Anxiety

[ljp128]

Hello everyone.  I am new to this site and have never posted on any forums before... I have been suffering from anxiety and panic attacks for several years now.  They have been mild and not often up until recently.  I have always been able to "talk myself out of them" but then got so bad that I was awake ALL night with anxiety symptoms-fast heart rate, shaking, dizziness, etc- I was just put on Wellbutrin XL 150 a day and xanax for immediate help during attacks.  Well I have been on the Wellbutrin for almost 2 full months now and I had no anxiety for the past 2 months but I feel like it is starting up again... I get brief moments of anxiety for no reason and I can focus on breathing and they pass but then I have that feeling all day like "oh no am I going to have another panic attack" so I feel on edge all day.  I get the disassocation feeling as well as if I am not really all there but just going thru the motions of the day.  I have only taken 1 xanax since I got them as I hate to take drugs period so the less I take, the better!  I am wondering if I should taper off the Wellbutrin, I am on the lowest dose.  I was using Rescue Remedy with good success in the past but I had an event in my life that I think just triggered the anxiety to come full force.  That event is over now and everything in my life is going great so I don't feel like I need the medication anymore....

ADVICE PLEASE!!!

Thanks so much for any help or support you can offer!

[ljp128]

Thank you for your reply!!  I do not have any depression-just anxiety and panic attacks.  I have used the Rescue Remedy in the past and I don't think I really gave it a long enough chance to work...  I have a counselor who speciaizies in anxiety that I see and that has helped.  I spoke with her right after the attacks started and a day or 2 before I started the Wellbutrin.  I felt much better after speaking with her but still started the meds... now after 2 months of meds I think they are making me feel more anxious!  I am ready to taper off them!!

[Paxiled]

Therapy should be the first choice, since meds are problematic, but if you do need meds you have to do your homework since not all psychiatrists are created equal, and most regular docs aren't very versed in these meds.  Wellbutrin isn't generally used for anxiety, it's used for depression.  The reason is it's a stimulating anti-depressant.  Usually the ones used for anxiety are the tricyclics and the ssris, not wellbutrin.  It can actually cause anxiety.  Now, if your main problem is depression with that causing the anxiety, that's a different story.  There are also a lot of natural remedies that can be combined -- rescue remedy is for periods of crisis, but there are remedies that act on the same receptors as medication, but are weaker so they're easier to quit and have fewer serious side effects.  Try reading a book called Natural Highs by Hyla Cass, a psychiatrist at UCLA, for an overview of some of what's available naturally to treat this if that's the direction you want to head in.

[cheshchesh819]

go back to your doctor,i dont know alot about meds i decided not totake them when they were offered to me,as a mate told me that they dont stop the anxiety and panic attacks,only that they sheilds them for the period of time you are taking them,dont know if there is any truth in that,but i did listen,but if you feelyou are ready to stop taking them speak to your doctor about it just incase you need to be weaned off them