Need help

[panic101]

Abt. 13 yrs. ago I started suffering from Panic Disorder and Major depression. I have a niece at Harvard Medical School and she says my whole problem is that I am ADHD and that if addressed the depression and anxiety would be under control. I am afraid of stimulants because of panic attacts. I am so depressed I find it almost impossible to get out of bed and the anxiety is over the top. Everyday I tell myself I cannot live one more day like this. I'm afraid of everything and get overwhelmed over nothiing and simply cannot function. I've tried all the antidepressants. I can't take the SSRI's, they just knock me out. I first took Doxepin and Buspar and it was wonderful for about a month and everything returned. Some of the new antidepressants I can not try as I take Imetrex for migraines. I am a wreck and no one in my family understands. I can't finish anything. Distractions totalloy drive me crazy. I'm back on Doxepin and Xanax. What a joke. If I take enough Xanax to work, I want to go to sleep. Klonopin is a life saver but it gives me horrible migraines.

All this begain with the illness and death of my mother. I was running a business and the demands were just to great and I had no help. My husband was of no use at all. He only made things worse. Now I think I have PDSD and I know I suffer from Social Phobia. Talk about comorid conditions, I've got them. I feel like I live my life in a "fish bown" watching everyone else go on with their lives, get things done and actually enjoy life. I wake each morning with a horrible feeling of empending doom. It takes all I can do to make it to the kitchen. Gradually it gets better but I have no life. I have grandchildren I should be enjoying and I cant. The stress is to much.

Anyone else have my problems and what have you don't for help? I am absolutely hopeless.

Thanks,

Panic

[olga]

Panic, you need to see a psychiatrist and a therapist. Most if us here believe that to treat a mental illness, you need the proper medication, a good therapist, and a healthy lifestyle with good food, daily exercise, and enough sleep.

Many people here have come back from the edge and are leading productive, fulfilling lives. But there's no magic involved: it's hard work and taking care of yourself.

Your niece may be a brilliant young woman, but you should be looking for advice from trained professionals.

olga

[gizmo]

A student is not a professional, and ADHD has nothing to do with panic attacks, anxiety, social anxiety, or agoraphobia. Rely on true medical professionals so that you can truly get well.

Have you tried migraine prevention medications such as topamax or depakote to see if you can prevent migraines AND take SSRIs, rather than no antidepressants and simply resorting to treating the migraine after it occurs?

I was bound to the bottom floor to my house for the better part of six months. Which sucks, because my bedroom and all the showers are upstairs. I adapted, and I was truly grateful that there was at least a toilet downstairs! But I just made myself leave the house, little by little. Go upstairs to sleep every night. It was hard, but I did it. And slowly I was able to leave the house and do chores and run errands and take the kids places. It's only through hard work and determination that you will overcome your bedroom's siren song over you. That, and a good therapist.

A psychiatrist who can administer and monitor medications for you would also make your life a little more bearable during this transition period.

[Catnapper]

I'll chime in with everyone else - get yourself to a psychiatrist as soon as you can. You don't have to suffer, you can feel better once you get on the right medications.

Your family doctor may be able to give you a referral, but a family doctor isn't really expert enough in mental health to treat you. My GP is fine with me going to a psychiatrist (pdoc) for my MI (mental illness) treatment.

But you could have just as good luck getting the name of a pdoc from your insurance company or the yellow pages. I've moved a lot for work so have seen several doctors over the years, and have had good and bad experiences with both the referral and yellow pages route.

A pdoc will do an initial interview which will probably last from 1 to 2 hours, and then continue with 10 to 20 minute follow-up visits. Once you get stable, you'll probably visit them every few months, although at the start you may be going every few weeks.

I have had a few soul-destroying depressions that lasted a few years each, and you can survive, and it does get better. But you need to get in to see a pdoc as soon as you can. If the first one you call is booked up, call a different one, and keep calling until you find someone who can take you. If you're having trouble getting an appointment, tell them you're in a lot of distress and need to get in sooner rather than later.

And by the way, forget your family in terms of understanding what's wrong. Once you start hanging around here, you'll see that lots of people's friends and family haven't a clue about MI, and many of them aren't interested in educating themselves. Sad but true. Good luck to you and welcome to the boards.