I'm growing tired of this...

[AnxiouslyAwaiting]

I have been dealing with what I guess is anxiety and panic attacks for over 2 years now. I have been prescribed Lexapro, Cymbalta, Pristiq and now am on Prozac and don't seem to feel any better with any of them. I have trouble sleeping and when I get an episode I have trouble breathing being the main symptom. I am bloated and struggle with bouts of constipaton and diarrhea, intermittently. Every time I go see my Physician its the same BS, "How do you feel?". Would I be here if I felt good? He continually changes my AD med to see "if this is the one that will work" but as we all know it takes a month for the drugs to reach efficacy. He gave me some Alprazolam .5mg this last time and I have been eating them like Skittles; at least once a day, in an attempt to get through the day. My fatigue is growing worse and some days I feel like I could just sleep all day while other days I stare at the ceiling. I drink alcohol, because I like it, but also because it makes me feel better. I really don't want to be dependant on booze and benzos to get me through the day. I get pains in my stomach and sometimes have trouble swallowing. I get bursts of adrenaline out of no where that take my breath away. I also take metoprolol for High BP, I have meds for Acid Reflux and also had a kidney removed when I was a toddler. Not sure if any of this makes sense to anyone but what I would give to feel normal again! This is getting near debilitating and randomly effects my life so as I can't plan for it. I can be driving, having dinner with my wife, be giving an interview, or just sitting there watching TV when BOOM, I can't concentrate, breathe, I am irritable, I can't sit still, and I feel like this is the end. What the hell is going on here and why has this happened to me? Is there any hope in sight or is this how life is going to be forever?

[alankay]

Well if the AD's don't help even at higher doses I'd start by asking for a longer acting benzo like klonopin or even ativan. Xanax is fine but if your anxiety is more or less not under "decent" control with xanax, a longer acting med might be better assuming the xanax does work.....just not quite long enough. Xanax is "in and out" perhaps too fast for you.
Are you seeing a psychiatrist or GP? If the SSRI/SNRI family isn't cutting it ask about a TCA like trazodone/remeron. Don't be afraid to let him know this is getting to be too much or even just switch docs. I would if you're not getting anywhere. This can be brought under better control for most patients for sure. It does take time for some unfortunately.
The beta blocker(metoprolol) you take should help with all the adrenaline symptoms so ask your BP doc if upping the dose would be safe. You don't want to lower BP too much though.
Also have you talked to a counselor to see of there not anything causing/increasing your anxiety on the purely psychological side? The PDOC(if seeing one) should be checking this anyway. PM me any time. Alankay.

[jessed03]

Anxiously,
If no meds will work for you in the end, and it's not personal stress causing this, then perhaps it's vitamin related. There are certain vitamins if we get very deficient in, that anxiety is one of the side effects. I can't think of them off the top of my head but a google search would bring them up.

I think this statement was most true for me. I went on a period of Anti-D's, and they helped some things, of course. But I had this resistant anxiety, and I went through the motions of increasing, increasing, and I got more side effects, but those moments of negative thoughts popped in, and that period of bodily anxiety. It turns out I quite simply wasn't eating regularly enough and wasn't getting enough calcium and B-vitamins. We always hear people talking about 'the importance of healthy eating' and such, but at that stage in my life, it really suprised me as to what a profound difference it made to my overall health and well being. I mean one way I was a nervous zombie, the other I was calm and outgoing.