what to use for anxiety and panic attacks

[TANO]

Six months ago I had acoustic neuroma surgery (translabyrinth approach from the ear)  Surgery was fine, tomor totally removed.  I have minor facial palsy.  I have been very stressed for the last year also.  I have used on my own lorazepam very infrequently, sometimes 0,5mg per day, sometimes 0,25 mg for 2-3 days only.  Then I have taken same dosage after a week.  Then after 3 days.  Si I have used it infrequently over 1 year, sometimes 2-3 months without taking any.  Recently I have taken about 2 weeks 0,25 mg in the morning and the last 2 days 0,5 mg in the morning.  It seems to help my anxiety and inner trembling and state of mental fog, but these last 2 days I have felt real closing of my throat.  I have not felt this for the first time.  After surgery I have felt my ears air-blocked.  I have had to swallow often to releive my ears and my throat has been irritated often.  I burb often and my food seems to stay up my throat.  I do not know if I should continue to use lorazepan and if it is affecting my throat.  Should I use lorazepam at all and how long does it take to use it to become dependent on it?  Is this situation related to my surgery.  HAve my nerves been shocked to the extent that I am feeling all this?  MRI and Cat -Scan show very good results of surgery.  There is scaring of course.  I am concerned about controlling the anxiety, but I am also concerned about becoming dependent on a drug.  Anything more than dependency that this drug may cause?  I know this is a difficult situation and a long question, but I appreciate your advice very much.  Who is a good specialist I can see for more of this?

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

The specialist you should see is a psychiatrist who prescribes psychotropic medication.  The amounts and frequency of what you have taken so far is not a problem, but too frequent and consistent use of benzodiapine drugs like this should only be done under a doctor's supervision.

There are better medications to control anxiety and the symptoms you describe, so ask your doctor about Paxil or other antidepressants in that family, and think about a limited time trial, like 4-6 months, to get this under control.  It would be even more useful to address your stress and anxiety directly by looking at whatever unsolved problems are bothering you.  You can start to do that  online at www.masteringstress.com.

[TANO]

Thank you very much.  I will speak to my doctor.  Hope Paxil has no dependancy issue to think of.  God bless you for what you are doing.

[anairhoads]

Tano,

Paxil is highly addictive and one of the most worrying medications I have come across. Please reconsider taking this medication if you can help it. It will make your anxiety worse, not better.

Please visit:

http://www.baumhedlundlaw.com/media/ssri/paxil/Injunction/press_release_injunction.htm

Text:

Representatives of a Nationwide Class Action Lawsuit Ask Federal Judge to Pull Television Ads from Nation’s Airwaves that Contain Claims that Paxil is Non Habit-Forming

Prominent Psychiatrists Testify that Paxil Maker, SmithKline Beecham, Should Cease and Desist False Advertising Claims
          
Los Angeles, July 2, 2002 - - The representatives of a nationwide class action lawsuit claiming that the antidepressant drug, Paxil, causes dependency and severe withdrawal symptoms in a high percentage of patients who attempt to stop taking the drug, are seeking a court order that would require SmithKline Beecham to pull from the airwaves certain of its television commercials that claim Paxil is non habit-forming and its promotional brochures from doctors’ offices that make claims that the drug does not cause dependency and causes only mild side effects.
          
The cease and desist request, technically known as a “preliminary injunction,” has been sought on behalf of thousands of Paxil class members as well as individuals who might be persuaded by the commercials and brochures to take Paxil in the future. The injunction is supported by two renowned psychiatrists, British psychopharmacologist, Dr. David Healy, author of the highly acclaimed book “The Antidepressant Era” and the recently published “The Creation of Psychopharmacology,” and Dr. Joseph Glenmullen, a Harvard psychiatrist and author of the bestseller “Prozac Backlash. In addition, a Los Angeles area clinician, Stuart Shipko, has come forward to share his first-hand clinical experience with patients suffering from Paxil dependency and withdrawal problems and to voice his concerns over SmithKline Beecham�s deceptive advertising.  
          
A number of individuals (including unnamed members of the class and named Class Representatives) have submitted declarations detailing their personal horror stories concerning Paxil and voicing their outrage at SmithKline Beecham’s television commercials that state that

Paxil is non habit-forming. One of the class members complained: I am outraged that SmithKline Beecham can still advertise Paxil as �non habit-forming� when it causes such debilitating withdrawal side-effects . . . If I had been given truthful information from my doctor or SmithKline Beecham, I would never have taken Paxil.
          
One of the national TV ads claims “Paxil is non habit-forming. Other SmithKline ads claim that Paxil’s side effects are mild and temporary, and that Paxil is not associated with dependency. Healy, Glenmullen, and Shipko claim that all of these ads are false and misleading and their continued airing will create imminent and irreparable harm to public health.
          
According to Dr. Healy, between 5,000 to 7,000 people start on Paxil daily. Of these, approximately 70% are in North America (between 3,000 to 5,000 people). Of these patients, at least one third will have difficulties with withdrawal symptoms. That is, at least 1,000 to 2,000 Americans per day enter the risk pool. Of these 1,000 to 2,000, at least 10% will have severe problems either in terms of the duration of withdrawal or in terms of the severity of the medical complications. Accordingly, approximately 200 Americans per day are entering the risk pool for serious problems as a result of the Paxil, and this rate of flow of patients is being increased due to the direct-to-consumer advertising stating that Paxil is not addictive, non-dependence producing and non habit-forming.
          
Dr. Glenmullen stated: "In response to the mounting reports of Paxil withdrawal, SKB acknowledged in the December 14, 2001 revision that withdrawal can be severe enough to require restarting the drug. Yet, even after acknowledging the severe withdrawal and dependence, SKB continues to entice the public in direct-to-consumer advertising that Paxil is not habit forming or associated with dependence."
          
Dr. Shipko argues that "[w]hat the average person is asking is �Can I stop Paxil whenever I want?� This is what �habit-forming", a non-medical term, means to the average person. When patients find out that they cannot stop Paxil when they want to . . . it is my clinical experience that they feel deceived, trapped and violated.
          
The law firms handling the class action on behalf of the thousands of victims said that “once on the drug, the patient effectively is hooked and cannot quit even when the underlying reason the drug was taken has been alleviated.Since direct to consumer or DTC ads for prescription drugs were legalized in 1999, there has been an ever increasing surge of drug ads targeted at consumers. A recent Food & Drug Administration (FDA) survey indicates that “DTC” ads are extremely effective and that a high percentage of physicians, in fact, respond to patient demands by prescribing the medications that are requested.
          
The injunction request is before U.S. District Court Judge Mariana Pfaelzer in the Central District of California, Los Angeles. The hearing on the preliminary injunction is scheduled to take place on July 22, 2002 at 10:00 a.m. The attorneys handling the Paxil class action litigation are Karen Barth of the Los Angeles firm Baum, Hedlund, Aristei, Guilford & Schiavo; Kevin Yourman of the Los Angeles firm Weiss & Yourman; and Donald Farber, of San Rafael, California. To receive the excerpts from declarations submitted in support of the preliminary injunction call Robin McCall, per information at top of release.

Go to www.google.com and type in "paxil horror stories" and you will come up with many more reasons why Paxil isn't the right anti-depressant for anyone.

Anai Rhoads