panic attacks/anxiety/gagging reflex/ why me…?
i have vry bad gerd/acid reflux.. or whatever the hell. i’m very irritated and upset that my health had to turn out this way. since very young, ive had the gag reflex during stress, social outings, pressure, and foods. ive been on many medications. prevacid, zantac, peptid ac, and currently on cvs brand med… all of which do not work for me anymore.
i am very … i dont know. ive been researching online for anxiety/panic attack reducers, acupunctures and such. i go to the doctor with this buthe prescribes the same thing..says its just all in the mind and psychological.. things i am tired of hearing becuse he and my family tells me to think lightly and all that. but let me tell you, actions speak louder than words. its not easy to control anxiety.
the doctor said i m too young to be on certain anxiety medications.. im 19 btw, & that i should just keep calm.
i dont know what to do anymore. my last resources are.. prilosec and nexium. i guess..but how much is nexium? neone w/ sim. prob?
Tagged with: attacks/anxiety/gagging • me... • panic • reflex/
Filed under: Acupuncture Panic Attacks
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If all the other proton pump inhibitors have failed, it’s likely that prilosec and nexium will too. So, your doctor acknowledges that this may be psychological but refuses to help you…hmmmmm, I believe it’s time to change doctors! You are not too young for anxiety meds or anti-depressants. Schedule yourself for an appointment with a mental health physician and consider seeing a gastrointestinal specialist as well…as long as you’ve had these symptoms, you need to make sure no serious damage was done to your stomach and esophagus.
Good luck!
I have the same exact problem!!! I get terrible acid reflux and just very acidy stomach when I am anxious, which was constantly this summer, and it leaves me feeling sick all the time. I went to the doctor and was given nexium to calm my stomach down so I wouldn’t feel like I was going to be sick constantly (it got to the point where I didn’t want to go out in public because I was afriad I would throw up in public, even though I never did actually get sick). Anyway, to help with my anxiety I was given lexapro 10mg and it has helped me a ton! You are old enough now that taking an antianxiety med shouldn’t be a problem, I’m just a year older and my doctor didn’t say anything about age (over 18 years) being a problem in anyway. I would suggest going to a different doctor or to a psychiatrist because they should know that constant anxiety can cause problems like the ones you are discribing and they should also know how hard it is to control anxiety on your own.
To answer your last question about the nexium, it is pretty expensive. It was $50 for me and my doctor gave me a rebate certificate for my first month supply. However, if the anxiety meds work for you, you should need the acid reducers less and less. Good luck and I hope you feel better!
Panic attacks are not all in your head/in your mind. They are very real and very scary. My whole family suffers from panic attacks/anxiety/and the like. Know that you are not alone. The meds that worked really well for my family (and me) were anti-depressants and xanac. Meditation really helped. You may find that you have a digestion problem that is triggered by your anxiety – this was the case with my mom. The only thing that she could do was to not have certain foods (like acid base – tomato, fruit) in her diet. It also sounds like you do not have a very supportive support group. Support groups help big time! To know that you are not alone and that help is out there counts. You may want to consider a group or a single doctor to go to for therapy. You are not crazy and seeing a therapist does not make you crazy either – it makes you smart that you are taking care of yourself. If you have good insurance, you might want to consider seeing another doctor for your meds – a specialist for the stomach problems. You do not have to suffer and you shouldn’t! If you ever need someone to talk to, please feel free to e-mail me. If you have any more questions about panic attacks and anxiety, please feel free to contact me. Bless you and good luck!!
I feel your pain. I have been battling the same symptoms for the past 6 months. I thought I was having a heart attack for the first few months, go figure, I wasn’t. I had horrible heartburn that I thought was incurable. I went through all the drugs. Nexium, Prevacid, Prilosec, Tums, you name it I tried it. No relief. I have now been put on Celexa 30mg and xanax as needed (which isn’t very often) when I feel stressed, or have a panic attack coming on. I have changed my diet, started exercising again, and I am seeing improvement. Talk to your doctor again, he may be showing issues with putting you on an anti-depressant because of side effects that tend to be more prevalant with younger patients. Talk to him about all of that, talk to a GI doctor, get all the facts, keep working at it, and you will get better…. believe me, I thought I had no hope after a good 6 months of battling what I now know is stress/anxiety/panic attacks. Good luck to you.
I can really sympathize. I had the same problem but w/o the gerd. For me it was a result of my husband and my family’s abuse. Many people stay away from social activities due to things like this. Some people get help with prozac for social anxiety. I took zanex, but still struggled with the problem. I finally found a very good hypnotist who was also an MD. I have since tried another hypnotist from India and didn’t like his approach. The doctor I went to gave me ten sessions, and by the last one I was fairly deeply “in” and he had me visualize myself walking into a room, looking and feeling happy and like I want to be. It worked!
First of all, I think you should consider seeing another doctor. If someone’s answer is to not find a solution to the issue, either by medication or other modalities of treatment, then just say “Adios.” This is one of the main reasons I get new patients in my practice every day — the inability for the provider to listen and offer explanation.
So…
Sounds like you’ve tried all the over-the-counter H2 antagonists (Zantac & Pepcid) and even one of the PPIs (Prevacid), but without relief. I do, however, think you should at least try another before folding on the acid reflux treatment. Nexium is a good one, and I often prescribe it as well as Protonix and Aciphex. Just remember, some work better on some people, than just a one-size-fits-all approach. Never assume that just because one of the PPIs did not work, that all of them won’t. That’s just not reality. Some of my patients will have to try 2-4 different ones until something works. As well, sometimes I’ll have the patient take their PPI in the morning, and a couple of Zantac 75 mg. tabs at night (just for broad coverage).
As for the anxiety….
Yes, in your mind — INDEED!! But NOT as though you can control it by will, correct? You need to talk to someone that has a better approach with medications for treating this problem, obviously. I wouldn’t go with accupunctures – basically because I don’t think you’re going to get much out of it. The two more common medications I use for this, citing that Anxiety almost ALWAYS goes hand-in-hand with depression would be either ZOLOFT (which can take 4-6 weeks for maximum effect) or LEXAPRO (which can take 2-4 weeks for effect). In the meantime, a bit of Xanax or Klonopin may be useful, but must be watched for addiction potential. If you don’t have a history of drug abuse or alcoholism, then I think you’ll be safe.
Remember, you no more ASKED to feel the way you do, than you can suddenly control it. Seems to me that medication is the ONLY answer here, and you need someone who will be willing to provide good/sound medical advise.
I hope this helps.
Best of luck to you!