Anxiety and Stress Forum - Constant Anxiety

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Q: Constant Anxiety

asked by: heather6165 on July 13th, 2007

New User

Hey everyone,
I have been online for the last few weeks typing in symptoms and trying to diagnose myself. It started about 6 years ago while I was eating dinner. I got a rush and immediatly thought I was going to pass out. from there came palpaltations and chest pains and I rushed to the emergency room crying unable to breath and was told I was having an anxiety attack.

It didn't happen to me again until about a year ago. My jaw would become tight and I would feel like I couldn't get enough air into my lungs. I would try to keep yawning to get relief. I would also start to, what felt like shiver, on the inside. I began getting stabbing headaches on my left side into my eye and around my ear. I would become very irritable to everyone around me.
About a week ago I began having chest pains at work. They were off an on at first and then that night I woke up and I felt really alone and instantly began to panic again. I went out on the couch and turned on the tv hoping I could get my mind off of it. It did not work and I have been in a non stop anxious state for the last week. I have had an MRI a chest x-ray, a spine x-ray, an ekg, a ct scan of my head, 2 trips to the emergency room and I am soooo frustrated!!

I am only 25 and I feel like my life is over. I was put on Buspar but I am so afraid of becoming dependant on meds that I rarely take it. I can't even make it through the grocery store anymore without having an attack. I am so scared of developing agoraphobia. It is reassuring to know others suffer from the same thing. Some peoples stories are identical to my experiences. My irritable moods have changed into constant crying from fear and exhaustion and I just need help.

Has anyone else ever been prescribed Buspar (buspirone)? Does anyone know anything about it?

Heather

Replies(6)

Dale123

replied on July 13th, 2007

Active User, very eHealthy

Re: Constant Anxiety.. Help

heather6165 wrote:

Just from reading your post you sound like you might be a little dramatic.. Just take it easy.. Slow down a bit. IF a doctor says that you need medication I would take it. As far as information goes..

Buspirone (brand-names Ansial®, Ansiced®, Anxiron®, Axoren®, Bespar®, BuSpar®, Buspimen®, Buspinol®, Buspisal®, Narol®, Spitomin®) is an anxiolytic agent and a serotonin receptor agonist belonging to the azaspirodecanedione class of compounds. Its structure is unrelated to those of the benzodiazepines, but it has an efficacy comparable to diazepam in treating generalized anxiety disorder.[1] [2]

It shows no potential for addiction compared to other drugs commonly prescribed for anxiety, especially benzodiazepine medications. The development of tolerance has not been noticed. Cross-tolerance to benzodiazepines, barbiturates and alcohol does not exist. Furthermore, it is non-sedating.

It is thought to act by interfering with the function of the neurotransmitter serotonin in the brain, particularly by serving as a 5-HT1A receptor partial agonist. Additionally, it acts as a mixed agonist/antagonist on postsynaptic dopamine receptors. GABA-mediated effects are lacking. Buspirone may also have indirect effects on other neurotransmitters in the brain.

The action of a single dose is much longer than the short halflife of 2-3 hours indicates. The bioavailability of Buspirone is very low and variable due to extensive first pass metabolism. The drug is quickly resorbed. Taking the drug together with food may increase the bioavailability. The drug is highly (95%) plasma-bound. The active metabolite 1-PP is also a 5-HT1A partial agonist with anxiolytic properties, but weaker so than the mother-drug.

It is also useful as an augmenting agent, for the treatment of depression, when added to SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors).

The main disadvantage is that 1 to 3 weeks elapse before the anxiolytic activity becomes evident. Often patients have to be initially cotreated with a benzodiazepine for immediate anxiolysis. Generally, Buspirone works less well than benzodiazepines. Therefore, benzodiazepines are often the first approach in immediately treating panic attacks and social phobias. The benzodiazepine class also has significantly fewer reports of side effects serious enough to discontinue usage. It is also particularly difficult to treat patients pretreated with benzodiazepines knowing the immediate effects of these tranquilizers.
SOurce: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buspirone

*********I would take it for a couple of months to see if it does work for you.. Because it's non addictive. So, it should just help you. RIght now what you're doing is NOT helping. STAY on it..

castlesinthesky

replied on July 13th, 2007

New User

Anxiety

i went through the same thing you are going through.now i pretty much know how to control it.you can pm me if you want to talk

Dale123

replied on July 13th, 2007

Active User, very eHealthy

Re: Anxiety

castlesinthesky wrote:

i went through the same thing you are going through.now i pretty much know how to control it.you can pm me if you want to talk

Thats really good.. How do you control it now?

havasusweetie18

replied on July 27th, 2007

New User

Hello

A lot of your experiences sound like my own. Especially the type of headaches you described. I know you mentioned being afraid of becoming dependent on meds but I have found amazing relief with a combination of Lexapro (daily) and Xanax when I experience actual PANIC attacks, not simply anxiety symptoms. Xanax is not something you should stay on forever and ever, it's kind of "for emergencies only". Becoming dependent on meds is never good, but it's important to remember that anxiety can be quite degenerative and sometimes it's better to suck it up and find the right combo to balance out your brain than to live with the hell of day to day anxiety.

Dale123

replied on July 28th, 2007

Active User, very eHealthy

Re: Hello

havasusweetie18 wrote:

That must be hard!

lann

replied on July 29th, 2007

New User

I have had the same experiences going on 12 years now off and on. Mental meditation like thinking of a nice place that I would like to be at such as the beach, walking in a field, really helped me. Also, I was on Buspar and had a bad experience. I try to keep myself busy and try not to stress so much.

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