too anxious to take medication...help

[peon]

for years i have suffered from great anxiety and panic attacks, my greatest fear is having a panic attack i cant control and having my heart race so fast i have a heart attack or something like that..this fear started after i smoked pot after coming off my medication (paxil 40 mg) and ending up in the ER because i thought i was having a heart attack because of my racing heart and chest pain..( i quit smoking after that )

after i left the hospital i started paxil again and stayed on it for afew years, i stopped taking it about 4 months ago because of side effects and i thought i didnt need it anymore

starting about a month and a half ago i noticed i was much more anxious and thinking far too much. i starting taking prozac but on the 5th day i woke up short of breath and was convinced i was going to have a heart attack for some reason. later that morning i felt that something terrible would happen if i took prozac again and just couldnt take it.

my doctor thinks i might of had a bad reaction to prozac and gave me a prescription for celexa but i have been far too anxious to take it. i know i need to do something because i am anxious from when i wake up to when i go to sleep. i feel that when i take the celexa my heart will start racing..and wont be able to calm down and ill die. i know i could try paxil again but i have it in my head that after i take any medication i'll die.

any suggestions of what i should do, i know this sounds rediculous...

[ImatypeA]

It doesn't sound ridiculous - it sounds very common. My mom, who passed her general anxiety on to me and got hers from her mother, was terrified to take any medication. She could convince herself that anything medication might have a horrendous side effect - that she was the .0005% that would have a fatal reaction. She never tried anything to help her anxiety and was miserable with worry her entire life.

All I can advise you to do is talk to your prescribing physician about your fear and let her/him tell you the facts about the risks. But anxiety can be a living hell.....

[jrreed360]

i have the same problem. i never have smoked before. but i am very anxious. im a sophomore in high school, and everyday of school lately i end up going to the nurse around the last periods, because i get so anxious and get sick to my stomach, and sweaty. its so hard to concentrate that i figure i might as well go somewhere, where i can control myself.i feel trapped in school. I'm always anxious to get home, and to tell the truth i come home to nothing most of the time. This year my youngest sister just went to college, im the 5th sibling, and im all alone in the house now. my mom works from 3-11, so i dont get to see her much, and my dad owns a grocery store, and is either working or sleeping. my only friend i used to hang with in town is involved in smoking pot, and drinking. im just not the kind of person that like to be around that. i always used to play computer games to frequently, but the stress just gets to me after a while.most weekends i play paintball, but i hate waiting for it. anxiousness starts making me sick.i have actually considered home school from my older sister.--(someone please give me an opinion on this.) my social life wouldnt be as good, but its horrible at school anyhow with me having panic attack symptoms throughout the day.
ive heard that home school is only 2-3 hours a day. and i figured that would give me more time to work. work i can actually enjoy, most of the time, keeps my mind off a lot. i think my social life would be just like a normal graduate, or drop-out,whatever, that works everyday, but im just not sure.i have had many symptoms ohter than heart palpitations. ve thought i was gonna have a stroke before.just because of watching the tv show HOUSE. i wasnt watching it really, just saw this lady have stroke on it and really frustrated me because i knew i would have anxiety over it. just when i think im getting over the last step. i fall back down to where i was, because of something else that "sets me off".

[peon]

i used to go to the nurses all the time in school, i felt safer there than in the classroom and would usually always call one of my parents and get a ride home..geting my license helped my anxiety at school because i knew i could leave as soon as i started having a panic attack or feeling anxious. eventually however my anxiety got to the point where i couldnt go to school anymore and started getting home schooled by a teacher from my school, it was good because she would come to my house or meet me at the library and i wouldnt have to go to school and feel anxious, i worked up enough courage to stop tutoring and go back to school a year later but my anxiety came back and i just said to hell with it and dropped out all together, bad idea.

try hard to stay in school, DONT do drugs, meet some kids from school that dont smoke pot and enjoy the same things you do. think about seeing a therepist if your not already

you sound like me, i have panic attacks whenever i see someone have a heartattack or something like that on tv/in a movie because i think its going to now happen to me

i used to play paintball until i quit my job because of anxiety, expensive sport :(

and computer games seem to take my mind of things, i used to play world of warcraft but being in groups of people that depend on you was too stressfull (especially as a priest) so i just play shooter gamers now

dont let anxiety ruin your life