All this anxiety

[SparkNik]

I have had POTS for 12 yrs now and I find that even the simplist of change in anyway in my life gives me major anxiety in which I can not control. My stomach goes into a knot and my HR kicks up and I just get a very uneasy feeling. It takes away so much from the quality of my life. I don't know what to do to control it. I have tried everythingfrom deep breathing to meditation. I do not want to take benzodiazapines to help control the anxiety but I am really suffering with it.

[JacobyD]

SparkNik-

I began taking Lorazepam (a powerful benzodiazepine) more than 2 years ago for muscle spasms and have developed tolerance (I no longer get much of a positive effect from the drug) and an addiction which has been diagnosed as a contributing factor to my anxiety and 'throat closing' episodes.

I am in the process of trying biofeedback, hypnosis, and cognitive behavioral training along with a non-benzodiazepine type anti-anxiety medication. I would highly recommend that you try a non-benzodiazepine type med first. Maybe an SSRI or one in the tricyclic family. If you do end up on a benzo, don't use it for more than a couple of weeks at a time without taking a medication 'holiday'. Best of luck,

-Dan

[Guest nancy]

Hi!

I'm with you in not wanting to take tranquilizers. I don't like sleeping pills either, for the same reason. They don't work after awhile. I'll tell you what I've been doing. I do have atavan around (.5 mg which is a very small dose) and I have an antihistamine called atarax which I was prescribed because it also helps you sleep, and I have zyrtec for my allergies, and this tends to make me sleepy. What I do is rotate the pill I take at night and then skip a few nights with no pills. As long as I don't continuously take the same thing, I figure I won't get hooked. I'm always open to other ideas for anxiety, but this is what I've been doing for now. I seem to remember that a psychologist once gave me Buspar an anti-anxiety med, and told me it was non-addictive. I guess we just need to find out.

I'll be watching this board to see what others do.

Nancy

[nicole]

Hi,

I myself have Klonopin .5mg (I have been using it for about 5 years) which I take a quarter of when I am having panic attacks. I am very careful with them. I usually only need it during my hormonal times. I have read on this forum that others are taking Celexa, at my next cardiologist appt. I am going to ask for some. I was taking paxil for three years (loved it) but it put 35 pounds on me and I just lost 20 of it. When I was on a SSRI I felt good almost all the time thats why it took the doctors so long to figure out what was wrong with me. Talk to your doctor and keep trying one until you find the one that fits you.

[ethansmom]

I'm with you on the anxiety issue. I get easily stressed, easily panicked, and I feel so anxious all the time. I had no clue that this was related to POTS until I started visiting this board and found out that almost everyone here suffers from some degree of anxiety. I too am going to talk to my doctor about it at my next visit. I used to take Paxil for low BP (before I was diagnosed with POTS, which is ironic) but I also found that I put on tons of weight with that. So I'm curious to see what he'll say about it- Celexa seems to be the most popular around here = ) Has anyone had any side effects from this one?