New to forum - My Story - Please Help

[kerz]

Hello everyone,

After searching around the net for a good place to share my story I felt like this one of the more positive forums. I'm sorry if this post is a long read, I have quite a history battling anxiety. I'll try to make it as brief as possible. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

My entire family has a history of mood disorders, both sides of family actually, so it is no surprise it got passed on to me. It all started for me when I was in my early teens. I had minor episodes of anxiety but battled through them without meds or therapy. It wasn't until I was 16 that it got much worse. I went to my GP and after numerous tests he determined I had anxiety like the rest of my family. He gave me 05.mg of ativan to take as needed. I would take them every once in a while when I was in a situations that made me anxious. This continued on until I was 21. I went through a really rough period when I was 21 and had a severe panic attacks. I ended up in the ER thinking I was having a heart attack. I was so scared after those episodes my life began revolving around my anxiety. I layed in bed for a week constantly worrying about when my next attack would happen. Finally my parents took me to a psychiatrist who put me on 20mg of celexa and 1 mg of ativan twice a day. Things got much better and my life returned to normal for a long time. This was in 2007.

Flash forward to 2012. My anxiety was still under control and I was living a normal life (working full time, school full time, girlfriend, social life...etc.) By fall 2012 I was feeling so good I decided it was time to cut back on my meds. Well my GP told me to come off the celexa instead of the ativan. I decreased from 10mg to 20mg for about 2 months until my anxiety got bad again. I then went back up to 20 mg.

I should also mention I have psoriasis but not very bad. My dermatologist gave me clobastol for when my flare ups got bad. I used it from from January-March this year. It wasn't until I visited her in March I found out that it was a powerful topical steroid and steroids can really mess with people with anxiety disorders. I immediately stopped taking it but it takes 4-6 weeks for it to leave your system. Around March this year my anxiety got so bad I stopped driving and working. I remember I was at a mall with my girlfriend and had a level 9-10 panic attack. I have had thousands of panic attacks before then but this was one of the worst I have ever had. My anxiety was extremely elevated for awhile after that so after 2 weeks of enduring terrible anxiety I decided to seek some professional help. I started therapy in April and met with a new psychiatrist this past Monday.

So this past Monday the new psychiatrist determined I had benzo withdrawl and the best course of action was to switch me to zoloft and klonopin. I went from 20mg of celexa once a day and 3 mg of ativan a day to 50mg of zoloft and 1.5 mg of klonopin a day. I have really been feeling awful the past few days. I haven't had an appetite, I've been very tired, heart racing constantly, horrible anxiety, stomach pains, and headaches. Does anyone on here know if these are symptoms from switching meds? If so, how long do they last? My psychiatrist also wants me to increase my dose from 50mg of zoloft to 75mg next week. The long term plan is completely take me off benzos. Sorry for all the rambling and long read. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I really feel awful and hopeless at the moment. :(

[DustingMyselfOff]

So sorry to hear about your struggles.... I can totally relate - have been battling with panic attacks for decades now.

I'm not sure why he switched you from Celexa to Zoloft but yes, changing meds, increasing dosages, decreasing dosages, can all wreak havoc with your body and mind. Even when I make a slight adjustment to an existing med, I usually feel worse before I feel better. For me it takes about 4 weeks but it's not severe the whole time.

I hope you get many and more helpful responses but wanted you to know that you are not alone.
Sue

[shaikhrahuf]

Hello everyone,

After searching around the net for a good place to share my story I felt like this one of the more positive forums. I'm sorry if this post is a long read, I have quite a history battling anxiety. I'll try to make it as brief as possible. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

My entire family has a history of mood disorders, both sides of family actually, so it is no surprise it got passed on to me. It all started for me when I was in my early teens. I had minor episodes of anxiety but battled through them without meds or therapy. It wasn't until I was 16 that it got much worse. I went to my GP and after numerous tests he determined I had anxiety like the rest of my family. He gave me 05.mg of ativan to take as needed. I would take them every once in a while when I was in a situations that made me anxious. This continued on until I was 21. I went through a really rough period when I was 21 and had a severe panic attacks. I ended up in the ER thinking I was having a heart attack. I was so scared after those episodes my life began revolving around my anxiety. I layed in bed for a week constantly worrying about when my next attack would happen. Finally my parents took me to a psychiatrist who put me on 20mg of celexa and 1 mg of ativan twice a day. Things got much better and my life returned to normal for a long time. This was in 2007.

