lorazepam and counseling?
so i went to my college’s student health service and was given lorazapam .5 mg and was told to break it in half and take them at least 3 times a day, depending on my attacks. i was also told to take the pyschological counseling at our school but i am not sure if it will help. to me, medication seems to be the solution that i need to be effective, but my anxiety and panic attacks dont generally happen just as an attack, there is GERD involved which produces dry heaving and very severe gag reflex.
would medication and counseling really help my panic attacks that trigger GERD? i believe it is social anxiety, and i really hope this treatment will help me become better because it is very difficult to have dry heaving and gagging in public is not healthy for me. i can;t even eat out in public, because i fear of having an attack and people looking at me while i gag…
can anyone help?
Filed under: Gerd Treatments
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If it is social anxiety that you feel is triggering the GERD, the medication of choice for social anxiety is Paxil (an SSRI-Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor). SSRIs include Zoloft, Celexa and Lexipro, among others. Low Serotonin levels in the brain is usually the main culprit for anxiety disorders.
Even though the doctors say it takes week for SSRIs like Paxil to "work", it took about 4 days for my husband (50) to feel a great difference. My 15 year old daughter had results even sooner (about 3 days).
Benzodiazepines (like Lorazepam) are not the 1st line "medication of choice" for anxiety disorders. The doctor probably prescribed that sedative/anti-seizure medication because it takes about 20 minutes to start working (to give immediate relief). But you have to dose at least 3X a day (because it only lasts about 6-8 hours) and it can be addictive.
Ask about Paxil (10 mg/day to start…since young people sometimes react to low doses very well). My next recommendation would be Celexa (generic is called Citalopram). Both are SSRIs, so they keep the serotonin that your brain produces in the brain synapses longer.
There’s a good chance that if you get the anxiety under control, the GERD will lessen (or even be eliminated completely).
When struggling with anxiety, it’s also good treatment to
Get enough sleep
Keep regular eating times
Avoid Caffeine
Learn relaxation techniques from your psychological counselor (also, there are tapes/DVDs that teach progressive relaxation..ask if they provide any)
Take a good multivitamin that includes all the B Vitamins (stress burns up B Vitamins wildly)
And don’t give up. There is a solution for you. It just takes trial-and-error to find it.