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craigforsyth23
17-02-14, 17:55
Hi Everyone,

Been on here a few days but not properly introduced myself yet. Im Craig, 23 from Ayrshire (a wee town outside Glasgow). :) I am a full time community ventilation support worker working with the NHS and have done for the past 5 years.

So the reason I registered with this website is because a friend had recommended it to me as she had used it a while back for major depression and anxiety. I have to say over the past few days A LOT has made sense to me when reading through some of the posts. It's made me feel not so alone in this any more.

I will try and keep this as brief as possible. Last year in December I experienced my first major panic attack. I had NEVER experienced anything like it. I didn't really know what was going on at the time. All i knew was that my heart was beating crazy beats, hands were sweaty, felt dizzy, short of breath THE LOT. Like I say, I hadn't ever felt anything like this. I lead a relatively healthy lifestyle with minimal stress but this hit me like a tonne of bricks out of nowhere. I managed to calm myself down and call a doctor on call who prescribed me THREE 5mg diazepam tablets just to calm the nerves. Needless to say I used all three of them as I had another two pa's the next day.

Since then I had been trying to manage my attacks on my own but was failing miserably so four weeks ago I visited my GP who signed me off work for a month and prescribed me citalopram 20mg which initially frightened me as I thought that was it... I would be on tablets for the rest of my life. I gave myself a shake and realised that I would be on the tablets for as long as I needed to. They obviously took a while to kick into my system but after about two weeks I felt a dramatic difference and didn't seem to worry as much. Only major problem was that I wasn't getting a good nights sleep AT ALL. Up till 4 and 5am trying to fall over.

I went back to the GP and told him of my problem and he asked me if I wanted to change my medication to Mirtazapine to which I agreed. He lowered my dosage of citalopram to 10mg for three days and I started the new meds on Wednesday night. However I went back to work on Wednesday and managed through till 6pm and suffered another panic attack and was sent home.

Since then all I have done is worry worry worry. I have had chest pains, tingling in my head and face, dull ache in my left arm, headaches etc etc. I get myself so worked up and think that theres something wrong with my health and cant seem to stop thinking about it. It consumes my mind constantly. I went back to the docs today to request an ECG just to check everything over and make sure im all ok. He also gave me another sick line for work and prescribed me beta blockers that I am afraid to take because I have a normal resting heart rate of 63 and am worried that it will slow it right down and make me panic about having a slow heart rate.

Its never ending. :/ Any help and advice from you guys would be greatly appreciated.

Moley
17-02-14, 18:49
Hello and :welcome:

Abi-Skinner
17-02-14, 18:57
Hi

I too have just been put back on Citalopram and Beta Blockers, Don't be afraid to take them, my understanding is they are used to stop your heart going crazy and lower your levels of adrenalin.

Have you been offered referral to a CPN?

Mark13
17-02-14, 22:58
I did read in the warnings for beta-blockers (atenolol in my case) that you shouldn't take them if you have a naturally low heart rate (according to Wiki, that would be below 50 though).

Seeing that's pretty much all they do, I can't see any benefit to you.

That said, your GP knows you, I don't.

On atenolol my resting heart rate is 56 before food 66 after - without them it's 86-90.

It makes me feel a little calmer, although that could be all in my head :)

The mirtazapine should help, even if it's just to help you sleep.