Walter Martin3 said:For sixteen months now, I’ve been dealing with constant acid reflux, anxiety, and full-blown panic attacks; I constantly live with this irrational fear that I’m just going to vanish, or suffer a massive stroke or heart attack, or simply suffocate. I’ve had my heart, brain, and lungs thoroughly checked by specialists, and everything comes back perfectly fine, yet this reflux feels inherited from my grandfather. Whenever the weather turns rainy, I get this suffocating sensation, as if the oxygen has suddenly vanished from the air. Currently, I am taking Valium and 0.5mg Xanax. They offer some relief, but they leave me completely drained and drowsy. Is anyone else struggling with something similar? I’ve lost all faith in doctors because they practically suggested I was losing my mind and making up the pain. For sixteen months, my stomach and abdomen have been in a state of unrelenting agony. Best regards.
Valium is little more than chamomile tea when it comes to treating actual panic disorder and chronic anxiety. What you really need are legitimate antidepressants; often, Celexa (Lexapro) is recommended because it tends to have fewer side effects, though that isn't a universal rule.
You ought to see a psychiatrist—perhaps a private specialist would be better—and lay out the whole situation; they will likely prescribe one of the various ADs. Give it a shot, as there is nothing to lose, and you might find significant relief, given how easily psychological distress manifests as physical symptoms.
Before I started medication, I suffered from shortness of breath and the terrifying sensation that I was dying from lack of air, and I endured unbearable back pain for two years—all of which vanished within two weeks of starting an antidepressant. The panic and the phobias disappeared along with them. Xanax helps, certainly, but it is incredibly sedating and makes you sleepy, even if it does manage to blunt the edge of a panic attack.