Hey all,
Glad such a forum exists. It's weird: I'm naturally a happy guy, cracking jokes (many on myself!), but years ago I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder. They put me on 10mg of Lexapro and I believe .25mg of Xanax, the former to build into my system and the latter for instant relief.
It's worked for years, but when I took a vacation from work and drove down to my parents, I left my Lexapro at my apartment in Georgia. I know you're not supposed to quit cold turkey -- and I wasn't trying to quit at all as Lexapro has been great -- but I thought I could get through the week. Nine days later -- the day before I went to drive back home -- I started getting the jitters, teeth chatters, and general feelings of anxiety and I thought, "Crap, it's coming back." So the drive home was trying, to say the least!
The minute I got back home Sunday, I took a Lexapro and have done so everyday since (this would be the fourth day). I did not take more than my dosage, so just one a day. Yesterday I went to the doctor and he prescribed me a week's work of Xanax (.25mg). But yesterday is also when I had my worst attack: just general tightness in my torso, numbness on my legs, and the feeling that I was going to throw up. This was before going to bed. Worries about
death and aging came up, as well, and there's no reason for me to think of that because I'm young and healthy. However, every time I have an anxiety attack or just feel anxious for a while, those thoughts creep up and bother me when normally they would not.
Thanks to those who have read this far, haha. Here are my general questions for those of you skilled in this and those of you who can relate:
1. I actually feel better AT WORK than at home. When I'm normal, I can't wait to go home, When I'm like this, I like being around people. I don't care about
a panic attack in public if it's around friends and acquaintances who can help. At my apartment and as a bachelor, it's lonely, and my cat, though wonderful, can't talk to me about
it
. To those of you with that kind of problem, how did you cope with it (tl;dr version: if you also hate going back to an empty apartment, what did you do to make yourself feel better)?
2. How long will it take for the Lexapro to kick back in? And before someone answers 2 - 6 weeks (which I've read), I want to add caveats that the first time I started taking it, it took a few weeks. The second time I started taking Lexapro (I tried to taper off and was fine until having a recurrence a few months later), I think it took around a week to start feeling a bit better and a second week before I felt "like myself." I don't know if any of these caveats will change the answer, but I figure I'd add them just in case!
3. Is there any reason the Xanax didn't help stop the bad feelings I had before bed yesterday? The only thing I could think of is I was anxious about
being anxious and about
being alone with no one to help console me, so the feelings were pretty bad. But I remember taking Xanax before and it worked quite well!
I guess the only other thing I can add right now is I go through phases of feeling well and not feeling so well -- hopeless and helpless. I try to tell myself there's nothing physically wrong with me, but because the feelings of anxiety I have are beyond my control (aging, for example, even though I'm only 27 and have nothing to worry about
for years), the fact that it'll be a worry at some point creeps me out. Again, when I'm normal and on Lexapro, this stuff doesn't bother me any more than a normal person would be bothered. When in this condition, it just gets to me. Ugh, I hate it. I know I'll look back in a few weeks and wonder what I was freaking about
, but
during the anxiety episodes, I can't think clearly.
Thanks in advance for any advice and stories that can be related from those of you doing well now. It's nice to know others have the same problems you do.