondering what on earth is going on. Why me. Why now. A whole head full of thoughts. All adding to your woes. Doctors are not our favourite people because we hate having to queue and then sit in the room with them and the likes. Don't know when I last my own doctor. I can leave a form down with the medication needed and pick up my script the next day. No need to see the doctor at all. That suits me fine. But I do remember years ago when the condition first kicked in. I kept it quiet for over a year. I didn't want to tell anybody at all. You do wonder what they will all think of you. As you have no idea what is going on yourself, you have ideas of how others will see you. It is all big time frightening. But once you get over that first part and see more people are like yourself than you may imagine and get that first bit of help, things will begin to fall into place.

[dtsambasis]

Yes i need a full physical done but i have had this for so long that i dont know...it started about a year ago, and then went away for awhile, the past two weeks its been here full force. 3 weeks ago, i was going everywhere. Before then it was just hitting in spurts.

[MrGreen]

Well at least you are talking about it. That in itself can help. You know exactly where you are at with it. So when it comes to the doctor you should be able to describe it so well to him. Funny really, if it was me, I don't know if I would wish it were something else or just of the mind. It is only when something like that hits you ask yourself which would be the best answer? Because something else could be more serious. Though mental illness is bad in itself. I wouldn't know what I would wish for. I guess we all just and wait now and find out. I seriously hope it is nothing too bad. Hard to even guess about it as it went away for so long. Then came back. Anxiety does do that. But any doctor would probably tell you so do a million other things.

[dtsambasis]

I just went to the store tonight, i was daring. Well i cant say daring..because i have 3 younger kids and i HAVE to go out. I cant just sit here. Driving is usually a big thing for me, when i hit traffic, i get one bad. ( panic)...I feel trapped. Anyways, on the way there I was doing good, i got inside Lowe's, which i usually can not go to because its huge to me. I get in line, and I felt it coming on, my face got sooo hot, my eyes felt like they were shaking, i was struggling to see straight, got lightheaded, and shaky...i just wanted to run out the big doors. I tried to hurry the cashier as much as possible. When i got my change, i practically ran out of the store. I dont get the eye shaking at home, only when i go out in public. On the way home what do you know i was getting every light RED...i would almost panic sitting in the line of cars. I was sweating.....I made it home but now my face is still hot. Sometimes, i will come home and get chills..real bad. Tonight i also have a slight headache now, and my face feels flushed.

[MrGreen]

As you say, that is the thing with having kids. You are forced into situations at times. Is there any way around that for now. Until you can ease your way back out? Internet shopping even? Not sure if you have a credit card and a local shop where you can shop online and they bring the goods to you. That way you can begin to work on smaller things. Were going to the store is brave. It is like taking a big leap before you have learned how to walk. Bit like you have to learn the basics all over again. Starting with the smallest of things first. Then working your way up from there. Over a period of time. I know kids means having to do things. If internet shopping is out maybe you know of somebody who wants to earn a bit of spare cash in her spare time and you can hire her to do certain things for you. Shopping being one of them. Until you get sorted on your feet. Which will mean starting at the bottom. That can be just outside your own house. Nowhere further for now. Until you feel safe out there. Then take the next step and make a bit of a further trip. Be it just around the block. Again until you get used to the new feelings. Home is never that far away from you. Again, just thrown ideas at you. How you go about it is up to you. Nothing is ever pushed at you. We all have our own ways of dealing with certain situations.

[dtsambasis]

Well i went to Urgent care today. I have been diagnosed with Anxiety/depression. I had a panic attack right in his office. Although, he stood in front of me, and told me that i was going to be okay, as i cried. He was an awesome doctor. He put me on Zoloft, and Xanax. I have to go to a doctor he referred me to next thursday. I dont want to be on Xanax. I want them to give me something lighter. So, i feel a little relief that i know whats going on with me. He called it "situational Anxiety". He told me that if it gets bad to the point that i cant handle it to go to the ER. They will give me something right away to calm me down. I really dont want to go that route though.

