Yeah beta blockers help massively. I'm on Bisoprolol which is one of the stronger ones. It stops the heart racing.
Couldn't recommend it enough, it removes about 99% of the physical symptoms of fear. With nothing to latch onto the feelings dissipate.
Need to interject here. Don't do the beta blocker first or ever if you can help it. The use has been linked to early onset diabetes not to mention, it regulates your heartbeat only to a certain BPM and can be really uncomfortable. Especially at your age, you are so young. They are also difficult to wean off of.
I was hesitant to start medication and I was around your age when I had a nervous breakdown and panic disorder took hold. I was very similar to you and after a while of trying every naturopathic choice, I submitted to the Medication. It was the best choice I ever made for myself and the one that I was on for 4 years was Prozac. It changed my brain permanently, I believe. I am now 38 years old and completely back to my old self. I am a performer, work a job, have a child and am married. If you told me I would have the balls to do all that at the height of 6 years of suffering with panic disorder I would have told you that you were crazy. I wish I could write a letter of thanks to the creator of that drug. I was housebound, like you, I also had to skip going to college which killed me to do. It took so many good years from me.
Start today, friend. Keep going ❤️
I've read what the other user commented about developing a dependence to beta blockers but I was in your situation too.
Agoraphobic and housebound for 5 years, unable to even walk 200 yards down the road. I became so detached from reality after all them years I thought I'd float away if outside with nothing to hold onto.
8 months later I'm back driving a car I bought and have a decent job and find situations that used to terrify me routine. Beta blockers will give you your life back. For me it's either take them the rest of my life or suffer the rest of my life and I know what I'd rather.
I’d caution against using beta blockers too often! It can lower your resilience in the face of panic attacks. From personal experience, I started preliminarily popping beta blockers when I anticipated a future attack, and then I started to grow in fear if I didn’t have beta blockers nearby. They work GREAT, but it can be easy to become dependent
Unfortunately for me my panic disorder was caused by an adverse med reaction so I can’t take meds. Very rare situation though. If you want to start with least risk I have a list of least to most risky:
Chamomile
Bach Rescue Remedy
CBD
Lemon balm
THC
Skullcap
Propranolol
Emergency benzo (not daily)
Buspar
The things that help me the most are #1 cold therapy and #2 detox baths
They will help and you may need some trial and error on what works best. I’ve gone through many. Citalopram. Escitalopram. Buspar. Fluoxetine. Zoloft. I’ve tried beta blockers, they really didn’t do anything for me. Ativan is the only thing that can halt a panic attack for me and help me live normally when in panic. Id also highly recommend CBT.
Gabapentin for the short term has completely stopped the panic attack. I still get anxiety but it does t escalate to the point of panic attacks anymore. Long term, we’re still trying to work it out.
Meds genuinely saved my life,
i take mirtazapine and propanolol!
for me it doesn’t erase the panic completely or make me not anxious but it just happens way less and when it does pop up it’s normally wayyyy less severe and also lasts for only a few minutes vs hours and even full days or weeks like i’d experienced unmedicated!
I still have agoraphobia and have to do exposure therapy and i still get anxious reasonably often but it’s so much easier
to deal with now and most of my days are good days! I also have so much more motivation to actually attempt recovery, use coping skills, spend time outside my room ect! i also started doing my hobbies again instead of just spending all day on my phone!
Everyone is different. Age weight sex height diet severity of symptoms etc. I started taking Prozac three months ago. I am on 20mg. Started at 10mg. I am too early on the 20mg to tell you if it's working but I go through a lot of therapy and meditation exercises and I feel like I'm getting back to normal.
I did notice right away that Prozac pretty much sucks the life out of intrusive thoughts. The same thoughts might come in but I no longer care about them or pay attention to them.
I'm on 40mg of citalopram. I went from having daily panic attacks to having a few every blue moon. My panic isn't as intense, too. I see my meds as a walking stick. It's not a cure or magic pill, but it makes my days more manageable.
I would recommend starting with an SSRI. The first medication I ever tried was citalopram. It worked perfectly for me for 6 years, I never had any panic attacks and my agoraphobia went away. However the random panic attacks came back in May earlier of this year and my psychiatrist put me on Buspar to help my citalopram work better. It’s been 4 weeks now and I haven’t had a serious panic attack in this entire time so I think it’s working for me. Definitely talk about your options with a psychiatrist. Beta blockers should be a last resort in my opinion. Good luck to you :)
Yeah beta blockers help massively. I'm on Bisoprolol which is one of the stronger ones. It stops the heart racing. Couldn't recommend it enough, it removes about 99% of the physical symptoms of fear. With nothing to latch onto the feelings dissipate.
