I’ve dealt with the anxiety and panic and in my opinion drugs are not worth it. When I was 20 I was put on antidepressants for post partum depression and anxiety (I would wake up in the middle of the night with panic attacks) and they didn’t work. I went through a bunch, can’t remember all of the names Effexor? Paxil? I think those were two. But I was thin as a teenager and I didn’t gain weight during pregnancy, but over a year on antidepressants with no change in my diet I gained 50 lbs. Not only that, but they did not work which is why I went through so many. I was offered anxiety medication by a new doctor but he actually told me that the medication was like a bandaid and it wouldn’t solve the problem, if I went off of the medication the anxiety would likely return, that I needed to work through the issues that were causing the anxiety. The only thing that finally worked for me was a combination of vitamin supplements (I took a B complex along with extra B6 & B3) and a self-help program called Attacking Anxiety & Depression. The program is expensive (although you can find it online if you look around) and takes a lot of work and commitment to stick with it, but it really works.