[MrGreen]

Well done to you. At least you know what it is now. As for not wanting xanax, well there are a few more options. I think xanax is always their first answer. They must have a stock pile of them that they want to give away. ( LOL ) Xanax is fast acting. If he is saying you have situational anxiety he was just thinking of something that will work there and then. Lord knows what is lighter. And non habit forming too. They are all nearly the same. Klonopin is for longer lasting anxiety. It can be used much longer than xanax and not lose its effect. Tolerance is much longer. But it is still a benzo. So just as addictive. It is not as fast acting. More steady form of medication. I am sure that theraphy will be suggested somewhere along the way. To show you ways to deal with things when anxiety kicks in. But that is all for the further. You took a big step and well done for that. Next step is the doctor.

[dtsambasis]

The doctor that i seen yesterday was amazing. I was having a panic attack right in front of him, and i thought i was going to pass out. I was burning up, and crying. Shaking really bad also. He said you are going to be fine, and he stood right in front of me. He really showed me that i can deal with these attacks, and i dont have to let them win. He showed me that i was not going to pass out, and its all trying to control my thoughts. He said i am not going to let anything happen to you. He wave a piece of paper in front of me to cool me down as he spoke to me. I am glad that he seen what happens to me.He checked me over, and thats when he said its anxiety. I have never cried to a doctor before, but i had seen him in the past along with my kids. He remembered who i was, and was sympathetic as soon as he seen me. That really helped. All he kept saying is i am going to help you. My heart rate was 104, and my blood pressure was like 156/70,,and my temp was elevated. ( had an argument with my husband that morning also) So i was already upset. I am glad he seen me in this situation. I am getting frequent headaches, and shakes still at home. I think its my BP. I cant wait to go to the doctor this week, i hope he is as cool as this doctor.

[MrGreen]

Some doctors are great. Make you want to go back to them. It's a shame you can't see that same doctor on a regular basis. As you seem to like him and know he is there to help you out. He showed you a true thing. No matter how bad things get, they will always pass. It is one thing I always tell people. It is only when we stop running away from the anxiety that we can see how it passes just as easily as it comes on. Hard at first. Because you have to go through what you fear the most to see this. But once you see it can pass it might help you a lot. Just to know that one fact. That they are all just feelings. They come and they go. But you done great. Very important step you took. So give yourself the full credit you deserve for what you done.

[dtsambasis]

Why today am i scared that there is something seriously still wrong with me? I feel unbalanced kinda, im not real shaky today...I am scared that maybe i have something seriously wrong with me? Maybe they just think its anxiety but its really not. I feel odd alot, not myself. Even when i am at home. Like today, i feel quiet, and unbalanced...and a little clumsy...i dont know whats going on...is this normal?

[29sillygirl]

Hi there,
I've been watching this thread without adding my comments as you are moving right along with Mr. Gs excellent help.

Today I noticed your last post, and want you to thing about this: you have been fighting a panic disorder, pushing through when you can, caring for children, posting experiences and feelings here.  

I think the experience of having a panic attack in medical office was reassuring in a way, but remember our minds hold onto the sensory overload of an attack, the suggestions of a doctor, and all of it.  Think you are going through that delayed reaction to a panic attack.

We have all experienced it.  You are normal.  Your brain is working overtime processing your ordeal: body following with symptoms.  BTW: the body symptoms can range all over the place.  

Congratulations for posting.  You are not alone as long as you have us.  I have been help more than I can say by the kind and experienced people here.  You are fortunate to have Mr. G as your 'virtual coach'.  He got me out of my apt, following almost 3 yrs of hibernation.  So try to calm yourself.  Or....do whatever you need to do to get through.  This is a very rough time, but as you know, it will pass.  

I am a veteran of the panic wars: 30 yrs.  I  take clonazapam in  varying doses as needed after much experimenting with other medications, and denial: "I can do it without drugs:)".

