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I am on Effexor XR 150 mg a day and it works wonderfully for me, although when I forget to take my pill, I do get that strange dizzy, buzzy feeling that someone below described. I also have Klonopin if I need it. It's not as strong as Xanax, but it takes the edge off and helps with sleep.
I'm curious what was the catalyst for you being diagnosed? I have always been a "worrier" ever since I can remember. I bite my nails, but it was always manageable worrying. Then in the fall of 2005, I had a full blown panic attack. It was the worst experience of my life and I hope that I never have to go through it again. I had a gallbladder attack. I new it was my gallblader. I knew I wasn't have a heart attack and yet it was like one half of my brain could not convince the other half. I started feeling lightheaded, dizzy, and like I was in a tunnel. I was at work and someone told me I should go to the employee health nurse. I did and my BP was through the roof, my pulse was 130, and the nurse just ripped that BP cuff off my arm and said you need to be seen in ER and made sit in a wheelchair and wheeled me down there!
The irony is the more urgent she acted, the worse my panic got. Finally, it was established that I was not having a heart attack, but still my body was freaking out. I could not calm down. Then I started crying and cried for two weeks straight. I couldn't sleep at night. I didn't want to be home alone. I didn't want to go out in public. I just basically sat in my house, on my couch for two weeks straight crying and fretting. My doctor tried me on several different medicines including Lexapro and Zoloft, both did nothing for me but make feel nauseous. Then he wanted to prescribe an antipsychotic which made me freak out even more. Being a medical Transcriptionist and knowing about drugs, side effects, etc. was NOT conducive to my anxiety disorder!
Finally, I found a female nurse practitioner who was wonderful. She new exactly what I was feeling. Told me her daughter had the same issues and started me on Effexor. I have been panic attack free going on three years. I get what I call mini panic attacks where I can feel myself starting to freak out, but I've taught myself relaxation and breath techniques that calm me down.
I'm just jazzed to meet people who have the same "disorder" as me, ya know. When I've described my anxiety and panic attack to my family and friends, they just look at me like I should be committed and when I was going through it, my family didn't have a clue what to do with me or to say to me. They were afraid of me, really. My mom kept saying "you need to snap out of it." Yeah, ma. If only it were that easy! |
I was diagnosed with GAD in 2005. I think everybody's different as far as meds go. SM - MissouriMT
