Happy New Year everyone. I now have blood pressure and panic attacks and feel I need a (calmer) I did take Citalapram some time ago for

[jubilee]

anxiety but found it bad for RLS so stopped Does anyone know of something not to clash with my RLS?

[Hidden]

Hi, Jubilee, look at rlshelp.org on the treatment page, scroll through and it will list all the antidepressants, the ones that are considered bad for RLS and ones that will probably be ok to use. Hope that helps.

[jubilee in reply to Hidden]

Thank You Elisse I shall go to that site now, Nightdancer also tells me also

[nightdancer]

You are right that the citroprolam is bad for your RLS. antidepressants are tricky with RLS. that one is an SSRI. there is another class of anti-d's that are even worse and that is the tricyclic class of anti-d's. Trazodone (not sure what that is called in the UK, I am from the US) is normally a safe one, and helps promote sleep. rlshelp.org lists the safe ones and the not so safe ones on the treatment page. That is a US based web site, but the info is universal. That is your best bet, to read that and see what Dr. Buchfuhrer says. There is a list of Drugs and Foods to Avoid on the treatment page. Then, he lists the safe ones. I have panic attacks, too, especially first thing in the morning as soon as my eyes open, so I can relate. I have taken Trazodone before with no problems, I now take Mirtazapine/Remeron. That one can bother some people, but does not seem to bother me. read, read, read. Knowledge is power.

[jubilee in reply to nightdancer]

Thank You Nightdancer, I too get panicky before I open my eyes, then it quietens coming back during the day. When feeling OK I say to myself " Wot was all that about" but feel I need a little help. I am going to the help site now, Thanks again

[Walnut32]

What is your blood pressure problem? It is relevant to respond. I have high blood pressure and take meds for it, but unless I know you have same blood pressure problem I can't recommend any.

[jubilee in reply to Walnut32]

Thanks for your comment Walnut32 I have only this week been diagnosed with high blood pressure, but have had asthma, and bronchiectasis for a long time which is under control but not the panic attacks I am on Amlodipine 5mg to start with.

[funnyfennel]

I use Temazepam, both for sleep sometimes and 5mgs for anxiety. Some say its addictive etc, but it works for me whereas anti-depressives did not.

[jubilee in reply to funnyfennel]

Hi funnyfennel, many thanks I think I would prefer tabs for occasional use or as required rather than continually so will mention to my GP, also Temazepam has been around a long time.

[Pete-1]

I wrote the following on a different community, mostly about using breathing techniques to control panic attacks.

"Panic attacks are linked into the fight or flight mechanism that is common to all animals (or at least mammals). It is the major survival mechanism. It is controlled by a part of the nervous system called the "Sympathetic Nervous System" and gets triggered by any seemingly dangerous or in some way threatening circumstance.

That threat may be real or imagined - it doesn't matter which. When fight or flight is triggered the sympathetic nervous system prepares the body by diverting blood supply to the the cardiovascular system and the skeletal muscles from the digestive system. This movement is felt in the sensation of wobbliness in the stomach Also eye pupils widen to let more light in plus lots of other things.

Now, with a panic attack, it can seemingly come from nowhere but probably what has happened is that your background level of stress is raised more than you realise and it only takes one more moment of low level stress to tip you over into a panic attack. That "last straw" of extra stress could for example come from a slightly unnerving incident while driving or a sudden loud noiise or some such thing.

Normally the extra energy from a real threat is dissipated by running away from the wild animal or fighting it. But how do you calm yourself down once in this behaviour pattern has been invoked. Well another part of the nervous system known as the "parasympathetic nervous system" controls the changes in the body to calm everything to a normal state.

This parasympathetic nervous system may be invoked by suitable breathing patterns / exercises.

For example there is what is called 7/11 breathing. This means you should breath in for a count of 7 and then out for a count of 11. Or there is 3 / 5 breathing or my favourite which is 4,4,6 which means you should breath in for a count of 4 then hold that breath for a count of 4 and last breath out for a count of 6. The main point is that the out-breath must be longer than the in breath. This is the thing that invokes the calming parasympathetic nervous system.

So if you feel a panic attack begining then immediately start your preferred breathing pattern and repeat slowly until you feel yourself relaxing."

[jubilee in reply to Pete-1]

Thank you very much Pete-1. What you have said makes a lot of sense. The breathing exercises I certainly will try. Others on this forum may also benefit from this.

Regards