Panic Disorder and the recovery duration, need recomendation on pill cut off.

by Rasa
( Malaysia)

Hello, my name is Rasa
I am 21 Years old Guy, 182Cm of height and 70KG of weight? I don’t smoke, I don’t drink

I started suffering panic attack ( panic disorder with agoraphobia) from one and half month ago, fortunately I have had lot of improvements, when I started suffering it, I couldn’t do even normal walking, the first panic attack happened during my push-up exercise so basically I had phobia of exercise! I couldn’t walk up the stairs, no more push ups & pull-ups, completely loss of confidence and couldn’t be present in crowded places which could trigger the panic attack

Before it happened to me, I had a lot of problems in my life, break-up, migration, family and parents problem, and then studies for my college. I am a very sensitive person so I guess that could be the main reason why it happened in the first place. But I’m still active, no matter what happens, I keep on eating lot of protein and vitamin foods and do enough exercise ( even thou sometimes I’m about to have the panic attack)

I talked to a doctor, he gave me Citalopram which was somehow helpful and been using it for over 45 days now and each night only half a pill. He told me your panic attacks will go away in about 4 months, but in the second month of treatment I barely reach the panic attack point. I can assure you that I haven’t had any panic attack in past 15 days.

Although some symptoms aren’t still gone, I feel tingle, something very strange, at my hand palms. Like someone is pushing Pins and needles to my palm. This happens when I’m worried or something sudden happens.

So how long should I take these pills? Will panic attacks come back later in life? With this attitude of mine, will I ever suffer heart disease (we never had heart disease background in our family and relatives?)

I’m pretty sure we don’t have family background of such issue, it’s just me. Before this panic disorder thing, I only had 2 panic attacks with interval of 1.5 year. And sometimes insomnia and I used to be a very stressed person (no more, I guess at the age of 20 I was crazy and mad all the time but nowadays I’m calmer and try to react less to life problems and handle them easily)

Panic Attacks

Rasa, glad to hear the Citalopram seems to be working for you. It’s difficult to say how long you should be on it, but this is something you need to discuss and decide with your doctor. Panic attacks are such a common problem and all the symptoms you describe are consistent, including the pins and needles in you hands.

As for whether you will ever suffer heart disease, the answer is that panic attacks don’t cause heart disease. However, 1 in 3 of us experience heart disease at some point in our lives so it is always a possibility. You don’t smoke which is one of the main causes. If you take regular exercise this will help reduce risk and take a balanced diet. Good luck!

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