Flash forward to 2012. My anxiety was still under control and I was living a normal life (working full time, school full time, girlfriend, social life...etc.) By fall 2012 I was feeling so good I decided it was time to cut back on my meds. Well my GP told me to come off the celexa instead of the ativan. I decreased from 10mg to 20mg for about 2 months until my anxiety got bad again. I then went back up to 20 mg.

I should also mention I have psoriasis but not very bad. My dermatologist gave me clobastol for when my flare ups got bad. I used it from from January-March this year. It wasn't until I visited her in March I found out that it was a powerful topical steroid and steroids can really mess with people with anxiety disorders. I immediately stopped taking it but it takes 4-6 weeks for it to leave your system. Around March this year my anxiety got so bad I stopped driving and working. I remember I was at a mall with my girlfriend and had a level 9-10 panic attack. I have had thousands of panic attacks before then but this was one of the worst I have ever had. My anxiety was extremely elevated for awhile after that so after 2 weeks of enduring terrible anxiety I decided to seek some professional help. I started therapy in April and met with a new psychiatrist this past Monday.

So this past Monday the new psychiatrist determined I had benzo withdrawl and the best course of action was to switch me to zoloft and klonopin. I went from 20mg of celexa once a day and 3 mg of ativan a day to 50mg of zoloft and 1.5 mg of klonopin a day. I have really been feeling awful the past few days. I haven't had an appetite, I've been very tired, heart racing constantly, horrible anxiety, stomach pains, and headaches. Does anyone on here know if these are symptoms from switching meds? If so, how long do they last? My psychiatrist also wants me to increase my dose from 50mg of zoloft to 75mg next week. The long term plan is completely take me off benzos. Sorry for all the rambling and long read. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I really feel awful and hopeless at the moment. :(

The meds ur taking will take time to adjust with ur body system, it seems u got withdrawal symptoms of the meds, meds for anxiety and panic takes weeks/months to adjust with ur system, so dont keep worrying and thinking about past, it has gone, stay in today also dont think abt future, ur GP is prescribing i dosage as per ur anxiety levels he will slowly decrease the same, i was on nexito 5 and depran 5 since 3 years, nw my gp has stopped nexito 5 in early days i was uncomfortable, he knew that there will be withdrawal symptoms so he thaught me breating exercise by tensing each body muscle one by one and deep inhaling and slow exhaling to keep my brain calm, am ok though i got anxious bt i manage it by calming myself..
Keep writing people in this forum are just awesome and supportive..

[kerz]

So sorry to hear about your struggles.... I can totally relate - have been battling with panic attacks for decades now.

I'm not sure why he switched you from Celexa to Zoloft but yes, changing meds, increasing dosages, decreasing dosages, can all wreak havoc with your body and mind. Even when I make a slight adjustment to an existing med, I usually feel worse before I feel better. For me it takes about 4 weeks but it's not severe the whole time.

I hope you get many and more helpful responses but wanted you to know that you are not alone.
Sue

Sue,

Thank you for the fast response. It feels good to know I am not alone. My psychiatrist said she wanted to switch my from celexa to zoloft because zoloft is more effective for dealing with panic disorder. I also suggested switching from ativan to valium to taper off but she said that would not be necessary. She said klonopin has a longer half life than ativan and would be easier to come off of. I feel pretty awful at the moment but I'm hoping it gets better each day.

I'm currently not working so I sit at home alone all day (still live with my parents). I have nothing but time to think about my anxiety and everything that could go wrong. I try to keep myself busy but I haven't been motivated lately. I just got a netflix subscription so I've been watching a lot of shows and movies.

