Will atenolol and elavil stop my panic attacks?

Question

I have been having really bad panic attacks for the past two weeks and I was taking xanax for about a week and then I visited my doctor today and now I am taking atenolol once a day in the morning and elavil before bedtime. I just want some advice from someone else to make sure that my doctor knows what he is doing, will taking these two drugs make me get rid of my panic attacks? I have being feeling awful lately and panic attacks are horrible for anyone who has not experienced them. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

it can help but find out some useful information from the link below.

http://beatpanicattack.com/answers.html

Answer 2

The Elavil will help you to sleep esp the first week, which may lessen the anxiety.  One of its off-label uses is as a sleeping aid (short-term).  Ask why he doesn't give you an SSRI (a newer anti-depressant).  Atenolol does lower your heart rate and is sometimes given for anxiety.  Propranalol is usually prescribed more often, though.  Also use biofeedback, therapy, light exercise and other non-med ways to reduce your stress.

Answer 3

Unsure of those meds you mention. 2 separate doctors gave me xanax which worked magic - not one, not once with xanax. Give it a chance - a week isn't long enough.

Answer 4

Panic attacks are a little tricky to treat. Short term benzodiazepines like Xanax will abort a panic attack, but long term the withdrawal from agents like Xanax can actually trigger panic attacks and make them worse. I don't recommend using Xanax for panic disorder if you have to use it daily, it works best for situational panic attacks like before public speaking or flying in a plane.

Anti-depressants work well LONG term to prevent panic attacks but take 6-12 weeks to work. This is the key point though, only serotonin agents (like Prozac, Paxil, Celexa, and Zoloft) work. Norepinephrine agents (like cymblata, effexor and wellbutrin) can make them worse. Elavil is an old tricyclic used mainly for sleep (because its sedating) and neuropathic pain. It does have serotonergic action so it might help with panic attacks but most family doc's under dose it. 25 or 50 mg won't work, you need to be at the higher dose which means a lot anticholinergic side effects like dry mouth, sedation, and constipation. Elavil would not be my first choice. Talk to your doctor about celexa or prozac, both are $4/month at Wal-mart and have a LOT less side effects.

Answer 5

atenolol is a beta blocker that will only block the outward symptoms of panic attacks. These are commonly given to people who for example have to give a big speech in front of a lot of people but fear public speaking, or students who get severe test anxiety.

Elavil is a tricyclic antidepressant. I haven't really heard of this being used for anxiety disorders as much as the SSRIs like prozac or Zoloft due to side effects.

The reason he took you off the Xanax is that it is not indicated for use longer than a week because benzodiazapines become habit forming. He switched you to a longer term medication regimen.

Do your best to tough it out the next week or two (which won't be easy, but meds take time), and if you don't notice any improvement see your doctor again Good luck to you.