Anxiety attacks increased.. would like helpful advice?
I have suffered from bad anxiety attacks for the past 10-15 years. For the last 7-8 I have been taking both Zolof and Clozopan for this and I was duing things I never thought possible. Then about 7 months back I started having the attacks again and they have increased to the point where they are probably an 8-9 on a level 1-10 in how scared I am, rarely before did I ever have this level of attacks and they are also more common almost having smaller ones on a daily basis.
I noticed when I was taking a medication called Accutane, for acne, things started happening, and I am not sure if this screwed me up but I stopped taking it and things have continued. Since my anxiety had previously stopped years back I don’t see a therapist anymore but had to find a new one and he doesn’t do anything at all for me. He is a Psychatrist and didn’t change my medication and I really need help.
If anyone can help I would appreciate advice.
Tagged with: Advice • anxiety • attacks • Helpful • increased.. • like • would
Filed under: Acne and Anxiety
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I found that medication was a bunch of B%#@$SH%$T. Go hiking, eat green food more often and research different philosophies of the world.
LIFE is what makes life more bearable….truly.
I think it would be better for you to see a counsellor than a psychatrist who will only prescribe medicine for you. A counsellor will implement psychotheraphy to guide you through your feelings, whether good/bad with each therapy session, which my friend finds helpful. She recommends seeing a counsellor over a psychatrist. My friend has anxiety disorder but she recovered so much faster upon seeing a counsellor. Best wishes!
Is there a specific stimulus that triggers this feeling?
Maybe you should go find and try a new therapist. Maybe even try a different style of psychiatry. Freudian, rational-emotive, people-centered, among other therapies focuses on person to person therapy, possibly resolving any issues that may cause these attacks, rather than simply overloading you with drugs.
You should consider alternative methods, seeing as how medication has failed. Aromatherapy and other methods have worked for people.
Here are other things you can do. Cardiovascular exercise that increases your heart rate may reduce anxiety attacks. Relaxation techniques, like yoga and meditation, may reduce anxiety and provide tools for controlling anxiety attack. Substances such as alcohol and coffee can contribute to the symptoms. Studies show that red meat releases stress hormones. Maybe try a vegetarian diet with lots of whole grains (shown to release endorphins)?
Hope you feel better.
First of all,has your doctor increased your Clozopan dose at all? Our bodies can become immune to a certain dosage to where it may need to be increased.Ask for the dose uppage first,then you may want to try a different med such as Ativan or Klonopin. You’re psychiatrist is all about meds,so i would suggest you get in touch with a cognitive therapist,has there been any life changes(good or bad),when you started feeling anxious again?Try very hard,if you are able,not to concentrate to much on your anxious feelings,that alone can/will bring on attacks.
After you stopped seeing your therapist because your symptoms got better, who was prescribing your meds? Sometimes when we find a med that works for us, we are so relieved that the attacks are better that it almost becomes a comfort in just taking the med for years wthout a change in the dosage over the years. Then if there is an attack that happens out of the blue, we look for a cause. In reality, throughout the past 7-8 years, your body has most likely developed a tolerance to the dose you were on. It should have been regularly checked and adjusted. That is why it is so important to continue seeing a therapist because then when you go into a crisis state–which it sounds like you are–it is very difficult to find another therapist, psychiatrist or not, who can just pick up where you left off the last time you saw your therapist. It’s almost like having to start over again and developing a relationship, and tweaking your meds from where you are, when you probably should have had the dosage increased or meds changed as the years have gone by. I don’t know if Accutane has ever been linked to adverse reactions with other meds but it’s possible. I sympathize greatly with your anxiety attacks and I am so sorry that you are having to go through them. I would recommend telling this psychiatrist how scared you are. He is not going to change your meds right off the bat. It is very frustrating and frightening, sometimes to the point of needing hospitalization to get your meds on track and stabilized. If you are ever feeling that you cannot handle it and your current psychiatrist isn’t helping, go to your hospitals ER. They can give you meds to help you get through the attack and then they will most likely either call your doctor or you can request that you are in need of finding another therapist because your current psychiatrist is not helping you. Can you talk to the doctor who is prescribing your meds? If you feel that you are in crisis and could possibly hurt yourself, the ER will have to admit you for at least 72 hour hold. If you feel that this is something you might need, please do it, ASAP. If this isn’t something that you feel is an issue at this time, ask the ER to help you find another therapist ASAP. It will take a while to get your meds to a level that you need to feel good again, but know that as bad and scarey as an anxiety attack feels, you will be OK. Call someone, a friend or family member or a crisis hotline, to talk to you while you are having the attack. Learn some therapeutic breathing exercises like 4-4-8 breathing. Sit in a comfortable chair with your feet on the floor and your hands in your lap. Inhale deeply while counting to 4 , then hold your breath for a count of 4, and then exhale slowly to a count of 8.I know that it sound kind of ridiculous to try to breath like that while having an anxiety attack, but it slows down your breathing and your heartrate and it does work. Know that no one has ever died due to having an anxiety attack by itself–it just feels like you are. Sip slowly on some water and wipe your face off or splash your face with cold water.
Meds do work well with anxiety attacks, but don’t stop therapy just because you start to feel better. It’s a big mistake because as you’ve found, once you’ve dropped therapy, it’s hard to find another therapist that you click with.
So right now, do whatever you have to do whether it’s trying to make it work with this psychiatrist or going to the ER or calling your county mental health department and asking them for help. I am a firm believer that psychiatric meds work but not by themselves. They need to be taken in conjunction with therapy. Best of Luck to You!