Question:
Jackie, I do feel hot, shakiness, and not as much control over my muscles, and I did wonder if I was going to go crazy because this stuff is real strong. I havn’t noticed any rapid heart beat or dizziness to an extent. I found the bottle, i’m taking Lorazepam and it says it’s a generic for Ativan. I’m not sure if I will just quit taking it altogether, keep trying at 40mg, or get my doctor to give me something lower dosage. She told me to stop taking it and to take the Ativan and calm down. I’m still not sure if I’m being treated for the right thing. NSW
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi NSW, You were probably given a benzo (tranquilizer), which one I don`t know. A panic attack for me is sheer terror, with thoughts of dying or going insane. This feeling is accompanied by physical symptoms that are very distressing, such as dizziness, sweating, feeling hot, shakiness in legs, trembling, nausea, rapid heart beat and confusion. This is just some of the many symptoms you can have during a panic attack. I am not convinced you had a panic attack. I think you had a period of very high anxiety, and that was caused by taking Paxil at a very high dose. Unless you lower your dose to 5mgs and wean on the Paxil slowly, you stand a very good chance of having this high anxiety. Take care!! Jackie
Response:
My panic attacks are very similar to that. Sleep is always the first thing that goes for me during an attack. Paxil had a similar effect on me, so now I am on Zoloft 25mgs to start and 0.5 Klonopin two times daily. This combination worked best for me before, but after my experience with the Paxil, I find myself even afraid to take the Zoloft even though I had no side effects from it when I was on it a couple of years before. The only thing you didn’t mention in your post was the abnormal, uncontrollable terror that I get with my attacks. I am also OCD and I may also have a bi-polar disorder so says my dr. They may put me on a mood drug instead if this doesn’t help. Paxil is supposed to be a very good drug, but I wasn’t willing to go through the side effects long enough to get the benefits. I weaned myself on 5mgs to start even though the dr. wanted me at 10mgs to start. After a week I just wanted off of it. It also made me lose my appetite entirely. It didn’t do this to me, cause me to need to use the bathroom more frequently, but I’ve heard that it can cause that. It sounds like you were having a reaction to the Paxil. You need to talk to your doctor and if you can afford it, it is more worth it to be going to a psychiatrist for meds and diagnosis for these types of disorders. MDs are a great place to start and can give you sedatives to get you over the rough spots and can often recommend where to go from there. But if you are on 40mgs of Paxil, that is just WAY too high to start with or without benzos. Just my opinion. Susan aka LonelyGirl
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hey, I wrote last night about my experience with Paxil, I called my doctor and she said I had a panick attack and gave me 5 pills, they’re small white and round, very very thin, I can’t remember the name. Anyways, I’m OCD and havn’t ever really thought I had a panick attack. What exactly is a panick attack? Just excessive worrying? The only thing that happened last night was that I couldn’t stop shaking or going to the bathroom and my head pounded and every noise was amplified exponentially in my head, I didn’t sleep all night, and I still havn’t. Is that a panick attack? My doctor is new, so I don’t blame her if she didn’t know about the medicine and prescribed too much, because I’m okay, still feeling side effects, but okay the next day, did I have a panick attack? NSW
Response:
I wrote last night about my experience with Paxil, I called my doctor and she said I had a panick attack and gave me 5 pills, they’re small white and round, very very thin, I can’t remember the name. Anyways, I’m OCD and havn’t ever really thought I had a panick attack. What exactly is a panick attack? Just excessive worrying? The only thing that happened last night was that I couldn’t stop shaking or going to the bathroom and my head pounded and every noise was amplified exponentially in my head, I didn’t sleep all night, and I still havn’t. Is that a panick attack? My doctor is new, so I don’t blame her if she didn’t know about the medicine and prescribed too much, because I’m okay, still feeling side effects, but okay the next day, did I have a panick attack? NSW
Hi NSW, You were probably given a benzo (tranquilizer), which one I don`t know. A panic attack for me is sheer terror, with thoughts of dying or going insane. This feeling is accompanied by physical symptoms that are very distressing, such as dizziness, sweating, feeling hot, shakiness in legs, trembling, nausea, rapid heart beat and confusion. This is just some of the many symptoms you can have during a panic attack. I am not convinced you had a panic attack. I think you had a period of very high anxiety, and that was caused by taking Paxil at a very high dose. Unless you lower your dose to 5mgs and wean on the Paxil slowly, you stand a very good chance of having this high anxiety. Take care!! Jackie
Response:
Jackie, I do feel hot, shakiness, and not as much control over my muscles, and I did wonder if I was going to go crazy because this stuff is real strong. I havn’t noticed any rapid heart beat or dizziness to an extent. I found the bottle, i’m taking Lorazepam and it says it’s a generic for Ativan. I’m not sure if I will just quit taking it altogether, keep trying at 40mg, or get my doctor to give me something lower dosage. She told me to stop taking it and to take the Ativan and calm down. I’m still not sure if I’m being treated for the right thing. NSW
