The xanax should help with the anxiety. You can use the xanax prior to experiencing anxiety to keep it under control. If you know that you get anxious the first day of work you could take the xanax before the anxiety sets in. Xanax can cause some people to become drowsy. This effect will lessen as you use the medication. Another medication that is used for panic attacks is paxil. You could inquire with your doctor is this medication is an option for you. This medication would be taken daily and the xanax would be used for occasions that the anxiety reaches levels that are unmanageable.

Have you been to therapy to try to manage your anxiety? This can help your learn coping techniques to calm yourself. Just something to consider.

I don't know that this has been that helpful. I don't experience panic attacks but I am a nurse and know what meds are used to treat them. All the best.

thanks for the reply antigone..

i haven't been on professional therapy yet but i've learned to become 'normal' and deal with my social anxiety disorder thanks to my girlfriend. She teaches me a lot and understands me when i'm becoming rather difficult in some social situations..

yes, i do feel out of focus and drowsy when i take xanax. i guess i must only use it when things gets too overwhelming for me, but i wont use it on my first day of work. i just don't want to be sleepy and lose focus on such an important day!haha..i think its the combination of risperdal and xanax that causes this daytime sleepiness/drowsiness.

as for panic attacks, i usually need a cigarette or two to be calm and composed myself..

thanks again for the reply antigone..

Well, I used to suffer from panic attacks - sometimes three or four a day - and the worst aspect of them, for me, was the fear of my heart going so fast that it would stop, as well as, of course, the feeling of going mad.

A friend of mine gave me a little tip which still works for me to this day, twenty years later: close your eyes and gently press with one fingertip on each eyeball whilst holding your breath for a few seconds. Feel a little bit of tension building up in your throat, then release it. Apparently it interrupts the vagus nerve or something which is what can cause those frightening palpitations. Another thing which works for me is firmly squeezing my upper lip between thumb and forefinger, just under the middle of the nose. Apparently that also regulates the heart beat. Whether or not they work at all, on sound scientific principles, is another matter, but I think that even just having the security of knowing you have things under control is a great medicine!

Try these and let me know if they work for you!