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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Suggest Treatment For Extreme Anxiety And Panic Attacks

I am a 28 year old female and I have been on xanax for the past 6 months due to extreme anxiety and a few incidences of panic attacks, mostly related to uncomfortable social situations and my job. After 3 months, I asked my doctor to increase my dosage from .5mg 2x/day to 1mg 2x/day, as I felt I had built a tolerance to the drug. I never drank while on xanax, and was actually completely out of the prescription when I had an isolated incident of alcohol poisoning that was reported by the hospital to my doctor. He immediately removed me from the xanax and prescribed me vistiril instead. Vistiril did not help at all - it just made me feel sluggish. I was upset that he just took me off xanax as it was effective in treating my anxiety and I assumed there should be a weaning off period. Is this true? When I told him the Vistiril did not work, he refused to allow me to go back to Xanax because of its addictive properties. He then prescribed me Buspar, which I heard from a friend gave her terrible headaches and nightmares and thus, I was afraid to take it. I have had problems sleeping since being off xanax and my anxiety levels are on the rise. Was my doc right in the decision he made to cut me off cold turkey? If I KNOW that it helps me should I go see a different doctor that will listen to my needs more, since I know what works for me?
Wed, 21 May 2014
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Psychiatrist 's  Response
Hi
Thanks for using healthcare magic

i think, you have generalized anxiety disorder and in that case, along with benzodiazepine, you also need antidepressant like paroxetine. That would help to control anxiety as well as dose of benzodiazepine. You can discuss all this with your psychiatrist. If he is not feeling to prescribed, you can shift to another psychiatrist. You can also try relaxation exercise that would keep to relax and calm.

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Suggest Treatment For Extreme Anxiety And Panic Attacks

Hi Thanks for using healthcare magic i think, you have generalized anxiety disorder and in that case, along with benzodiazepine, you also need antidepressant like paroxetine. That would help to control anxiety as well as dose of benzodiazepine. You can discuss all this with your psychiatrist. If he is not feeling to prescribed, you can shift to another psychiatrist. You can also try relaxation exercise that would keep to relax and calm. Thanks