Personal anxiety story---insomnia

[frodoggg]

     I am 34 years old, married and about to have my first child.  I have been an anxious person all my life, but only in certain situations like speaking in front of people, or playing a sporting event.  I could deal with these transient events by pushing through even though I was in a complete panic attack.  In 2006, however, I became anxious about getting a good night's rest, which caused me to have several panic attacks throughout the night, every night.  This scarred me because I could no longer function at work.  My doctor prescibed Paxil and Lunesta, and I hesitated to take the Paxil, but it eventually , to my surprise worked.  My first week on it was tough, but my MD told me to push through the side-effects and they would go away.  He was right and after 2 weeks I was sleeping normally again.  I was on Paxil for 2 years and decided to get off of it in Jan. 2008. I felt fine until July 2008 when the attacks came back and the insomnia continued.  I went back on the Paxil and now they are gone again.  It looks like I'm going to be on the med for life.  With all the horror stories you read online about Paxil, I was hesitant, but I've had nothing but good results.  I am also a pharmacist, so I know alot about this class of meds. Oh yes, I do not take any sleep medication, like Lunesta.  I just used it until the Paxil kicked in, which takes about 2 weeks.       

[tigerpaw]

Well after 30 years of anxiety and transitioning from meds from lithium to prozac to seroquel, I can tell you I have not grown any horns, or drove across the country and woke up wondering what happened, or any other strange experience.  I wish I didnt need the meds but its obvious my body cant fuction mentally without them. So I remain an encouragor to all to keep on the therapy, keep on the meds if needed, and push on.