Hi judy,
Fellow members will be responding soon. Please don't hesitate to follow up with your doctor about your medication concerns. If you are hesitant to discuss various concerns with your doctor you may want to use parts of our online program to aid in your follow up appointment.
Help is available. Finding the right combination of medications and therapy may take a bit of time.
Medications can be helpful in two ways: First, they can reduce the number or panic attacks you have and how severe they are. Second, they can help you relax so that you're not always worried about having a panic attack. When people find that their panic attacks are less frequent and severe, they're often more able to approach situations that they've been avoiding.
The choice of which drug to use is based on considerations of safety and your personal needs and preferences. There are now many medications available to treat panic disorder so if one medication is not right for you, there are usually others to try.
Most of the medications that are prescribed to treat panic disorder are usually started at a low dose and then the dose is gradually increased to the full dose. Every medication has side effects but they usually become tolerated or diminish with time. If side effects become a problem your the doctor may advise you to stop taking the medication and to wait a week, or longer.
Keep us posted,
Casey
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The Panic Center Support Team