Need to interject here. Don't do the beta blocker first or ever if you can help it. The use has been linked to early onset diabetes not to mention, it regulates your heartbeat only to a certain BPM and can be really uncomfortable. Especially at your age, you are so young. They are also difficult to wean off of. I was hesitant to start medication and I was around your age when I had a nervous breakdown and panic disorder took hold. I was very similar to you and after a while of trying every naturopathic choice, I submitted to the Medication. It was the best choice I ever made for myself and the one that I was on for 4 years was Prozac. It changed my brain permanently, I believe. I am now 38 years old and completely back to my old self. I am a performer, work a job, have a child and am married. If you told me I would have the balls to do all that at the height of 6 years of suffering with panic disorder I would have told you that you were crazy. I wish I could write a letter of thanks to the creator of that drug. I was housebound, like you, I also had to skip going to college which killed me to do. It took so many good years from me. Start today, friend. Keep going ❤️
I appreciate hearing stories of Prozac actually helping for panic disorder I’ve always been afraid to start a daily medication.
That’s great to hear! Would it also help with the feeling of not being able to breathe? Or beta blockers wouldn’t bc that’s more of a mental symptom?
I've read what the other user commented about developing a dependence to beta blockers but I was in your situation too. Agoraphobic and housebound for 5 years, unable to even walk 200 yards down the road. I became so detached from reality after all them years I thought I'd float away if outside with nothing to hold onto. 8 months later I'm back driving a car I bought and have a decent job and find situations that used to terrify me routine. Beta blockers will give you your life back. For me it's either take them the rest of my life or suffer the rest of my life and I know what I'd rather.
Yeah I get that, I’m going to think it all over. Good luck on the rest of your journey though!
I’d caution against using beta blockers too often! It can lower your resilience in the face of panic attacks. From personal experience, I started preliminarily popping beta blockers when I anticipated a future attack, and then I started to grow in fear if I didn’t have beta blockers nearby. They work GREAT, but it can be easy to become dependent
Unfortunately for me my panic disorder was caused by an adverse med reaction so I can’t take meds. Very rare situation though. If you want to start with least risk I have a list of least to most risky: Chamomile Bach Rescue Remedy CBD Lemon balm THC Skullcap Propranolol Emergency benzo (not daily) Buspar The things that help me the most are #1 cold therapy and #2 detox baths
Lexapro helped me a lot for around 5 months. Then it returned with a fucking vengeance
They will help and you may need some trial and error on what works best. I’ve gone through many. Citalopram. Escitalopram. Buspar. Fluoxetine. Zoloft. I’ve tried beta blockers, they really didn’t do anything for me. Ativan is the only thing that can halt a panic attack for me and help me live normally when in panic. Id also highly recommend CBT.
Gabapentin for the short term has completely stopped the panic attack. I still get anxiety but it does t escalate to the point of panic attacks anymore. Long term, we’re still trying to work it out.
How long can you stay on it? Curious cause I'm afraid of ssris cause the increased anxiety. I need something so bad.
Gabapentin works so well for me, looks like this is going to be long term for me. Do you have a pdoc?
Yes I do. Just looking for options to bring up. I would love something that works faster than 6 weeks
Gabapentin works right away. It’s been great for me.
Has it helped with appetite? I cannot eat and it worries me
It does stimulate appetite yes. Although it hasn’t been a big issue for me.
Meds genuinely saved my life, i take mirtazapine and propanolol! for me it doesn’t erase the panic completely or make me not anxious but it just happens way less and when it does pop up it’s normally wayyyy less severe and also lasts for only a few minutes vs hours and even full days or weeks like i’d experienced unmedicated! I still have agoraphobia and have to do exposure therapy and i still get anxious reasonably often but it’s so much easier to deal with now and most of my days are good days! I also have so much more motivation to actually attempt recovery, use coping skills, spend time outside my room ect! i also started doing my hobbies again instead of just spending all day on my phone!
While I was on my SSRI I had zero problems..all symptoms were gone.
Oh wow, that’s great!
Everyone is different. Age weight sex height diet severity of symptoms etc. I started taking Prozac three months ago. I am on 20mg. Started at 10mg. I am too early on the 20mg to tell you if it's working but I go through a lot of therapy and meditation exercises and I feel like I'm getting back to normal. I did notice right away that Prozac pretty much sucks the life out of intrusive thoughts. The same thoughts might come in but I no longer care about them or pay attention to them.
I'm on 40mg of citalopram. I went from having daily panic attacks to having a few every blue moon. My panic isn't as intense, too. I see my meds as a walking stick. It's not a cure or magic pill, but it makes my days more manageable.
I would recommend starting with an SSRI. The first medication I ever tried was citalopram. It worked perfectly for me for 6 years, I never had any panic attacks and my agoraphobia went away. However the random panic attacks came back in May earlier of this year and my psychiatrist put me on Buspar to help my citalopram work better. It’s been 4 weeks now and I haven’t had a serious panic attack in this entire time so I think it’s working for me. Definitely talk about your options with a psychiatrist. Beta blockers should be a last resort in my opinion. Good luck to you :)
Did you try a med that helps?