Panic attack recovery?

[Kez_miller]

Hi I am new to the forums and not sure if I'm doing this right but anyway here is my concern

All of last week at the dark hours I felt a little bit spaced out whilst in home and a little bit inattached from everything! I had all this week also been having tummy problems. Thursday night came and I ended up at the hospital to see what was wrong because my tummy was really starting to Hurt! However whilst in the hospital I suffered my very first panic attack in public (all my others have been in home) I eventually calmed Down a few hours after and was eventually told I was constipated!

Okay so the day after I felt terrible! That spaced out feeling and feeling of deassociaton was really really bad! I was panicking on the inside and in genuine fear....I just wanted to sleep! Anyway that night came and I decided I needed to cash in my prescription that my dr gave me for 10mg cetilopram 3 months earlier i took one and I started having strange thoughts of killing myself! Therefore I was admitted to hospital I was given 5mg Valium (diazepam) and the first one made me feel great! I went to sleep woke up and ever since for the past 2 or 3 days this whole constant fear and spaced out is really really bad! I feel drowsy and panicky inside but not actually having a proper panic attack as such! I'm forgetting things a lot since I took the citelopram and diazepam does this sound like I am
Just recovering from the panic attack or should I
Be concerned! ? I have taken about 5 diazepam and only 2 citalopram over the last two days! My diazepam dose was 1-3times a day!
Ps the only other way I can describe the feeling apart from
Feeling like I'm at the back end of having the flu but nothing seems familiar to me!

[BobLord]

Hi Kieran,

I think there's two things going on here, one you've got some Panic Attack history and your first public one has knocked you for six (a little) so because your anxiety is heightened your bound to feel a little disassociated

Secondly, I think taking medication has also compounded these feelings. In my experience medication isn't the answer.

I will give you two examples, When I first went to the doctors about Panic Attacks I was prescribed Beta Blockers which in fact made the anxiety worse because the only thing I could liken it too was going back to my clubbing days and coming down off of Ecstasy which really didn't help as I think the first attacks I got where while on drugs.

I also took citalopram for about 6 mths and had very similar thoughts / experiences to yourself while first taking them, I remember feeling lousy for the first few days and really dizzy and my thoughts were all over the place, In fact I think they list this as a common side effect. It did get a bit better but on the whole I don't think the tablets really helped as much as the Therapy did. They were also a pain in the arse giving up as I had to go through the same side effects on the way out.

I think the thoughts and feelings your getting from the medication are quite normal, certainly compared to my experience. As I'm sure 99% of the people on this forum will tell you medication only takes the edge off. I'm afraid there's no magic instant cure and what works for some people may not work for all. From my experience the Citalopram probably wasn't worth it. I hope this helps. Good luck