Mr G checks his computer regularly, as do I, so you will hear from him soon.

[dtsambasis]

I dont know its just strange...to feel unbalanced at home. I got thinking today like wait, maybe its a medical condition in my brain that they haven't discovered. I frequently yawn at home...im unbalanced, i shake every now and then...I am glad though that the doctor seen it happen. One thing i did notice is that drinking alot of water ( in the doctors office) did calm me some. I am not a water drinker, but i do now. I have alot of phobias, being in the backseat of a car that is only 2 door, elevators, airplanes, rooms that are small with no windows( my doctors office yesterday),,,anywhere were an exit is not close by...this limits me to where i can go without panicking.

[MrGreen]

You are doing what we all do. Playing the ' what if ' game. Thinking that anxiety can't bring about that has happened to you. That is one major thing that people think about. It is only anxiety. How can it make all these things happen? It has to be something else. Trust me when I say that anxiety can bring on just about anything if we want it to. That is the key thing. If we want it to. For example, you feel your heat beat. You think it is beating a little a faster than normal. That is not normal in your mind. So begin there must be something wrong with you. You focus only on the heart beat. Which in turn is bringing on other symptoms that you are relating to what you think must be wrong with you. Thus creating a much bigger problem. When the answer is that it was all only anxiety. I can't begin to tell you the amount of people that are rushed to hospital with suspected heart attacks, only to find out it is anxiety. It just shows what anxiety can do. It can take the smallest thing and turn it into something major. But if we sit and have time to think about, we find it very hard to believe that it can only be anxiety doing this to us. Your reactions are normal. You are normal. Once you begin to understand the workings of anxiety you will see that a lot of these sort of worries will vanish. I began with panic attacks 20 years ago. I don't even think about panic attacks today. I don't see them as a problem any more. It is just the way it has all worked out with me. I still have my worries and some fears. But panic is not one of them. The way the mind works. It is a powerful thing. We see that when we are down. The way it seems to batter us. But if it can work against us, it can also work for us. Just needs to be trained. I am sure you will learn these things over the next few months. That is were theraphy comes in. To get a full understanding of anxiety and how it works. To learn ways to cope once it does kick in. To learn how to change our thoughts. So we don't let the mind wonder so much. Just try and think of the good you have done by going to that doctor and see that as your early steps to regaining a life that is there waiting for you.

[dtsambasis]

I know, i am 32 years old about to graduate with a criminal justice/forensics degree this year. I feel like this is holding me down. I have 2 kids that have field trips that i can go to but i am afraid to. This is totally affecting everything. I cant go anywhere with my husband because i am afraid to spazz out in front of him and others. When i go out i am so disoriented, and feel unnormal. I hate that feeling. I think monday i am going to call a counselor to talk to about anxiety, if i can get into her office without spazzing out. I want my life back that i had a month ago, i have had panic attacks for about a year but the past 3 weeks they have just been totally outrageous. They would come and go, and i could still drive anywhere and do anything....but now i cant do nothing. The doctor did show me that i can control the panic/anxiety attack, and not to let it control me. In which i have been doing the past 3 weeks The disorientation is what drives me totally insane.

[MrGreen]

I do think because they are only hitting you, second time round, over the past three weeks, that they are a lot worse. It is like everything in the begining. It is a whole lot worse when it starts off. Eases off somewhat over time. The more we learn about it and learn that it can just vanish as easily as it came on the easier it does get. We just have to be shown these things. And you were by that doctor. You saw that how it can go. It is that simple really. Once we don't run from it. The more we run from it the more we are encouraging it to come on stronger. That's why we do things in baby steps. Nothing big at first. Just to show ourselves that we can survive out there. Setting goals of going that little bit further each time. If we start off big we can fall harder. As I said in an earlier post, it is like learning how to live all over again. Re-training the brain and the body in old skills we once had. Once your medication begins to work in full that will help you also. As was said on the anxiety forum, it can take up to 4 weeks for that to kick in. May be a few side effects at first. That can be normal for new medication. I think Lydia wrote you a great answer on the anxiety forum. I know it was like a book. LOL. But she made some great points in it. So for now, just hang on in there. You are going in the right direction. That is the one thing to keep in mind.

