Hi All -- I'm having a rough couple weeks and I'm curious for other anxiety sufferers if this sounds like anxiety/panic or if it sounds like something else. I haven't experienced this before and I'm trying to find the right questions to ask my doctor.
My brief history:
- Ulcerative Colitis for 10+ years, under control
- Kidney stones occasionally, not a huge deal
- General Anxiety / Situational diagnosed 10+ years ago. On Celexa/citalopram for about 10 years. At my request, my doc and I decided 14 months ago to discontinue Celexa. Honestly, the past year without Celexa has been great and I've felt the best I've felt in years.
Fast forward to June 2022. I came down with a viral illness (sore throat, sinus issues, rash on roof of mouth, severe headaches, etc. This lasted about
three weeks. Docs aren't sure what it was, but they're sure it was viral.have passed.
I ended up in the ER the 1st time for headache management. They gave me a migraine "cocktail" that included the drug compazine/prochlorperazine. When they gave this to me, I felt like I went into an immediate panic attack, something I've never felt before. I felt out of body and out of control. I wanted to rip the IV out and leave. I asked them to stop the medication and reverse it. They basically dismissed my concerns. Once they gave me the rest of the cocktail that helped the headache a little, I was still panicking but wasn't able to communicate that with them. I didn't want to talk to anyone. I asked them to dismiss me from the ER. The following 36 hours were miserable with confusion, out of body feelings, nausea, etc. I'm pretty sure that medicine sent me into a panic attack, although I don't think I've ever had one before that time.
Fast forward to the past 14 days since the ER -- I've been dealing with:
- Constant nausea (Zofran helps only a little)
- Trouble eating because of nausea / gets worse when I try to eat
- Hungry and want to eat, but can't
- Occasional vomiting (mostly liquid and small amount of recent food -- not full on vomiting from the stomach)
- Worry about "what's wrong with me", jitters
Last week I went to my primary doctor and he thinks I'm mostly over the viral illness but my anxiety is causing the issues above. He gave me more Zofran for nausea and Xanax/alprazolam .25mg 3 times daily. I feel like the Xanax helps the anxiety component a little, but quite frankly, that dose and only 3 times a day isn't cutting it. I'll mention this to the doctor.
But my nausea and vomiting/dry heaving has gotten worse the past couple days. I'm so weak and hungry and wanting to eat, but the thought of eating makes me more anxious and nauseous and I can't eat much.
My question for those of you with more experience with anxiety than me (I'm so sorry!):
- Do these symptoms sound like anxiety to you?
- If the xanax helped the anxiety slightly but it seems the nausea/vomiting are worse, do you think a higher dose would perhaps help the nausea, vomiting, and issues eating?
- Do you think I should be asking the doc to explore other things like GERD/acid reflux?
- Do I need to see some other specialist (besides primary doc) regarding the eating/nausea/anxiety?
Thanks for any info or words of support you can provide.