General anxiety disorder symptoms and conditions

I have had panic attacks, depression and general anxiety disorder for most of my life. Sometime during my teen years I became well enough to go off medication and manage my issues on my own. Before I started taking Yaz seven weeks ago due to a recent diagnosis of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, I had maybe one episode every 2-6 months. Since I started taking Yaz (or Dyazide) I have had panic attacks almost every day. I read last week that hormonal imbalances can make anxiety worse, but had no idea it would be this bad. My agoraphobia has returned- I'm scarcely able to leave the house. Today I decided to stop taking this medication. Hopefully it will take less than seven weeks to get it all out of my system because I do not know how much longer this will take.

The interesting thing is, even though the makers of Yaz say that the FDA wanted them to clear things up in their ad, they never mention this. I had never heard of a connection between birth control pills containing synthetic progestins and anxiety. My doctor never mentioned it. If I had been aware I would have asked for a completely different method of treatment, because this is unbearable. If you are at all concerned about anxiety or panic attacks, have a lengthy discussion with your doctor about these side effects.

Started Z pack on a Thursday evening for sinus infection. Some minor stomach pains, but no diarrhea that first day. Friday I was tired and spacy feeling, but doing okay. Saturday evening my heart began racing....ended up in the ER with a bp of 159/115 and heart rate of 185. I was really freaking out and scared. With in an hr it had returned to normal and I was given a EKG. Then sent home. Sunday I felt dizzy and tired all day.... just really out of it. Monday I had about 15 panic attacks and felt tired and VERY dizzy all day. Monday night was my last dose and Tuesday I was very dizzy, tired and lazy feeling. Some pains in my stomach, etc. I will never take this again. I have GAD {general anxiety disorder} and my doctor knew this. This has really pushed my panic attacks to a limit I cannot deal with. I have had some gas, headache, itching, slight rash, ringing in my ears etc too. Not fun at all, and I wake up non stop at night.... Hope this goes away soon!

I take Adderall NON xr 20mg with Lexapro 20 mg. I have general anxiety disorder so sometimes I get that chest tightness or the lump in throat feeling and it being hard to breathe but it usually went away when I took an Ativan. The Lexapro just seemed to stop working for me and my depression was bad and so we decided to add Adderall in because it made me more clear minded, hopeful, happy, and balanced. the only problem is, after about 4 or 5 hours I feel a "comedown" from this and it's completely horrible. I start to get very edgy and irritated, I lose my focus and feel kind of light headed and headache, I get tired but cannot sleep, my chest tightness and anxiety comes back pretty bad, and I get goosebumps and my back and neck tense up. I love how it makes me feel during the first 4 or 5 hours but once it starts wearing off the come down is just so awful I'm not sure what to do. i do take 1 Ativan before bed and that helps me sleep. I heard that I may need to take another 10mg of Adderall around 1 or 2 to give me a boost and sustain my balance and focus and all the good things about this medication. Does this actually work? Or do I just need to up my dosage? I understand that Adderall enhances anxiety in general so it makes sense but I wonder why I don't get anxiety when I first take it, but it seems to come on after the medication is starting to wear off.

I was on effexor for a year to treat dysthimic depression and general anxiety disorder. My dose started low but was upped every few months until I was on 150 mg.

The side effects I experienced were:

- Dizziness
- Inability to sleep soundly at night (I would wake several times and have difficulty falling asleep again)
- Inability to stay awake during the day (probably as a result of the previous side-effect. this was so bad that i even fell asleep once while i was standing up!)
- A "fuzzy" mental state; everything looked cloudy, I had no concentration, poor attention span
- Frequent vivid nightmares
- This weird sensation that happened every couple of minutes. It wasn't quite like dizziness...it was more like my brain was doing a flip-flop in my head.
- I was ALWAYS exhausted
- My libido disappeared

The withdrawl affects of the drug were similar but also accompanied by twitching, nausea, increased dizziness, more frequent "brain flips", and occasional fainting or blacking out.

Worse was that I had to take the drug at the same time every day, or else I'd enter withdrawl almost immediately. If I took the drug at 7:00 AM every morning before school, and then slept in until 10:00 AM on the weekend, I would wake up in withdrawl, even though i was only a few hours late!

When I tapered off the drug, the withdrawl affects were almost unbearable for a couple of weeks, but eventually I returned almost to a normal state, except that it took over a year for my libido to return, and even though I've been free of the drug for a couple of years, I still have difficulties in that area sometimes.

I started taking Wellbutrin in October 2004 to quit smoking. Started at 150mg and moved up to 300 mg. Within two weeks of taking the higher dose I experienced dizziness, nausea, vertigo, tremors, muscle cramping, panic attacks, heart palpitations, concentration problems, decreased appetite, hypersensitivity to motion, smells and sounds, crying spells and feelings of impending doom. I went to the emergency room on three different occasions because I felt like I was having a heart attack (tightness in chest, racing heart, nausea, trouble breathing) and was told I had nothing wrong. I also had thoughts of suicide because I felt so bad I wanted to make it stop. I went back to my doctor and requested he taper me off due to the side effects. He did and after a month I still had the symptoms. I missed a month of work and had to stay with family because I couldn't take care of myself or my 3 year old and my husband didn't know what else to do. I finally went back to the doctor and begged for relief. I also requested he run tests to check for other causes. He did blood work and 12 lead heart monitor and found I had slight tachycardia (palpitations), but said I was healthy. He diagnosed me with having General Anxiety Disorder and put me on Paxil. I've been on Paxil for 9 months and still have some symptoms albiet much milder than before. I am now sure that any SSRI's are not for me and am looking for alternative therapies. Also, I am going to see an endocrinologist and a cardiologist just to make sure I have no other problems. I would suggest not taking a drug to quit smoking-cold turkey is the best! I was perfectly normal before I started taking these drugs. This past year has been a living nightmare. I realized my experience is very intense compared to others who have taken Wellbutrin and people react differently to medications but I would have to say that had I continued taking it I would have died. I am 36 years old, have a wonderful family and a job I love. I do not believe I have an anxiety disorder! If anyone who reads this has had a similar experience, my suggestion is to SLOWLY get off it with help from your doctor and find alternative therapy, ie. biofeedback, nutrition, homeopathic, ect. Good luck to all of you!

I'm a female, 23 years old. I have OCD, attention deficit disorder, and general anxiety disorder.

On zoloft, I feel less anxious on the plus side. I feel comfortable with approaching people and in making new friends. However, even with 25 miligrams, which is next to nothing, I feel troubled by a foggy headed feeling. I want to always put the cart before the horse, or do the final thing before all the steps leading to it, or I simply look like I lack common sense, which is embarassing (at work, my new job). I feel dumb when I am not.

Also on the negative side, I notice I'm more depressed on zoloft. And when I drink alcohol such as vodka in long island ice teas with that shit, the next day I have the shakes like a crack addict going through withdrawal and I feel so depressed and anxious that I almost think I need to check in to a mental hospital because I might, if a gun were close by, do myself in.

This is not the medication for me. Also, I recently started wellbutrin and notice the zoloft/wellbutrin combination makes me feel even more in a fog, but in a different way, as if I were on a cloud and can't think of the right things to say or do. This isn't me. I just feel really fucked up.

I know everyone's experience and problem is different. I'm currently looking for another medication that won't make me feel like I'm in a fog and won't increase my ADD, but will decrease my anxiety and my OCD.