Panic Attack/Anxiety

HI Steve and Welcome to the HW family..........
I have not really ran into too many ppl that get this other than me and now.......... you
There very well may be others though so we shall see if they post that they go thru this as well

IMHO yes it is very possible
I have had A/P for well over 30 plus years and I did have extreme Anticipatory Anxiety.........
Every day I would wake up with the feeling of DREAD and what was going to go wrong today
Never looking at the glass half full .........always half empty

I have done Cognitive behavioural Therapy ( yes I was a big skeptic lol) and for me it has helped
I do still have the occasional AA panic attack....
Mostly due to my siblings and what they are pulling since parents have passed away
As well as some serious health issues I am dealing with at the present

Now how I am able to get thru the majority of those is with breathing techniques or I have to take a valium ...
AS well my HW fa,ily DOES help in so many ways as they DO know what I am going thru what I have gone thru
Where I am or where I have been ya know
YOU are never alone for sure on this site( forum,)
Either way I do get thru them and I know if perhaps you started journalling some of these you may find what is tiggering them ......
I did and quite surprising to me it was 99% my son and DIL

I honestly believe that you are not gettting worse but that your A/P may be taking a different turn
This is the sneakiest of all DD IMHO and it has to be fought with ALL you have

Know that I am speaking from my experiences ..........

I really DO hope you will stick around introduce yourself in the "I am " thread and get to know us and us you
THIS is really a great place and the ppl could not be better ......support,empathy,caring,and understanding
That is also from my heart Steve

if you have any questions plz dont hesitate to email me or the other mods for Anxiety/ Panic ..........LYN

STAY WITH US

I take my Xanax XR first thing in the morning, but it's as if (out of no where) it doesn't work anymore, when it always did.................

How is Ativan compared to a Benzo? (is it a benzo?)

I have a doc appointment on 7/2 so we will be discussing changing some meds up...............

As always thanks for any information....................

Percy is correct, Ativan is a fast acting benzo. It takes 20-30 minutes to relieve existing anxiety or panic attacks. It can be taken daily or situationally (as needed) to avoid the onset of attacks. It has a short half life, 6 hours from what I remember, which I liked as I could tailor it to my needs vs an XR which is contiually releasing the med into your system throughout the day. Some examples with ME: I took a low dose .25 in the morning on a daily basis to delete anticipatory anxiety/PAs because if I could get past that part of the day the rest of the day went fine for me without needing more meds going into my system. If I wanted to have an alcohalic beverage in the evening I didn't sweat the load as the half life of the drug was so diminished they didn't play nasty with one another. When I took it on an as needed basis, I took it only if I felt I could not get passed the attack with any other med free methods. In this scenerio, I still only had to have a limited amount of meds in my system for a limited time. If you need this type of med for the entire day, it can be taken at 6 hour intervals. So what I am saying here is Ativan vs Xanax XR, gives the patient more control over the level of meds going into their bodies IMO. I am no doctor, and it is always best to discuss this with your doctor. Just some ideas to bring into your dr appt tomorrow. Good luck!

-Soul

Thanks all for your great advice......................I will let you know how the Doc appointment goes tomorrow..................

I couldn't feel any worse than I do right now - I feel like I'm crawling out of my skin..................