Panic attacks

[1fastredsc]

Well, it's been a week or 2 since the last update. I'm seeing a psychiatrist. He had me take psychiatric evaluation, 567 general true or false questions. Turns out that the three largest elevations were depression, anxiety/panic, and obsessive tendencies. He also said that he saw some slight elevation in hysteria. Combined with the other issues, that means that my mind does in fact have a very good chance of making up problems that aren't there. Example, feeling like i'm going to faint when i'm not, feeling like i'm getting sick when i'm not, stuff like that. He also wants to get rid of xanax because he said that long term use of xanax tends to promote both hysteria and unusual sleeping patterns. So now the new hope is prozac, because he said that all the ssri's are the same, but the side effects don't affect everyone the same. And his top three pics for my condition, mainly the obsessive tendencies and panic, would be paxil, prozac, or zoloft. Paxil i didn't like, zoloft we aren't sure about, so we both decided on prozac. The plan is to keep side effects to a minimum to cut back on the chances of panics driven by side effects. -wish me well

[Beethoven]

We do wish you well--remember to give the meds time, and remember not to think that these are organic conditions that cannot be changed or healed. Behavior patterns are not like electrical circuits, they are just like groves in your mental rotors caused by unhealthy breaking habits. Gotta resurface the rotors, relearn to break, and you're ready for the track again!
Good luck!

[1fastredsc]

Ok, this is going to be my last update for this thread before i allow it to fall into the OT archives. I'm been on prozac for quite awhile now, and i haven't taken xanax in maybe 2 months. The good news is that once your body adjusts to the ssri, things are good. The bad news is that you need to suffer for a week to 2 weeks before it settles into your system. Plus everytime the level of ssri's you take is adjusted, you don't "feel" right for about a week. All in all, i'm taking 30mg a day, and my life is almost normal. Matter of fact i took a trip to a "gentlemen's club" last weekend for the first time in months. Now i'm hoping to have built up enough courage by the end of january so that i can make it to the spring semester. Thank you for all the advice here, and i hope this thread will provide assistance to someone in the future here.

[Rot 911]

Congratulations!

[tabs]

I'm glad you got youself stablized, BUT I'm gona be hard on you. You seem to think that by ingesting those chemicals everything is fine. That is the flavor I get from your posts. But all that does is makes you like a Junkie needing a fix to get by.

The Idea is to get yourself into Thearpy to unravel the Gordian Knot that causes these attacks.... It's called looking at yourself in the mirror and that isn't easy to do...but that is the price EVERYONE has to pay for sanity....so your not alone. There are alot of people on this Board that are struggling with issues, thats called life....I can tell you sumthin, you work long enough and hard enough with yourself and one day you won't need those pills...

[rrpjr]

My best friend is going through this now. I recommend a book. "Going to Pieces without Falling Apart" by Mark Epstein. It deals directly with the fear you are discussing.

Very brave for you to talk about this.

[A Quiet Boom]

Glad to hear you're doing better.

Tabs, While there is a grain of truth in what you say this is an impossibly difficult condition to have and medication does help. Some people only take medication and they do in fact take it for life, others take medication and therapy and do well and still others take medication until therapy is totally sucessful. The latter are usually the milder cases. It's illogical to assume that someone can cure an illness with their mind, but many people make the false assumption that mental illness is all "in your head" and you could feel better if you wanted to, that is just not true. I still take a small dose of medication for my panic disorder and I've spent the last 10-12 years working on desensitizing and cognative behavioral therapy, the therapy has help me to control the attacks and sometimes prevent them but I couldn't have made it this far without the medication. The good news about this illness, at least in my case, is that it does get better with time.

1fast, keep up the good work, you're gonna be fine. Email me if you ever need help or have a question.

[1fastredsc]

Thank you for the kind words quiet.
Tabs, i would have agreed with your statement 100% 6 months ago, but now not quite. For some people this is a genetic disorder. My father's entire side of the family has a history of panic and nervousness issues, and my mom's side has a history of depression. The first time this came about, and i took paxil, after awhile i got stubborn again and thought, "i don't need this damn drug, i can do this myself". Well as long as you keep yourself busy you can run, but as soon as things slow down it will catch up to you. And i'm strong mentally, i'm the type that tried controlling my breathing, pushed myself to take rides and try driving, even if it would initiate some violent nausea and extreme dizzy spells. But toward the end before i started taking prozac (if you can't tell) i was starting to feel hopeless, because it felt as if i couldn't control myself mentally, and i'm usually a control freak. Like i said before, it depends on the person, i've had one very cushiony life, there's no reason for this disorder to be here, but it is.
One more thing too, i don't want to scare anyone, but my psychiatrist was right about the xanax. As i had stated previously he told me that xanax in the long run tends to promote hysteria and wierd sleeping habits. He was right, about a week after not taking xanax at all my sleep started becoming better and thought process was less "unrealistic" than it had been.
BTW, now that i can openly talk about this without feeling sick, if anyone cares to PM or email me with questions feel free. onefastredsc@yahoo.com or aol.com

