Posted by Vincent_QC on June 13, 2013, at 15:21:45
In reply to Re: New PDoc RX Lamictal for severe anxiety... » Vincent_QC, posted by gadchik on June 13, 2013, at 12:12:11
> You and I are quite alike! I also had an obsession with taking my blood pressure constantly, also would put my hand on my chest to be sure it was beating. I constantly thought of heart rate. I would even keep myself up at night,jumping up and down, afraid to sleep, thought my heart would stop beating. Also, woke up one night and it was racing and you could feel it beating out of my chest. I think my anxiety caused something with the electrical system of heart to go haywire. I got psychotic with no sleep and stopped eating, made matters worse. I was hopeless, wanted to die. I refused all meds for a long time. They gave me an injection of ativan in er, and that gave me profound relief. I found a pdoc I trusted and she got me to try clonazepam and remeron, very small dose. She then added zoloft. I started to sleep and eat, very gradually started to walk. I was very weak. The clonazepam and remeron helped me stop thinking about my heart. But the sleep, nutrition,exercise was a huge part in my recovery. Do everything in your power to get well. The human body will respond. It has huge capacity to heal.
Thats crazy this obsession with the heart, before 2010 I never was like that... Had minor panic attack while I had to take the bus alone or do an oral speech at the university, but my heart was never an obsession, it was more about going crazy in front of the others and the lack of social ability to make new friends or walk alone in a street cause of the social anxiety...
Now it's all about my heart... Like you at first I had a very low heart rate back in 2010, it's when the anxiety get worse, I start taking my blood pressure all the time even when I was out of the store, I drove the pharmacy with my friend and had to stop to take my blood pressure there... in the middle of 2010 I start having tachycardia especially in the morning and panic attacks was back for good... And then I start taking my pulse rate all the time, on my wrist, on the big veins of my neck...
Now I don't even need to take my pulse rate, I feel each heart beat and count them in my head and the tachycardia is on all the time... In the morning my heart go so fast that I can't count my pulse rate, but it's usually 140 sit and jump to 160 and more by just walking in the house... My cardio Doc don't seem afraid or worried about it, me it's driving me crazy... Also knowing that I have a low ejection fraction of 47 (September 2012 results and felt better at that time so I guess it's even lower now, it's freak me out since I don't want to have heart failure... I also worry about my lungs, lungs cancer run in my family...
The other anxiety symptoms like the chronic headache, heat intolerance, feeling hot all the time, insomnia and bad sleep, lack of energy, low level of stamina (if my parents invite my family for a dinner at home I will feel very anxious to the point that I have to go in my bedroom...or reading a book or watch a movie is impossible since it make me feel very bad after and increase my anxiety and trigger panic and heart symptoms, same if I listen to music, my heart will start going crazy and my head hurt...), the dizziness, weakness...those symptoms are typically anxiety related for sure but for the heart I'm always worry...
So right now you are on what dose of remeron, clonazepam and Zoloft? Did you had to increase very slowly the Zoloft like 6.25mg, 12,5 mg...?
The Zoloft is one of the ssri who trigger panic on me, first dose and 2 hours later I start having panic attacks for 24 h in a row... So give me terrible migraine... I took 200 mg of it at some point before I start being med sensitive for my social anxiety, didn't work after 3 months, it was back in 2008...was before on 30 mg of remeron, 30 mg of Prozac, 10 mg of elavil and 20 mg of Valium... The Zoloft makes me so anxious that my old PDoc at the time change my low vium dose to high Xanax dose... 8mg... It didn't help and I develop a high tolerance to the Xanax, I drop the Zoloft and switch to the Effexor and it was even worse, start having strange behaviours like not eating and obsession about my weight, sleep 1 to 2 h by night, was very energic and at the same time a way too anxious and start abusing the Xanax and ending at the hospital cause of the 12 mg day of Xanax... Anyway...
Right now, I have to do like you and start to put some order in my life, stop smoking, eat well (less sugar, more fruits and vegetables), start to walk a little bit and strength my heart... It's so hard when you feel like shit and anxious all the time... My heart symptoms prevent me to do any kind of exercise cause I fear it will trigger a heart attack... It's a bad circle and I can't find the exit!!!
Well, thanks again and answer about your meds dose ok!!!
poster:Vincent_QC
thread:1045150
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20130527/msgs/1045227.html