View Full Version : What meds have worked best for you to combat panic/ agoraphobia?
My GP prescribed me Paroxetine (Seroxat) today for panic attacks/anxiety. I've read too many negative things about withdrawing/stopping them that it's put me off taking them. Can anyone suggest a more 'user friendly' medication? What meds have worked best for you to combat panic/ agoraphobia?
Propanalol has helped me the most. Last time I was bad I never left the house for a year and with the help of this, my mother and CBT I got my life back. that was back in 2005 and its just recently come back two-three month ago! im back on the propanalol and its really helping take the edge of the anx effects on my body which were making my life hell. I had stopped taking them and only taking them as and when needed but going to start taking them everyday again like I used to.
Hi Mizz,
I suffer with agrophobia as part of my cyclothymia. I found that the best thing to calm my panic and anxiety were Citalopram. I suffered a few days of tiredness at the beginnng of them but now I can go out to town and university without feeling so anxious to get home.
Citalopram work for some people and dont for others. There is also Fluoxetine (prozac) that work in a similar way, but I got quite a few side effects from these so I stopped them and went back to Citalopram.
Hi Sar, someone else suggested Citalopram to me today so I am going to ask my GP to prescribe me some when I see her on Tuesday. I to have Agoraphobia Sar.
Sertraline has worked best for me, though I'm not sure it is any easier than Seroxat to come off. I'm due to try and come off Sertraline myself in a few weeks time, so I'll soon find out whether it is easy or not! I no longer dread going places and now function perfectly normally. The side effects were tough for the first four weeks, but well worth going through in the end.
My GP prescribed me Paroxetine (Seroxat) today for panic attacks/anxiety. I've read too many negative things about withdrawing/stopping them that it's put me off taking them. Can anyone suggest a more 'user friendly' medication? What meds have worked best for you to combat panic/ agoraphobia?
Seroxat was the one that worked the best for me without a doubt. Was on them for 14 years before they stopped working. I;ve been on Prozac (but not for long!!), escitalopram, pregabalin (again, not for long!), loads of tricyclics and I;m now on sertraline.
I did gain some weight over the years but that was down to bad diet and no exercise as well. Also, I had no problems cross tapering from Seroxat to excitalopram.
Good Luck!
nomorepanic
29-07-11, 01:02
Can I be so bold as to say maybe meds aren't the answer and self-help and therapy is.
I hate to see people recommending drugs like they are a new brand of coffee to try.
There are alternatives to drugs if you want to choose that route
I'd have loved to have taken a drug free route Nicola, I really would, but in truth I was so far down nothing else was working. Counselling was offered, but six months on I'm still on the waiting list and I can't afford the hefty private CBT fees I was quoted. I do believe I was more depressed than anxious this time round, and although in time I probably could have turned things round without drugs, I can't help feeling the meds I was on this time speeded up my recovery. I needed the fast recovery so I could get back to work as we were so desperately short of cash and at risk of an even more anxiety provoking financial catastrophe.
Tyke
Anxious_gal
29-07-11, 04:03
Can I be so bold as to say maybe meds aren't the answer and self-help and therapy is.
I hate to see people recommending drugs like they are a new brand of coffee to try.
There are alternatives to drugs if you want to choose that route
Pretty much the same for me,
Therapy, support, getting out, walking, making goals, CBT, omega 3 and vitamins have helped ,
but again antidepressant do indeed work wonders for some people
Can I be so bold as to say maybe meds aren't the answer and self-help and therapy is.
I hate to see people recommending drugs like they are a new brand of coffee to try.
There are alternatives to drugs if you want to choose that route
I have tried both and am trying again alongside medication. If you're suffering from severe depression/anxiety, meds can save your life. Then, once you're stable enough, therapy is a good option if you can get it or afford it privately.
nomorepanic
30-07-11, 01:16
Well there is new research out now that suggests it is best to get therapy without meds and see how it goes.
That is all I am saying.
I think a lot of it comes down to funding Nicola. Lets face it, on the NHS budgets it is far cheaper to put people on medication than offer the other therapies which are much more expensive. The lengthy waiting lists are proof that the supply is not meeting the demand but there seems to be little effort in trying to correct this. The situation was exactly the same when I first had anxiety about twenty years ago. Times haven't changed at all.
I think a lot of it comes down to funding Nicola. Lets face it, on the NHS budgets it is far cheaper to put people on medication than offer the other therapies which are much more expensive. The lengthy waiting lists are proof that the supply is not meeting the demand but there seems to be little effort in trying to correct this. The situation was exactly the same when I first had anxiety about twenty years ago. Times haven't changed at all.
Hear hear Tyke :)
You're so right Tyke, in fact I think things have got worse. When I've seen psychiatrists in the past - 30 years ago and 15 years ago - I was able to do so almost immediately. I was referred back to the CMHT a couple of months ago and this time the wait for CBT or a psychiatrist is a year.
I;ve also been trying to get my son help for an eating disorder, thinking things must have moved on since the poor "care" I received for anorexia three decades ago. Wrong. I've really struggled to get anything for him. Eating disorder team only see you if it's serious says doc. As opposed to trying to do something before it gets serious :doh:
Unbelievable
I suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and I suffer from some very serious panic attacks. My GP was very sympathetic towards my condition and started me on Sertraline 100mg. The dosage was initially not very helpful, my GP then upped to 200mg and since then my panic symptoms seem to be a lot easier.
:D
I don't suffer with panic or agora so can't answer that part of your question but having suffered with recurrent depression and GAD for many years I have found sertraline very helpful. It hasn't 'cured' me but has certainly made it easier to cope with life and has given me breathing space to get to the root-causes, mainly through self-help and Yoga.
I personally believe that if you view psych meds as a silver bullet then you'll be disappointed. Most people on this forum take some form of meds and let's face it we wouldn't be here if meds had cured us. But funding for talking therapies being what they are and the ridiculous waiting times involved means that meds have an important part to play and in the short-term, as some members here have said, can be life savers, especially for more severe cases of depression/anxiety/panic etc.
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