Experiencing high anxiety when under stressful situation?
- Posted:
- 27 Dec 2009 by caseychr
- Topics:
- dilantin, seizures, head injury, anxiety, trigeminal neuralgia, epilepsy, generalized anxiety disorder
Details:
I unsuccessfully tried under doctor supervision to come off of Dilantin after five years of being seizure free. They think a head injury I sustained 10 years ago is the root cause of the issue.
The doctor put me back on the medication and things have been relatively good since, 3 weeks. I recently have had two instances where I was under pressure and experience high anxiety that I have never felt before but I did not have a seizure. I have experienced a dulling headache after both of these occurrences. I am taking 4 X 100mg once a day and was wondering if the medicine was no longer working for me. I realize it's only a guess but do you have any thoughts?
27 Dec 2009
When was your last Dilantin level run? This is a very important medication in your life. Comming off of this medication should only be done with the guidance of your physician. If they think you should be on it. Stay on it. If you decide on your own and come off of it and you drive and have a seizure and kill a child, was it worth comming off of it without the permission of your physician? No way.
Please listen to your Doctor. This is very, very important medication.
27 Dec 2009
Dilantin has many side effects that include Headache Disorder, Nervousness, Irritability and Impaired Cognition sometimes. Those are all common side effects. I would ask your doctor about changing medications if you continue to experience those terrible side effects. You could ask your doctor if you could try a Barbiturate such as Phenobarbital which prevents seizures. There are also Benzodiazepines which can prevent seizures. Both of these medications are controlled substances but I have a few friends that take either of those types of medications which have great success in preventing seizures. They can become addictive but that is extremely rare if taken as prescribed. I would ask you're doctor about both of the latter medications and see what he/she thinks about it. Another possibility is taking something for anxiety along with your regular Dilantin.
Expand this post...
They're are some prescription drugs that aren't controlled substances that may work but I've never had success with any of them. I would prefer a benzodiazepine such as Clonazepam (Klonopin) or Xanax (Alprazolam). Barbiturates such as Phenobarbital have the same sedating effect which helps with anxiety along with the seizures. I hope this helps. Add me as a friend if you have more questions and you can send me a private message and we can talk further. Good Luck! Happy Holidays!
27 Dec 2009
i don't have seizures but i take topamax for migraine management and a few depression med's had seizures as side effects but my dr told me not to worry because i was covered w/ the topamax maybe you could ask your dr about topamax i've been on it for at least 12 /15 years w/ no side effects i also like ativan for my panic disorder as it doesn't make me sleepy and again i've been on this medication for a long time. hope this has helped you. missy2
21 Jan 2010
Head injuries can mask other problems.Medicines can have different effects on different people. Sometimes the doctors don't know why a medicine stops the seizures, they just do. Stress can trigger "breakthru" seizures, or mini-seizures. The dulling headache is one of TN's side effects. Headaches can also be caused by the medicines taken to relieve the seizures. You may want to check with your doctor to see if another medicine, or a combination of medicines can help. Ask about a stress medicine that won't react badly to the medicine you are on.
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caseychr
itsmetoo2
missy2
Thank you for your feed back but I did come off the medication over a six month period under doctor supervision. My hope was to see if I could live without the medicine. Unfortunatly I had a seizure after I was off the drugs for a few month.
My question is more about the nervousness I felt. It was not something I experienced when I was on the drugs for five years. Is this normal or it potentially a side effect of moving back onto the drugs and the particular pressure situation? Thank you again for taking the time to respond.
It could be. You must realize that you tried it and it did not work. Now you need to go back on something but what? It is the anxiety of the unknown. You know what it is like not having seizures and know what it is like now. It is that big black hole. You need faith. Faith in tommrow, faith in your doctors and most of all faith in yourself's decisions. I have faith in you. Otherwise why would you be here, looking for answers. I may give you some help but the answers are within yourself.
May God Bless