Hi
Just a general outline on my experiences re medication, as a Qualified nurse by trade and ex military, trained in the forces and having travelled extensively abroad including working in refugee camps and war zones under severe conditions with constant adrenalin rushes the inevitable outcome of which left me seemingly OK until about two years ago when I experienced terrible panic attacks, profuse sweating, palpitations, FEAR and all in all totally different persona to the person I had been as being very extrovert, loved mixing with people, meeting people, new experiences life wise et. Suddenly withdrawn and hating the thought of being with other people around me ?
What I discovered re GP's and how they perceive illness and use medication shocked me, I think in some instances it was more terrifying than taking the medication ?
I had not only panic attacks and other as listed but SEVERE HYPERTENSION, on average and I kid you not it was regularly checked - 220 / 140 which given the norm is about 130 / 80 you can appreciate it was NOT by any stretch of the imagination health wise other than a major problem.
The first prescribed med didnt work ! I had charts et to prove it was a waste of time taking the meds, HOWEVER even then the doctor was protesting that I hadn't given it long enough to work et whilst the charts clearly showed virtually NO CHANGE at all from the 220 / 140 !! more protests on my part and the meds were changed, HEY PRESTO blood pressure starts to come down ! ONE prob solved.
NOW about the panic attacks, what acts as a trigger ? its not easy to say its this or its that that causes it, maybe the brain complex as it is suddenly triggers an unexpected series of and I'll simplify by calling them 'vibes' that leaves you like a gibbering wreck or simply just petrified, it is in its raw state FEAR ... and it can be very debilitating because it takes from you a normality that gave you a sense of being, of who you were and how you could respond to a given situation without a terrible sense of foreboding or as said FEAR..
So maybe medication that targets certain zones of the brain known to send signals out that would cause the body to respond in such a way might work ? well they do and they don't and that is because UNDERLYING causes may remain that will overide the effects ? let me explain.
A violent relationship, a partner who is in every sense threatening, bullying and intimidating ? YOU have to remove the worst aspects to get at the core of the problems, then move on to resolving the issue at hand ie the panic attacks and all that is connected directly or indirectly with it ?
I ended up on escitalopram, now let me make it clear, I am not a fan of drugs that I have to RELY on or become dependant on such as benzodiazipines .. commonly known as diazepam, temazepam et
so to me UNLESS it was something that was actually going to WORK and HELP me AND be acceptable medication with little or NO major side effects ? I found the Escitalopram helped relieve the panic attacks and help me regain some composure, though I remained quiet and not interested in socialising, mixing or even lets face it shopping !
SPACE in the sense of ITS MY SPACE and I want YOU out of MY SPACE, well at least for a while cos I want it to myself ... happens and SHOULD happen in any relationship, clinging and behaving like an octopus with your partner on a 24/7 basis with most people is unacceptable, we need to be able to have our OWN SPACE to breathe to SLEEP to just do what we want to do without PRESSURE without FEAR without someone else or others encroaching on that, . a realisation of how difficult it is sometimes to get that across to others became VERY apparent after I became 'ill' but you have to stand and as they say be counted !!
it was one of the first things that helped me resolve some of my problems.
Medication to date was Amilodipine for my hypertension, WORKING and for panic attacks et the Escitalopram which I found worked reasonably well, HOWEVER I had other probs health wise to address and one of them was the pain I consistently had radiating from my neck down across my shoulders along my arms to my fingers tips, enough to make me feel sick at times and totally that washed out feeling health wise, tired, reluctant to move, taking paracetamol then on the doctors advice taking paracetamol and codeine ? still not working and worse still the realisation that my whole body was constantly flused with heat ? now looking back on this the joke was that should I venture out in the cold weather and stand at the bus stop others would congregate around me ... talk of readybrek making you glow !! it was peculiar and I mean very disconcerting ! I mean the flush of heat !!
Now GPs I found are very quick to treat the SYMPTOMS but seldom DIAGNOSE and working in the field as a nurse you learn fast that DIAGNOSING an illness is extremely important, its ok to treat a lot of people for Cholera but you have to look outside of the box and find out WHY and where its being caused i,.e a contaminated water source et, were it NOT for my chance viewing and talking to someone re Multiple Sclerosis I would NEVER have solved the intriguing riddle re the heat.. my GP had no answers... but what I was about to find out solved the problem in one fair stroke
' the sense of opening an oven door and feeling the heat escaping from the oven across your hands ' is how it feels to have what I had ALL the time ?
and its culprit was what is known as NEUROPATHIC pain... due to certain neural pathways being damaged or terminated the brain reroutes the neural pathways, sometimes it gets it wrong.. the end result is a mixture of unexpected actions such as in my case not just the heat, the pain but for example going to pick a mug of hot tea up and simply dropping it.. or picking a cup up and it ending up thrown across the room.. I didn't believe me need a domestic dispute for my crockery throwing !