[shaikhrahuf]

Sue,

Thank you for the fast response. It feels good to know I am not alone. My psychiatrist said she wanted to switch my from celexa to zoloft because zoloft is more effective for dealing with panic disorder. I also suggested switching from ativan to valium to taper off but she said that would not be necessary. She said klonopin has a longer half life than ativan and would be easier to come off of. I feel pretty awful at the moment but I'm hoping it gets better each day.

I'm currently not working so I sit at home alone all day (still live with my parents). I have nothing but time to think about my anxiety and everything that could go wrong. I try to keep myself busy but I haven't been motivated lately. I just got a netflix subscription so I've been watching a lot of shows and movies.

Dont keep sitting all day, empty head is devils place, go to a walk, socialise with ur frnds, go to work, nothing worse will happen, keep discussing with ur frnds and family.. keep urself busy..

[kerz]

The meds ur taking will take time to adjust with ur body system, it seems u got withdrawal symptoms of the meds, meds for anxiety and panic takes weeks/months to adjust with ur system, so dont keep worrying and thinking about past, it has gone, stay in today also dont think abt future, ur GP is prescribing i dosage as per ur anxiety levels he will slowly decrease the same, i was on nexito 5 and depran 5 since 3 years, nw my gp has stopped nexito 5 in early days i was uncomfortable, he knew that there will be withdrawal symptoms so he thaught me breating exercise by tensing each body muscle one by one and deep inhaling and slow exhaling to keep my brain calm, am ok though i got anxious bt i manage it by calming myself..
Keep writing people in this forum are just awesome and supportive..


Thank you for the support. Luckily I found a psychiatrist and no longer need to rely on my GP. I don't think my GP knew enough about panic disorder and meds to properly deal with me. He wanted to taper me off of ativan within a 2 weeks period. That's when I knew I needed to seek better help. I did learn some breathing techniques from my therapist along with PMR (progressive muscle relaxation). I have to admit I tried PMR a few times but it didn't seem to do much for me. Maybe I have to keep working on it. The deep breathing does help. I just want my life to go back to normal.

[kerz]

Dont keep sitting all day, empty head is devils place, go to a walk, socialise with ur frnds, go to work, nothing worse will happen, keep discussing with ur frnds and family.. keep urself busy..

Yes, I've realized being alone is making things worse. The main problem is that I can not drive at the moment and all of my friends work during the day. I have always had a fear of driving even before this recent episode but I can barely drive down the street now without having a severe panic attack. I was doing driving exposure exercises before I switched meds but now I feel so awful that I don't even want to leave my bed. I'm hoping to get back to exposure exercises once my meds settle in.

[scared44]

[QUOTE="kerz"]

Sue,

Thank you for the fast response. It feels good to know I am not alone. My psychiatrist said she wanted to switch my from celexa to zoloft because zoloft is more effective for dealing with panic disorder. I also suggested switching from ativan to valium to taper off but she said that would not be necessary. She said klonopin has a longer half life than ativan and would be easier to come off of. I feel pretty awful at the moment but I'm hoping it gets better each day.

I'm currently not working so I sit at home alone all day (still live with my parents). I have nothing but time to think about my anxiety and everything that could go wrong. I try to keep myself busy but I haven't been motivated lately. I just got a netflix subscription so I've been watching a lot of shows and movies.[/QUO

[shaikhrahuf]

Yes, I've realized being alone is making things worse. The main problem is that I can not drive at the moment and all of my friends work during the day. I have always had a fear of driving even before this recent episode but I can barely drive down the street now without having a severe panic attack. I was doing driving exposure exercises before I switched meds but now I feel so awful that I don't even want to leave my bed. I'm hoping to get back to exposure exercises once my meds settle in.

Ask someone to drive for u, see i hv to fight ur anxiety, meds will just supress ur nervous system and u will stand out, but believing in urself is a boon.. get well soon buddy.. leave the bed..

[sangthuongmai]

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