Hi there!

[krispi_diane]

I'm Kris. I'm 23 and I was diagnosed with social phobia and depression at the end of December of 2013. In early December I flew out to California to visit my cousin and the night before I left I had only slept for about an hour and a half and had been flying all day. The night I got to California my cousin had to work so I just laid around at his place until he got home. As I was laying on the couch I noticed I started feeling really really hot but I just assumed it was because I was under a blanket. That would come and go in waves and I would feel fine. Finally he got home from work at around midnight and we sat around and talked for a bit then went to bed. I slept downstairs on the couch. Well at about 6:30 the next morning I woke up with sweats and hot flashes and my heart felt like it was going to pound right out of my chest. My body felt like it was covered in tingles. Like when you sit on your foot for a while and it falls asleep and once you move it it starts getting that tingling feeling. That felt like it was happening all over my body starting in my chest. My stomach felt upset but I didn't have to use the restroom. When I stood up I felt a bit lightheaded but not severe enough to fall or faint. I had the most intense feeling that I was dying and didn't know what to do. At one point I ran upstairs and woke my cousin up and said "you need to take me to the hospital because I think I'm dying!" I had never felt like that before and didn't know I was having an anxiety attack. It lasted the whole day and I didn't know what to do and no one else knew what was happening. By the next day I was completely fine but it was still one of the scariest moments of my life. My doctor prescribed me lexapro 50 mg at the beginning of January. Well after about 5 days of taking lexapro it caused me to have the worse anxiety attack I've ever had. I also still wasn't sure what was happening because anxiety attack was something I wasn't familiar with. The only thing I knew is that I felt the EXACT same way I did that day in California when I didn't know what was happening to me. I stopped taking the lexapro the day after I had the really bad anxiety attack and the anxiety ended up lasting for about a week even tho I was only taking it for 5 days. Then I went back to my doctor and she gave me 25 mg Zoloft and started me off with a half pill a day for about a week and then take a whole one. Well I noticed the Zoloft was kind of doing the same thing the lexapro was doing with heightening my anxiety. It just wasn't as severe because I think it was because I was on a smaller dose. It was just making me constantly anxious and paranoid and I honestly felt like a hypochondriac. The medicine itself wasn't keeping me awake at night but the anxiety it was giving me was keeping me awake which would make my anxiety worse because I wasn't getting enough sleep. Well my doctor also prescribed me lorazepam (Ativan) to take when I felt like I was going to have a panic attack to help calm me down. It also kind of helped me sleep which is something I've been having a lot of trouble with for a while due to my anxiety and depression. I didn't take it everyday because I know I could become dependent on it. Well I decided I didn't like how the Zoloft was making me feel and I stopped taking it with no problem. I didn't have any withdrawal symptoms and I instantly felt better once I stopped taking it. About a week ago I went back to my doctor and told her about stopping Zoloft and blah blah blah. What we've narrowed it down to is I must have a weird body chemistry make up and some medicines have adverse effects on me. I'm not able to take any PM medicines like NyQuil and Tylenol PM because it has the opposite effect on me and keeps me awake. So the SSRIs seemed to not help me at all and actually making me worse and having adverse reactions. Well she told me I can continue taking the lorazepam at night to help me sleep so she gave me a prescription for 1 mg. So I started taking it Saturday night and it's been about 5 days and all day today I noticed I felt anxious. I haven't felt like this since being off the Zoloft so it was really worrying me of course making my anxiety worse. I did some research and have seen where lorazepam has made people's anxiety worse. I think that's what's happening to me because I've been on the verge of an anxiety attack all night and can't relax no matter how hard I try and can't sleep or even lay still. I don't want to take a lorazepam to calm me down because I feel like that's what's making me feel so anxious. I'm honestly just having the worst luck with medicine and I have no one to talk to that's knows what I'm going through. I was just wondering if anyone else has had this problem with the lexapro/Zoloft and lorazepam making their anxiety worsen?

[kawtrip]

Sorry to hear about your situation. I have suffered from anxiety for many years. I know some people have had success with counseling. Maybe if the meds aren't working you look into it? What ever the case I hope you are able to find a solution for your situation. Keep positive! I know it's hard some days but you'll pull through! Trust me!! :-)

[krispi_diane]

Thanks! I'm doing counseling as well but I've only had a few sessions so it hasn't really had time to work I don't think.

[NixonRulz]

Hi, Kris - I like your Krispi name so I shall refer to you as that!

It is good that you recognized that you were having an issue and went and sought help.

It is a shame the SSRI's didn't help since they are a big help if you need something to help beyond the benzos

SSRI's can increase your anxiety when you initially begin them but that usually declines after 2-3 weeks but in can be a long 2-3 weeks

Have you considered that the SSRI didn't cause the additional anxiety but your fear of the side effects caused you to get anxious so you assumed it was the med?

Most people with anxiety that feel more anxious when taking a med feel that way becasue they are afraid what they may do regarding negative side effects. Not everyone,, just most.

I was the same way. After taking it for 2 weeks or so, the anxiety stopped.

Maybe because I realized they wouldn't harm or maybe they just started to work and they eased the anxiety

I am not suggesting that is what definitely happened with you

Each SSRI works in their unique way and targets certain things

Having tried 2 SSRI's that make you more anxious would have me think it is either you didn't give it enough time to let the initial shock to your system subside or you may be too afraid of what the side effects may be

I hope you find your way, whether with or without meds

Lots of things that can help if you are unable to take the meds such as supplements, CBT, yoga, meditation, etc...

Reading and posting seems to help more than anything

[krispi_diane]

Hi thank you! I see what you're saying about the SSRIs. I feel like I'm just not supposed to take that medicine. I felt 100% better off both lexapro and Zoloft. I know it takes a while to get used to the medicines but I just felt like it wasn't worth going through it when I didn't have terrible anxiety problems to begin with. I'd like to maybe start meditating and finding other ways to help with my anxiety aside from medication. I'm going to a therapist and that seems like it's starting to work. I just think I have a weird body chemistry and my body reacts to some medicines different than expected.

[Brews]

Welcome to the forum!

Anyways, looks like your body chemistry is just funky--not bad a bad thing but different chemicals and such can affect the body in different ways.

I, also can't do prescribed/SSRI's, along with any kind of uppers and even some food.

I would look into more organic stuff, Camomile tea seems to be a favorite around here…also, from some of the early symptoms it sounds like you were deficient in magnesium or something else, so supplementing may be the way to go.

None of these are going to be a definite answer for you I'm afraid, but it's options that you can experiment with…for me, personally, the best decision I made was swapping out my psychiatrist with a nutritionalist.

[krispi_diane]

I will definitely have to try some camomile tea. And definitely check into that magnesium thing. Maybe I should start looking into getting a nutritionist. I know I definitely don't have the best eating habits in the world so I'm sure that's not helping at all either. Thank you for the input!

[needtogetwell]

Hi kris,

Good luck with the non-med solution to your anxiety. This is going to sound odd but I found that my anxiety levels dropped dramatically when I had acupuncture for my back pain. That was over a year ago. My anxiety levels have risen recently and I am going back to my acupuncturist next week to see if she can help me again. I am determined to stay off the SSRI's and SNRI's. The. Chamomile tea works for me hope it helps you too.
Good luck!

[krispi_diane]

Thank you very much for all the encouragement and suggestions. I'm going to try and start meditating and maybe some yogi and definitely check out camomile tea.