If you have ever told a psychiatrist or primary care provider about experiencing a panic attack, chances are they’ve offered you a limited prescription for xanax or another tranquilizer to use “as needed.” The implication being (from a psychiatry perspective) that if you have another panic attack, you can end it by taking a pill. For some people, having an emergency pill available is powerful enough to decrease their frequency of panic attacks. Other people begin to wonder “should I be taking a daily anxiety medication?” In addition to talking to your psychiatrist, consider the following:
For some people, anxiety about panic attacks can cause a panic attack
Panic attacks are your body’s response to heightened anxiety. During a panic attack, you may experience any of the following: racing heart rate, shallow breathing or difficulty catching your breath, a sensation of choking or suffocating, nausea, sweating or feeling hot, muscle tension, and fear that your panic attack is endangering you. This last piece is key: anxiety about the panic attack itself is part of what makes the experience so unpleasant, and why “as needed” medication can be effective for some people.
Anxiety about panic attacks can increase the likelihood of having them, because it heightens your level of anxiety generally. For some people, knowing that you have a way to manage the panic attack can help decrease anxiety about experiencing one, and thus the likelihood of having a panic attack.
Unfortunately, this is not the case for everyone. If you have panic disorder or severe anxiety, you might benefit from daily, or preventative medication as well. A psychiatrist can help you better understand the causes of your panic attacks, and the best way to treat them.
What are your other supports?
When you take medication, its effectiveness is impacted by the other things you are (or aren’t) doing to manage your anxiety. This is because medication can manage your emotional baseline, but can’t control the number of stressful situations you encounter. As-needed and even daily medication alone may not prevent anxiety nor provide you with effective coping mechniasms if you are being yelled at publicly by your boss everyday, or going through a difficult divorce.
Are you in therapy?
Do you have daily routines that help you manage anxious feelings?
Do you have family, friends or a partner that help you minimize anxiety-provoking situations?
All three of these can help you navigate stressful contexts, and lower the likelihood of experiencing panic attacks. Without them, as-needed prescriptions may not be enough to manage anxious feelings. If you are primarily relying on medication to prevent panic attacks, a daily medication may be more effective. Share this information with your psychiatrist to allow them to see all the ways you are (or are not) treating your anxiety. This will allow them to fully treat your panic attacks.
What can you afford?
Psychiatry services should be a right, not a privilege, but unfortunately in the United States that is not the reality. If you are interested in daily medication, know that in addition to the cost of the pills themselves, you’ll have to visit a psychiatrist as often as once a month in order to make sure your medications are working for you. Depending on the type of medication you take and your relationship with your psychiatrist, this might decrease to 1-2x/year. Psychiatry assessments without insurance can be 200-500$, and medication management appointments can be 70-180.
Private pay psychiatry groups typically offer user friendly services. If you have health insurance, you can often get reimbursed for the services, or you can go directly through them to find a psychiatrist. To learn more about your particular plan, call them or look online to find out what kinds of medications they cover, and what the co-pay for psychiatry appointments will be.
If you do not have health insurance, look into community health centers or psychiatry training programs that might offer reduced-price services. Expect to shop around, finding a psychiatrist that is right for you, sometimes takes a while.
Talk to your primary care provider or psychiatrist
While it is important to know for yourself how panic attacks work, what supports you have in place and what your budget is, you need the input of a trained doctor or psychiatrist to decide whether you should take daily medication, or as-needed. Share the information you’ve gathered from this article, in addition to the symptoms you’ve experienced. They will help you come up with a treatment plan that works for you.
You can self schedule an in-person or virtual therapy session at the Center for Growth by calling (215) 922- LOVE (5683) x 100.
Our Guarantee: If after your first session you are not sold that you are working with the right therapist, do not hesitate to call our intake line at 215 922 5683 x 100 or Alex at (267) 324-9564 and ask to be rescheduled with another therapist. The choice of how you want to proceed is yours. Our only goal is to support you in becoming the best you possible.
For your convenience, we have brick and mortar offices and work with clients virtually in Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, New Jersey, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
Physical Therapy Office Locations:
Ocean City Therapy Office 360 West Ave, Floor 1, Ocean City, NJ 08226
Mechanicsville Therapy Office 9044 Mann Drive, Mechanicsville Virginia, 23116
Society Hill Therapy Office 233 S. 6th Street, C-33, Philadelphia PA 19106
Art Museum / Fairmount Therapy Office 2401 Pennsylvania Ave, Suite 1a2, Philadelphia PA 19130
Providence Therapy Office 173 Waterman St. Providence, RI 02906
Fayetteville Therapy Office 101 Devant Street #606, Fayetteville GA 30214
Santa Fe Therapy Office, 2204 B Brothers Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 87505
Telemedicine Therapy Locations: We have therapists who are licensed to work in Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Virginia and Pennsylvania
Therapy Services Offered in Fayetteville, Ocean City, Mechanicsville, Philadelphia, Providence, Santa Fe:
Individual Counseling and therapy
Couples Counseling and marriage counseling
Teen Therapy and Adolescent Therapy and tweens and child counseling
Family Therapy and multi-generational counseling
Art Therapy and Counseling no art skills needed
ADHD Therapy and ADD, Dyslexia, Autism, Tourettes counseling
Anxiety, Panic, OCD Therapy and worry and fear support
Breaking the cycle of Codependency and being your own person
Overcoming Chronic Illness and Chronic Pain .
Depression Therapy and sadness, gloom, and upset support
Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) Therapy is a particular style of therapy designed for people with problems affecting their nervous system, how the brain and body send and receive signals.
Grief Therapy and loss, End of A Relationship, rejections, pregnancy and loss and therapy
Mindfulness Based Therapy and spirituality based therapy
Narcissistic Abuse Recovery child of, parent of, spouse of, sibling of a narcissist.
Sex Therapy and sexual function & dysfunction, sex addiction, sexual orientation and gender identity support
Trauma Therapy both emotional and sexual abuse, complex trauma, PTSD counseling
Divorce support
Affairs, Infidelity, Unfaithful, Cheating counseling
Parenting therapy
Personality disorder treatments Narcissist, Borderline, Histrionic
Setting Boundaries and identifying ones own Core Beliefs
Just name some of the Mental Health issues that we work with. Our goal is to help you Change and Achieve Your Dreams
