Please help. Panic attacks are ruining my life.

[BettyInc]

Four months ago they arrived and now I can hardly function. I never want to leave the house- I can't even go to a supermarket.

I'm having CBT four times a week which has been helpful but hasn't helped the panic attacks. I'm on Fluanxol which hasn't made any difference.

I've tried grounding - mindfulness (doesn't work for me) - distraction. I'm terrified all the time. I often feel the panic starting before I even leave the house which means I'm dooming myself to fail cos it's like once the panic starts, it can't be stopped.

I'm terrified of being out in public- of being alone with my son in case I have one- of being stuck in traffic- of life generally.

Please help.

Been prescribed atenolol today (beta blockers) so going to give them a try.

Yes I called it my happy pill too.

The dosage seems high. 50mg up to 4 times a day?

Might just try one in the morning. Or lunchtime?

It sounds as if you need to discuss your medication with your doctor. If the does is "up to" this means "up to". It means that you take it when you feel as if you need it, but not more than four times per day.

One of the things with dosing is that it depends on the drug and the potency of the molecule. To give you an idea, with paracetamo the standard dose for pain relief is 500 - 1000mg up to four times per day. Some antibiotics are dosed in grams. The lowest dose I can remember being prescribed of anything was 0.5mg doses. There is quite a range.

*paracetamol

That helps thank you.

I'm anxious about taking them- typical! I'm always worse at weekends as there's big chunks of 'empty' time so i'll try them on Saturday.

Anxiety around medication is reasonable IMO. Psych meds are something of a black box. Beta blockers less so as anxiety is not what they were originally developed to treat and what they do is relatively well understood.

I'm gonna try them tomorrow. Got the Claire Weeks book today too.

Good luck. You will be fine. I was on a similar dose.

Just remember they are not psychologically altering. I was terrified of taking pills, could have panic attacks after taking stuff. Haven't been able to take Valium I was once prescribed for flying about 10 years ago!! And was fine with these

So today we went out somewhere and I could feel a panic attack coming on. Except it didn't- only in my mind- my body was fine. Could the BB have worked that quickly?! I only took the first one this morning!

I think they basically work straight away yes!

This is the expected effect of beta-blockers, yes.

WHY have I never had these before?! I can actually imagine a life without panic attacks again. My negative side says there must be a price to pay. What will it be?

I never found a negative. I didn't get immune to the dose and never have to up it even when I was taking them daily

Your assumption that there must be a price to pay is terribly sad.

The mechanism of action of beta-blockers is such that they are not physiologically addictive, so the dose that you need to achieve the same effect will not increase over time.

As to why you have not tried this medication before, this would be a question you could ask your psychiatrist.

I spoke too soon as I had an absolute whopper of a panic attack yesterday :( so you can still have them with the beta blockers. Damn.

Beta blockers are sort of as-needed. Did you take one after the panic attack started, to see if it improved your symptoms? This is not medical advice, by the way.

Panic attacks are horrible I had them too during my divorce and thought I was going to die.

My doctor prescribed duloxetine which makes the world feel brighter for sure but it took at least three months to kick in .

Beta blockers are great too so I hope they work for you xx

Feeling like a brighter version of myself as other than Saturdays one, I haven't had any other panic attacks. This is unheard of for me as they're usually daily.

I am however having the most messed up sleep- i usually sleep til about 2am then i'm awake on and off and having awful nightmares! Is this normal?! I googled it and it doesn't seem to be a thing, but it's definitely happening for me.

It did for me.

It did give you the nightmares? Did they fade after a while?

Yeah they did. I figure it was as my body got used to it.

Ah that's good to know, thank you! It's making me not want to take them but I know they're working in the day time, so it's catch 22.

Disturbed sleep = more likely to have panic attacks in the day = need to take beta blockers = disturbed sleep....

Hopefully it'll die down soon.