It Almost slipped my mind to tell you that I have tried medication to combat my panic disorder. I have tried fluxotine, citalopram and propanolol.
General information for these medications can be found here:
Citalopram
Fluoxetine
Propranolol
In my personal opinion, I didn't want to carry on with medication because;
1) I felt it did not work to help reduce my anxiety and with citalopram, actually made it worse and
2) I do not believe treating the symptoms (i.e using propanolol to reduce the heart rate increase associated with panic) and not treating the cause of the panic is an effective way of 'curing' yourself of anxiety.
This may not be true of you and I would never advise anybody to avoid medication because it may work to reduce the unpleasant symptoms of anxiety and this may give you the confidence to 'take back' your life.
The side effects were also quite upsetting. I never had a problem sleeping with anxiety but with fluxotine especially, painfull heartburn would wake me up every night at about 3am causing me to lose sleep and make me very depressed. I lost 13lb during this time and decided that the side effects outweighed the benefits fluxotine may have given me.
I found propanolol particularly frightening for the soul basis it says on the box, not recommended for anxiety. This made me question whether my GP actually knew anything about panic disorder at all (typing angrily) When I took the tablets they did slow my heart rate but this just made me feel like I was trapped in a lifeless shell. Inside I was screaming and on the outside I couldn't even work up an increase in my heart rate. Here again, medication is just masking the symptoms. It is preposterous to think that this medication can be used on a long term basis as a treatment for panic disorder. I would rather deal with my issues than pretend they are not there with drugs. Instead of coping and existing, I would rather live.
General information for these medications can be found here:
Citalopram
Fluoxetine
Propranolol
In my personal opinion, I didn't want to carry on with medication because;
1) I felt it did not work to help reduce my anxiety and with citalopram, actually made it worse and
2) I do not believe treating the symptoms (i.e using propanolol to reduce the heart rate increase associated with panic) and not treating the cause of the panic is an effective way of 'curing' yourself of anxiety.
This may not be true of you and I would never advise anybody to avoid medication because it may work to reduce the unpleasant symptoms of anxiety and this may give you the confidence to 'take back' your life.
The side effects were also quite upsetting. I never had a problem sleeping with anxiety but with fluxotine especially, painfull heartburn would wake me up every night at about 3am causing me to lose sleep and make me very depressed. I lost 13lb during this time and decided that the side effects outweighed the benefits fluxotine may have given me.
I found propanolol particularly frightening for the soul basis it says on the box, not recommended for anxiety. This made me question whether my GP actually knew anything about panic disorder at all (typing angrily) When I took the tablets they did slow my heart rate but this just made me feel like I was trapped in a lifeless shell. Inside I was screaming and on the outside I couldn't even work up an increase in my heart rate. Here again, medication is just masking the symptoms. It is preposterous to think that this medication can be used on a long term basis as a treatment for panic disorder. I would rather deal with my issues than pretend they are not there with drugs. Instead of coping and existing, I would rather live.
