New to the site, have questions :(

[JDawg965]

Hi all, I'm a 28 year old male who started having panic attacks 5 years ago. They came around the time my son was being born and anxiety does run in the family. I was hospitalized several times when i started having them, due to the hospital not knowing what was going on with me after having x rays EKG's MRI's blood work and even a stay over because they thought i had done some damage to my heart. My doctor started to think it could be panic attacks due to my symptoms which are but sometimes more rapid heart rate, sweating, tunnel vision feeling of fainting (but never have) turning pale white and just basically out of it. well we tried a couple different medications as needed but NOTHING seemed to worked, One night i was having a really bad one and it was giving up she called in Kolonopin for me to pick up i took half of a .5 tablet and it relaxed me and i felt much better. After my next appointment back when they started she tried all different meds and nothing worked at all, she then put me onto Effexor XR on a low dose once a day. After about a year or so i started getting attacks really bad again she bumped me up on the Effexor, I asked to change to a different med but she said we will stick with this. So basically now i am taking a total of 187.5 mg of Effexor XR, and the Kolonopin as needed. well recently this week i have had to take the kolonopin 3 times which is unheard of for me it seems like the panic attacks are coming back not full blown but i have had some pretty bad ones, i am able to get the Kolonopin before they get bad, My dr. told me to take it before it happens because he wants the body to forget how to have an attack... Well my question is, Is the Effexor XR actually doing anything? I feel like the only thing that works is my kolonopinn but i hate using it as much as i had these past two weeks. What should i do? any suggestions would be great!!! My friends keep telling me i need to switch meds bc i shouldnt be having this many attacks on a daily med?? my doctor just wants to keep pushing my dosage up? So what are some experiences that you have had, or where should i go from here. I just cant stop thinking about it. Well thanks for the help in advance.... by the way im Jason

[Shepard]

Welcome to the forum, Jason. Glad you found us!

It sounds like you've built up a tolerance to Effexor, hence why your doc is upping the dosage. In my experience, Effexor hasn't helped many people, some swear by it, but I've seen more negative posts about it than positive. If I remember correctly, the max recommended dose for anxiety patients is usually around 225mg..what happens when that no longer helps? increasing the dosage is not always the answer.

I'd say it was time to discuss weaning off of Effexor with your doc and ask about trying an SSRI(celexa, lexapro etc)

[Ahlstrom]

Welcome! And yeah, to build on what Shepard said I'd also recommend tapering off of Effexor. It can take several tries before a good SSRI is found, my Lexapro works well for me. But let me warn you that most people have a huge loss in libido when taking SSRIs, I function horribly without any form of medication and Lexapro absolutely saves me, but I'm currently having to try different medications to offset the loss in libido. It sucks, but really question yourself as to how badly you need them, a lot of people who take them don't.

[JDawg965]

Thanks for all the replies I see my doctor in a couple weeks and I will talk about it then with her, I am just so scared to switch 😞. What if my attacks get worse then what they are now? What if the new medication doesn't work? How will I know? I just hate to switch to have it do the same thing. I have heard horror stories of people coming off the Effexor, and every time I ask my doctor about switching she asks why and doesn't think I should.. Not sure what to do? Thanks again for all the help and support

[Ahlstrom]

Thanks for all the replies I see my doctor in a couple weeks and I will talk about it then with her, I am just so scared to switch ��. What if my attacks get worse then what they are now? What if the new medication doesn't work? How will I know? I just hate to switch to have it do the same thing. I have heard horror stories of people coming off the Effexor, and every time I ask my doctor about switching she asks why and doesn't think I should.. Not sure what to do? Thanks again for all the help and support

Maybe give it some more time to work, and if it doesn't bring it back up. I don't know why some doctors refuse to let you change your medication, but whatever reason they are bad doctors who are merely pill pushers. Find a doctor that listens to you and actually works with you, that's how you know you've found a top of the line doctor, you know how you feel and they obviously don't.

As for wondering if the new medicine will work or not, don't, it's just going to cause more worry and anxiety, just go with the flow. I know it's hard, some medicines have had bad reactions with me, but luckily today's medicines like benzos will help you a lot. While you try new medicines until you find one that works well enough for you try and cure your anxiety from the root of the problem, do therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, get a good diet and excercise going. etc.

[JDawg965]

I have been on my new dose for probably about a year and it feels to me that I don't need daily meds since I will get a panic attack once in a while and my emergency Kolonopin is the only thing that seems to help.. But I'm not a dr so I don't know.. Ad now it's dumb things the last bad attack I had was probably about two months ago bc I sliced my finger open and thought I was doing to bleed out... But before I had panic attacks 5 years ago u could cut my finger off and it wouldn't phase me?? Just weird how the mind and body works I usually go months with out having them until I hurt my self or feel sick..