Anxiety attacks and heart palpitations. Tired of going to ER

I have been to the ER two times in one week due to terrible panic attacks and the overwhelming symptoms of withdrawal. The ER staff judge me and I feel like a crazed person when I go in there hyper and scared.  It’s hard to tell medical professionals I am in benzo withdrawal when I am a social worker and used to be a medical social worker working in the ER and ICU. I took Ativan for anxiety due to medical issues and it helped me at the time.

 

The heart palpitations scare me and honestly I have probably had 15-16 EKGs in the past few months.

.i know I am not dying but at the time it truly feels like it.

 

I would not wish this anxiety on anyone and I am so sorry for any of you that feel trapped or scared as I do. My quality of life is impacted. It’s a sunny beautiful day and I am in my room lying day waiting for my next .25 dose of Ativan from my taper.

Thank you for reading this. I feel less alone.

Maybe a slower taper would actually help. Hand in there!

I agree!! I went from .5 to .25 for ten days then stopped. The anxiety was so overwhelming I went back up to .5 again.  I will do a slower taper this time!

 

I use low dose Inderal (Propranolol) prescribed by my doctor and my PDOC. It's a beta blocker and keeps the adrenalin and cortisol from connecting with the receptor sites, so no racing heart, no shaking or sweating, etcetera. My panic attacks can come back to back for weeks, so it is essential for me to at least try to protect my cardiovascular system from the constant hammering of the adrenalin. It also helps in that when my body calms, I can handle the thoughts of anxiety a bit better. It is non-addictive and not a sedative of any sort. It is a medication used to control high blood pressure. Obviously it is not for everyone depending on their medical history, but some people, like myself, find it to be a helpful adjunct to cognitive control. Also I have hypertension - severe hypertension- so I have to use this to help me out during protracted anxiety phases in addition to the medication that I already take routinely for hypertension. Many people who suffer from daily panic attacks use beta blockers with varied degrees of success.

I had to do a slower taper when I was down that low as well.  I think I was at .5 for several weeks and then went to .25 on some days and .5 other days, and just slowly replaced the .25 for the .5......I went off in March and had zero anxiety until some stressful events happened in June.

I agree!! I went from .5 to .25 for ten days then stopped. The anxiety was so overwhelming I went back up to .5 again.  I will do a slower taper this time!

 

I think you ought to do a micro-taper. Hold for as long as it takes to stabilize, then go SLOWLY down. This is no race. There is no rush. Your CNS is telling you that it's too much of a hit, the rapid changing of doses. With Ativan, it is quite a drop to go from .5 mg. to .25 mg. It takes awhile for the CNS to adjust. IMO it would be best to be make very gradual changes. The CNS does not do well with rapid changes of any kind. This is a very, very potent drug. Take your time, look up micro-tapering in the Support Groups.

 

The fact that you have anxiety and panic attacks are due to the unstable CNS.

 

Please go very, very slowly from now on. You want to make sure you can lead a decent life while tapering. I was on Ativan, and I dropped .5 mg. of Ativan. What a HUGE mistake. I didn't know any better. Like you, I ended up often in the ER, and no one understood. I least of all.

 

GOOD LUCK!!!

I got a prescription of low dose beta blockers  from my doctor to be used as needed during a panic attack. These are old generation blood pressure drugs that block the adrenalin sites. This means that you won't get the racing heart, shakiness, sweating or other body symptoms associated with your panic and anxiety. This is not a psychogenic drug and it is not addictive. I take only 10mg of Propranolol (Inderal) as needed during a panic attack. It does not stop my mind from the panicked thoughts, but it does not allow the adrenalin to impact my body. I've discovered that when my body is not responding to the panic, my mind tends to settle down more easily as well. One seems to follow the other. I personally highly recommend talking to your doctor about this. Unless you have some major contraindication, most doctors will be more than happy to prescribe this for you.