[dtsambasis]

I just got prescribed Zoloft, and i have heard ALOT of negative things about it...my mom takes it and she has been on it for a year now. She said it does her great. I am scared now about this medicine!!

[29sillygirl]

Hey,
I understand the fear of trying a new medicine.  I'm encouraged to hear that your mom has had good results with it.  If your systems are similar, you can hope you will have similar good results.

Believe me, we are all scared of starting a new medicine.  You will read about side effects on MH forums that deal with depression and anxiety.  Look at it this way: at least your doctor has given you a tablet that may work.  You know getting better is a matter of trial and error, and no one medicine is the complete answer to your anxiety problem.  

My fingers are crossed here.  Keep posting.  Sometimes we feel the side effects more at first when taking a medicine; then the body adjusts and within a few weeks (time varies from person to person) your mental outlook will have improved.

[MrGreen]

Can't really add to that. May take 4 to 6 weeks before you feel the full effects of it. Until then you may feel a bit off as the medication changes your system around. Making inroads into doing what it is meant to do. I have read your posts on the anxiety forum too. So I know you were feeling a bit off. That's new medication for you at times. Until it settles into your system and begins to do it job. But if you give 100 people the same form of medication you may get 100 different reactions to it. We are all different. I just look at what I am on. The amount of posts I have read about the same stuff and how badly it effects people. Yet it does nothing but relax me. Side effects vary from user to user. As to will it work? You will only know after about 6 weeks. That's how long I would give it. Then see how you feel on it. Then make your mind up on it. Some people make the minds up after only one tablet. Change to something new. The something new again. Then something new again. They either fear medication or side effects and just don't give anything a try for long enough. I have long since stopped reading labels and asking questions about tablets. If you believe all you hear you won't want to touch a thing.

[dtsambasis]

Yes you are very right. I am a person afraid of medication. I am afraid to take anything but Motrin. If i was in the hospital and they had given it to me then i will come home and take it. I just hate feeling weird etc..I drank alot of water today and man it kinda relaxed me. I mean i left the house probally 6 times today, and only had the minor feeling of panic. I am not saying water is a cure by  no means, but i usually dont drink water. Honestly i am a milk and soda person. They gave me water at urgent care that day, and it helped me then, well somewhat. I have been drinking it all day today and i feel kinda sleepy but the edge is still kinda there.My heart is always beating steady though. I can sit here now and feel it beating kinda hard. I hope that all of this is not because of my heartbeat. When i was on inderal i never felt this way at all. The doctor would not give it back to me though.

[MrGreen]

You done well then. We all find that something that works for us. If that something is water for you, then drink more of it. Can't do you any harm at all. Good for the body too. Or as a new age practisioner ( did I spell that right? ) would tell, that water is washing away with the bad toxins from the body and keeping the chakras free and clean. I am sure SillyGirl would understand what I am saying by that. After a few new age treatments they give you water to drink to get rid of bad toxins in the body. Reiki is one of them. The water could be doing something.

Odd that your doctor would not try you on something that worked before. Unless you ask him out straight why he refuses to offer it? There may be a reason. Only he knows the answers.

Love the fact that you are fully aware of your heart beat. Keeping track of it are we? If it ever felt off would you notice? It is one thing we try and ignore doing. Ignore all those little tweeks and twinges. They are nothing. Unless we make them into something.

But I think you are going in the right direction. Which is a good thing.

