Posted by Elizabeth on December 15, 2001, at 20:05:58
In reply to Re:nocturnal panics, posted by gilbert on December 15, 2001, at 16:09:09
> So much for going off xanax. I may have to resign myself that this is a life med. Does anyone else experience nocturnal panics.
Yes, I do sometimes. This is common in panic disorder. It's like I wake up already panicking. But perhaps of interest, mine *don't* occur during dreams. MAOIs did stop the nocturnal attacks as well as the waking ones. Too early to know if Effexor will help yet. Desipramine did *not* help much, if at all, with daytime or nocturnal panics.
Something that might help you would be to take Klonopin at bedtime. It's longer-acting than Xanax so it can hold you through the night where Xanax may not.
BTW: you don't have to take Xanax forever if you don't want to -- the way to get off it is to switch to a longer-acting med (e.g., Klonopin) and then taper off that *very* gradually. But panic disorder is often a lifelong thing, and if you stop the Xanax without replacing it with something else (like an antidepressant) that might help, you shouldn't be surprised if the panics return.
-elizabeth
poster:Elizabeth
thread:86854
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20011213/msgs/87034.html