Anxiety attacks

So- it's ativan- is that what he prescribed? That's just an anti-anxiety med, commonly prescribed. I take a similiar one called xanax. They are fast acting (20 minutes or so) and quickly metabolized- completely out of your system in 4-6 hrs. The dosage will determine if it makes you sleepy or not- .25mg is very mild, and should allow you to function completely normally. 1.0mg, on the other hand, would probably leave you feeling pretty buzzed and tired. It's not unlike drinking a glass of wine- you just feel calmer and less wound up. It eliminates the racing heart, the scary thoughts, the tightness/shortness of breath, etc. It's a chill pill, plain and simple. You should fill the prescription, and keep it handy in the event of a severe episode. They don't go bad- you can keep it for years.
It's like an aspirin- you have a headache, you take it, you feel better. You have an anxiety attack, you take an ativan, you feel better. End of story.
The anti-depressants should also be helping to hold anxiety at bay- but they take awhile to build up in your system (about a month), and they will not help in an acute attack. Some anti-depressants are better at addressing chronic anxiety than others- ask your dr about it. I take low doses of paxil, which really keeps my anxiety under control- I rarely have major panic attacks anymore, though I do have low level generalized anxiety with hormonal fluctuations, and that's when I use the xanax.
Karen, the chest symptoms are all a function of shallow breathing, which is really what a panic attack is all about. When you start to feel that sensation, close your mouth, (mouth breathing is a BIG problem for anxiety people), take long deep breaths through your nose, make sure you see your stomach and not your chest rise, hold for 5 seconds, and blow out slowly through your mouth. This is called round breathing, and it really, really helps. If you do that for a few minutes, you will actually feel everything start to slow down inside you. Sometimes, when you're too wound up, this isn't always possible to do, or not effective enough, and when you simply can't go it alone, the ativan is great in a crisis. I promise it won't make you feel "wasted", if you take a low dose. It will just slow your system down.
One final thing- not to complicate things- but drs are quick to dismiss real physical problems as anxiety or depression, particularly in women. Knowing your history, I would say it's likely that in this case, it probably IS anxiety, but be sure that your dr takes your medical concerns seriously, before allowing him to dismiss it as anxiety related. I've had anxiety issues for over 10 yrs now- probably longer actually- and they are manageable. There is no reason to suffer with it, Karen. You just need to find what works for your particular physiology.

Goodness gracious, Karen!! You poor thing! I bet stress is the major culprit here and could possibly explain all the symptoms you've been experiencing. The IBS, migraines and anxiety attacks. I hope the meds start working quickly.

I didn't think I had ever had an anxiety attack, but I have experienced episodes similar to what you all describe as an anxiety attack. The shortness of breath, heart skipping beats, etc.

I never knew about the deep breathing, either but a personal trainer at the gym was just telling me last week the proper way to breathe.

I hope you start feeling better soon. I'm sorry you are going thru this, hun.

That's exactly right. He told me to lay down, put one hand on my belly and the other on my chest. Then breath pushing your belly in and out.

When I was in college one of my voice teachers had me lay down on the floor with books on my belly. I was told to breath in and raise the books. Works pretty good actually.

You don't have to be IN the stress for the panic attack to happen - most of mine - like Monica would happen at nite wake me out of dead sleep or when I was relaxed in the car and driving somewhere like on the way to our cottage - but it was the cottage we had when my Dad was alive - while it was nice to be there it was a constant raw reminder of the loss - took me awhile to put those two together - sometimes I almost think it is like a post tramautic stress thing - KWIM? I also found that the day after I was out having a few cocktails - my body was dehydrated, etc. and it would happen then - you know like my defenses were down -