xanax with celexa

[dave581958]

History: Folks died 15 years ago when I was early 30's triggering my first anxiety attacks. Doc gave me new wonder drug called Prozac and I hadhorrible reaction that she never saw before of heightened anxiety brodering on sheer panic. Got onto other things that were more helpful and in time, anxiety ended. Over the years though, in times of high stress, anxiety returns {lost job, relationship breaking up, etc}.

Present doc gof many years had me on 10mg of celexa just as precautionary measure and xanax was my silver bullet, never use but nice to have during stress periods at which I might use for a night or two for sleep and relaxation. This has gone well for many years, life has gone well for a long time. Hadn't used the xanax in 3 years and only kept using celexa because each rime I try to stop I get dizzy spells.

Now I've lost my job in this recession, stock market is eating away a lifetime of savings and I am having the whooper of all anxiety attacks. Doc now has me on 40mg celexa and 0.5 xanax 3 times per day. This helps. Here's my big problem though:

I have never in my life had trouble falling asleep and still don't. I have much trouble during stress of waking at 3 or 4 and can't get back to sleep - racing mind, can't stop it. Had been taking the celexa in the morning and he changed that to nighttime and some help. But here's the thing that has me perplexed. When I awaken, I am having an anxiety attack. Anxiety attacks continue in the mornings with Xanax taken to calm. By afternoons, pretty much universally, anxiety attacks are gone. I feel completely normal the rest of the day right up to going to bed. Then, it starts all over with wake up to anxiety, etc, etc, etc. By the way, my anxiety manifests itself as INTENSE abdominal discomfort but not a lot of anything else that others seem to have.

I find all of this rather embarassing as I have been getting interviews and will probably be back at work sometime in the near future {hope} but I can't help catastrophizing that no one will ever hire me again, blah, blah, blah. Worry, worry, worry.

Query: What could lead to wake up panic, a couple of waves of further into the morning and then calm for the rest of the day?!?! Has anyone else suffered similar symptoms and found a remedy?

I'm wondering if I should split to celexa 20mg morning and then again at night, increase the xanax at night {tried 1.0mg last night, and still woke at 4:30am but must say that the anxiety was not as intense. Took another 0.5 this morning and as I type this I am feeling pretty calm.

[northstar]

hi dave, sorry to see you're having a rough time at the moment :( i don't know a lot about meds, i haven't been on any (give or take a xanex tablet or 2 during worst of times lol). but i'm just wondering have you looked into stress management techniques, i know it's difficult when times are so tough, but there are lots of things you can do to help along with the meds. i would start with a vitamin B supplement to help out the the high anxiety.

i know exactly what you mean by intense abdominal discomfort, it's one of the worst things i ever experienced when i was going through anxiety. the fact that your anxiety manifests itself most in the early mornings makes me think that you may want to look into blood sugar problems. it may not be the answer for you, but it might help. when you wake up in the middle of the night or the early morning with anxiety it can be due to the fact that you haven't eaten in quite a while and your blood sugar levels have dropped triggering anxiety/panic/lots of other symptoms!. as the day goes on you begin to eat breakfast and lunch and fuel your body up so that it calms down a bit and the anxiety can fade. i know this cycle very well lol. anyway, if you want you can read a little about it and other helpful methods here: http://www.anxietyforum.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4087

hope this helps a bit :)

[dave581958]

Wow, great stuff there - thanks! That makes quite a bit of sense. I'm not a raging drunk but I like a couple glasses of wine at night and too much coffee in the morning and too much junky food otherwise. :roll:

Too late to stop the coffee this morning but have since had an omlet with ham, toast with peanut butter, apple and a bowl of oatmeal. I'll try to keep this up and report back.

Stopping the caffeine and booze will be tough. :shock: I'll take it slowly.

