Xanax Question
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Xanax Question
| Sat, 08-26-2006 - 5:45pm |
Tomorrow I am going on an 1 1/2 hour car ride with my husband driving. The car ride is no problem as long as there is not a lot of traffic. In the past, I only took Xanax if I got stuck in traffic.
My question is will taking Xanax before I go on the drive prevent me from having a panic attack if we get stuck. I have never taken Xanax as a precausion before only at the onset of a panic attack.
Thanks for your help,
Elana
P.S. The problem a couple of weeks ago with my son and the Wicked threatre show is resolved. The person on this site that suggested using a mediator was great. I husband took that role. Thanks for everyone's support.

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Well, being an almost native virginian, I can tell you, there are 3 scary Chesapeake Bay bridges/tunnels. They are (in order of scary for me, least to most:) Hampton Roads bridge tunnel (on I64, connects the VA Beach area to the rest of VA, can be avoided by a big nasty bridge on another route. Personally I'd rather do the tunnel) It has low bridges, but a fairly long tunnel with 2 lane one way traffic. Then there is the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel. This is a network of 2 tunnels and 3 bridges spanning (I think) 24 miles. It connects the VA Beach area to the eastern shore of VA. This is scary if you don't like tunnels, and bothers me because of the vast length of time that you are over water. I have personally never driven this (only as a passenger) but have ridden it many times. It triggers obsessive thinking for me that borders on panic (visualizing the car going off the bridge, then anxiety as I think of how I would get my children unbuckled out of car seats as the car sinks) The bridges are low, two lane, one way traffic. Last we traveled it, the tunnels were two way traffic. We used to go this way all the time as we lived in DE and dh's family is in VA Beach. But now we live in western VA and never have reason to go this way.
The scariest for me is the 301 Bay Bridge. No tunnel. It is about 5 miles of really really high bridge going over the width of the Bay. It is about 50-100 feet above water, and is either 2 or three lanes of traffic each way. One thing that triggers my PAs is the feeling like I am going up and up with no down in sight. This bridge has it. It connects mainland MD with the eastern shore of MD. We used to go this way as an alternate to I95 from DE to Richmond where my parents are. I used to have severe anxiety as a passenger (kept way the PAs by closing my eyes the whole time) and the one time I had to drive it, I had the worst PA I ever had.
Now, I pretty much avoid big bridges, to the point that I am avoiding driving on any road that is unfamiliar in case a bridge might appear. I once pulled my car off the road and made my friend drive over a bridge we had come across, then I took back over after the bridge. I was just too scared of having another PA while driving.
Anyway, that is my bridge story. LOL Now I am on Lexapro, and I have yet to drive over bridges (there aren't any scary ones for me around where we live, only mountains) on the meds. I did notice that I did much better driving on the interstate, which is second to bridges for me, the only other place I have had PAs as an adult. So I am hoping the next time I get the chance to drive over a bridge, I will be able to do it. This is one area that I still have a lot of work to do. I just don't believe that the therapy and breathing will help, mostly because I have tried really hard to regulate my breathing and think happy thoughts and all that when I had them in the past, and I felt I had no control over it. So hoping that the Lexapro will help.
But Jan, I think I can live the rest of my life without ever driving over that Rte 301 Bay Bridge again! :-)
Karen
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