I'm now taking Gabapentin for my NEUROPATHIC PAIN, which I should add is NOT the same as TOPICAL pain that most people suffer with and take i.e paracetamol for and it goes AWAY ! neuropathic pain is generated by the nerve endings or nodes maybe damaged that react and in doing so hey presto you are in a lot of pain ! but I digress, having talked it with the GP and convinced him I was prescribed Gabapentin .. and within I kid you not ! 48 hours the terrible pain and heat died back to almost nothing.. !! THE RIGHT MEDICATION makes a huge difference BUT I've learned again that it can sometimes be trial and error .. READ that slip of paper you get inside the box re your meds, they would not include that unless it was relevant and believe me it is VERY relevant, side effects such as sickness, nausea, diahorrhea, vomitting, headaches et et unless you've read the paper you won't know..
DONT be afraid to look at other web sites and get some idea of what can help and not just where your meds are concerned but looking at the underlying problems ... a few hours out with someone you feel happy with comfortable with that understands your situation appreciates YOUR SPACE, what you are capable of physically, mentally and emotionally ?!! and YES sometimes if they're not agreeing with you YOU NEED to speak up go see your GP and tell them WHY you're unhappy with the meds you're taking !
Stick to the medication as per WHEN and HOW you should be taking it, how often have you read that piece of paper with your meds (if at all) and taken note of the words 'take with food or just after food ?' maybe even having as I do last thing at night a slice of toast a hot drink and my meds.. some meds are not nice to your stomach or need food to help in the digestion the process of them working to help your medical condition and thats important, likewise taking alcohol or other substances including other drugs can cause the meds NOT to work and IF like me you are taking medication that SHOULD you suddenly discontinue them or in the case of alcohol or other drugs NEGATE their effect , the outcome could land you in serious trouble health wise if not unconscious, subjected to seizures and and...
DONT take other peoples medications ! "Well it works for me why don't you try it " might be fine for paracetamol and such but other drugs could have serious if not fatal consequences ! likewise aspirin to someone who is allergic could cause them to go into 'anaphylactic ' shock where the bodies vital organs shut down end of DEAD.. ! READ whats in the meds i.e even painkillers such as your store bought ones ..
and DON'T take paracetamol plus for instance containing CAFFEINE if you're planning to sleep afterwards or its bed time..
NOT sleeping can be due to what you DO before you go to bed including what MEDS you take ! if it says take half an hour before or similar do just that ! if its says DON'T take alcohol with it DON'T !! you've been out had a few drinks, come back in taken your meds gone to bed and can't sleep? ever thought its the mixing of the tabs and the booze ?
Meds do make you sleepy, during the day, mine do, resist it unless the compulsion is there to the point you MUST sleep, an effect I get every now and then, its MY SPACE leave me alone zzzzzz couple of hours and you feel OK ... deny it and you will inevitably feel really irritable and tired !..
Lastly I loved riding motorcycles, driving ? but I came to accept that for me to continue that given my meds and my body clock being unpredictable, sometimes I would feel so tired I had no choice but to sleep.. almost like constant jet lag... you're wide awake then wallop you're asleep and I kid you not someone trying to wake you is going to be in for a surprise.. ain't happening ! In short its dangerous foolish and out of the question UNLESS the situation improves for me to drive a vehicle on the road ! If like me you're in that situation ACCEPT it MOVE on get on with it.. public transport can sometimes be a .... ! and you do lose some of your independance but if like me you're still resigned to as little contact with others as you can get away with then its not so bad ! besides what are friends and family for !! Which reminds me, if you want a hard time from your unsympathetic friends and family, expected to do things beyond your physical and mental capabilities ? then DON't talk to your family, friends about your problems and GET them to understand your short comings, limitations ... the facts re your medications, taking them the conditions for taking them i.e must have something to eat with them, must not have alcohol et ! my friends and family know, may not fully understand or seem sometimes a bit uncaring ... but they do know and it DOES help ME ... even if I do have to remind them occassionally.. including fussing over me !! otherwise those who won't or don't confide in family and friends should remember as far as they're concerned IGNORANCE IS BLISS !