[dtsambasis]

I have noticed that the last few days i have this pimply rash mainly on my legs, some on arms. They do not itch though. They look like a million pimples and they are not real red. Could this be caused by my anxiety ya think? I was looking it up online and all i can find is " itchy" rashes..and thats not mine. I know it said that you can get rashes from stress, anxiety and since mine has been high, i was wondering if thats what its from.

[MrGreen]

It could be anxiety related or it could be a reaction to the medication you are on. Are you alergic (allergic) to anything that you know of? I would give it a few days and then ask at my local chemist if it doesn't get any better at all. Anxiety has a million symptoms. Or so it would seem if it hits us bad. But have it looked at if it doesn't improve. Better safe than sorry.

[29sillygirl]

I can add that anxiety can have a thousand symptoms.  Since cancer treatment and my son's death, I've had a rash (no pun intended) of skin ailments.  

I'm just now able to see how visiting an upbeat doctor helped with Rosacea. The chat was all I needed. Bumps disappeared the day after visit.  

This week it was a super sore throat: felt like something was really wrong, but my belief that it was stress induced, kept me calm.  The sore throat followed a troubling dream; was somehow connected.  I am over it today.

Back to your situation: definitely get to a dermatologist for a diagnosis.  Even if it is stress induced, at least you'll know and that will ease your anxiety.

[dtsambasis]

I havent been on in awhile. I have been having good days, then some really bad ones lately. I went to my family doctor this week to discuss what the urgent care doctor had said. He said i have depression/agoraphobia. I dont think that i have agoraphobia, because i do leave my house. Yes i am sick every day after coming home, but i go out daily. I have been having nausea the last two days, and a really bad headache. I went out with my husband today, and it was rough my stomache hurts worse now that i am home. I had the nervous shakes the whole time i was with him. Red lights, and now the wide open spaces are getting to me. That hit me two days ago. Its hard to explain but something with the sky and the open area.I have a sunroof in my car, and when its open it even makes things worse on me. My husband insisted it be open. He doesnt really understand what i am going through. When i dont want to go out with him, he gets mad, so i go anyways and suffer. I am suppose to go to his friends house on monday and i am scared because i cant stand being outside, or even feeling stranded at his friends house. Since we are going together, i couldnt just leave. I dont know any of these people, so thats not helping. I havent started my medicine at all. My family doctor put me on Zoloft also, but he wants me to take 100mg. I havent even tried 25mg. I have been afraid to take it because i have had such bad headaches, and nausea. I am afraid this will make it worse. I want to get better though. My kids are out of school now, and its beautiful outside. I leave, and hurry to get back home all of the time. I just dont know what to do.

[MrGreen]

The normal fear of what will the medication do to me. It is a common fear. If the answer was that it would make you better, can you not try reason with yourself at all? If you are afraid to begin on a high dose, then start on a lower dose. Break a tablet. At least get something into your system. On one hand you want to get better. On the other you are afraid of the things that might make you feel a bit better. Don't worry. We have all been down that same road before. I always hated tablets. My doctor assumed I was taken them. But I wasn't. Just had to pluck the courage up come the end of the day to begin taken something. The options were the sh!t life I was living or the thought of getting better. I'm not a tablet swallower. I have to crush mine. Only way I will take them. I have one that is a sollutab. Disolves on the tongue. Medication will make a few changes to your body. First as it gets into your system. Then it will be adjusting what is wrong with you. It is normal to feel a bit odd at first. These days I just think of Ireland and swallow. I do no reading about them at all. Just down the hatch. I will admit the last change of medication I had I did sit there waiting for something to happen. Expecting to feel some sort of change. Nothing at all. Most need time to build up in your system. I wasted a good few hours wondering what was going to happen. But just try and imagine the changes it may make to your life. Ask yourself is it worth it? As you are now, you end up sick, headaches and the likes. Trust me, medication won't make you feel any worse than you already feel. You've nothing to lose. Loads to gain.

