Confession

[crazee4critters]

Hi There
I Dont Know If I Will Be Of Any Help But I Too Lived With Anxiety And Panic Attacks For 15 Years Every Year It Got Worse Till Towards The End I Quit My Job I Couldnt Function And The Crazy Thing Was I Didnt Know Why.at First I Tried To Treat Myself By Counting Backwards From 100 By 7's It Makes You Think About Numbers And You Really Have To Concentrate Which Helps In A Panic Attack But It Doesnt Stop Them From Coming Back I Didnt Know What Was Going On Or Why Till Finally I Had A Panic Attack And No They Wont Kill You But They Sure Make You Feel Like Your Dieing And This One Was The Super Dooper Killer Attack I Just Knew I Couldnt Come Out Of This One I Had My Husband Take Me To The Er Where They Hooked Me Up To All These Machines And Then They Came In And Gave Me A Pill After About 30 Min
I Felt Stupid For Even Being There I Felt Good I Wanted More It Was Like Life In A Bottle I Went To My Doctor She Asked Me Questions
And Asked Me If I Had Been Depressed About Anything And I Told Her No Just Maybe Feeling Like This All The Time She Gave Me Some More Of These Miracle Drugs And Another Prescription To Try ....after About A Month I Could Not Believe The Weight That Was Lifted I Felt Like A Brand New Person Not High Just Normal I Started Doing Things I Always Wanted To Do And Thanked God For My Life Back
The Miracle Drug Was Zanax And The Presciption Was Zoloft
And I Truly Dont Know What Would Have Become Of Me Had I Not Been Intoduced See Every One Has Panic Attacks Or Anxieity One Time Or Another But When It Just Wont Go Away That Is When It Is A Chemical Imbalance That Is Why You Cant Treat It Yourself I Was
Diagnosed With Post Traumatic Stress Disorder They Say Sometimes Something Taumatic Happens In Your Life That Makes Your Body Conduct Your Senses In A Fight Or Flight Mode And Sometimes It Sticks And Doesnt Go Away The Fight Or Flight Mode Is Your Bodys Own Natural Defence Mecanisim That Gives Your Body The Adrenaline Your Body Needs In Case Of Danger Wether You Have To Run Or Fight This Is Where The Imbalance Comes From When Your Body Thinks Its In Danger Of Its Self After Feeling Better I Did Alot Of Research On All Of This And Found Out Alot Of Stuff About This Problem Now I Dont Know If You Have Ever Been To A Doctor About This But If You Have Or Have Not You Should Mention This Now Zoloft Worked For Me Maybe Something Else Will Work For You
But You Cant Cure This By Your Self A Chemical Imbalance Cannot Be Fixed By Counceling Or Telling Yourself Its All In Your Head
Believe Me You Are Not Alone And I Hope This Helps In Some Way
There Is Life Again Trust Me
Good Luck

[Man Apart]

Ive hear good and bad things about Xanax. Ive had over 15 different doctors in the last 6 years and I can't find a doctor this side of the Mississippi river to prescribe it. And only since early this year was I first prescribed Clonazepam and I had to change doctors 4 times within 3 months because none of them recommended any type of Benzo medication. Finally i found a doctor to prescribe Clonazepam to me after years of taking Hydroxyzine and Buspar. I can't say the clonazepam has helped me significantly, if any it has only been a slight improvement from the other medications. After 3 visits with no improvement he made a very minor increase. Thats when I asked him about Xanax. And he told me that Xanax was weaker and only lasted 3-4 hours. He said they are basically the same thing. Ive had other doctors tell me that Xanax was very addictive and they did not prescribe it. Ive even had doctors lie to me. One particular woman who is probably the most uncaring person Ive ever met told me flat out that she lied to me for months just because she didnt want to prescribe Xanax, Clonazepam, Ativan, or any other Benzo type drug. She prescribed me Atarax and told me it was different than Hydroxyzine and Buspar and more potent than Xanax. I research everything they prescribe me, so I went home and basically found out that it was the same thing as Hydroxyzine. I printed out a copy of what I found and went back to her office and told her about it. She gave a little smirk and said "I know you think your smart but I know what Im doing." And she told me Ive been on everything and that shes not changing or increasing anything so there was no reason to come and see her again. She even went into this like baby voice mode telling me "oh really, it hasnt worked for you, oh im so sorry, well too bad, I cant help, find someone else, bye bye."