[northstar]

glad you found it of help :D do report and let me know how you're getting on!

i've never been a ragaing drunk either, but unfortunately some of us just are more sensitive to these things than others :( i find that even one glass of wine will give me heart palpitations, so i have to be aware of that with every glass that i drink. knowing that kind of takes the power away from the anxiety though - once upon a time i would have had a glass of wine, felt the heart palpitations and totally freaked out lol. but these days because i know what's happening i just feel the palpitations and let it go without worry cause i know it'll pass if i just look after my blood sugars :)

one thing i find sooooo hard is not being able to drink tea lol. i love tea, but i just can't drink it cause if i do i don't sleep and it can make me feel really edgy. i've also had to give up the amount of chocolate i eat, which is also really hard cause i'm a BIG chocolate fan. but it's all about the choices we make, i can eat the chocolate if i want to, but i have to live with the consequences and if the consequence is anxiety then i'm much happier without it. i do of course still eat it, but i (try) to limit it lol.

do go easy on yourself stopping the coffee, remember caffeine is a drug so you're gonna have withdrawal which can increase anxiety for some people. so just be kind to yourself, be careful and don't do it cold turkey lol. wean yourself off it by just drinking less and less. going off the wine in the evenings should be less difficult, but again if you're used to it then just take things easy :) remember too that it's ok to have these things sometimes, it's all about moderation. they're probably best avoided as much as possible in the evenings though so that they don't interrupt your sleep.

ok i'm gonna stop waffling here! lol. let me know how you are, i hope you find you're feeling a bit better soon :)

[fernandogress]

celexa is an antidepressant usually used to treat depression. however, it can be used to treat other symptoms including anxiety, insomnia, hopelessness, etc. xanax is an antianxiety medication used to, temporarily, treat anxiety. it can be very addictive and is usually not used for longterm use. medications for ADD can cause anxiety, restlessness, and insomnia. all 3 medications are different and used for different symptoms. it is important to talk with your doctor and understand the different types of medications.I know how frightened you feel about panic attacks and taking Xanax and Celexa I hope that I can ease your mind. First of all, no one has ever died from a panic attack. If that were true, I would be dead. I suffered from horrible ones. After taking a few different meds that did absolutely not good, I was introduced to a doctor who is a specialist in Panic Disorder.

[Murdah777]

I know how frightened you feel about panic attacks and taking Xanax and Celexa I hope that I can ease your mind. First of all, no one has ever died from a panic attack. If that were true, I would be dead. I suffered from horrible ones. After taking a few different meds that did absolutely not good, I was introduced to a doctor who is a specialist in Panic Disorder. He prescribed Xanax. It worked. I felt tired at first but then my body got used to it. When I began to feel better, I very slowly decreased my dose.( and I noticed later that it started to make me feel tired again because I didn't need that strong of dose) This, by the way took me a few years. I also took Paxil later, when tapering off the Xanax (http://www.xanaxalprazolam.net). The Paxil made me gain 20 lbs. but that helped me even though I was off of the Xanax. I was then was able to go several years with no meds.
Something happened that caused me to get the panic attacks again. The reason is not important. I started on Xanax again, and Paxil. Here goes the weight again. I switched from Paxil to Celexa. I have had absolutely no bad effects, ( the weight is still there, yikes) but I am doing well, and I love my life.
My doctor once told me that if I had diabetes, I would take the prescribed medicine, so don't feel bad about taking it for my problem.
Every medicine has frightening warnings. Have you read the ones for aspirin or birth control pills. They are just as scary.
Put that aside. If you feel better, accept it and be thankful that a medicine prescribed by your doctor can help you. God Bless and take care.
Sorry, I don't know anything about ADD meds. But I know that I think more clearly and can finish a task much easier without the panic attacks. Talk to your doctor for more information.
Good point from the first answer. These meds are not for people under 18 years of age.

[hendrleybeton]

celexa used to treat depression antidepressants. However, it can be used to treat anxiety, insomnia, hopelessness and other symptoms, antianxiety drugs such as xanax is used to temporarily treat anxiety. It can be very addictive, often not suitable for long-term use. Additional drugs can cause anxiety, irritability, insomnia. All three drugs are different, and different symptoms.