I did it to myself

So yesterday was a horrible day. All day long of nonstop anxiety with about three panic attacks. Though I admit I did it to myself. I was doing better these last few weeks. I started having trouble sleeping about three nights ago. So Monday I came home from work and around 4:30 I started to feel the build up of a panic attack. I took my Lorazepam pill, which was 0.5mg. Felt better after about an hour and went on with my evening. Around 8:00 I went to bed and figured since I had trouble sleeping I would try some zzzquil to see if that would help me sleep. Totally forgot I had taken my Lorazepam until after I took one zzzquil pill. So i looked it up and of course there's a moderate interaction with these two medicines. Website's talking about central nervous system depression as a side effect of combining these two. I immediately went into panic mode but the zzzquil kicked in and knocked me out. I woke up the next morning with my heart still pounding and shortness of breath. I went into work for about two hours and had to come back home. I kept trying to tell myself I was fine since I didn't have any of the symptoms of CNS depression, but of course I had to google. I found forums where people talked about taking these two drugs often and in a lot higher doses then I did. Still I couldn't get it out of my head that I was somehow going to die.

I think I must have had three panic attacks before my husband came home. I was too afraid to take my meds since I wanted to wait for what I taken the night before to get out of my system. I basically spent the entire day on the couch trying to watch shows on Netflix to calm me down. I don't think my heartrate went below 90 the entire day which is unusual for me. I'm doing a little better today but that nagging thought is still there. I would imagine after 24 hours if nothing happened to me I should be fine. That and given what I read on forums of people taking much higher doses and still being around. I never should have Googled! :(

Sorry for my rambling. I just had to get it out there. I talked to my husband about it last night as he as anxiety issues as well. He told me he's done it before too and he's still around. Made me feel better.

Thanks SC! You always know how to make me feel better. :)

Yeah I'll definitely have to come up with a way to remember I took it just in case. This incident has steered me clear of sleep aids for awhile. I'm doing much better today that's for sure!

Thanks for the advice Hibee. :) Come to think of it I didn't tell my husband until he got home the next day. Not a smart move on my part if something had happened! I was so worked up at the time that the thought didn't even occur to me.

I usually stay away from Google, I learned that lesson the hard way as most of us have. I just had an "oh crap" moment after I swallowed that zzzquil and remembered I had taken my anxiety medicine a few hours earlier.

Thanks John. It was definitely an experience I do not want to repeat!

I usually am as well since I know a lot of stuff interacts with these I just had a moment I guess, but I'm doing better. Though I haven't taken one since Monday night and I think I'm going through some withdrawal symptoms. I was taking 0.5mg everyday for about 3 weeks and I know you aren't supposed to stop cold turkey. I took half of my 0.5mg pill this morning and started to feel better. I have an appointment next Wednesday with a new doctor (since my PCP up and left) so I'm going to discuss a tapering method with her.