Panic/Anxiety/Depression out of nowhere. Please help!

[Ali_elle]

 I’ve been on Zoloft 100mg for 17 years, and all of a sudden I’ve been having horrible anxiety, all day long, and feeling depressed. I’ve had two nights where I’ve woken up in a severe panic attack and I can’t calm myself down for hours. I have so many strategies, that have worked for me, and nothing was working. I finally fell asleep from exhaustion. Now I’m just anxious and depressed all day. I don’t know what to do. My medicine hasn’t changed, and I’ve been doing so well for a long time. All of a sudden I had a severe panic attack in the middle of the night, and now I’m anxious and depressed all day. It’s almost like it comes in waves. I don’t understand why. I can’t eat hardly any thing. I feel so alone, and scared, even though I have a husband and two young kids. I need to feel better for them. I’m also scared, because I can’t figure out why I’m feeling this way. The doctors don’t seem to know what to do either, accept raise my Zoloft. Has the breakthrough panic attack/ anxiety/depression happened to anyone else? Please help.

[Agora1]

Hi Ali_elle and Welcome to a safe comforting site.

I understand what you are feeling and it can be very confusing as well as

frightening. It happened to me when I was on a small dose of benzos for

many years. It was also an instant feeling of dread and fear. My medication

had done it's job and just stopped working one day.

Rather than raising the dosage, I was safely and slowly taken off the medication

and put on another. It wasn't an easy transition at the beginning but in the end

was the best thing possible.

I can imagine having a family to take care of produces a lot of anxiety and

stress from day to day. However, being on the right medication as well as dosage

at this time can help immensely in controlling those anxiety/panic attacks.

The up and down feeling of anxiety comes from something called "free floating anxiety".

The medication/dosage you are on is not able to calm down that feeling.

Please have another talk with your doctor having him address your concerns.

This is not just about you but the whole family involved. I care. Let us know. xx

[Kelsey22]

Hi friend. I am so sorry to hear that you are going through a hard time right now. I understand how you feel blindsided by this sudden resurgence of your anxiety after so many years of managing it with Zoloft. I’m in a similar boat - I had been on citalopram for about six years and then three weeks ago it just stopped working. I was absolutely blindsided and terrified. At first my doctor just upped my dosage and I tried that for about 10 days. It didn’t help. I went back this week and explained to him that my anxiety had gotten so bad that I was afraid to eat a new brand of granola bar for fear of having an allergic reaction. He changed my prescription to lexapro and I’ve been on that for about 5 days now. It has been a tough few weeks but I feel like maybe I’m starting to see a turn for the better. I would encourage you to speak to your doctor again and be very blunt about how debilitating these feelings are right now and hopefully they will be more receptive to providing you with some additional support. There are a lot of non-medication resources shared in this community that have helped me to calm myself in the times where the medication is not enough. Hopefully some of it will be helpful to you to ease what you’re feeling right now. I’m sending you so much care and support! You will get through this.

[bethelbee]

Panic attacks are frightening; have been there. I was going to say the same as the others; probably time for a different medication. Decades ago when it first came out I was on Prozac. It worked great for about 10 years then stopped working. Next was Celexa with similar results. Following that were various other meds with some working, others not so much. Along with antidepressants I was on various antianxiety meds. Presently only on an occasional Ativan. Since becoming treatment resistant to antidepressants my treatment of choice has been TMS, which literally saved my life at one point. Hope you are able to find the right treatment and you get to feeling better!!

[Dell12345]

Hi Ali_elle, I'm sorry this has happened, it happened to me to about a year ago. I had been reducing my medication over several years, but had been feeling fine. I had been quite isolated at work for a time, working from home, and then one weekend all of a sudden I had terrible anxiety. So much so that I was shaking and thought I had been poisoned.

In the end raising the medication I take (venlfaxine) back to where it had been several years ago, and adding another (Mirtazapine) eventually seems to have done the trick. It's horrible.

Know that there are medications out there that will help though.

In the man time benzodiazapines (e.g. diazapam generally in the UK, xanex generally in the US) and beta blockers (e.g. propranolol) can help in times of high anxiety.

I hope you find some relief soon x

[Kinlay]

The highest recommended dosing of zoloft is 200 mg, so you have plenty of room to raise it. While changing meds is another option, as others have said the process can be rough. I would ask for VERY SHORT TERM benzos to get you through and let them raise it to see if that helps. Good luck!

