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Q: Could I Have Panic Disorder
I have bipolar disorder and I am currently on 1500mg of Depakote a
day, which seems to be helping to a certain degree (it has pulled me out of
extreme depression). I also have frequent "mixed states" where i feel panic
stricken and homicidl/suicidal. For this my doctor put me on 10mg of Zyprexa
daily, yet I still found no benefit. I have now switched to 1mg of
Risperidone,and found myself feeling panicky today and had to take 2mg of Xanax
(which my doc is hesiotant to prescibe to me since I have a history of drug
abuse). Is it possible for me to have a seperate panic dissorder? Why are these
"major tranquilizers" not working for me? ANy suggestions would be most
appreciated.
Faye
Dear Faye --
Lot's of my patients have gone through what
you're going through. Many of them have benefited from adding more mood
stabilizer, targeting the panic symptoms (usually sleep is pretty fragmented too
and when the sleep is better, so is the panic). So you could ask your doc'
whether you might use other mood stabilizers (read about 'em on my website in
the treatment section, and "treatment details" section of the
BPII
stuff). I'd have considerable confidence this approach will help,
although there are always exceptions. Good luck. (There's also a
therapy for panic disorder to consider,
10-12
sessions, and it's even kind of fun at times, and it works as well as med's
for people who only have panic disorder; you might be a little different there,
but it is very unlikely to hurt you except for time and money).
Dr. Phelps
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