Anxiety or other health issue?

[deftony07]

About two years ago I started getting bad sleep anxiety. I was prescribed .25m worth of xanax to help me sleep. Since then my dosage has increased to .5 and I find myself taking them more frequently. Over the course of the past 6 mths to a year I find myself having these weird spells, typically after meals. I'll get dizzy, lightheaded, anxious, panic, hard heartbeat usually after meals in the afternoon. So I started taking xanax accordingly to calm me down b/c working under these conditions is unbearable. That usually calms me down.I'll literally drink about 6 20oz bottles of water in an 8 hour work shift and still feel dehydrated. This is a daily occurence now. I was hooked up to a heart monitor last year and nothing was found. I do have mitral valve prolapse. I recently had panic attack that was so bad I was in the emergency room, and they found no irregular heartbeat, it took them a lot of atavan and about an hour to calm me down. I have had my blood sugar checked and found that sometimes it seems to be a bit lower than normal, but I'll have some carbs to get it where it needs to be.  My blood pressure is also a bit higher than what it should be. I was also prescribed a beta blocker to help w/ the heart beat but i didnt feel it really did anything. I don't smoke. I do drink...usually 3 to 4 nights a week, but just beer, no liquor...and not (at least what i consider) an excessive amount. I recently dieted and stopped with the liquor for about 40 days yet still have this crappy feeling hanging over my head. I'm not overweight, I don't exercise as much as i could, but I still feel as though I shouldn't be feeling like this at the age of 27. I'm sick of going to the doctor and feeling this way as well as feeling like I'm addicted to a Benzo. So my question is...Are the symptoms I'm having after meals related to the xanax, and possible withdrawl symptoms from the meds...or do you think there's possible something else wrong w me? I've been trying to figure this out. Switched to Buspar for a bit...didn't help....I don't know what to do..I'm sick of this horrible feeling I get almost daily and need some good advice and possible help. Thanks.

[angiesti008]

Hi deftony07, Sorry to hear you are having trouble sleeping and anxiety attacks. One thing I was reading about was that never to drink alcohol while on xanax/ativan. I am taking ativan as needed but i too have withdrawal symptoms and panic attacks. I would advise to completely stop drinking alcohol and then to see what happens. Since you mentioned about having symptom after taking a meal maybe get a bp monitor to track as it might be related to blood pressure, usually bp drops after a heavy meal. Mayne try not to crash diet and to have balanced meals every 4 hours. Also try to exercise and make sure you sweat. The cortisol levels in the blood can only be lowered via sweat. Try it for a week. Wish you all the best!

[Paxiled]

As with anything in the body, cortisol levels will be broken down by the body.  They won't stay there forever unless you sweat.  And cortisol isn't always or even usually rising in response to all bouts of anxiety.  It is a problem for some and not for others.  If you are taking the Ativan as needed, how often are you taking it?  If by as needed you mean you're actually taking it every day, yeah, you get withdrawals, but if you mean you are only taking it when you need to do something which means infrequently and not every day you'd be a lot less likely to be getting withdrawals from it, though of course you might and you might also just notice it wearing off, which usually causes some tiredness.  Also, the post you're responding to is 11 years old, but it's good you did post, it's useful info.  Just don't know the poster is still around to read it.  Peace.

[deftony07]

I appreciate you writing back. There's nothing in my day that I feel self-conscious about or anything that I'm worried about in regards to pleasing people, comparing myself...etc. It literally happens typically right after I eat lunch mid-day..it's like my body goes in a state of shock and I get lightheaded like i could pass out, anxiety, panic, dizzy....etc. I can't tell if my body is reacting to something in the food..(sodium?)...(blood sugar)..or if it's a symptom of withdrawl from xanax...or what?.. I know it's not all just in my head. I've had anxiety and that tight feeling in my stomach before..this is different...this literally feels like a weird body reaction to something and it feels like I can't go through a whole day anymore without feeling normal and I need to figure this out. Any additional help is greatly appreciated. Thanks

[calmshell]

Hi there!
I can very much relate because I used to watch for EVERY little symptom/sign of dehydration/heart beat/heart palpitation/breathing...it was waaaaaaayyyy too much to do...and yet, i kept doing it!?? Maybe you can try to get a blood test and see if your electrolytes/blood count is fine..and then you can try less bottles of water during the day (you don't want to have TOO much water ...or anything really) Or, it seems like since you have experienced panic attack, you may be really monitoring everything about your thirst/body/experiences in your body..i did this a lot, and over time, found that (which i deep down did know) I was just getting overly worked up and watching every single thing about myself...but i was fine!
Do you always get lightheaded/dizzy etc. every day at the same time? maybe can you pinpoint if you are feeling nervous about a particular thing in your day/event/person/or topic at work or otherwise? I know that when I used to have a stressful job, I (because of my anxiety) would also overthink everything ALL the time.."was I late? was that ok to say? did i do this right? i wonder what he/she thinks of me?">etc etc....

When does it end , ya know ? I thought later . I am someone who always thinks needs to be pleasing someone/smiling/ being good/good worker yada yada yada...it stemmed ( i later learned) through a constant striving to be"good" and do EVERY thing "good"....my mother would criticize every single thing i ever did, and when I read some psychology books, Dr. Robert Leahy's "Anxiety Free", he pointed out, often people with panic or anxiety have experienced chaos/criticism in their childhood, almost for perfection... do you know what i mean? I'm not saying you had this, but he says look deep down and into the "script"  you have unconsciously been taught....are u always putting yourself down /comparing yourself/ watching for what you do in places (and then can sometines go to health with the body)I did all of this...it took time , but I knew all my thoughts were not true about me!!!!! EVERY one gets little pains..you go on, and realize, oh i'm fine, really! EVERY one makes mistakes (every day!!) we're human, why not?to know that every single person is not perfect and makes mistakes is to know you are NOT different (that is when i think anxiety comes up)..mistakes or not being "perfect"  is when new creative material comes into your life anyway..or a new perspective!!!!
So i was just wondering if your panic attack was about a particular thing/part of your day, or a health awareness attack......also if the Dr's said you are good and heart is good..that is great!!!!!! Really know that, they are smart, and once you calm down, we are usually fine/body goes back to normal..it was just adrenaline..not anything harmful...well, i am not sure if this helped at all..sorry if i went on too much!
But i hope you can keep us posted, .....also, how long have the panic attacks been going on /anxiety? or was it just the one?   Ok deftony ttyl, and really try to stay in the MOMENT only... have water with each meal, and then maybe in afternoon an extra bottle..that sounds good for hydration...really tell us though how everything is!!! have a good one:)