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I suspect I am having axiety attacks .....
by KTB2006, Dec 29, 2006 12:00AM
I have been having a lot of the symptoms that you guys have (from reading the posts) but have never been formally diagnosed with anxiety issues. I did have an axiety attack back in September and went to the ER because I thought I was having a heart attack. After that (they gave me a shot and the shortness of breath went away after about 10 minutes) it took months for the symptoms to resurface. For the past month or so I have been getting shortness of breath almost daily. I also have noticed that most of the time it seems to start when I get behind the wheel (which I find strange because I do not have any fears of driving). Also, the shortness of breath gets worse when I try to lay down so I have to sit upright. My right arm has been having a strange tingling feeling in it as well, which I suspect may be anxiety. I have always been stressed but the whole axiety thing is new to me. I am prescribed a medication called Nortriptylin (50 MG) which is generic for Pamelor to help with the stress but it does not seem to work for me. I was given 1 script for Xanax (.25 MG, 20 pills) when I had the axiety attack and it worked ok but honestly I took 3 at a time instead of 1 because 1 wasn't really helping. I don't really know what I should do from here. My symptoms seem to be coming more frequently and they seem to be getting worse. What type of a doctor should I see for this sort of thing, and how do I make them understand that I'm not just "shopping" for the good stuff? (Xanax, Valium) Any advice /insight would be appreciated, as I am totally unsure what to do at this point. Thanks.
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Try some self-help measures like daily exercise, meditation (or controlled breathing), eat regularly, practice moderation in alcohol etc.
If these don't help then the SSRI anti-depressants might be the next step.
Good luck
following lines - that involves less-potent meds but has worked
quite well for me and the circumstances included.
on and off, since the mid 70s, i have been allowed to take
lorazepam - (P R N!!!) - in the 1/2 to 1 mg dosage ranges.
usually it was to start a couple days a week with a little
more calm. twenty or so minutes later this little knot in
my tum-tum relaxed. i could _feel_ the change.
1/2 mg was just fine with an occassional 1-mg when i was too
lazy to cut the tab into two or felt more anxious than usual.
and in about 20 mins, tum-tum relaxed. mid-day anxiety was
(prn) treated approx the same way though _rarely_ on days
that started with lorazapam.
through the 70s and 80s and early 90s things were nominal but
then added grief/stress made me think a bit because my sleep
pattern/cycle changed adversly.
so i changed from wake-up meds to go-2-sleep meds (doc
approved). realize, also, that 2-beers a night (over
3-4 hours) is a diet mandate of mine. the lorazapam
helped with the sleep but i had to titrate up to
3.5 mg to get a whole, reliable quality night's sleep.
this surprised me, actually but i'll use that regimen in
the future if the situation seems to suggest it. btw,
4-beers a night was no help. more than that i am not willing
to exceed, and never loraz+beer>2!!