Question:
I was on paxil for 2 years, then i went off it and was fabulous, then a bad
decision put me back at square one, and now i am on celexa.
I was just wondering if anyone had any luck with this for treating panic attacks?
Answer:
Citalopram, like Paxil and all other SSRIs (and the street drug
Ecstasy), artificially boosts your serotonin levels. There are going to
be side effects, because your serotonin levels aren't meant to be that
high. However your brain can adjust to it (which makes you dependent on
it) and some PA sufferers find them helpful.
I was using Paxil for about 3 months and i came off of it very suddenly and
suffered with sickness etc. I felt fine for ages (probably 3 or 4 mths),
which was cool because i thought all my problems were over but now, a year
and a half later I have been referred back for therapy for my anxiety. I am
going to do it without drugs because i dont trust what they are actually
doing (another aspect of my never ending list of anxiety symptoms). I did
find that Paxil kept it all in control but i have no experience of your
current drug.
A lot of you don't know why you are anxious. Others of you know what
triggers your anxiety and go out of your way to avoid them.
Some triggers are external eg crowds of people.
Some triggers are internal eg "What if" patterns.
If you know what triggers your anxiety you can learn a new response to
that trigger.
For example, one typical trigger is the thought of having a heart
attack. That habitual thought sequence can trigger a panic attack.
Yet, if you can practice making that thought seem ridiculous, you can no
longer be afraid of it. Hence panic attacks due to that trigger will be
stopped.
Now, if your baseline anxiety was high, the fear that is triggered can
be greatly multiplied.
Many sufferers who think they are cured of their panic disorder have
really just lowered their baseline anxiety to a point where the triggers
barely impinge on them at all. But if their baseline anxiety goes up
(as it often does due to stress at work/family etc) the triggers are
still there to cause a relapse. That's why so many panic disorder
sufferers have relapsed.
It's also why I constantly ask members how they'd rather respond to the
thought of panicking. That is the most common trigger and is probably
universal amongst PD sufferers.
I just started on Celexa a few weeks ago after haveing been diagnosed as
having panic attacks (so THAT'S what they're called afterr ALL these
years!)... I take 20mg a day plus an Ativan if needed though I was take 3 .5
mg of Ativan a day initially. I can tell you that I feel much better than I
did and have only taken 1 Ativan in 3 days. I know Celexa is an
anti-depressant but my doctor said they have had great success prescribing
it for panic sufferers as well with a lower incidence of side effects.
