Doing much better on meds
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| Fri, 11-17-2006 - 5:07pm |
Hi Ladies,
This is just a short follow-up to my postings from a few weeks ago. I’m feeling much, much better. Right now I’m on Celexa, 30 mg at dinner and Klonopin at bedtime but every day going forward I’m going to start trying to reduce the Klonopin to nothing a little at a time.
Since going on the meds I’ve felt just slightly anxious and only had one panic attack which was this past Monday. My theory on that though is that I have a dairy intolerance. On Sunday I made a nice pot of cream of cauliflower soup. It had lite half & half and I think it didn’t agree with me. When the panic attacks started a few weeks ago I also had some food with creamy sauces in them. I only had one cup of soup on Sunday to taste it and on Monday morning my digestive system was out of whack and I think it affected me with the panic attack. Not thinking about the soup at that point I had it again for dinner that night but this time it was a bowl of soup. Well, the next morning I had the same reaction (went to the bathroom 2-3 times both mornings) but I didn’t have the panic attack. After that I felt fine and gave mom and dad the soup to enjoy. I’ll avoid any creamy sauces or soups for maybe 2 months and see if I have a similar reaction again.
I still think the panic attacks are due to either hormones or a chemical imbalance, not the dairy intolerance (my doctor agrees) but I think this week it was just a fluke.
I’m reading a book simply called Worry by Edward M. Hallowell, M.D. It talks about ‘toxic worry’ and how we can’t worry about things we have no control over, etc. It also gives examples of his patients and how they worried in different ways. I could see some of my worry habits in this book so it’s interesting to see I’m not alone in my worrying. I’m about halfway through it and the last part of the book is suppose to give some tips and techniques for dealing with worrying less.
One interesting thing happened to me last week. My old female boss was in the office and she asked me what is new so I told her. I’ve known her for 10 years now so I felt comfortable telling her that I started experiencing panic attacks. She looked at me and said ‘you too?’ It was one of those ‘ah-ha!’ moments because neither one of us would expect the other to experience these horrible things. To me she’s always been the ‘together, up and coming exec, wife, mom, mentor to me and others’ and to her I’ve always been the organized assistant who bailed her out, got her whatever info she needed, pitched in, etc. It was good to know we’re in the same boat.
On Monday when I was having the panic attack I thought of my old boss and said if she can get through it so can you . . . I’ve sort of been reminding myself that I know specific people who are strong yet still experience the attacks so that sort of helped me a little.
I hope everyone has a great weekend, take care, I will keep in touch.
Bennie

Hi Bennie,
"Toxic worry" sounds like something I should read. Glad the meds are working and it sounds like work is good too.
Smiles,
Dee
All in all, you sound even better than your last update, Bennie. Keep up the good work! I had to chuckle to myself a little when I read how you described your old boss. Anxiety sufferers from my personal observations are totally together. They always keep themselves in tight control & are constantly putting in award winning performances. They make great actors. I am certain that you come off as a self possessed & a totally put together person too;) As always it great to hear from you. Keep in touch. (((hugs))) jan
Bennie, I'm happy to hear you are doing well!
Sheri Ann