Hi everyone. I have panic attacks - well, my official diagnosis is panic disorder with agoraphobia. Antidepressants have caused me to go from 115 pounds to 250 pounds at my all-time high. I gained the weight so fast, too. I have been on antidepressants for most of the last 10 years, and they really do help my panic attacks and general anxiety. I am taking Lexapro now, and am FINALLY able to lose weight. I also take xanax.

The first few days of induction (I do Atkins) is a little difficult - I think I am so hypersensitive to what's going on with my body that every little change I feel turns into "IT MUST BE SOMETHING BAD!!!" type of thinking.

I would love to talk to others who can relate. I'm not new to low-carbing, it has worked for me in the past when I was med-free, but I am restarting after regaining a lot of weight in the past year.

Thanks for listening!

I have been having panic attacks for about a month now. My doctor started me on Zoloft on Tuesday. I also suffer from depression. I haven't chosen a definite food plan yet. Right now I'm waiting to see how the medication affects my appetite.

Anyway, as for the anxiety about changes in your body, I can totally relate. On Atkins induction I was on here everyday freaking out about something. I also believe my weight gain is in part due to medication (BCP's).

Good luck in your low-carb journey. Feel free to stop by my journal anytime.

Mary

Hi Spiroll!

I was diagnosed with Panic Disorder in 1988 when I was 28 years old, although I'd been having panic attacks for years beforehand.

While I did suffer a bout of agoraphobia back in 1992 or so, I just have a couple of residual phobias - like flying and driving on freeways (and I'm not real crazy about elevators, but I do get on them).

I've been on all sorts of meds - from MAOIs (gained a huge amount of weight on Parnate) to SSRIs (Zoloft, Paxil) to finally settling on a reasonably low dosage of Klonopin (2 mg a day). I find low carbing helps me stay calm and attack-free, and allows me to keep my meds on a low dose.

I'll be happy to talk, give advice, take advice, etc. My only request is that we don't discuss symptoms, as they tend to be "catching" (if you know what I mean).

Here's to a happy, staying calm, weight losing new year!

Myra

I totally agree to not talking about symptoms! Yes, they definitely seem to be catching! I have a hard time reading the newspaper, watching the news, etc., for that very reason - anything can turn into a trigger for me.

I'm SO inspired by your weight loss - WAY TO GO YOU!!!

I'd really like to get off of Lexapro as I truly believe it's inhibiting my weight loss. I take Xanax every day and it's never caused weight gain, or made it hard to take weight off - however, I would really love to not have to take it (or just take a lower dose of it, even).

I got down from a size 18/20 to a size 12 while low carbing about five years ago when I was antidepressant free. Every doctor said "noooo...this medicine won't make you gain weight!", but of course every one did. At least I can LOSE on Lexapro.

Is there any way you can discuss how you overcame your agoraphobia? My biggest challenge right now is not being able to drive - I would just love to get back into my car and go wherever I wanted to. I live in a smallish sized town so everything is juuuuust in my reach - if I could only drive. I seem to do okay once I get where I am headed, but on the way there and back I don't do well at all - so I simply do not drive. I haven't driven (other than practice drives) in probably a year.

I've got my first appointment with a psychologist to work on my phobias in two weeks so we'll see how that goes. I believe that they can help - and I'd really prefer to go that route than more medicine.

Did you find that you lost a lot of friends because of your panic attacks? I live pretty much in total isolation because of mine. I know that sounds pathetic - but nobody understands what it's like not to have anyone else to talk to (other than online - which has become my haven.)

Well, thanks so much for replying! I'm glad to have met you - and I'm heading right over to your journal (if you've got one - I was so happy you replied I forgot to look!) lol

Take care

I don't have that many triggers any more (PD does tend to lessen as you get older - thank goodness), but I don't like watching, say, sky diving.



I can think of all kinds of reasons to want to get off SSRIs - not the least of which is the sexual dysfunction side effect. That's one reason I won't go back on them.

