Major Anxiety!!! What to do???

[Kiwi_Girl]

Heys guys I have been geeting some quite bad anxiety and the truth is I am wondering weather or not to go back onto paroxitine...It has been almost 6 weeks now since I stopped taking it and went from 30mg one day straight on to 30mg of prozac, but i felt so hypo on that much prozac I cut down pretty quickly and I am now on 10mg every second day.
I suppose I have been not as bad as some with my withdrawl as I have cut down before and had bad stuff going on, but I can't sleep unaided...its lorazepam everynight or my heart starts racing then I never feel as if I have slept properly anyway.
I don't feel depressed but anxiety every night at bedtime is horrible!!!
and if I do go back on Paroxitine for the anxiety again am I going to have to go through all the headaches and anxiety, nausea again when I wean off it?? or shall I just stay on it forever????
I just don't know what to do I'm not sure I can cope much longer I don't feel as I am in a heaps better place since stopping and now I am starting to worry I'll end up having a problem with the lorazepam as I am using them every night to relax so I can sleep.
Please any advice would be greatly appreciated...

[texgirl]

The Paxil-to-Prozac switch doesn't work for most people. You're getting start-up effects from the Prozac (which is stimulating) and w/d sfx from stopping the Paxil CT. Also, you can't skip days with these meds because of the short half-lives (although Prozac's is one of the longest); they're meant to be taken daily. Finally, you're probably having rebound anxiety from the lorazepam. How often and how much are you taking it, and how long have you been taking it every night?

Any one of these things alone can cause anxiety, much less all of them in combination.

My advice: Ditch the Prozac, go back on Paxil, then taper very slowly. And be very, very judicious with the use of lorazepam. Your signature says you failed at a slow taper of Paxil in 2010. Could you provide details of how you tapered that time? We often find that what people call "slow" isn't slow at all.

[scotty]

Originally Posted by Kiwi_Girl

has been almost 6 weeks now since I stopped taking it and went from 30mg one day straight on to 30mg of prozac, but i felt so hypo on that much prozac I cut down pretty quickly and I am now on 10mg every second day.

Tex pretty much covered it. The fallacy that prozac is easier to come off is just that, a fallacy. Get back on paxil.

[Kiwi_Girl]

If I go back to paxil and taper really slowly, am I going to have side effects all over again though? My first week was quite bad and I am quite scared I will have to be like that again.
Tex-girl I have been taking 1mg of lorazepam for about 3-4 weeks now I have Zopliclone for sleeping but I had one the other night and had a really bad sleep and crazy dreams.
Last time I tapered it was 5mg at a time which was obviously too fast.

[Irishwill]

Kiwi Girl....I just recently tried the Prozac switch and I failed miserably. I am reinstating the Paxil then doing an incredibly slow taper once I stabilize. I am in the same boat with the anxiety so I understand, so do yourself a favor and reinstate and stabilize asap!

[rangerNY]

Hi Kiwi,

That lorazepam is not doing you any favors, nor is adding yet another medication for sleep. This speaks to the heart of the issue. Throwing medications as these problems isn't really a long term solution. This includes anxiety. You're taking the lorazepam because you're afraid of the anxiety, but if you remain afraid you're going to make this harder on yourself than it has to be.

I strongly suggest that you start working on that issue today. Its not just about adjusting/tapering meds and assuming that you'll just feel better over time. Check out the anxiety forum. There's some good stuff in there. Most people, including me, highly recommend that you start reading or listening to anything by Dr. Claire Weekes. Her Hope and Help For Your Nerves is an excellent resource that explains anxiety and the general plan for dealing with it. She also has an audiobook called Pass Through Panic that I know you can download immediately on iTunes. Maybe Amazon too.

[RobInSydney]

I can only repeat, I took Lorazapam (Ativan) for 3.5 years.. and kicked it 21 years ago... I have never had another benzo since.. even if suggested for surgery etc... I have an impression those little receptors are just waiting for the exact fit again.. I am forsworn for life...
And while I have plenty of problems today from Effexor, I am sure they would be more complicated if I went back to a benzo..even if offered by a "kindly" doctor.
Bit have had excellent sleep assistance with Valerian type products... and have gone back to them now...

[Kiwi_Girl]

Hi all thanks for the advice, I went last night with no lorazepam, had a good sleep and felt ok in the morning. Went to the hairdressers and while sitting there felt like I couldn't breathe then got hot and tingly, realised I wasn;t dying it was a panic attack...went and got some fresh air and felt better for about 5 mins then it was back again felt like being strangled and lump in throat, anyway I freaked out and went to doctor and was told that it was a panic attack. It has been about 2 months since I have taken any paroxitine and I had used prozac to help come off which seemed to be working untill I weaned off the prozac. I went 10 days without anything....the first week went ok then I started getting angry and completely stressed about simple things like doing dishes...So talked to counsellor and went back on prazac 20mg, have been taking them for 9 days now, I feel nauseous alot, don't eat much and have been getting bad neck and back pain to the point where I don't feel like I can hold my head up for long periods of time, not sure that it has anything to do wth prozac but I feel like my body is breaking down.
I have coldsores too. The doctor I saw today just gave me more lorazepam and told me to take half only if I feel really panic or anxiety, when I told her my concerns about taking them if they were what was causing panic she told me that we need to treat my symptoms until the prozac have kicked in.
I really have no idea what to do anymore, should I just go back to the paroxitine? after 8 years I don't feel like it was helping me anymore though and went through all the pain of getting off, just to go back again seems like I am accepting defeat.

[rangerNY]

This really boils down to panic attacks. You can continue to fear them and look to the meds to "save you"', or you can learn to deal with them in a different way. Unfortunately if you don't want to be on the meds any longer you're going to have to take the route that requires courage and hard work. The good news is that it's well worth the effort because doing it that way works, never leaves you, and has only positive side effects.

[Kiwi_Girl]

I am going to counsilling and working through some issues too, and to be honest I don't mind if I am on a/d for te rest of my life I just want to feel happy.

[uncommon_nonsense]

oh that reads so much like what happened to me last year. That paxil/prozac switch is a b*tch!

Are you a kiwi as in an NZer or do you just like kiwis? (can't tell from your profile)

[Kiwi_Girl]

Lol I am a nzer but I like kiwis too. It is sort of nice to know that there are others out there going through same thing, it's pretty suck!!! I just want my life back with or without meds I don't really mind but don't like the rando
Panic I have had some up and down days but sometimes all you want are the answers to the questions you keep going over in your head, and it's even harder when doctors keep throwing pills at you not answers.

[Kiwi_Girl]

Random panic I meant lol

[rangerNY]

Originally Posted by Kiwi_Girl

... don't like the random
Panic I have had some up and down days but sometimes all you want are the answers to the questions you keep going over in your head, and it's even harder when doctors keep throwing pills at you not answers.

Sometimes you have to adjust your expectations. What answers do you think doctors have for that random panic? There are only two answers - pills or therapy. A doctor is going to hand out pills 99% of the time even though it's a solution that's temporary at best and often spawns a whole slew of new problems.