ANXIETY/FAILED MEDS/DESPERATTION/PLEASE HELP ME

Dear Dr.and anyone!!!I recently wrote about my PDoc putting me on Neurontin and wanting me to try Lexapro. You wrote me back now Here is what has happened.  Short refresher of my problem:
I started having "DURING THE NIGHT ANXIERY ATTACKS" 14 MONTHS AGO; (WHICH WAS MANAGED, till now, BY 1 MG. LORAZ.in PM and on rate occas.I would take 1/4mg.in day) After learning my Husband has to have Valve Replacement surg. on his heart;Two weeks ago I started having severe DAILY ANX. 24/7 WHICH LANDED ME IN THE ER LAST WEEKEND; Next day, My Psyc. Med. Spclist. suggested Neurontin It was horrible; then they asked me to try Lexapro on Friday(.05mg.) and it was worse! I was a basket case and fell into a deep despair. My Husband took me to see the med specialist she and Psyc. told me to stop all of the above.  I stopped prozac after 9 years 4 months ago and was functioning pretty well on 1 mg. loraz. at bedtime until two weeks ago. After I was told I had Prozac Poopout I have, over the Last 4 months, they tried Paxil, Traz.,Celexa, Serenity, and SAM-e all with the same side effects of the lexapro or worse. Now they prescribed Ambien as Loraz. won't get me thru the night like it always has. (I didn't want to increase the dose more and more).Ambien is giving me 4/5hrs sleep . The First nt. 1/2 tab.no loraz. then 1 mg. lorz. at 4am I was exhausted. I wok up a mess and was a mess all day depressed/crying awful! I took meclazine 25mg. for nausea and it made me feel worse/asthma etc. Desperate for sleep last night my husband sugg. I take 1 whole Amb. tab.w/1/4mg. loraz. got 6hrs - woke up took another Ambien 1/2mg. loraz. 5hrs. sleep. Woke up groggy, wobbly, Feel weak, hungover. I did force food down today; had not eaten since Thurs. I feel undelying anxiety don't know what to do for it I am so confused and just want my life back so I can function during the day. Can Ativan start causing depression even on this "low" dose over time. Is it working against me? Can I switch over to low dose Xanax without going off Ativan would it help me more and or longer. I want to go back to Prozac next weekend; want other meds out first. Will Prozac work again???? Please tell me it will I am desperate. I never had a prob. with it but now fear it will be like all the others!! !!!
I WANT MY LIFE BACK!!!! I HAVE JOINED AN IOP GROUP 2/3 X'S WEEK; FIRST WAS FINE I LIKED IT, SECOND I WAS TOO SICK AND FELT TRAPPED BECAUSE OF THE LEXAPRO REACTION. i GO AGAIN TOMORROW. I WANT ONE ON ONE THERAPY TO GET TO THE BOTTOM OF WHAT STARTED THIS BUT I KNOW I NEED SOMETHING TO CHEMICALLY BALANCE MY BRAIN SO I CAN COPE AGAIN. PLEASE TELL ME YOU HAVE SEEN PATIENTS GO BACK TO PROZAC ETC. AND HAVE IT WORK! HAVE I BEEN OFF LONG ENOUGH 6/16 STOPPED.
Can Xanax, short term while getting back on Prozac over 4/6weeks, help me thru the transition and daily anxiety; then wean off. Will it trap me, is that too long to be on it? Or will I have to wean off Ativan too or before or what???? Would it mask the effectiveness of the Prozac? Please Help Me I am desperate. I just want to not feel anxious when I start my Prozac again. I know the mind is powerful and when I feel this way I feel helpless and think negatively.

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

I think that is very likely the Prozac will start to work again for you, so finding something to help while it is building up is the issue.  Xanax is a good, very effective, short term answer as long as you off of it carefully when it has served its purpose...and that means over a 3-4 week period. Substituting that for Ativan should be no problem.

[StupidMe]

Off prozac for 4 months. 1 to 1.25mg Ativan for 14 months. News of husband

[Try_to_be_social]

For medications to work for you, you have to put up the right settings for them, namely the least anxiety-provoking physiological state and the least aroused state of mind. Cognitive-behavioral therapy for sleep is a very powerful tool by itself or in combination with medications. It has 4 domains.

Firstly, sleep hygiene and stimulus control change behaviors of sleep.

The following is sleep hygiene:
(1) Avoid caffeine, nicotine and other stimulants before sleep.
(2) Don

[13tiger]

Thank you all!

