Feel like im going crazy!Need some reassurance..

Dont feel alone kchicka, we all have been through similar things. i do know that yes, sometimes, as we have more attacks, more side effects from them. I hate the dizzy feeling, and i know how it feels to be in a fog. You are not going crazy, if you were, you wouldnt say that, you would have no idea ;) ok so thats IMO. I hope you get to feeling better soon! panic does feed panic, so yeah worrying will make it worse, i know it does me, and its so hard not to worry, but im with jethro, ya gotta laugh :) We all have different and so many ways with anxiety/panic. Feel better and keep us posted, we are all routing for ya.
shell

My head always feels kind of foggy.

Kchicka, in answer to your last question, yes. My symptoms do tend to linger sometimes for days. I wanted to also reply to your original post. I do this same thing all the time. In fact the majority of the time my attacks are caused by my overactive mind (usually while driving or at rest when I am not focused on anything in particular) and my thinking that I am having a heart attack, stroke or whatever. If I see something on television or hear about someone (especially my age) being sick I tend to get the same symptoms just by worrying about it. If you feel nervous about this see your doctor. I did and was tested for ALL of these things I thought were wrong with me simply to be told that I was fine. So yes I am in the same boat as you and I do believe this is rather common among A/P sufferers. I wish you well - keep us posted! God bless you...

    panicinID

I get the foggy feeling also. I also feel disassociated most times during an attack - I hate that even more! Some symptoms do seem to linger once in a while - anxiety between panic attacks? I totally sympathize with your situation. I havent had a full blown attack in many months, but the last week has been horrible! A co-workers wife died suddenly of a massive heart attack at age 46 (I'm 42). Since then my mind has been having a field day, and the heartburn, jitters, back pain, etc. are just starting to let up. I am mostly sure its all the anxiety, "but what if??" keeps running thru my mind! Its a vicious circle...

I also used to avoid meds, but really had no choice after the birth of my second child. I went thru zoloft and one other before found paxil, which has been a godsend for me. I tried weaning off, but found that less than 10 mg/day (which I'm told is a "baby" dose) has me battling the anxiety too often. As I mentioned before, I usually go months without a real anxiety attack, and full blown panic attacks are rare. Every so often I will feel anxiety trying to take hold, but relaxation, etc. gets me thru it in a few minutes. One thing the meds taught me was how tense and uptight I was and what the constant worrying was doing to me. I can now tell when I'm getting stressed out and do something about it. I really had no idea before the meds eliminated those patterns! You may want to give them a chance.

Margaroo, I've been on paxil for 10 years. Think I stated at 30 mg/day for a few years. about five years ago I felt comfortable enough to try to wean off. As I said before, I got down to 10 mg/day just fine, but when I tried five, the anxiety was too constant. My doc is not one to jump at giving meds, but he also seems comfortable with me on paxil long term.

Only you will know when you're ready. Just do it slowly (with your doctor's blessing). If it turns out you're not ready, you can always go back to the dose that worked.

Karen