I must start oout by saying, i am a very happy person with a good husband and a successful career as a professor, but for no seeming cause to panic, I've been diagnosed with panic attack syndrome. It began back in 1995 when I would wake up about an hour and a half after I went to sleep with my heart pounding so loud I could hear it. I would break out in a sweat and often have bouts of gas and/or diarrhea through the rest of the night. My wonderful Dr. after extensive tests of thyroid, adrenal function, blood pressure, sugar, lactose, tried me on about every kind of medication, first antihistime, then all the SSRI's. Every one made it worse. Finally after a renal test, that specialist asked me I had tried Ativan. I took 1 mm and slept all night and was fine for a couple of years. My Dr. and I were somewhat concerned about the addicitive effects. Then Remeron came along. The Dr. called me as soon as she heard about it and got me on 15 mm a night. I weaned myself off the Ativan over a period of a month. I continued on Remeron for years and was doing great. Most nights I took only 1/2 of the 15 mm and about once a week, I seemed to need extra.
Last year I was in the shower in the morning and a weakness and fainting spell came over me. I managed to crawl to my bed where I lay for a while and got my bearings and got to the bathroom and chewed a couple of aspirins. I still felt weak and spacey.
I decided to take 1/2 an Ativan that I had left over from 10 years past and I sailed through the rest of the day. But, every day I felt spacey and weak and unbalanced.
By now, I'm living in a different city w/ a different Dr. She checked all my systems again. My blood pressure was a little high, but she felt it was probably due to the stress, not the other way around.
So, I started taking Ativan again. I take 1 mg at night, .5 at 8 a.m and .5 at 3 pm.
I wanted to get off the Ativan (because of the addictive effects) and with my Dr.'s permission I doubled my Remeron to 30 mg but was not able to decrease the Ativan w/o serious night time symptoms.

NOW FOR MY QUESTION. I AM SUFFERING SERIOUS BLOATING AND GAS MAINLY IN THE NIGHT. I WAKE UP WITH THE SHAKEY FEELINGS OF PANIC AND HORRIBLE GAS PAINS. I GET UP AND GO INTO THE BATHROOM TO PASS IT BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO DISTURB MY HUSBAND.
DO YOU BELIEVE THE GASTRIC DISTRESS IS DUE TO PANIC SYNDROME AND IF SO DO YOU THINK I COULD INCREASE MY ATIVAN? I'VE READ ONE CAN GO UP TO 4 MG PER DAY, BUT I'M TAKING REMERON, TOO.
I HAVE A GOOD DOCTOR, BUT SHE IS SO BUSY, I HAVE TO MAKE APPTS WEEKS IN ADVANCE.
LAST TIME I TALKED TO HER ABOUT GAS SHE SAID THE DEXILANT I TAKE IS PROBABLY KEEPING THE FOOD FROM DIGESTING PROPERLY AND THUS CAUSING GAS. I HAVE TO TAKE THE DEXILANT BECAUSE MY ENDOSCOPY SHOWED THAT DAMAGE HAD BEEN DONE BY GERD. I FEEL LIKE I'M BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE.
BOTXXXXX XXXXXNE. HOW MUCH ATIVAN CAN I TAKE?
I AM NOW RETIRED AND 79.
LOUISE

Optional Information:
Person's Gender: Female
Person's Age: 79

Already Tried:
SSRi's, Ativan, Remeron