need help

[dancinghomer]

I have been suffering from what I think is anxiety for around 6 years. My first episode occured in 1999 between the months of dec-march, my nest was in 02 between the same months.  I was prescribed paxill the first time and I believe wellbutrin and buspar the second, was on them for about 6-8 months in both case. I started experiencing panic attacks again a few months ago so i was prescribed paxill.  aAfter about 3 days i felt worse and had like a drugged unreal feeling come over me similar to the one s iI would get when I would begin a panic attack.  It as been a week now and I can not seem to shake that unreal feeling.  It has made my life unbearable. The feeling seems to get better at night, but during the day or inside a place with bright lights it comes back.  I think I have fallen into mild depression because these unreal feelings are all I think about almost every second of the day.  I have been taking xanax which has calmed me down at times but the feelings are still there.  It seems like my first 2 times with this I had the same feelings not for as long though.  I also think this unreal feeling is what usually triger my attacks. My question is does this feeling ever go away completly and is this even anxiety.  Thanks for any help.

[kloedanser]

The feeling you are talking about is known as "depersonalization" or "derealization".  If you ever see anyone post who says "dp/dr", that is what that means.  I have suffered through dp/dr for about eight months now.  Life is no fun when you feel like you are drunk, in a dream, or "not really here" all of the time.  It will go away.  For some people it feels like a bubble pops and it is gone.  For others (me) it takes a while to slow down and go away totally.  I still have it, but this site helped me to realize that a) I am not crazy and b) this is not some weird debilitating disease.  (Other than the weird, debilitating disease of anxiety, anyway,LOL) I didn't believe it was anxiety until my dr. gave me some tranquilizers.  The dp/dr stopped for the first time in months, and I was SO grateful.  I have been on Klonopin for eight months now, and I am currently weaning off.  It has been difficult, with the dp/dr and the anxiety coming back with a vengeance every time I lower my meds, but believe me, once the meds work, and you KNOW that it is just anxiety, the w/d (withdrawl) symptoms will be easier to bear, because you can say to yourself, hey, its just anxiety.  These feelings will pass.  It doesn't make the feelings go away, but it makes you aware of what they truly are.  And once you have the name of a thing, it becomes powerless against you because you can then build a plan of action to defeat it.  Good luck, you are not the only one out there.

[ABCMomof3]

Hello,
I'm sorry you feel yucky lately. I've been there too. I know exactly what you are talking about and I feel your pain; because I know how incredibly difficult it can be to even explain what it feels like to feel this way.

It felt like everything I did, every place I went, no matter what it was, that feeling you were talking about went with me, it was always there; it was relentless. It was a constant companion and all I wanted to do was not think about it, not have it following me around.

I found by keeping busy and preoccupied with something else that it would, indeed, go away; sometimes only for a few minutes and sometimes for hours at a time.

I was diagnosed with major depression and anxiety. And I got help for it and YES, I promise, it goes away. And it really helps if you have a counselor to talk to about things; a lot of time they have a way of saying just the right thing at just the right time you need to hear it.

God Bless you.

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

It does go away, but you can't rely totally on medications.Anxiety means you are sweeping your problems under the rug, and now the dust has piled up and is coming out. You should see a therapist at the same time you are taking medications. That is the best treatment, and most likely to keep you from reoccurances.