Help please help.

[PiperIsTerrysChoclateOrange]

Sorry to post.

Missed 2 days of my antidepressants and I am having back to back panic attacks. I feel like electric shocks are going through me.

What can I do. Feel really anxious

from personal experience all it is sertraline is a bugger to get off and you need to do it realllllllllllllly slowly, under the GP's advice.

Be kind to yourself till the tablet kicks in.

I'm on this. Do you have a tablet to take? If you take your usual dose the zaps will soon go away. I'm sorry you're going through this, withdrawals can be unpleasant.

Take care

Sertraline has some really unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. It gets better when you start taking it again, so if you haven't taken one yet, do so as soon as possible.

In the future, can you set an alarm on your phone, or something like that, to remind you to take it? I used to do that for my meds.

Have you tried any relaxation or breathing exercises for managing anxiety? I know it's not always as effective as we'd want it to be, but it can help a little... Hope you feel better soon.

OP what form do your anxiety attacks take?
If it is feeling like you can't breath/are sufficating then PP who said breath less /hold on the out is correct. Sometimes it helps to know why. Your body regulates your breathing by the amount of carbon dioxide in your blood (the gas you breath out not in) so if you breath out too much you reduce the CO2 in your blood. Your body assumes you are not getying enough oxygen and telks you to breath more. Causing CO2 to drop more (desugn flaw). So totally counter intuitively holding your breath a little allows CO2 the waste gas, to accumulate bringing you back into balance. (Hold breath or rebreathe using a paper bag)
Whatever, your body will sort it out itself if you cannit regulate. You will not suffocate.

If it is nausea, the worst that can happen is you will be sick.

Feels awful but you will be ok.

And the main thing is you know why you feel like this. It is not a nameless faceless fear. There is a reason. It will pass.
Ride it out.
Glad the ADs make you feel like you most if the timr.

Sorry for typos

Managed to go to sleep.

It feels like I'm going to have a heart attack, then I can't breathe and I get extremely hot which makes me feel sick.

Did take the tablets last night and set an alarm.

Don't ever want to experience those zaps again.

I've had the zaps too - not pleasant. Now you've taken your tablet you'll get back to normal. I think everyone has different tolerance levels of how long you can go before the zaps begin. I think mine were worse on citalopram than sertraline.

Distraction is your best defence in future if you can't take the missed tablet immediately. Get busy, sing (regulates breathing to combat panic attacks), distract, distract, distract

Hope you're feeling ok now x

Feeling a big fragile today but going to rest and look after myself.

The brain zap feeling is caused by extremely low noradrenaline levels. It is something that will build up again naturally, but the quickest solution is to carry on taking your medicine.

A hot bath helps to relieve withdrawal symptoms.

Also, try not to panic. Noradrenaline builds back up in the brain naturally. Even those horrid cold turkey feelings won't last more than four to ten days. It does feel like a lifetime while it is happening, but it always eases off in the end.

mink thanks for that explanation, I suffer panic attacks with hyperventilation occasionally and while I figured out breath holding helps, I didn't know why before.

Oh sweetheart. I had the 'brain zaps' after stopping a different AD. They are very unsettling. I did some googling and someone suggested high dose fish oils. Within 2 days they pretty much stopped. Do take some. Hope you feel better soon.