[Hope4me1]

Hello Ali_elle—This site has been so helpful and supportive to me over the years. So much helpful information. I have had some of the same problems with my anxiety. I wake up to dread and waves of high levels of anxiety lately. I have practiced all the tools and usually I can ease myself into a more comfortable state. But lately it’s been very bad. I have been on Prozac for many years and can only take a very low dose. This has seemed to always keep my level of anxiety manageable. I have Clonazepam that I split up into quarters to take as needed. I don’t like to take benzos so I try to keep it at a minimum. (.5 mg which I split in quarters). This has worked for while but I am dealing with some heavy duty anxiety lately that is quite debilitating and scary. My doctor doesn’t want to try any new meds because I have such bad reactions to some of the ones he has suggested. But I have not tried any of the ones that are mentioned here that others have tried and work well for them. Meanwhile I just go with what I have. A lot of my doctor ‘s decisions have to do with my age. At 63 now and with sensitivity to meds I guess he is reluctant to try me on anything else. I wish you well. You are young and new meds are always being discovered that work well and I’m sure you will benefit with it and the tools you already practice. 😊❤️

[punkster]

Hello Ali. I have not had panic attacks, but GAD. I am no longer taking an antidepressant due to the "foggy" feeling it gave me, and the anxiety I experienced after taking it for 6 months. I am not an expert, but I have a suggestion. I assume you are female. Are you in peri- menopause or going through menopause? Peri-menopause can begin up to 10 years before you go into menopause. Both peri-menopause and menopause can completely change your brain chemistry and hormones. I never required help for my anxiety until I went through menopause. Anyway, this is just a thought.

[Beba_80]

sorry you’re feeling like this

! I took Zoloft 30mg and it made me feel worse. I had taken it before with great results however this time around I was more depressed and awful thoughts were happening as a result of the medication

Ask your doctor about Trintelex

[katyee8]

Dear Ali,

I am very sorry you are not feeling well recently. I hope you feel much better soon. I took 50 mg of zoloft for around the same length of time as you took it. I think being with the same therapist for that same length of time helped me a great deal. I stopped it in the last two years. I am taking a small dosage - 7.5 mg. of mirtazapine at night which helps me sleep and with anxiety and depression. I also started taking melatonin - sustained release - two hours before bedtime. I'm trying 6-7 mg now. That should help with sleep. I wish you all the best and please do all you can to help yourself to feel better - therapy, etc. and the right medication(s).

Warm wishes,

Annette

[Bee1232]

Hi Ali, I’m sorry you feel that way. I too was on meds for 20 years and they stopped working. I was back to square 1. Unfortunately this happens with antidepressants. Ask your doctor to switch you to something else. They all do the same thing but there are different chemicals in each one that your body has not adapted to yet. I’ve had to do this probably 3 times already but train yourself on the different medications, do your research. It does get better. The next time this happens when your on another medication, you know it’s not you. Just switch to another one.

[CAGgmb]

I was on paxil (paroxetine) for 17 years and then started experiencing the exact same issues you are dealing with. I was finally able to see a psychiatrist. Plan A was to increase the dose from 20mg to 30mg. If that didn't work, Plan B was to switch to another SSRI. That is what I'm doing now. I just started a low dose of sertraline, which I think is generic Zoloft. The dose will gradually increase over time. The first thing the psychiatrist told me was "You will feel better." I'd been feeling pretty hopeless before that. Get help. You will feel better. Sometimes SSRIs stop working.

[Jstbcuz]

I was on Paxil for years and then all of the sudden it quit working g. I got an appt with a psychiatrist and a psychologist. Between the 2 of them I was back to myself with in 3 weeks. My Dr switched me to effexor and my psychologist talked to me about the current stressors in my life. I was anxious and panicky for months before I sought help from professionals not just my general practioner. I was a total mess, had little kids and a husband and I could hardly function. Anxiety is one of the most treatable mental health diagnoses. Please don't wait, seek out someone who knows what to do. I owe my life to my Dr's. I didn't think I would ever feel normal again. I had a hard time even leaving the house. It sounds Like your med has run its course, not uncommon. Life is to short to feel this way. In the mean time do lots and lots of breathing exercises to calm your body. When we panic our cortisol level goes up and our bodies react. Remember it's just your bodies way of dealing with stress. Give your self a break, seek proper help and you will feel better in no time. I know it sounds easier said then done but you can do this!!!