Anxiety reaching a fever pitch...
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| Sun, 04-10-2005 - 1:41pm |
Lately my anxiety has been through the roof. I know a lot of it is situational - going through a divorce, living in poverty, a car that needs to be fixed and not having the means to do so, which means having to figure out public transportation, taking care of a chronically ill child and now, because I stupidly switched her care to another doctor, being investigated by CPS because said doctor called them when we misssed a single appointment.
So, all these things are exacerbating my already anxiety-prone state. I have taken Paxil for years, and have Xanax for panic attacks. It's not enough, though. I actually ended up in the ER with a panic attack a few weeks ago. I had made an appointment with my Dr. but totally flaked on getting there. I have another appt. this week, and I am bound and determined to make it this time. What drugs should I discuss with her? Also, is there anything I can do dietarily (is that a word?) to help my anxiety? I am weaning myself slowly off my morning caffeine, and I am an ovo vegetarian.
Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer. :)

First of all hang in there. I have been going threw a bad bout of anxiety lately also. It sounds like you have a full plate and lots to worry about. I am not sure about the dietary part of it, but I have found that cutting caffiene and eating more fiber has helped my stomache problems. I eat fiber one every morning and that seems to help. As medicine goes each person is different, but my doctor has me on celexa and klonopin (which is in the same class as xanax). My doctor has me take klonopin every day. Acoording to him it is not good to take it just when you need it, it is better to take it everyday to get a steady stream in your blood until you get over your bad hump. Like I said though each case is different and each doctor approaches things differently. I really hope you find some relief soon, I know how debilitating anxiety can be. I wish you luck on your upcoming doctor appt. Just know your not alone and to post here often for support.
Candie
Hi & welcome to our community! You are not alone. During stressful periods it's nearly impossible not to be anxious. How we cope makes all the difference. You listed each of your problems & that is something I have found helpful. Writing down my worries, then writing ways I plan on dealing with each one(the small steps method) can put things in perspective. Otherwise, I get overwhelmed.
Candie gave you great advice. The meds are very individual. Many of our members have posted that their meds needed to be tweaked from time to time. In the past, I needed a change about every 3 years. It just may be time for the dr. to suggest something other than paxil.
Believe it or not, there is an anti-anxiety diet here on iVillage. It contains some sample menus which always helps me. Just click on this link & scroll to the bottom of the page. Please post whenever you have a question or concern. We want to see you living
my anxiety really built up over his first bday when he was hospitalized and we didn't know if he'd live or die, or have brain damage. luckily, came through FINE! but i was put on paxil CR 25 mg and klonipin. at the time, that helped a lot.
this year, after many, many traumatic events in my life (my son is thankfully doing well), i had to have my meds switched. am on lexapro and just since friday on xanax rather than klonipin.
i have been told the difference between xanax and klonipin are that xanax is an immediate rush of relief (we hope, in our cases!) whereas klonipin does stay in the blood longer and needs to be taken regularly for good relief. therefore, xanax is more addicting because of that so-called rush. honestly, right now it just makes me tired but i'm not used to it yet. klonipin was like tylenol for a panic attack - it just didn't work.
i too am dealing with some problems with my DH, but not divorce. i am very sorry to hear of this. i hope that you can stay strong and get through this for your child. we parents of special needs kids know WE are the most important factor to them doing well day-to-day. it can be overwhelming, believe me i KNOW!
if you want to email me, just talk about your child or anything, you can do so. put who it's from in the subject line so i don't delete it, k? i can understand a lot of what you are going through! cars breaking down (dh has been fixing them all weekend), hospital and dr's, even very close to divorce a year and a half ago (i filed, ended up dropping it). and we are soooooooooooo broke too!
leslie@loderweb.com
good luck.
~leslie