To be honest, Ive been giving so many different opinions I don't know what to think or to take. I hate depending on these doctors but the sad thing is, I dont think Ill ever be able to function properly or overcome alot of the anxiety issues I have unless Im treated properly. Right now Im taking Prozac and Clonazepam. They help moderately but when im having 9-10 hour panic aftershocks, I should be able to take something that can calm me and nothing I take can even put a dent into my anxiety when its at its worse.

Im glad that you found something really has helped you and given you the ability to function normally. Hopefully i will be able to find something that works for me too.

[ajas]

Hi Rod, well I dont understand why they wont let you on the anxiety board? You certainly pass the criteria!!! Ha..dont let that get to you tho, you have support here, and when it comes down to it, we are all in the same boat, should I say "Plane" at the moment. Rod you need to get some valium type drugs..Xanax is a good drug, The doctors wil say its addictive...they say that about everything , "sigh" I lived in australia for a long time and they dish out drugs rather easily, I had a wonderful old doctor who would write scripts for 200 valium at a time!! he worked on the believe that one has to have some sort of quality of life,my life for a short while was totally indoors, I only had to open the front door to nearly pass out, sweat etc .. well you know how it is. Everthing I've read about the american health care seems totally unaceptable , however I digress, Xanax will help immensly. same with valium, if you could get your hands on some, I do not recommend eating pills to help in the long time ( I am only putting that in here , coz someone will say OOh they are addictive)but we are not talking about an addiction here, we are talking about using them to let you enjoy your life!... have you tried to explain to the doctor that you just need some for flying, surely they would give you a script.
As far as on the plane goes, I have rarely seen any-one be sick, tho they do have bags just for that right in front of you.!! NO-ONE WOULD CARE, !travellers are all excited and notice only that they are off on a wonderful holiday or getting to see family, it really is an exciting time.
This wont help you, but you may feel not so alone, my friend has been shouted a trip back to england to see her family, first time in 20 years, day of departure 21/9 and I am propping her up too, she is almost in tears at work, she is finding the whole trip to overwhelming to handling, and she doesnt have panic attacks,!! she to goes to L A, then onto London...so how about out of the 2 of you "one" can do it.
I have so much I want to say, but then it gets all long winded, but I will keep writing if you can bear to read, listen whatever, I think Meredith has the same outlook as me on the valium tho, and sure she would agree, that they are a little god-send in your pocket, "just in case!
keep up the positives
best wishes to you
Sue

[Man Apart]

Ajas is clonazepam a valium type drug? I was told it is. I see my doctor next week. Im not really looking forward to it. I already know what he will do and say. Im already in the process of changing doctors yet again. If Xanax or anything else I havent taken yet for anxiety takes away just 30% of the anxiety I feel I know Ill be ok. I dont have motion sickness, Im pretty sure of that but anxiety can make me feel like I have a stomach virus. Right now oddly enough Im feeling pretty confident about everything. But for 7 months last year I felt pretty confident that I was going to be able to do this and I fell flat on my face. I wish I could recreate that day today because Im ready for round two. Well I think I am. I just feel like I want a rematch. I let it beat me last time. I cant this time. Its all or nothing for me. It just is. I think the moment I step inside the plane, I win. I think my anxiety will subside the moment I realized Im here now and I made it. The days and hours leading up to it is whats hard. I wish I could just be right outside the door of the plane goign in and bypassing the endless nights of panic I have to go through just to get to that door. I remember telling my parents the day before I was suppose to depart, I wish I could just leave now and be on my way there because I knew I wouldnt make it through the night feeling the way I felt, and it just got worse and worse.

If you dont mind Sue, would you feed my curiosity and tell me about those lands down under. I would love to know about Austrailia and New Zealand. The Philippines is right above Austrailia. I did a search online to calculate how long a flight to Sydney would take and for some strange reason it takes significantly less time to get there than it is to get to Manilia, Philippines. I think it takes less time to get to the moon than it is there. lol. But basically I just want to know what the land is like, the people, the culture, and the scenary.

Ill make sure I ask about Xanax and Valium again this week. Maybe Ill get lucky.

[SOE]

Hi Rod,

As long as you are going to your doctor, you might want to ask him about Compazine. I take it for nausea -- it works very quickly for me.

Since anxiety tends to make people nausea, it is a good thing to have around.

I know the trip is long, but it is mostly just sitting on a plane -- I don't know the thought of just sitting around helps any.... you probably should also have something to help you sleep on the plane -- so you can feel a little rested when you get to Rose. When you get to Rose.... not if. When.