i am 14 years old and have what i would say acute panic attacks almost everyday. i have some anxiety at school but i manage to distract myself by drawing but it doesn't help my grades at all. when i get home that's when it becomes the worse.. i have 2-3 attacks/episodes usually in the afternoon and it doesn't end until the evening. they seem like hours and it's starting to make me depressed. it starts off with heart palpitations then i get the icy veins feeling (i think it's numbing but it feels like icy hot liquid running through my neck and down my arm). it's like the symptoms of a heart attack and it freaks me out. that's when the panic starts and it lasts about an hour (the worst of it) then it goes on and off for another hour or two. it freaks me out so much that i start to cry and i can't seem to stop. it's a huge bothersome to my daily life and i wish it could go away! i am becoming depressed because of it !
WHAT YOU CAME FOR:
I have decided that the best solution for me is medication.. I've tried many herbs/natural options but they never worked (at least you tried mom!). I am going into high school soon so I want to know what is the best medication for panic attacks/anxiety that won't get in the way of my education too much (if any at all). any advice or info is welcomed
Hi Jasmine. I had my first panic attack at 14 - they set into my daily life a year later and were just as you described, with uncontrollable shaking. You sound a lot more confident, with self-understanding I never had. Plus you've the advantage of your mum's support. Use it.
First question - do you hyperventilate (pant and gasp)? If you do, try this : a paper bag, gathered at the top so you can hold it over your mouth and nose. Breathe in and out just in the bag and you may feel a little dizzy but your breathing will slow down. It has no choice as you are taking in less oxygen and rebalancing the oxygen and carbon dioxide in your blood - the cause of that icy feeling in your arms, prickly forehead etc. It really works. Unfortunately it's not something you want to be doing in the classroom on or the bus!
I am being a total hypocrite here but I'm looking back with the value of hindsight. You are far too young to decide that medication is the solution for you. That will be a doctor's decision. You may hope for a short term medication as I was given but doctors here in the UK are reluctant to do that now as they can be very addictive and lose their effect if used for longer periods. I doubt they'd even consider it for a teenager here now! The doctor may decide you need an antidepressant as they are often used to treat panic and anxiety but again, your age may be a problem as many of them have to be used with caution in adolescence as there is evidence of greater links to suicidal thoughts. Depression is inevitable after the sheer intensity of panic - like being emotionally and physically drained - but that doesn't mean you have developed clinical depression so don't worry about that.
The best treatment of you is to be TAUGHT how to manage your attacks as they are a learned behaviour to some extent. Think of that first surge of adrenaline - how quickly the palpitations turn to the ice in your blood and the hellishness that follows - it's all rapid communication going on in your brain. In other words (ugh, I HATE saying this) we make it happen, NOT on purpose. We expect it, it happens. There are therapies now that can help you change your thinking. It's slow, hard work but it has better results than medication. I truly think if this understanding and treatment had been around when I was a teenager, my life would have been very different. The longer you have anxiety and panic attacks, the deeper they become part of your being and the harder they are to sort out. So at 14, you have an excellent chance.
You don't say if some event triggered the onset of these attacks. If there is something specific, a therapy called EMDR can have excellent results by retraining your brain to react to the trauma differently now it's in the past.
I admitted to being a hypocrite. I know the risks of medication on a brain as young as yours (the brain isn't fully developed till 24) and would say avoid it if you can. BUT I would do almost anything to avoid a full-scale unmedicated panic attack so I understand your desire for a quick solution. Do let us know what the outcome is for you. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy! Take care, stay strong. You sound like you have a good head on those shoulders!
Sweet heart I feel for you in the way you feel. It's so horrible and scary . My daughter is 13 and so I will talk to you as if it was her. Medication could make you feel better eventually, but they do have strong side effect that make the panic a lot worse at the beginning , then it does get better. But very hard to come off again one day. As you are so young, I would say to you if you was my daughter to first try some CBT therapy. Have a look on google what it is exactly, but in a nut shell it's meant to change the way your brain thinks about things, kind of re wiring it, if that make sense, try that along with cutting out all caffeine , so and cola or fizzy drinks, cut down on auger too. Do you sleep well? If not get the sleep story app, really helped me a lot. Excersise as well especially when you feel very anxious , it really can help.i must say tho having that amount of panic can lead to a depression, that's what happened to me. Really really push your self to try and distract your self from it as much as you can. Have you spoken to your parents? Or a family member? If medication is the only way, I'm not a medical person at all, but I think sertraline is an anti depressant that can be prescribed to young teens and even kids. But pls pls leave that as a last resort . Study the condition that you have also as much as possible, this will educate you on how to manage the panic and also distract you from the panic attacks. If you need to talk, I'm on here quite often.
Two things come into my mind. I understand that you're looking for a pill that will sort out your problems. Well... unfortunately, it does not work like that. Getting better will require some more effort from your side. The best thing to do would be to get in touch with your GP, tell him/her everything about your symptoms and commit to a combination of pharmacotherapy and a 'talking therapy' - cognitive behavioural therapy (or shortly CBT).
Regarding the medication, a good place to start would be either a SSRI with a slightly sedating profile (sertraline or citalopram? - but mind that it is the medical professional who should decide!) or a beta blocker. However, as you are only 14 years old, you should - in my opinion - focus mainly on the talking therapies. SSRIs mess with the hormonal system (especially prolactin - a hormone very important for young women!) and their usage in young people should be avoided unless absolutely necessary.