Panic attacks while sleeping

[Coopie41]

I have been on Xanax,ambien and citalipram for probably 10 years. Lack of educating myself on what these drugs actually do! And being in unhappy marriage I was desperate. Been tapering off all of them in last 6 months. Only on 10 mg of citalipram now. I am desperate! I cannot sleep because been having full out panic attacks when I sleep every time I sleep! Wake up soaked and have to change gown at
Least 4 times a night. Anxiety so bad cannot think straight. Do NOT want go back on. Trying herbal help with no luck at all. Any advice would be so greatly appreciated. I want to be able to function and enjoy life again. I am only 52 and want a life again!! Help

[Duffo]

Discontinuing the medications you've been taking for so long is quite difficult for almost all people in similar situations. The symptoms you're experiencing are likely a combination of withdrawal from the drugs, especially the Xanax and Ambien, and possibly a return of the symptoms that originally prompted you to take the medications. If you took high doses of these drugs, it's more difficult it is to discontinue them, and withdrawal symptoms last longer.

It was certainly wise to taper off the drugs over a lengthy period. If you only recently discontinued taking any of the Xanax and Ambien, I think your symptoms are still being caused by withdrawal. If so, they should get better with time.

Some people think that taking these drugs over a long period permanently changes our brains so that they can never again respond normally to stressors when the drugs are discontinued. I'm not sure I agree with that, and it may vary by individual. When I once stopped them, I was relatively fine for a while after withdrawal, but my original symptoms eventually recurred. In my experience, I don't believe those symptoms were caused by my prior treatment with the drugs but were a recurrence of my original symptoms I always had.

Are you being monitored by a psychiatrist during this period? That would be important, because the symptoms you're having are relatively severe. A psychiatrist might prescribe a less risky drug for a brief period to help with these symptoms.

[Coopie41]

Good advice. Thank you so much. I am seeing someone. Just in such a dark place. I can handle the anxiety during day better. It is at night with not being able to sleep and waking up in a massive panick attack for 6 months is really wearing me down

[Paxiled]

Duffo is right, you are suffering massive withdrawal problems.  Did you slowly taper off your meds or quit quickly?  The taper off should be one drug at a time, as slowly as you need to, not by some general schedule set by a doctor and used with all of her patients.  We all react differently.  Duffo is also correct that researchers do believe that being on these meds for long periods of time produces permanent changes, but not in everyone and it's impossible to tell if you're one of them or not and the proof of this is not agreed to by scientific consensus.  Almost nothing in healthcare is.  Benzo use is thought to impede the brain's ability to adapt to stress.  Antidepressants, especially the ones that target serotonin, are thought to interfere with the brain's ability to ever again utilize serotonin the way nature intended.  But since you have no idea if you're one of those people even if this is true, it's of no use to you to think in these terms -- it is more important in cautioning those who haven't tried them yet to try and solve their problems without trying them unless it's absolutely necessary.  It's also not true that withdrawal always goes away eventually -- for some, and this is not common, it can last a very long time.  That's why I would encourage you, given what you're suffering and that's it's lasted six months, to consider the possibility you don't want to consider, which is going back on the meds at the last dose at which you felt fine and tapering off more slowly and safely.  Hopefully, if you don't do that, you'll come out of this fine, and the vast majority of people as far as we know do, but why take a risk you don't have any need to take?  Now, that is assuming the anxiety you're suffering now is different in kind than what you were suffering when you decided to go on medication in the first place.  If it's the same, then you just never did anything to solve the problem, you just medicated it.  These drugs don't cure anything, they just make us feel less bad.  Another problem is the Ambien -- this should never be taken regularly, as it causes rebound insomnia if you do, making it worse in the long run.  This is a drug to help you sleep for a night, not forever, unless you have a sleeping disorder that can't be fixed, as some get from taking medication.  For me, I've stopped meds without much problem but one did me in for good, so you don't want to play with this stuff if you have no pressing reason to do so.  Also, if you try natural medicine, be wary of how you feel -- when you're in withdrawal, taking some of these remedies can put you back in an earlier state of withdrawal -- withdrawal by definition is your neurotransmitters trying desperately to go back to working naturally, and interfering with your brain's attempt to do this might make you worse, so watch carefully how you react.  You might want to try homeopathy, because while many believe it's just placebo, it has no side effects.  Melatonin can also help with sleep problems usually without side effects, but lower doses work better than high ones.  So if you do, say, try valerian, which acts like a much weaker benzo, know that it's targeting the same neurotransmitter as the clonazepam was and that it might push you back some.  It might also help.  You just have to be aware, and also not let your fear determine the result -- expectations can be worse than medicinal effects. Chamomile is so weak it's probably safe in all conditions.  And remember not to take anything that affects serotonin while you're still on the antidepressant.  There are websites devoted to withdrawal problems -- focus only on the success stories and what helped people, don't bother with the horror stories since you probably won't be one of them.  Time will out for you, most likely, but you do have to do this safely.  Best of luck to you.