Newcomer to the forum but not to anxiety....

[kieranbentley]

Hello all,

I'll try and keep this as short as possible.
I'm a 35 year old male, living in the Uk I've been suffering with anxiety/panic attacks since I was 23/24. I had a major attack which set it all off. I blamed it on burning the candle at both ends (partying till late/early starts for work), excessive alcohol and guilt from seeing 2 girls at once for a year (a truly low point in my life, one that has not been repeated).
I was agoraphobic, then I got better by pushing myself, then it happened again, I got through it.
Now in the last 6 years it has been with me constantly and i am travel agoraphobic. Never more than a 5 mile radius.
I've had CBT, various hypnotherapy, accupuncture and a few other sessions.
Only recently I have been prescribed Citalopram. I started taking it Wednesday. This morning I had a horrible, attack on the way to work, makes it even worse when I'm not at home, I got to work and have had mild attacks since. Different this time round as I'm not sure if its the Citalopram or my thought on taking the Citalopram and its side effects. I had a bought of freezing cold adrenaline surges, my body felt freezing, my head was so light, I felt dizzy, my eyesight was blurred. It was just awful.
That attack brought me here.

So here I am, hello to you all.

[orangeribbons]

Hi Kieran. Welcome! When you have anxiety, you have to do everything you can to live a healthy life; more so than other people even have to THINK about it because I promise you, it DOES help. Getting enough sleep at night, exercising regularly, going to bed at the same time every night and waking up at the same time every morning (or approximately) puts our bodies on a schedule, which is what it craves. Seeing two girls at once must have been really stressful, but don't beat yourself up over it. As far as the medication goes, the side effects may or may not be in your head. I tried taking anti-depressants twice and I just didn't like the way they made me feel, but apparantely, you get used to them and they help eventually. Personally, I just prefer the natural approach. If you're going to keep taking them, be open to the idea that what your feeling could come from your anxiety about taking them, but of course tell your doctor what you're feeling. If you decide to stop taking them, be sure to ween off slowly; cut it in half and do that for a little bit before stopping completely. Best of luck to you and I hope you start feeling better. Oh yeah, and its a good idea to avoid caffeine, too. And certain recreational drugs. :p

[orangeribbons]

Also, deep breathing helps ALOT. In through your nose and out through your mouth at twice the speed as your breath in. Do it slowly and tell yourself that the panic WILL pass. The average life of a panic attack is 10 minutes. So just try to distract yourself for 10 min and you'll feel better! I find calling a friend or getting on this forum or watching a funny movie helps. As for agoraphobia, it's a phobia so that means that you need to expose yourself to it as much as possible to get over it. So try to get further and further away from home. What's the worst that could happen? You freak out in public? Who cares? Plus you are in a lot more control of yourself than you think. *Hugs*

[alankay]

Kieran, stick with the ssri but maybe start at a lower dose(then go higher) and ask your doc about atarax(an old antihistamine with anti anxiety effects). I feel(or have felt) your pain but you can get better.
PM me any time. Alan Kwak.