hello new to the board..and well...scared

[ternetzi]

first id like to say its nice to find a place where i feel i can talk freely about this..as i keep it to myself mainly in my life...here it goes

i never had trouble with "panic" attacks my whole life till spring of this year
which led to two emergency room visits in about 2 months because i was sure i was having a heart attack or somthing...light headed,tingleing in my arms, and the scariest part trouble breathing.. the ER doc did.. EKG,lung xrays,blood work..all came out great thats when he told me he thought i was having panic attacks and i should see a doctor
{REMOVED}
well at first i would go weeks and feel fine then BOOM out of no where id get hit with a horrid attack {REMOVED}
as time went on i started feeling worse, to the point where i am now, i dont want to go to work, out, some days i dont even want to get out of bed
so i finally decided to see a doctor, went to the doctor "nice man" he listened
and at the end gave me xanex and also lexapro
I WANT TO STRESS THIS i am sure there are many who take lexapro and do awesome on it! and im glad it works for them, and by no means am i "bashing" the drug or trying to discourage people from taking it
with that said i tried to drug for a week and it was a week of constant misery
i would wake up and feel light headed and spaced out, my stomach felt like it was full of gasoline for lack of a better description...and EVERY day was a bad panic attack, and after about the 3rd or 4th day i broke out in a itchy rash on my arms and legs, i called the doctor back and he told me to stop taking it instantly.
i went back and he gave me a starter kit for zoloft now...heres my biggest problem

I AM scared to DEATH to try it now reasons
1. after what apears to be a "reaction" to the lexapro i am scared of a worse one with zoloft, i mean they say a severe reaction is a closing throat and trouble breathing, im scared what if i am having a life threatening reaction or just a panic attack from being nervous from taking it? i sure dont want to die to find out
2. even if i get through that stage out of a 7 day work week i missed 4 days due to the way the lexapro made me feel, i work at a facrory running a machine and its important to have a clear head for safty sake..on top of the fact i am in danger of loosing my job due to missing work and cant really risk anymore time off
so here i sit feeling just as down as i did before i ever went to the doctor
scared to death to try the zoloft, and just as scared of not.... im almost mad at how i can just think about how this time last year i felt great without a problem at all..and sitting here to worried to try and do anything about it

"sorry about the spelling lol"

[sayNOtoanxiety]

Originally Posted by ternetzi

first id like to say its nice to find a place where i feel i can talk freely about this..as i keep it to myself mainly in my life...here it goes

i never had trouble with "panic" attacks my whole life till spring of this year
which led to two emergency room visits in about 2 months because i was sure i was having a heart attack or somthing...light headed,tingleing in my arms, and the scariest part trouble breathing.. the ER doc did.. EKG,lung xrays,blood work..all came out great thats when he told me he thought i was having panic attacks and i should see a doctor
{REMOVED}
well at first i would go weeks and feel fine then BOOM out of no where id get hit with a horrid attack {REMOVED}
as time went on i started feeling worse, to the point where i am now, i dont want to go to work, out, some days i dont even want to get out of bed
so i finally decided to see a doctor, went to the doctor "nice man" he listened
and at the end gave me xanex and also lexapro
I WANT TO STRESS THIS i am sure there are many who take lexapro and do awesome on it! and im glad it works for them, and by no means am i "bashing" the drug or trying to discourage people from taking it
with that said i tried to drug for a week and it was a week of constant misery
i would wake up and feel light headed and spaced out, my stomach felt like it was full of gasoline for lack of a better description...and EVERY day was a bad panic attack, and after about the 3rd or 4th day i broke out in a itchy rash on my arms and legs, i called the doctor back and he told me to stop taking it instantly.
i went back and he gave me a starter kit for zoloft now...heres my biggest problem

I AM scared to DEATH to try it now reasons
1. after what apears to be a "reaction" to the lexapro i am scared of a worse one with zoloft, i mean they say a severe reaction is a closing throat and trouble breathing, im scared what if i am having a life threatening reaction or just a panic attack from being nervous from taking it? i sure dont want to die to find out
2. even if i get through that stage out of a 7 day work week i missed 4 days due to the way the lexapro made me feel, i work at a facrory running a machine and its important to have a clear head for safty sake..on top of the fact i am in danger of loosing my job due to missing work and cant really risk anymore time off
so here i sit feeling just as down as i did before i ever went to the doctor
scared to death to try the zoloft, and just as scared of not.... im almost mad at how i can just think about how this time last year i felt great without a problem at all..and sitting here to worried to try and do anything about it

"sorry about the spelling lol"

Hi!. I'm sorry you're feeling so down. This anxiety/panic thing is horrible! Know that you are NOT alone. There are many of us out there just like you. I had a bout with panic/anxiety about 13 years ago. Thought for sure I had heart trouble. With the help of Xanax and Inderal (a beta-blocker) I got over that bout. I used the Xanax for a couple of months but I was on the Inderal LA for a couple of years. After that, I was fine for the most part. I'd have a panic attack maybe once every six to nine months. Nothing I couldn't handle because I didn't suffer GAD with these attacks. Well, since August I've had the WORST case of GAD/panic. I've been to the ER 5 times since then!! I'm surprised they haven't admitted me to the psych ward! Anyway, like you I was prescribed Xanax and Lexapro. I decided, (well, my anxiety decided) that I wouldn't take the Lexapro. So, I've been trying to deal with this with just the Xanax and faith. Does the Xanax work at all for you? I'm just hoping that this bout will pass just like the first one did. I think it will. I think you'll be fine too!