Hello all! I have been suffering with panic attacks that started 4 years ago. I have been able to deal with them until lately. I’ve been having severe panic attacks several times a day along with horrible depersonalization throughout the day. I was on Effexor before but stopped because of the side effects. My doctor prescribed Lexapro…..anyone had great success with it?

So many people are afflicted with panic attacks, severe anxiety, agoraphobia, social anxiety disorder etc. In stead of focusing on the symptoms and the misery it causes, I thought it would be nice for those of you who have had it to post your success stories here so people who are still struggling can gain some hope, strength and courage from you. Thank You for sharing. Only those who have had it know what those who have it are going through.

I have tryed sending e-mails to various people who are doing or have done research into panic disorder. Some of these people are medical Doctors who have not only worked on panic disorder research, but have written books on the subject. It seems like when you try to send e-mails to these people, who should know more about panic disorder than your average Doctor, or Psychiatrist, you run into a brick wall. I have suffered with this hellish condiction for a long time, ever since a cycling accident. I was not wearing a helmet at the time, landed hard on my lift shoulder, shattering my left collar bone, and dislocating my left shoulder under my chin. My friend who witnessed the cycling crash, told me that I was out of my head for about 15 minuets, and that he had a considerably difficult time getting me to realize just how badly I had been hurt. What I need is an e-mail address where I can relate this to someone who is doing research into this disabling condition.
For years after my accedent, the Doctors simply sent me to the state hospital, where I recived no treatment at all.Then during one of my hospitalizations, a Doctor desided to take a fresh look at my problem. He was the first person to use “panic disorder”.He put me on Xanax,and 2 days later the attacks stoped.I have since been switched to Klonopin because it has a longer 1/2 life.I have taken myself off my meds several times, but have to be put back on them again because the panic attacks always come back.I have finely accepted that I will have to take these meds for the rest of my life.What worries me is the anti-benzodiazepine movement among the new, younger Doctors.If there were some way of inducing panic attacks, I think all new Doctors should have to go through the experence.That way they would know what life for people like me is like.There were times when I wasn’t being treated for this, that killing myself seemed like the only resonable thing to do, the only way to stop the pa