Anxiety Attacks? Please Everyone look and tell me if this ever happened to you.. (maybe OT_

I have chronic anxiety disorder and can tell you panic attacks are hell.  They tend to increase once they start - you actually develop "anticipatory anxiety".....worrying about the next one to occur triggers another one.

I'd suggest you go ahead and take the xanax.  It's gotten some bad press but for me it has been a lifesaver.  I had panic attacks so frequently I couldn't live a normal life.    I've been on the same dose for a long time, so I don't believe that taking one necessarily leads to having to take more and more.  For you this will probably be a temporary situation, and once you get the anxiety under control you'll be able to wean off the meds.

If you're having panic attacks every time you try to eat, you won't be able to get in all the nutrients you need and may end up with some serious health problems.
Kathy

I had them when I was young…a long long time ago…nobody had a name for the condition and none of the doctors knew how to treat it. It was very bad and sometimes when I was driving, I would stop my car on the road, run for the curb and just stand there in full panic. There was no medications for it. I noticed that during these attacks I was hyperventilating. I had heard that if you breathed into a paper sack that would help people in this condition. When an attack started I would cup my hands, bend over a little if I could and breath into my hands for a few minutes. Doing this settled me down a little and I slowly found that I could control the symptoms. This confidence that I could be in control again made the attacks less stressful and I finally did not have them anymore. Try to overcome this without medications if you can, is my recommendation. Two of my daughters have the condition, they were given medications that caused other problems. But they wanted if fixed now and did not want to work on it so that is what they got.   

Did your allergist mention eosinophilic esophagitis? It can sometimes present that way but might need an EGD to diagnose it.

I was given them when I was put in the hospital for chest pains....i had alot of stress on me....no job, husband might loss his and worrying about surgery.  They gave me one and it did seem to help.  I did go to sleep though.  I suppose it helped....they sent me home with a prescription...I took one since I've been home and that's been about 3 months ago.   I've had hives for 8 months now....can't seem to figure out why I keep having them.  I went to a dermatologist then an allergist....and he's run all kinds of bloodwork on me.....everything came back normal except for my liver and this was presurgery so he's done it again after surgery....so will have to find out the results from my next visit.   I suffer from anxiety and I am constantly worrying about everyday life.  Hang in there!  I would take one but be sure your home for a while and not working.  :)  Take care, Sherry