Interferon and Anxiety Attacks

Hello Everyone -- in to Day 6 of treatment and spent the better part of the day at a local hospital suffering from probably the most severe axiety attack I have ever expereinced.  Have sufferred from axiety for a couple years now but nothing like the one I had today. I thought sure I had one foot planted firmly in the next world. Have others found that the TX prompt severe anxiety attacks?  I am taking zoloft to help offset these and also now taking ativan.

Others with any similar experience?

[susan400]

On my last treatment I had an incident with a anxiety/panic attack while I was driving.  Scared me silly.  I thought, what in the world, was I going insane or something?  I got lost on a simple drive (on the interstate in North Florida) that I had made many times before.  I missed my turn off and had this feeling like I was totally confused, didn't realize where I was, where I was going, etc., etc.  It was very upsetting.  I know it was the treatment drugs. Not 4-1/2 mon. post treatment, I haven't had one recently.  Right out of treatment, I was getting an 'out of body' vague feeling, spacey, etc.  These drugs do have a big effect on our mental states, the way our brains function, etc.

Susan

[goldyn]

yes i have suffered with anxiey forever,, the only thing that saved me on tx was the good Lord and ativan what strength did they give you?

[settecasi1]

I'm not Doc but you may just be sweating the treatment (TX). Calm down and roll with it. As a rule, if you cannot manage any kind of side effect (SX) see a Doc.

[ADKmtnMan]

Thanks Setecass1 -- I have suffered from anxiety attacks before but nothing like the one I experienced today.  It was horrible and everything I did to try and calm down, that had previously always worked with other instances, wouldn't touch this attack.  Scared me!! Blood pressure dropped precipitously, temp dropped to 95*, pulse was down to 50  --> I thought sure I was on my way out!! NO FUN!  Thanks for the comments!

[hepcD]

I had anxiety also.  It really threw me for a loop. I am dealing with the after effects. Your not a lone. I am trying not to get stressed out . I am also taking resperdal and ativan. It seem to be helping . I hope you feel better soon.

[mkeela]

My first two shots I had some strange experiences LOL...I am sure now that they were brought on by anxiety. I have had NO other experiences like them since...and tonight is shot #14 WHOO HOO!!!!! I remember my first shot, having a ringing in my ears that resembled "synthesizer sounds" very beautiful as a matter of fact...that was until my brain started working overtime and I got to thinking weird stuff like,"hmmm what if thats what angels sound like" OH NO I'M DYING...hahahahaha...then I really went into a "tizzy" and had a STARK WHITE FACE, racing heart, sweating, intense fear, sick at my stomach etc. AHHH, the memories...you'll be there soon, seems like forever, but it'll pass and yeah,sounds like the anxiety gotcha.

WOW just read what happened to your temp and heart rate...on second thought, make sure your docs say that it is just anxiety!!

[lackalustre]

i had problems with severe anxiety.  the way you described the low BP  and low body temp makes me think of thyroid.  i treated with interferon in 03 and have lots of other symptoms too since being cured then.   but no one tested my thyroid correctly.  i now feel it has been the cause of a lot of bad symptoms.    you need your free T3, free T4, thyriod antibodies, ferritin  and TSH tested.   most dr.s just go by the TSH and that is not right.   check out www.stopthethyroidmadness.com     interferon puts us all at high risk of thyroid prob. and if you have existing prob which many people do(its one of the most undiagnosed problems today)  interferon tx. is that much harder.  i been there done that.   good luck

[anise]

I had panic attacks off and on since I was 29.  They lessened through the years.  

However, the third week of treatment I had a severe attack.  Dizzy, the unreality, sweating.  I was also very angry, weird.  Thankfully I got to my NP in time, since  I was driving, it was not a good state to be in. She gave me the full range of helper drugs.  I had Ativan, percocet for the headaches, paxil, and can't remember all the things I took.  Currently, only taking paxil.

In essence, talk to your doctor about getting some of these drugs.  They really helped me!

[Alady1620]

I had a couple of anxiety attacks when I first started treatment.  They went away.

[amicraxy]

It's really good to have found this site.  I really could have used it the first 5 months of treatment.  There were times I didn't know what was happening to me.  I would tell my Doctors and they really didn't seem to understand.  One of my Doctors even said that most people get over it after 2 or 3 months. That left me really messed up.  Because what was happening to me was more in my head then my body.  Look how I spelled crazy.  I just ended a 2 week period where I was able to work 6 hrs a day and was feeling about 50% but then 6 days ago, deep depression and then body weekness.  Just 5 weeks left but don't know if it gets bad again if I can continue

[cigaso]

I am not trying to alarm anyone. This happened to me. Everyone is different. My gastro took me off tx because of an episode I had on week 20 of tx. My GP was pissed off because he thought there was something he could do. I have a history of anxiety/panic attacks. I had been on Lexapro for a year and half prior to tx. I became extremely anemic and taking two shots of procrit and one of neupogen a week. That's four shots a week (+peg). I guess with the anemea it all got to me. I had a panic attack for 3 hours. Susan describes it the best. If you are in familiar territory you focus on other thoughts like "am I going to die" to "what is wrong with me, I can't think straight." You get a real sense of forboding and gloom/doom. I called my gastro and told him I was taking a few days off tx to get a break and my head back together. I called back a few days later and he took me off tx. That is where I am today.

If you are treating, don't let your Dr take this lightly. Make sure you see your treating DR and your GP to handle this. On tx, this is a weird sx effect. The Psychological sx's can be treated.

My hope is you finish tx and attain SVR.

[Pauly Boy]

I never had anxiety attacks until I was at week 12/24. It was freaky, at first I had the feeling that something bad was going to happen, like impending doom!!! I made it thru the night and the next day I saw my doc and he confirmed that it was probably an anxiety attack. He gave me "Seriquil" and said if it happens again take this and you'll sleep. Along with that we went over some other ways to defeat the feeling: breathing exercises, relaxation and meditation techniques. It happened once since then and with the techniques we discussed, I didn't even need the seriquil.  Talk to the doc, he should help you out. Hope you get some relief, unless you have an attack you don't understand how lousy it is. Pauly

[cheddarhead]

I had anxiety attacks on and off in my life too. They're really a horrible, desperate feeling. My heart would race like crazy and I was sure I was going to leave this planet forever. We often hear that "they're all in your mind", but tell that to someone when you're in the middle of one. It only makes it worse.

But a really weird thing happened when I was diagnosed with HCV. I started to tell myself that I had a bigger problem to fight and I couldn't let anxiety attacks compromise my recovery. When I started to feel anxious, I'd remind myself to concentrate on killing the virus and not waste energy on anything else. Then I got busy doing something else. So far, it's worked. But if you can't do that, and I know it's really hard to stop them once they start, seek help. It's also good to know what your triggers are and avoid them, mentally and physically. Let the treatment do its "killing" and keep yourself strong to help it along. Good luck.

[fishdoc]

I have never had an anxiety attack in my life, then out of the clear blue....like week 38 bam....bp 68/22 when I got to the hospital...........spent four days in there, looking for cardiac stuff,found something, did an angiogram, turns out the stress test was a false positive...I gotta say it is so horrible to feel your body is totally out of control,,,,,they started me on ativan (which I take one at bedtime) and zooloft......hope your situation improves, cause I'm with you man, it sucked!!!