[cohesion]

hello everyone.  Like anyone who feels or experiences anxiety I want to know why, I want it to STOP!
I recently started University A big part of my course involves presentations.  I knew this before I started but still i applied.  It was the first day (everyone is usually nervous arent they?) I had normal nerves but I was generally ok ( I think so This anxiety makes one confused) but it all started when the lecturer asked us to introduce ourselves to the class. He simply wanted us to give our name and just say what we did last year (education) if anything.  
Well thats when it started I began to feel really self concious my heart started to speed up I felt I was going very red ( did anyone notice?) I was feeling hot and both really awake and confused. the time for me to talk was drawing closer and closer i tried to smile block it out but no, it wasn't going away, it seemed impossible to overcome, really impossible, i was scared. I remained in this state thinking about how I was going to sound I thought I ws going to cry if I opened my mouth (really) How I was going to sound was unknown to me and I felt trapped obligued to talk as everyone else did it.  We it came to my turn i spoke quickly My voice very weak and I was trembling it was over well so I thought.  Then the lecturer asked where I studied I answered in a similar quick broken weak emotional voice.  I felt really ashamed, very scared, very confused, very trapped, the list is endless.  
I have always been very sensitive I am not very socialable I see it as a catch 22 situatation ( you need a social life to have a social life) everyone else seems to drift along effortlessly while I worry about this that and everything.  I wonder if I have a component missing, I was premature so I wonder maybe it is a subconcience thing that I missed out on something that helps in life.  I never really to spoke to anyone about it.  I feel lost really lost, I may look alright on the exterior but underneath I feel that something has taken a big chunck out of me, I am hanging by a thread.
I have had a few panic attacks since that have stemed from the first one The constant analysing and thinking about the anxiety creates more anxiety i find. I recently went to the campus councelor something I never thought i would ever have to do ( well underneath maybe i did) she talked to me about breathing techniques something that is ok when in a calm environment but i dont think it helps during a panic attack ( not even winning the lottery during a panic attack could help) we have talked over various things related to anxiety but now that I have researched and talked about the anxiety I feel that it is in controll of me it is out there and as long as i even think about it , it will always be there.  Last week I was feeling realy anxious all day and at night it is worse, i feel realy anxious my mind is really confused I had thoughts of sliping into a madness without controll over my feelings, this was scary, I ask my self if all this thrapy, talk and research is really help the more i look up websites the more I feel I have a more anxieties i begin to add them subconciously to my list........ I am very sorry If anyone who feels depressed of worried after reading this.  I am still hopeful, there is always hope

[Try_to_be_social]

Telling one who has been sensitized to stress to just relax is just like telling an insomniac to just fall asleep. One has to practice and rehearse the cognitive-behavioral techniques and relaxation exercise as if the Christians are learning the bible and practicing it teachings in their lives. Just as a particular chapter in the bible is not as enlightening to a particular Christian, a particular relaxation technique or psychotherapeutic approach may not work for a sensitive individual. One simply chooses another relaxation technique or another school psychotherapy. There is no one-size-fits-all way to reduce anxiety. And one should not only exercise the learned techniques in time of stress or attack but also do them so regularly that they becomes a way of life. Once you begin practicing you realize that whenever you start feeling anxious you are able to retrieve the feelings of relaxation you get during say deep meditation. This applies to all techniques.

[StupidMe]

One have to become aware what calms best-exercise, tend to one

[Try_to_be_social]

It sounds like you are suffering from anxiety. Your first attack was a fear of a social and performance situation in which you were exposed to unfamiliar people and to possible scrutiny by them. You felt such fear is excessive and unreasonable. And the situation was endured with intense anxiety and distress. You mentioned that you had a few panic attacks since but I don

[StupidMe]

Like other skills, such as riding a bicycle, application relaxation exercises require a lot of PRACTICE.

As anxiety can escalate very quickly and can occur in a wide variety of circumstances, the AIM of relaxation exercises is to achieve relaxation quickly (20 seconds) not just sitting, but in any situation.

When a person is anxious, the reaction can be subdivided into 4 components-(1) physiological (pounding heart,..), (2) emotional (nervous,..), (3) behavioral (avoid, escape,..), (4) cognitive (

[cohesion]

hello, thanks for replying to my thread.  I really appreciate it, really I do.  I am a little confused as to what you are saying in your threads in one you talk of overcoming anxiety by breathing exerise ect ( the advice I have read and hve been told in numouous places)... and in another you seem to change your mind and give a definate almost diagnostic reply saying I had 'social anxiety'  this worried me as you seem to say that it is different than normal anxiety and the breathing and relaxation techniques are useless against it and I should seek Physriatric care.  The councellor i say talked about Conogative therapy, a fansy term for changing though patterns, is that what I need to do, what more can a Physcaritist do? ?

[Try_to_be_social]

I am sorry to have you mislead. What I mean is that you are still suffering from anxiety state after SIMPLE