Getting medicated

[MisStarrlight]

Lately-the past year or so, I've been having these crazy panic attacks (I guess you'd call them) It could be something simple like a pair of shoes in the middle of the kitchen floor that sets me off...I basically spazz out, start throwing stuff & yelling, unable to concentrate on anything. Once I feel it starting there's no way to stop it, nothing that can "fix" it. And once one thing goes wrong, everything does. It's gotten to the point where this happens at least once a week-sometimes more. I can handle it (sorta), but my bf can't take it any longer-I don't mean to, but I end up taking it out on him most of the time.
He hasn't given me an ultimateum, but he's basically told me that between my panic attacks and my social anxiety, I need to go on Zanex. This scares me a bit cause I know quite a few horror stories when people I've known have been drugged up, but I also know people that it has worked wonders for.

I need to find a doctor-a psychiatrist I'm guessing & then need to figure out what medication would be the best. I know where to begin, but I don't know where to go from there.
Does anyone have any advice-or know of any drs in the NYC/LI area?

 

[Juneplum]

hon, the MOST important thing is that u see a GOOD psychiatrist. one who is GOOD at prescribing meds.. not just one who just prescribes the same thing for everybody. one who will listen to u carefully, suggest different meds and the pros and cons of each. just take it one day at a time. remember it takes about a month or so for the effect to fully kick in.a good place to get references is from your primary care doctor. i'm sure he/she can point u in the right direction! good luck hon!! ((hugs))

 

[pumpkincat210]

Go see your doctor..
It sounds just like me. I was finally diagnosed as a Manic Depressive, and finally they put me on the right meds, so i can function normally. It went undiagnosed for 10 years, they thought i just had depression and that only treated half of the problem. I feel so much better now!

 

[MACmermaid]

hi

just something else to think about....you might want to consider starting with a psychologist (a doctoral level professional - the degree should be either Ph.D., Psy.D., or sometimes Ed.D.). it is important to know the theoretical orientation of the psychologist too...your best bet would be a cognitive-behavioral psychologist. of course medication is sometimes needed and can be helpful in the short-term for anxiety, but a lot of times anxiety is best treated in the long-term with a good course of therapy. a psychologist can definitely assess you and work with you, and then can also refer you to a psychiatrist for medication management if he or she thinks that would help too. i would be reluctant to advise you to see just a psychiatrist for something like this...there are a TON of things psychologists can do for anxiety. and most anti-anxiety medications are quite sedating and also run a great risk for dependence (especially Xanax and Valium...they can be so bad). they are really intended only for short-term use, but a lot of people end up taking them for years and years. generally speaking, this is not necessary. it happens a lot b/c it is the easiest thing to do.

of course there are certain instances in which medication is essential for treatment (like bipolar disorder), but anxiety disorders are definitely able to be treated by a good psychologist. like i said medication can be good in the beginning of treatment for anxiety disorders, but should eventually be decreased/stopped as therapy continues.

anyway, just something for you to consider. i work in the mental health field. best of luck with everything! i'm sure you will feel better once you start treatment. hang in there

 

[makeup_junkie]

Do you have a primary care physician that you see on a regular basis? If so, your best bet is to see him or her first based on the fact that they know you better and you probably trust their advice better than if you cold-called a psychiatrist or psychologist. And depending on your health insurance plan, you may be required to show a referral from your PCP to a psychiatrist or psychologist. With that said, I would suggest seeing a psychologist first, and I would avoid seeing a psychologist with a Psy.D. if possible. No offense to anyone who has a Psy.D. or regularly sees a psychologist with a Psy.D., it's just that psychologists with a Ph.D. have significantly more training. I only know this because I'm working on my Ph.D. in clinical child psychology right now. A psychologist can administer tests to determine what, if any, psychological disorders you currently have, and then recommend a course of treatment based on your condition. If you don't get a referral from your PCP and choose a psychologist on your own, look for a psychologist that specializes in clinical treatment of adults (clinical psychology), or as stated in the above post, a cognitive-behavioral psychologist (depending on how they are listed in your city). Your psychologist can then refer you to a psychiatrist if he or she thinks you'd benefit from psychotrophic medication. Regardless of what you hear from other people, psychotrophic drugs (basically medication used to treat psychological disorders that are thought to be physiologically- based) help hundreds of thousands of people everyday. It is true that some drugs have side effects, but the percentage of people who experience severe side effects is pretty low. And if you do experience side effects when you start taking a medication, for the most part the side effects decrease and eventually stop after a few months (or even weeks) of taking the drug. You should definitely not start by asking for medication. Medication is certainly not the answer to everything and is obviously not appropriate in every situation, but it can significantly help. In my opinion, the best course of treatment is a combination of therapy and medication if needed. If you do have an anxiety disorder or Panic Disorder, a therapist can help you to decipher what exactly is causing your anxiety attacks, which can lead to the cessation of the anxiety attacks. Hopefully that was somewhat helpful.

 

[MACmermaid]

sorry to get away from the original intent of this thread, but i am going to have to disagree what was mentioned in this post about Psy.D.s (vs. Ph.D.s). psychologists w/ a Ph.D.s do not have significantly more training. rather they are trained in a different way - a Ph.D. is more of a research-based degree, whereas a Psy.D. is less research and more clinically-based. actually, the whole point of a Psy.D. is to train practitioners who can competently assess, diagnosis, and treat any number of mental disorders. psychologists w/ Psy.D.s can administer psychological tests, as can psychologists w/ Ph.D.s. they can perform all of the functions that psychologists w/ Ph.D.s can.

if you decide to see a psychologist, you always want to make sure the person is licensed, preferably at the doctoral level, and that the license is in good standing.

at any rate, sorry to digress. hope you are hanging in there!

 

[jokers_kick]

Be careful. That's all I can say. I had the exact same problem as you, and I saw a good psychiatrist. I went to my doctor after she suggested some medications for me, and he told us that we shouldn't see her anymore. I've been seeing this doctor for a long time and he knows me very well. The psychiatrist tried putting me on 5 different medications for things that I did not have. They tried prescribing me lexapro, but I ended up feeling the exact opposite of what it was supposed to do. The only thing that worked for me was xanax, because its fast acting. But I couldn't continue taking that because of the dependancy.

 

[blueyedlady87]

For anxiety, Buspar is amazing. One inthe morning, and I can take up to 2 more during the day if its stressing me out. Its a miracle drug. I take it with Zoloft and the combination works great for me. Then again I'm one of those people who doesn't see anything wrong with popping a pill to cure a problem. The "natural/homeopathic" method didn't work for me. Find a *good* psych. They will probably recommend cognative behavior therapy. At least mine did. Howver I have yet to go b/c I hate someone all up in my biz-nass. Lol. Well good luck to you!