[dtsambasis]

You are so right.I have plenty of people telling me to swallow the pill. lol. Most of them are on something also. My mom is on Zoloft 50mg, my step dad is on Paxil, my husbands family takes anti depressants....so everyone is telling me it will only get better. Its not fair to my kids that i am living this way. They suffer. I make excuses not to go out, and when i do go, i hurry so they are only out for a little bit. I remain serious when i go out because i have to focus on " not loosing control" in front of them. My husband trys to laugh with me in the car, but i am afraid....i try to focus on again " not loosing it" in front of him. When i am in the passengers seat, i feel like the sky is just overwhelming me, and i will shake, and keep drinking water...i dont go nowhere without my bottled water. To me it helps me, whether it really does i dont know. When i am riding down the road, all i have been seeming to see is sky....like its right in my face. This is new...i wasnt feeling this before. The doctor asked me, he was suprised that i wasnt so bad i was thinking a meteor was going to drop on me. He said most anxiety patients feel that way. I dont know but everyone tells me, do i want to keep feeling this way....or do i want to take the pill and feel better....most dont understand why i am so afraid, they all just took their pills and didnt think about it. They knew it was to help them. Me its like the minute i take the pill i will be watching myself really closely. Waiting for that side effect. My urgent care doctor said that its a harmless drug that i can take it alone with my kids. Plus i was told a 25mg was a baby dose, and it probally wont help until i reach 50mg. My mom has been on 50 mg for a year, and never had to up the dose. I have to go out of state in July so i know before a long road trip this medicine has to be in my system.

[dtsambasis]

I am not sure about this Zoloft. I started taking it on Sunday morning at 10:05am. Today is my 5th pill. I have had what seems like alot of side effects but i am not sure. The first night i had insomnia, and woke up in the bathroom ( d) not vomiting. Then i was nauseated, lost my appetite ( still dont have much of one) I drink lots of water, i mean alot. I have this gagging sensation that comes and goes but could be associated with acid reflux because i have seem to have that every time i eat. ( thought even before i took Zoloft i might have Acid reflux) my mouth is dry, my throat feels like there is a lump in it, and feels sensitive. That has been for about 2 days....but i really dont think that thats the zoloft itself, i do think its causing me heartburn. I burp alot and my stomache makes noises. In the mornings before i have to take my pill about an hour before i get real anxious.about 9:00am. My ears where feeling full for 2 days, and i called the pharmacy they said its not the zoloft. I dont know but i dont feel dizzy or wierd or anything just these problems. Will they go away soon??

[tuftsballer]

Just read your entire thread. I suffer from exactly what you are going through at this very moment in my life. I am a healthy 24 year old male who has been struggling with agoraphobia/panic attack for over a year now. It has ruined my life. I was not sure what was happening to me up until about a month ago when a doctor diagnosed me with the disorder. I am about to start taking medicine to assist me with trying to get over the fear I get while driving and being away from my home for extended periods of times. It seems to me with your last post that you are looking for every little thing that could possibly being happening to your body while taking zoloft instead of focusing on what the real goal for you in the first place when you started taking the meds. You want to be able to leave the house and not feel like you need to be in a rush to hurry home, or be able to be in a car with your husband and  not feel like you wanna open then door and jump out (i have the same fear btw so your not alone there) BUT what I'm trying to say is that we both have a debilitating mental disorder at this point in our lives and this medicine is supposed to turn off our racing thoughts in order for us to try and succeed in the situations that freak us out the most. You haven't even mentioned one time yet about how you feel about going to Lowes or whatever store you want to be able to go to and not panic. STOP trying to feel side effects and start trying to use the meds what you were told they would be able to help.... your panic attacks. You need to put yourself in these situation while on the meds and see if it helps you cope - If it does then I would say having a dry throat, nasesua and whatever else you get from zoloft would be worth it in my opinion because you would be free again. You might have a dry throat but I would trade that for my life back in a second. Hope this helps I'm about to start zoloft and i am a 230 6'9" male, anybody have any idea on how many MG's i should take to feel an effect?