[rammstein]

Excellent to hear! I had similar positive results, through meds + therapy. The therapy has helped dramatically. I am virtually my old self again. You'll be there too in 6 months if you keep up with the therapy and WORK on this. Its hard, but worth it. In fact, I started exercising again and I work in a very stressful job and have dealt with adversity SO much better than I had been. Its all coming together for you now. The meds have helped you to ge some equilibrium, and now you have the strength to address things one by one. Best of luck, and isn't it great that the desperation is gone?!?! I am VERY happy for you.

[Wrecked944]

BRILLIANT!! I can't say how glad I am to hear that things are improving!

[tabs]

When people tell me they think it is Genetic...they are telling me they can't do anything about it, they are helpless victims. So they should jsut accept the inevitable...

I'm saying no you can change...it's just a matter of how dedicated you are to wanting to change...it's basically like the ant that is trying to move the boulder....eventually the ant gets the boulder to it's destination...like I said it's not easy but doable...

[tabs]

Human Beings learn how to cope with the world from their parents...they learn how to deal with stress for example from how their parnets deal with stressfull situations...YOu my friend have both sides of your with a history of having poor coping skills when lets just say dealing with lifes ups and downs.... You can learn new ways of dealing with things...and I'm not talking about breathing excercises either...and Therarpy is the way to do it...

Now let me just take a guess here...in the future they are going to find that if you change a behavior you will change brain chemistry.... it's not an over night process but a gradual one...as you change evey tumbler in the lock of our thought/ behavior process the chemical balance will change ever so slightly also... Geezus what a concept....

[A Quiet Boom]

Tabs,

I think your theory is probably very true. I think the key though is medicating the patient enough that they can concentrate on therapy. Think of it like leg braces when someone is relearning how to walk after a serious accident or illness, that type of patient will never learn to walk without the braces but eventually most will walk without them. One of the best lessons I've learned along the way is to pick my battles. There are some situations that I simply cannot do much about or even shouldn't and there are others that I can change dramatically. Putting problems into perspective helps to avoid needless stress. Let's take the OT forum for instance, there are people here that actually believe if they argue loud enough and long enough they will change everyone else's mind, they are wrong. I come to the OT to voice an opinion not caring whether or not it's popular or agreed with and as a result I don't have any expectations and therefore no stress. On the otherhand if someone messes with me or my family I vehemently handle the situation and for a little guy I've kicked my share of arses. I live in a blue collar neighborhood in which I have the choice of being the victim or the bastard no one messes with, I choose the latter and everyone knows they will only get hurt messing with me. On the other hand my coworkers, friends and extended family see me as an easy going, polite and even tempered guy. Are there tow Christians? you bet I adapt to the situation at hand. This is how panic disorder is dealt with, pick a battle and win it then move onto the next. It might be something as simple as leaving the protection of your home for 2 minutes or it can even be as anxiety producing as public speaking. You pick the easy battles first, like crawling before walking.

[tabs]

Don't mistake what I am saying....I think the pills are necessary to get a person stabilized and remain so..but I want more for him than that...I want him to get to the place in his life where he doesn't need those pills and I am saying if he DESIRES it enough he can get there..unless there is something so wrong here that nothing can flat out fix it and that doesn't seem to be the case here... In conclusion along with the Meds, Thearpy will work wonders if you are serious about changing your circumstances and give it a chanch....and saying that is Hopefull...

[1fastredsc]

Thank you, i think i get your drift. When i go back to school i'll probably start seeing the campus psychologist again for normal therapy sessions. I can't now because i don't have insurance and the psychiatrist as is is an expense out of pocket.

[tabs]

Originally posted by 1fastredsc
i'll probably start...... I can't now because

Let's be a little more positive than that....Right now as it stands you have a mental problem that debilitates you to the point where you can't function.... you need to take medication to stabilize yourself so that you can function..

You cannot afford not to get into Threapy to help you unravel your behavior patterns. I think if you take Thearpy seriously you will find it the best time and money you have ever spent...because the process is about discovering yourself....it's about you...it's about hope....