Hello, I'm Miki. I'm a 23 year old female who experienced panic attacks for the first time at 21 (2 and a half years ago). My first panic attack was due to a bad "trip" from experimenting with drugs but my panic disorder started about 6 months after that(after I quit drugs, alcohol, and smoking). I've became agoraphobic about 2 years ago and my then-doctor prescribed me to Lexapro. The medication helped me and I was able to carry on normal daily activities (school and work) with some panic here and there... but not too frequent.
After 2 years on the medication, I decided to ween off it, since I didn't want to be on it forever. I was not informed by my doctor about withdrawals and when I got the horrible symptoms, I was afraid of what the symptoms may be from. I got myself checked and everything was fine. Curious about the withdrawal symptoms, I looked it up on the web and found drugs.com, where Lexapro users discuss their symptoms and help each other out. This is where I realized my symptoms were withdrawals. (The doctors have no idea!)
I'm going into my 4th week since my last dose and I've had constant symptoms that don't seem to fade away(vertigo, pressure in head, and discomfort in throat and stomach area). These constant uncomfortable feelings and sensations are getting me worried and anxious that I've had a few panic attacks this week. This is why I am here. I have made an appointment with a therapist next week and am working on to find a better doctor. I get nausea most of the time I eat and it is hard for me to leave the house again. My husband is in the military and has been gone for 6 months now, so I am back living with my family in their home. I don't work or go to school. All these activities have made me sad and I hope I can be happy again soon (without the help of meds).
Hello Mommy.
Thanks for sharing. It's a real comfort especially when you hear other experiences that are similar with your own. It gets me anxious too that there seems to be nothing wrong with me from the tests when there are obvious discomfort. But I'm trying to convince myself to accept that nobody or thing can really identify yourself except yourself, since we all come from different stories. This terrifies me but, also encourages me that this may be another symptom of "just" a panic attack that no one else has. I wish you all the luck and I hope we and everyone else here can be accomplish this soon.
Thanks for the replies. I am doing this week's homework everyday and I feel I am understanding myself in small steps. I'm curious how the self-hypnosis works....
Tracking my symptoms down definitely give me a better understanding of myself, so far... even though it is a tough task. But distracting my thoughts also help too.
It's hard for me to believe that there's nothing wrong with me and if there is a slight discomfort in my body I feel and fear there is something wrong with me. I guess I feel like I should keep track of my body so I can detect illnesses before it's too late. Which makes me anxious.
Hello Rick and Mike. Nice to meet you all.
To JohnnyO: I was wondering which SSRI you were on and what effects it caused... I went through Lexapro withdrawal which led me to be diagnosed with sinusitis, which I am suffering from now.
These are great tips... Thanks! I started taking walks around my house recently but it is only 15 min. but I feel good doing it. I am going to have to work on cutting back on the sweets because I really crave them especially when I am depressed. I am on week 4 after I stopped taking Lexapro and once in a while I still get the jolts/ brain zaps. I am always dizzy still but my doctor says it's because my ears are congested.. but I've never had this problem before.
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