Posted by blueberry on April 25, 2006, at 18:14:17
In reply to I think I am having panick-attacks...HELP!, posted by zarathustra on April 25, 2006, at 13:37:17
Panic attacks, phobias, raging anxiety...these are all viscious and scary and straight from hell as far as I'm concerned. Been there. Actually still am. Except for the panic attacks.
What to do? Psychotherapy can help and sometimes get rid of it completely. They can help you get over the initial trauma of the elevator that might have sparked the whole situation.
More than likely though, since depression is involved, there probably is some biological component. Or as they say, chemical imbalance.
For panic disorders and phobias, doctors usually start off with ssri or snri antidepressants. They can certainly work, though there are two downfalls. Side effects, some won't bother you but some might. The other thing is, they take several weeks to begin working, and in the meantime they usually increase the anxiety. So having a temporary benzodiazepine at the start of treatment is very helpful to stay the course.
For some people, the antidepressants don't do the job. Other options include the benzodiazepines, such as xanax, klonopin, or valium.
For some people, antipsychotics work best. It's really hard to draw the line sometimes between depression, anxiety, panic, phobias, schizophrenic-like disorders.
Mood stabilizers like depakote or lamictal can work too.
The problem with any of these options is that any of them could potentially worsen the anxiety and worsen the depression. It's tricky. Trial and error is unfortunately the only way.
To nail the panic dead in its tracks though, xanax or klonopin will do that in 20 minutes to 2 hours.
poster:blueberry
thread:636925
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060423/msgs/637006.html