Hi NSW, I still don`t think you had a full blown PA. I truly believe that this episode was caused by taking 40mgs of Paxil. One guy replied in this thread telling you he had a hard time starting Paxil at 10mgs. I have seen so many people here that start a anti-depressant at too high a dose, and have this problem, then they become afraid of meds, and question everything. Unfortunately, not all doctors are up to date with regards to anti-depressants, which explains why so many people are made to start them at a high dose. Your diagnosis is OCD, Paxil is approved for the treatment of OCD, you are being treated correctly. Don`t let this anxiety/panic episode convince you that there is something else wrong with you, it was caused by starting the Paxil at too high a dose. I have been on Paxil for 15 months, and I started at 5mgs, and can`t imagine starting at 40mgs. We had a man last October who started Paxil at 40mgs, we pleaded with him not too. He passed out cold( he is fine) during strenous activity, and he was told it was the Paxil being started at too high a dose. I think you should give the Paxil another shot, only if you start at a low dose and wean slowly. The Ativan would be good to have to help with the weaning process. Most anti-depressants cause a "temporary" increase in anxiety in the beginning, the Ativan will help that. Take care!!!!!!! Take this opportunity to educate your doctor, before she makes this mistake with someone else. Jackie
Response:
Jackie, I do feel hot, shakiness, and not as much control over my muscles, and I did wonder if I was going to go crazy because this stuff is real strong. I havn’t noticed any rapid heart beat or dizziness to an extent. I found the bottle, i’m taking Lorazepam and it says it’s a generic for Ativan. I’m not sure if I will just quit taking it altogether, keep trying at 40mg, or get my doctor to give me something lower dosage. She told me to stop taking it and to take the Ativan and calm down. I’m still not sure if I’m being treated for the right thing. NSW
Jackie is right IMO. I forgot you were started on 40 mgs of Paxil. You just had the inevitable kind of reaction to a far too high starting dose. Sue the doc!<g I mean it, this is *criminal behaviour* for a doctor. *Never* take Paxil at 40 mgs again! Instead wean on *very slowly* starting at 5 mgs. Ativan is a good benzo for PA’s and it will also help you while slowly weaning on Paxil. Philip – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi NSW, You were probably given a benzo (tranquilizer), which one I don`t know. A panic attack for me is sheer terror, with thoughts of dying or going insane. This feeling is accompanied by physical symptoms that are very distressing, such as dizziness, sweating, feeling hot, shakiness in legs, trembling, nausea, rapid heart beat and confusion. This is just some of the many symptoms you can have during a panic attack. I am not convinced you had a panic attack. I think you had a period of very high anxiety, and that was caused by taking Paxil at a very high dose. Unless you lower your dose to 5mgs and wean on the Paxil slowly, you stand a very good chance of having this high anxiety. Take care!! Jackie
Response:
Hey, I wrote last night about my experience with Paxil, I called my doctor and she said I had a panick attack and gave me 5 pills, they’re small white and round, very very thin, I can’t remember the name. Anyways, I’m OCD and havn’t ever really thought I had a panick attack. What exactly is a panick attack? Just excessive worrying? The only thing that happened last night was that I couldn’t stop shaking or going to the bathroom and my head pounded and every noise was amplified exponentially in my head, I didn’t sleep all night, and I still havn’t. Is that a panick attack? My doctor is new, so I don’t blame her if she didn’t know about the medicine and prescribed too much, because I’m okay, still feeling side effects, but okay the next day, did I have a panick attack? NSW
It’s very probable that you had a panic attack. In any case all the symptoms are recognizable as common panic symptoms. Excessive worrying is quite different. It would be a good idea to call the doc and ask the name of the pills she gave you. Panic attacks can occur in everyone’s life without having to be followed by more. If you should have more PA’s within a rather short period of time you might wonder if you have developed Panic Disorder but on the evidence of one panic attack there is no definite reason to assume so. Philip
Response:
Hey, I wrote last night about my experience with Paxil, I called my doctor and she said I had a panick attack and gave me 5 pills, they’re small white and round, very very thin, I can’t remember the name. Anyways, I’m OCD and havn’t ever really thought I had a panick attack. What exactly is a panick attack? Just excessive worrying? The only thing that happened last night was that I couldn’t stop shaking or going to the bathroom and my head pounded and every noise was amplified exponentially in my head, I didn’t sleep all night, and I still havn’t. Is that a panick attack? My doctor is new, so I don’t blame her if she didn’t know about the medicine and prescribed too much, because I’m okay, still feeling side effects, but okay the next day, did I have a panick attack? NSW
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