Shortness of breath, doctors say it’s panic attack but...

Hi,

I was on 30mg of Paxil for social anxiety and depression. My nurse practitioner/doctor offered to let me go up to 40mg. I took one pill of the 40mg and a couple hours later I woke up with my heart racing, couldn’t breathe, palms were sweating and I vomited three times in a row.

I didn’t take anymore of the medicine, was fine, but a week later it happened again minus the vomiting. I was in disbelief. Another week after THAT, it happened again. Twice in one day, so after the second episode I went to urgent care. For an insane price I was simply told by a nurse practitioner it was withdrawal and to cut the Paxil tablets in half , start taking them, and see my regular doctor. While I was there I had an EKG done and was told my heart is healthy.

I left it alone, didn’t go to the doctor, and recently wound up at the ER because of an episode during the early morning hours. The ER doctor told me it was a panic attack and gave me a zomg to take and prescribed me some Atarax until I could get in to see my regular physician. I looked at my paperwork and my respiratory count and everything was normal. The lower blood pressure number was high but it always is.

The thing is that I’ve NEVER had panic attacks until that 40mg of Paxil. And it just doesn’t seem like a panic attack to me. It’s been almost an entire month since I took that one Paxil, how can the effects last that long? It seems impossible. This is ruining my life, and I wish I had never taken meds now. I am going to my regular doctor soon, but I know she will tell me the same garbage. It doesn’t make sense to me, and I feel like everyone is just labeling it a panic attack because of the anxiety, but even in the most stressful of situations I’ve never had this happen before. The ‘episodes’ literally come on out of the blue and are terrifying. 

Has anyone else experienced this, how could I be affected for this long by one pill, is it really a panic attack like I’m being told?? I’m absolutely baffled, and I feel like I’ll be stuck with this forever. I shouldn’t have to take Paxil the rest of my life to keep this from happening when it never happened to me before I took it!! I feel hopeless. And even now that I’m on the Atarax I’ve had an episode. I don’t know what to do. I will go to the doctor who prescribed me the pills, but I think she will just tell me the same thing as everyone else. I do not smoke, I do not drink, and I do not have any bad habits.

Thanks for reading, I would really appreciate some insight. I don’t know how much more of this I can take. 

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