If Xanax works for you, you might want to give Klonopin a try. It's simply the long-acting version of Xanax - good for 12 hours instead of 4. You can try it with the Lexapro, if you want to a gradual switch. I will warn you, though, that some doctors are resistant to prescribing it, as it is part of the Valium family, but since you've already got Xanax, I don't anticipate a problem.



I'm not sure I'll ever be completely over it. The meds and low carb help a lot with street driving. I went through a period in the early 1990s when I couldn't drive on anything but little one-lane roads, and since I live in Los Angeles (yikes), that was a real problem. The driving thing ebbs and flows - I'm having some problems now, but they'll go away. I'm learning to trust that it is going to recede.

What I've learned over the years is that I have more anxiety when I'm 1) tired, 2) hungry, and/or 3) have to go to the bathroom (weird). I find it easier to drive in the morning than after a long day at work when I'm tired and hungry. Sugar highs and crashes definitely do not help at all, so keeping my blood sugars level is very important.



Good luck with that! PD is a two-pronged problem - the attacks are physical, but the phobias are psychological.



No, I've never lost friends because of my PD. I've just always been very open about it and never hesitated talking about it. Also, it runs in my family, so I'm not alone with it. My father has it, and his mother had it, and that whole side of my family has either PD, OCD or one of the related disorders. So, I never feel alone! I'm sorry you do, though.

If you don't already know them, your psychologist will teach you some breathing exercises that should help you. Also, you can put off a panic attack by forcing yourself to either get angry or laugh really hard. You can only sustain one big emotion at a time, so a strong feeling of anger or happiness will push out panic. There are other techniques you'll learn, too!



I have no journal at all! Sorry about that. I do a lot of legal writing at work (I'm a legal assistant), which is a creativity killer, and then I go home and try to write a little fiction (after trying to wipe the legalize out of my head!), so I don't have much time left for a journal. Anyway, my life is pretty boring!

Good to meet you, too, and let's both have a terrific new year!

Myra

thanks for posting all the info on the different medications. This past year my anxiety episodes have become more frequent and I think it's time to try some meds to help. I was on Paxil when I had postpartum depression (8 years ago) and gained a huge amount of weight so, even tho it worked for me, I'm not going back to that because of the weight issue. Now I have a few ideas to bring to my doc.

Thanks again,

OMG, I had such a good laugh (at myself) when I read your discussion of "symptoms" and not reading newspapers, etc. Just last night I crawled into bed with my husband, who was watching TV. Unfortunately he was watching this show about weird and unusual medical things that have happened in the ER - NOT the show for me! I started having a panic attack watching it, and before it was over I was convinced that I'd be dead of some wierd disease by morning. I was even having chest pains! Nice to know I'm not alone in this.

I had my first bout of depression when I was in the fourth grade, and full-blown agoraphobia when I was 16. I couldn't leave the house for an entire summer. I've got it pretty much under control now, and have been on Zoloft for many years. I've just managed to wean myself off of Ativan (which I refer to as my "drug of choice" ) and now just have the occasional mild panic attack and some mood swings.

It sounds like some of you have found some relief with the low carb lifestyle, so that gives me another reason to try to stick to this WOE.

Franny

Paxil is THE worst for weight gain - it was for me, too. I swear I put on 60 pounds in just a few months. The problem is that it DID actually work! Isn't it just ridiculous, too, that they give you an AD for depression, and it causes you to gain weight, which makes you even more depressed?

Like I said in your journal - (and in this thread) - I'm glad I can still lose weight while taking Lexapro. My neice takes it and I've seen her lose A LOT of weight through Atkins and exercise. (I don't do the exercise part YET.)

FRANNY....

Oh, man - I can totally relate to the medical thing on TV giving you a panic attack and thinking you'd be dead of some weird disease by morning (sorry to hear you had a panic attack, though!!!)...I just can NOT watch shows like that! Or movies that are psychological thrillers, for some reason. They give me racing thoughts! lol

So, you are definitely NOT alone here

How did you wean yourself off of the ativan? That must have been so hard? I'd love to work my way off of xanax - but it's the only thing that REALLY works for a panic attack. I'd at least like to get to the point where I only take it "as needed" instead of every single day. bluck.

