Sucess!!! Not. :(

[skillet]

About four months ago I was doing better with my phobia so I went off of Zoloft/sertraline. I was So excited because I thought I was making progress. But for about a month now my panick stacks have been back in full force. While I was on the meds my phobia was rather masked, but now that I'm off it the phobia screams louder than ever. I was at a concert a couple nights ago with some friends. The people sitting behind us had three little girls. I heard the mom tell her friend one of them was sick and I completely panicked I felt nauseated for the rest of the concert. At the end the n got so bad I walked out. In the foyer the little girl that had been sitting behind us had just got done v on her mom!! Total freak out inside. Everytime I eat I get sick and when I don't eat I'm sick. It's rather depressing since I thought I was doing better. Oh well I suppose I'll probably have to go back on Zoloft now because I'm feeling sick so much from panicking.

[vixki]

Hey I'm sorry you're feeling bad again. You know with anti depressents etc, a lot of people come off them way too early because they think they are better, but your body actually needs more time to get better... My doc says, when you feel you are completely better, stay on the meds for 6 months more and then taper off....
Maybe you could try going back on the zoloft at a half dose of what you had before? That might help you enough to be able to cope but not totally mask everything.

BTW Skillet are an awesome band

[olschesky]

i used to go on and off my prozac.....thinking i was better......now i just stay on it......why torture yourself? if you feel better taking it then take it......it doesn't really mask everything for me....but does help me cope better with things.
good luck

[misplacedangels]

Like you I had a hard time coming off meds.... I am a pretty stuborn and felt that I wanted to face this thing head on with no medication... I wanted to beat it by myself. I knew personally I had to do this in order to move forward. I took Xanex (if i spelled that right) so it was just an attack by attack thing for me. I would find the next day I would be even more anxious and have to take another. So I waited, fought through the tough panic attacks and never took Xanex again. I have found some things that help me feel better when faced with an attack. Sometimes I take a bath (the hotter the more relaxing for me), I drink hot herbal tea, I chew gum, I find something to do with my hands.. or even better-clean my house (haha), sit out in the sun on my rocker, and sometimes I free write in my journal during my whole attack just writing about what I am feeling. Sometimes I put ice packs on my upper stomach when I feel sick, and on my cheeks and mouth to help with really bad attacks that make me feel horrible.

Meds are horrible!

[skillet]

Thanks for encouraging me guys. Sometimes it feels like I'll never be over the anxiety. But I suppose someday it could happen.