anyone have any suggestion for good anxiety medications?

[tinamarie1]

As you all know my anxiety levels climb mountains it seems every day here lately with the passing of my dad and i have been in a few car accidents and it just seems new challenges happen every day. Today I went to the clinic to pick up my refill of my usual busbar medications that I am on. husband was in the passenger seat and I don't know what happened but i had a little anxiety attack and floored the (RENTAL CAR) when I pulled in the parking space and almost hit the building. I just busted out crying when I turned the car off. I went into the clinic and went to the nurses station and begged them to go ask my doctor to see me and/or put me on something stronger. She said I need to come back tomorrow and he will see me then. In the mean time, the body shop called this afternoon and my car was ready to be picked up. No problem. I get to the end of my street and the storm from hell blew in. I had to stop and put gas in the rental car before turning it in and by that point the streets were flooded and quarter sized hail was pumelling me standing at the gas pump.
2 hours later I arrive back home only for difficult child to ask me if I will drive him to a friends house. While I am standing there dripping onto the carpet. I said you are kidding right? I will only leave this house if it is on fire.
My doctor had given me ten Adavan pills several months ago. I never took them then, but have taken all 10 in the last few weeks. I LOVE adavan. husband is a nurse and he said there is no way my doctor will put me on adavan permenantly. He said its a narcotic and very addictive. My question is SO WHAT?? I will be on whatever else for the rest of my life, why not give me the good stuff?
Busbar makes me jittery and want to eat all the time. I need something stronger but not sure of what is good out there.

 

[TerryJ2]

Hi Tina, gosh, what a day.
I've never been on Busbar or Ativan so I can't help you there. I had to chuckle about your comment, "He said it's a narcotic and very addictive ... SO WHAT?"
One of the problems with-addiction is that your body can become used to the medication, so you then have to increase the dose. You're supposed to use it only on special occasions, so to speak.
Also, pharmacists and physicians have been sued for less by pts who abused medications like the ones you're on, so while it seems heartless, it's not always about you, the pt, it's about protecting those who prescribe it to you.
I have minimal experience with-Xanax, which I bite in half when necessary. I really like cognitive therapy, and work very hard to stay calm, so I just carry 1/2 a Xanax in my purse, and just knowing it's there calms me down. In fact, I so seldom use it that I waited too long to refilll the scrip and it expired. That's a good thing!
In addition to medications, I highly recommend exericise. Daily walks are great for burning off excess adrenaline (not to mention calories). If you find yourself thinking negative thoughts, or having the beginnings of a panic attack, being in the middle of a walk is a really good place to practice cognitive therapy.
My issues usually happen at night, so I can't get to sleep. When I wake up in the a.m., I feel like an idiot for thinking about all the stupid things I thought about the night b4. Then the next time it happens, I remind myself how silly I was, and can slow down the process and try to calm down. It's a LOT of hard work.
One suggestion is not to let yourself run out of a medication b4 you are able to get it refilled. Just knowing you don't have any left can cause a panic attack. (Sounds like a sitcom but it's true!)
Also, to avoid future attacks, maybe you could take more control over your life. For ex., why did you HAVE to return the rental car that very second, that very night, and get gas in the middle of a storm? Why not do it later that night, or the next a.m.? I realize there may be other issues--babysitters, job conflicts, etc.--but maybe you could consider reviewing whether you have to react to other people's info (such as that the car is ready) with-such speed.
You don't have details of this issue in your bio so I don't know if it's related to PTSD or something else.
Wish I could be of more help.

 

[amazeofgrace]

Xanax and peppermint are my drugs of choice, but I am on lexapro although i find it has not stopped the panic attacks, only xanax helps with that

 

[tinamarie1]

Terry, believe me if I could have put off getting my car I would have. The damage from my most recent accident was under my ins. deductible, so I am paying all of it out of pocket and have been paying for a rental car for the past several days, at $50 a day and that is just money we cannot spare at the moment since I have had to quit my p/t job due to all this anxiety. I know I know, but $50 is $50. And enterprise did not have any compact cars available within a 100 mile radius the day I turned mine into the body shop so the closest thing they had was a Jeep SUV.
Your advice is really good, except I hate exercising. I think I would rather take a nap instead most days. I am starting slow though and have committed to walking atleast 2 x's during the week. I know thats not even enough to burn off a glass of water but its a start. husband is a workout fanatic and he asks me every day if I want to do something "exercisy" and I work at coming up with brilliant excuses, like I am allergic to outside.

