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Mental Health (Expert Forum)
Panic Disorder
Questions posted in the Mental Health forum are being answered by Dr. Roger L. Gould, author of the Mastering Stress and Depression program and affiliated with the UCLA. Department of Psychiatry. Topics covered include anger, attention deficit disorder (ADD) , bipolar disorder , dementia , electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) , learning disabilities, memory, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) , panic , personality disorders, phobias , post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) , schizophrenia , stress , transitions, and work problems.
Panic Disorder
by ronald__0, Jun 13, 1999 12:00AM
Posted by ronald on June 13, 1999 at 19:57:50
Hi I've been on Zoloft for about 40 days now and seems to helped
me a lot better than before. I was diagnosed with SVT and been taking atenolol 25mg and cardizem 100mg for about 6 mos. now and without the zoloft I've suffered for numerous Panic attacks with some physical symtoms such as shortness of breath, choking sensation, tremor and fear of dying. I asked my doctor that atenolol and cardizem doesn't help me much it does relax and slow my heart rate but it doesn't help me while driving on the freeway (i'm afraid of getting into huge crowd such as traffic, grocery store or some other places that trigger my heart rate to become fast heartrate or irregular heartbeat). And now I'm on it (zoloft) I feel like I'm back again to my normal life, but my question is does atenolol and cardizem will do harm to my heart
while taking zoloft? because I don't want to stop atenolol or either the cardizem while on zoloft since i never feel any symptoms at all. So should I worry about being on 3 medicines daily? How do you response on this as a long term? Is it true that Panic Disorder can cause arryhthmias? I'm 24 years old male and very worried about having any type of arryhthmias. Pls. respond on my questions and I really appreciate it so much. Thank you.
Posted by HFHS.MD-T.B. on June 15, 1999 at 16:46:02
Dear Ronald, It sounds as though you are doing well on your current combination of medications. The cardizem and atenolol seem to be helping you with your diagnosed arrhythmia(SVT) and the zoloft seems to be helping you with your panic disorder, both the attacks and anticipatory anxiety(anxiety felt while anticipating a certain situation). This combination should be fine together as long as you are tolerating them. I would not worry about being on three medications daily since you report that they are helping you get back to your normal life. In regards to long-term therapy, as long as you tolerate the medications and do not have any adverse side effects, I do not see any problems with staying on the medications. You should discuss this further with your medical doctor. Panic disorder does not itself cause heart arrhythmias, however, one can have symptoms that mimic a heart arrhythmia such as heart palpitations.
I hope that this information has been helpful for you. It is intended for educational purposes only and should not replace consultation with a physician. If you would like to see a mental health professional at Henry Ford Hospital, please call 248-689-7476.
