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Suggest Treatment For Anxiety And Panic Attacks
Question: i have had anxiety since i was a kid. i suppressed it with drugs and alcohol until the age of 25 when a got sober. After that i got fat and my anxiety went through the roof. 3 years ago i became nasious and threw up after dinner frequently and my Dr. ran a bunch of tests and found nothing. He finally prescribed me with Citalopram 20 mg and immidiatley got better. In January, 2016 i started jogging and i no longer left a need to take Citalopram. I started jogging because i began to have really bad heart palpitations. They went away one month after jogging. I moved in April, 2017 and my jogging ritual became disrupted. I just began to get into a groove again and have no jogged for 2 weeks straight again. I feel like my anxiety is off the roof again...my symptoms are the feelings of a huge ball lodged in my throat, racing heart, and a battle with myself to not allow it to hit my head meaning after it goes to my head, i feel like im gonna lose my mind and have the worse feelings of pending doom imaginable. I took some vitamins and that seems to help immediately. today i took my first pill of Citalopram. how long before it takes away my symptoms of anxiety? should i ask my DR. for another med i can take in case i have another bad panic attack again? if so, what should i ask for?
Brief Answer:
Information
Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome,
I am sorry for the anxiety you are experiencing - I know how rough that can be.
The Citalopram can take 4 weeks to really kick in. It's daughter compound, Lexapro (escitalopram) is known to kick in sooner in many patients, if you and your doctor want to consider that, but it can still take a couple of weeks to really see the effects.
It does sound like you could used something to help you until your SSRI kicks in. Medications in the benzodiazepine family, such as Xanax (alprazolam) or Ativan (lorazepam) can help with panic and anxiety immediately. With your history of substance and alcohol abuse or dependence, you would need to be careful with benzodiazepines because they can be dependency forming. So you will want to start tapering them as soon as you start to get relief from the SSRI. Stay on them no more than a month, taper slowly off, and then afterwards use them only occasionally as needed. They work right away, so they can be used just as needed for occasional panic attacks.
Interesting about the vitamins helping. That may be from the B-vitamins or magnesium. Consider taking them on a daily basis right now.
You may also want to take up studying mindfulness meditation or yoga to help, but these will not help immediately - something for helping you in the future.
I hope this information helps and that you are feeling better soon.
Information
Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome,
I am sorry for the anxiety you are experiencing - I know how rough that can be.
The Citalopram can take 4 weeks to really kick in. It's daughter compound, Lexapro (escitalopram) is known to kick in sooner in many patients, if you and your doctor want to consider that, but it can still take a couple of weeks to really see the effects.
It does sound like you could used something to help you until your SSRI kicks in. Medications in the benzodiazepine family, such as Xanax (alprazolam) or Ativan (lorazepam) can help with panic and anxiety immediately. With your history of substance and alcohol abuse or dependence, you would need to be careful with benzodiazepines because they can be dependency forming. So you will want to start tapering them as soon as you start to get relief from the SSRI. Stay on them no more than a month, taper slowly off, and then afterwards use them only occasionally as needed. They work right away, so they can be used just as needed for occasional panic attacks.
Interesting about the vitamins helping. That may be from the B-vitamins or magnesium. Consider taking them on a daily basis right now.
You may also want to take up studying mindfulness meditation or yoga to help, but these will not help immediately - something for helping you in the future.
I hope this information helps and that you are feeling better soon.
Note: For further guidance on mental health, Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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