During the past month i have been in and out of the ER 5-6 due to constant symptoms of a panic attack that i did not know was the root cause of my symptoms at the time. my original symptoms consisted of light headness, feeling of faint, disassociation, and even felt immobilized like i couldnt move. Each time i would wake up and my body would start shaking each time and the feeling of faint and lightheadness like i was going to pass out persisted for about an hour so i would go outside for a walk and the symtoms would stop. I have taken numerous tests to rule out any major health issues, such as MRI of my brain and carrotid arteries, ekg of my heart, chest xrays and nothing was found. My panic episodes got more severe to the point where i was hyperventalating and had a feeling that i was going to die and even blacked out for 15-20 seconds and thought i was dead. i was finally admitted to the psychiatry unit in a hospital for 3 weeks, while they were feeding me lexapro at a starting dosage of 15 mg and increased it to 20 mg. i have taken this medication for 3 1/2 and nothing has changed. I was also given klonopin twice a day at 0.5 mg each to a total of 1 mg. Which i really dont see a noticable change either. After being discharged after 3 weeks nothing has changed with my breathing issues. I have a constant urge to yawn all the time to try to catch my breath and sometimes that doesnt work and i have to continue yawning. The psychiatrist at the unit has prescribed me to continue to take klonpin at a dosage of 1 mg twice a day to at a total of 2 mg daily. while hopefully the lexapro will kick in. It has been three days since I have been discharged and nothing has really changed. My psychiatrist that i visited yesterday informed me that I should stop taking lexapro and taper down to 10 mg for a week and switch over to Prozac since lexapro isnt known to alleviate my OCD tendecies. I have browsed this forum complusively over the last few days looking for possible solutions to assist with my constant feeling of being out of breath and have seen people have dealt with this issue for years. Ever since my last major panic episode in which i was hyperventalating constantly for over an hour and felt as if i couldnt catch my breath i have been having these symptoms. During the day it can worsen out as well. I'm constantly thinking of my breath, hopefully the prozac will alleviate the complusive thought Is there anyone out there that has overcome a similar situation and how?
sorry your experiencing this, it seems like what your experiencing is panic attack with mixture of anxiety and all these problem can cause depersonalization.have u been under any stress lately? i am going through this couple months back it was so bad i thought i was going crazy or something, it was to the point where i thought i was gonna die the main thing that would bother me was my breathing was always so off and i didnt know why i was so out of breath , i would realized my breathing is off and then i would have a bad panic attack most of the Symptoms your experiencing i have them too i even tried lexapro too and its was so strong and gave me a bad reaction so i stop taking them. well right now my symptoms have calm down and for the breathing i know its scary but it has calm down and my advise to you is be mindful of it but stop playing too much attention because that is why it keeps affecting u, your blood test are normal so you know its ur anxiety/panic attack you know these 2 can go hand in hand but i promise u if u stop paying too much attention to it it will ease up eventually.
thank you for your advice. yes i have been under some stress lately. have you been prescribed another medication that helped?
it seems like im out of answers when i visit doctors about this situation. has anyone been lucky enough to find a knowledgable doctor that has assisted them with this issue?
no i have not try no other meds after the 1st one i took i got so scared i didnt ask again for any, i had many side affects from that one and now am paranoid about even looking into them again, you are right doctors cant help but i still only go to them because i am battling with some health issues which is what landed me up in this situation in the 1st place, medical wise i still cant even get the help i need because these dr dont know nothing.
has your breathing normalized after your experience?
yes but i had to put in work as well mentally, when i get anxiety it comes back but then i will distract myself and it will go away
good to hear ive been reading about other people experiencing this for years and i hope they controlled it. anyone else have any tips?
Anyone else overcome these symtpoms i hope to only bring positivity into this topic as i have constantly read people that have struggled years with this as i wish for those and myself to overcome this in a timely fashion
bump