I'm glad both of you posted!

Believe me, it wasn't easy to get off the Ativan, but I really had no choice. I left my job to move in with my fiance, so I had no insurance. My year prescription was up, and I knew I couldn't afford to go see a new doc and get more prescribed. Kevin (now my husband as of Dec. 22nd!) was and is extremely supportive and helped me wean myself off my last month's supply very slowly. I probably made it last about 3 months. I have to admit, it was very scary when that last pill was gone and I knew there was nothing left between me and my panic - I'd have to handle it all on my own. It's now been about 4 months since I've had any, and I'm dong REALLY well! Kevin is wonderful about it, even though he has no understanding about what I go through. He doesn't have a nervous bone in his body (he was a professional race car driver for 16 years, and thinks it's fun to drive into a concrete wall while on fire. 'Nuff said???).

I really, really appreciate everyone on here opening up the way they have, and kudos to you for starting this thread! Hopefully we can be support and inspiration for one another

Franny

Congrats on your wedding

It sounds like it was extremely tough to get through going off of ativan - which I kind of figured it would be. I really wish I wasn't taking xanax - but I don't want to go through the same horrible withdrawal I had with Klonopin about ten years ago. That was just awful!

I can't believe your husband - I had laugh a little when I read about what his idea of "fun" is! Man - if only I could be fearless like that.

Yesterday and the day before were kind of rough for me anxiety-wise. I know that when I'm PMS my panic is ten times worse, but now I'm low-carbing and I notice every little sensation of a change in my body. So, those two mixed together haven't made a pleasant mix, to say the least. One of my major triggers is being dizzy - and I've noticed that since I'm eating regularly now, if I skip a meal and wait too long to eat I get a little lightheaded...and MAN does that make me anxious.

Ugh.

Girlfriend, I think we were separated at birth. I'm also VERY conscious of any little change in my body, and it also brings on panic for me - not to mention the dizzy thing - also a huge problem for me.

When I was trying to get pregnant they took me off Zoloft and put me on something "safer". Honey, I know from withdrawals, let me tell you. NOT fun. I was dizzy all the time, which led to panic.

But you know what? I'm proud of us (and everyone on this thread) for hanging in there and making such big changes to our WOE, especially when you consider how tenaciously most of us resist change. Keep up the great work!!!

I can definitely relate to avoiding anything distressing when going thru an "anxious period". I can't read the paper, listen to the news, can't watch a lot of TV shows or talk about or even think about a LOT of things because it triggers the panic and I'm off and runnin'. That's funny that you mention the fear of illness - I woke up in the middle of the night absolutely positive that I had breast cancer and I'm going to die. Weird - why would I think that?? That's the first time I've ever done that and I sure didn't like it.

Anyway, it's nice to know that we're not alone (even tho I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy) and thank you all for being so open and honest and supportive, sharing your stories here.

Like I said in Spiroll's journal, at least sticking to LC can help us feel like we're in control of something in our lives. That's something to be happy about and to work on.

Take care!!

Hi Nicole!

Wow, look at your stats - awesome! You guys are definitely my inspiration with this WOE. Re the breast cancer thing, I'm sure it was HORRIBLE to go through the other night, but it made me chuckle. I'm always sure that I'm dying of ovarian cancer. My mom and aunt died of it, and, as I'm sure you can relate, that's more than enough to make me paranoid!

I notice that you and Spiroll both have journals. I've been thinking of starting one. Do you find it helpful?

I love my journal! It's great to list what I'm eating and recipes that I liked and want to keep as well as keeping track of weightloss, tips and tricks for myself, measurements, TOM, etc. Also, people can always come and visit - can always find you and know that you'll get the message. I also like to write what's going on in my life outside of LC and how I'm feeling, my thoughts for the day or how I'm doing.... It's great. You should try it!