6 Months Later

[Douglass29]

Hey guys- I been diagnosed with Panic Disorder 6 Months ago.
My psych doesn't know if it is or not-

My panic is ALL the time- The Xanax kicks in and out for 4 hour durations. As soon as it stops, my heart starts immediately racing, I can't breathe, and I have spasms through my body. I get these painful migraine headaches in the back of my head, and I drink a TON of water.

They've done as many tests as they can... but I NEED to get rid of this.

If it is Panic, any suggestions of things that I can do to help me get through this? Besides the medicine?

[mprinceton]

Hi there Douglas,

Its great to hear your motivation and strong worth ethic towards getting over this. People move on from panic attacks all the time with and without medicine. I found the best way to get over them without using medicine is CBT Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Its a process of training recording thoughts/feelings emotions and doing different assignments. Its phenominal. In fact I find when I stock doing the things I learned in CBT I sort of start feeling anxious again. So ask the Psych about CBT, how to get started, what its all about etc. You'll be on your way soon hang in there.

[Douglass29]

Thank you!

I've been referred to it a couple of times- but nobody has got me in that direction.

I've had every medicine- but all my MD doctors dropped me because I went in so much they thought I was suffering from Hypochondrea. But I was having spikes in BP, and all the extreme symptoms of Panic... just ALL THE TIME...

After 9 ER visits, 3 psych wards, 11 different specialists.... and literally 14 different depression medicines... I'm stranded with a only my psychologist in my corner.... (I even talked to a witch doctor, a chiropractor, and a priest..... no joke!)

My psych says I'm no where near depressed, but stressed and frusturated. And depression isn't playing a role.

It's terrible...

I'll look into CBT- thank you so much!

[Door]

In my opinion, Xanax is less a treatment for panic disorder and more of a panacea.  It doesn't do much other than provide a few hours of relief.

I second CBT.  As effective as it is, many therapists don't bother with it.  They have you lie on a couch while you probe into your childhood for years and years, with no real results.  You can look up a CBT therapist here:  http://nacbt.org/searchfortherapists.asp or do a google search.

If you are up for meds, you may want to try anti-depressants.  They aren't for depression only.  They work for anxiety and panic as well, better than Xanax.  Much, much better.

[retrogurl88]

I agree with the CBT recommendation.  I also find meditation and deep breathing to be helpful.

[mommy_2_4_babies]

The therapy is great but xanax is a short acting benzo for something longer to keep the anxiety down ask for Klonopin in my opinion it is better i guess because of the simple fact that it IS longer lasting but yes i do believe in CBT and i see a therapist once a week

[Douglass29]

I'll look into the CBT if it helps! Thank you everyone for your input.

For medicines, I've been on and tried so far with little results:

Lorezapam- 2 months, every 4 hours (Not fun)
Paxil - 2 mg a day 1 month
Buspirone (BuSpar)
Lexipro
Xanax
Doxycyclone

[Door]

I'll look into the CBT if it helps! Thank you everyone for your input.

For medicines, I've been on and tried so far with little results:

Lorezapam- 2 months, every 4 hours (Not fun)
Paxil - 2 mg a day 1 month
Buspirone (BuSpar)
Lexipro
Xanax
Doxycyclone

Looks like you tried one of everything.  Sometimes a psychiatric medicine will not work on some people.  Usually, a person can find a medicine if they are willing to try one after another after another, a truly frustrating process.  I understand when a person says, no, I don't want another med.

For CBT, the good news is that you do not necessarily need a therapist.  You can work on it by yourself.  Fortunately, there are plenty of books on how to do it. 
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=anxiety+panic&x=0&y=0