Symptoms or Side Effects of Meds ???

[steviep]

Hi All, At the end of January I started suffering from severe Panic Attacks, Agrophobia and Anxiety after a stressful few months at work.
I was signed of work and prescribed Escitalopram 10mg per day, After about 4 weeks on the Meds I started to feel better and the Panic Attacks and Agrophobia were almost gone, Although the Anxiety was still quiet high.
Well this feeling good only lasted one week and since then my Anxiety seems out of control. (Panic Attacks have more or less stayed away).
I am now on week 11 of taking my medications and I am having the following daily feelings / symptoms which Im not sure are caused by the Anxiety or the Medication im on.

Aches and Pains, Hot Flushes which bring on Bad Headaches and Hot Feeling in the eyes, severe irratibility, Abdominal Discomfort, Feelings of Panic and that Im dying, Chest Pain and a General Ill Feeling.

I cant cope no more with this and dont know what to do, Should i increase my Meds or come off them and try something else, dont seem to get much advice from my GP except the usual 'Its Anxiety, stick it out'.

Seems strange that after 4 weeks on them I was feeling almost back to feeling normal, only to feel bad again a week later.

I was also prescribed 'Propranol 40mg daily' last week, but they have had no effect.

Any advice would be welcome, as i just want to feel alot better and get back to work

[Angelai]

Hi Steve

It's possible that all the things you are feeling are stress/anxiety related, if they are then your doctor should listen to you as the meds aren't doing enough for you. I get so annoyed when they try to fob you off! Can you see a different doctor?

Sorry you're feeling bad x

[BigDaz]

Hate to say it but "It's anxiety, stick it out" is probably right. Time to recover may well be measured in months rather than weeks. I had a series of panic attacks in July last year, it was well over 6 months before I started getting back to normality. Whatever you feel, I wouldn't suddenly stop taken medication, gradually cutting down is usually the best route. I know some drugs can take days or even weeks to have an effect which complicates things.

[daydreamer]

Hey. Im not sure about the side effects of citalopram as I havent been on it, but when I was taking propranolol I got hot flushes and bad headaches as a side effect after a few weeks of taking them and being fine, so maybe those effects are related to them rather than the AD's?