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What is Your Experience with Anxiety?
Depression & Anxiety | Last Active: May 7 8:09am | Replies (80)Comment receiving replies
I’ve tried several medications. Including beta blockers, the last thing they prescribed was a drug similar to Benadryl. Now that’s a laugh! 🙄
Please don’t patronize me by saying they have my best interests at heart. They already admitted it’s because of lawsuits and the DEA cracking down on Benzo scripts.
My health is declining from this severe anxiety. I’ve lost 20 pounds, because it wreaks havoc with my GI tract. I can’t drive, I wake in the middle of the night with panic. And on the verge of ending it because I can’t deal with it.
Replies to "I’ve tried several medications. Including beta blockers, the last thing they prescribed was a drug similar..."
@lizziel1 I’ve had panic attacks. When I first began having them (early 1990’s) my GP at the time prescribed Elavil (amitriptyline). Not surprisingly, that older antidepressant did not work. When I finally found a psychiatrist he prescribed desipramine. That worked for anxiety and for the panic attacks. Even then he told me that benzos were OK for short term relief but not a good medication for the long term because of their addiction potential and developing a tolerance so that more is needed to maintain the same effect.
There are many antidepressants available now that were not out in the 1990’s when I had panic attacks. These new antidepressants are more effective and have fewer side effects. Some of these specifically target and are approved for anxiety and for panic disorder. It may be trial and error while you work out what’s best for you. It is possible to work with a doctor or nurse practitioner to find the medication that works for panic attacks that is not a benzo.
Are you working with a mental health therapist? What I wrote above still holds for me. It’s a combination of medication, coping skills, mindfulness, and therapy that helps me.
What do you think you will do?
If you are having feelings of harming yourself you really need to get to an emergency room for help, does your doctor not see the physical changes, losing 20 pounds etc and react to that? If he does maybe change doctors to someone else who is better equipped to take care of you, really hope you find some relief
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@lizziel1, I'm sorry to hear that things have become so dire that your thoughts go to ending it. It must be frustrating to not have found a drug that works for you or that you feel could work or have worked in the past, but cannot get access to it.
It is no one's intent to patronize you. However, I can see how a comment may have made you feel that way. It's important to keep in mind that on Mayo Clinic Connect, we only have words on a page to express ourselves. Without the benefit of body language and tone of voice, one can easily read the wrong tone into a message.
I'd like to echo some of the questions that were kindly asked. What do you do now when you feel a panic attacks coming on? What coping strategies have you learned that work for you?