 

[Suz]

Some antidepressants are effective for both depression and anxiety and from your description of yourself, I think I'd talk to the doctor about one of those first.

As I mentioned on one of your other threads, I've had good success with klonopin (clonazepam) treating anxiety. I can take it as needed but it can be addictive from what I've been told.

I'm glad you are going back to talk to your doctor. I hope you find the best medication or combination of medications for you.

Suz

 

[fuddleduddledee]

I used to get panic attacks so badly I could barely function. My heart would race, my face would get hot, and I would have to flee whatever place I was at. It got so I couldn't go to to most public places, couldn't ride an elevator, couldn't even sit in a traffic jam without an anxiety attack. I had to stop riding the subway altogether to get to work and I traveled an extra hour by bus to get to my job. Then I would also get them at home it felt like there was no safe place for me. I even couldn't go to the anxiety clinic to get the treatment to help me because it meant taking the subway from one end of the city to the other. It was no fun being a single gal with an anxiety disorder let me tell you. At some point, my blood pressure rose just enough that I was put on the medication Inderal, just a small 10mg pill 3 times a day. That little pill was pure magic. It stopped my panic attacks dead. I used to live in fear that they would come back but now after twenty years I don't fear panic anymore. Inderal is a beta blocker and while it doesn't stop the anxiety, it stops the bodies reaction to the anxiety, which reduces the anxiety. A beta blocker blocks the adrenaline that drives the anxiety. I am extra sensitive to adrenaline I think because when the dentist uses the freezing with adrenaline in it it makes my heart do loopy loops. A few years ago I was diagnosed with asthma and had to switch from the inderal to verapermil, a calcium channel blocker and it seems to work in much the same way for me. You might want to do a google search for "beta blockers to reduce anxiety" and also "calcium channel blockers to reduce anxiety". There are a number of message boards where people are using these kinds of medications to ease their panic disorders. People I know now think I am the calmest person they have ever met, little do they know that twenty years ago I was a mess of anxiety and couldn't function. These are blood pressure medications but they work for me in two ways, they control my blood pressure and they control my anxiety without the cognitive affects that say a xanax might. I had difficult child's psychiatrist convinced to try one of these medications for his anxiety, she had the script pad out and everything but, being the ever agreeable child that he is, he quashed the idea and wouldn't try it. I'm still hoping that someday in the future he will try one of them and maybe his life will change like mine did too.

 

[timer lady]

I use ativan & it works very well for me. Before things got really bad here my cymbalta alone helped with my depression & the anxiety in my life.

 

[TerryJ2]

Fuddle, my grandmother used to use Inderal. I haven't heard the name in yrs. I looked it up, and it is used for hyptertension as you said, and as a sort of side bonus, works for anxiety and migraines. It's interesting that in this case, the high blood pressure seemed to have caused the anxiety attacks. Inderal can also be used for catecholamine-inducing tumors. It's sort of a chicken-and egg routine. I would make sure I keep up with-my physicals--even though you said it's been 20 yrs.
At any rate, it sounds like you've got a winner!

 

[DammitJanet]

I take klonopin and have for years. I used to also take ativan with the klonopin and may add it back to my regimen if Jamie goes active again. I have a doctor who believes that all mothers who have kids who are active duty deserve ativan...lol. I never became addicted and had no problem stopping it when I quit.

 

[hearts and roses]

Xanax is my buddy at bedtime when my mind won't settle down. I also keep one in my bag in case I begin to feel anxious during the day. My pills are only .25mg, which I understand is a very low dose as it is and I only take 1/2 of that pill.

If your DR suspects that addiction may be an issue for you, then I would seriously consider other alternatives such as yoga, a daily walk as someone suggested, accupuncture/accupressure, reflexology. Also, adding omega oils to your daily intake can also help with anxiety. Oils like Evening primrose, borage, fish and flaxseed oils are all really good, healthy choices.

Since your DR said no to the Atavan, did you discuss alternative medications with him/her at all?

 

[Steely]

Hey Tina, I am with you. My problem, like yours, is that the doctors will not XR a medication like Ativan, or Xanax which I know from past experience works extremely well -
So then - where does that leave us? How do we get a dr to believe that we need a certain medication? I have to prove I have enough anxiety or sleep issues that I need a certain XR?