# Doc Gave Me Hydroxyzine



## AlexP7 (Apr 5, 2013)

Saw my new GP today, told him my paxil was helping my anxiety day to day but that I am still having panic attacks and anxiety from time to time. I told him I had been given Klonopin many years ago and it helped me a lot, but he wanted to avoid Klonopin or Xanax because he said they're dangerous as far as addictiveness. I was expecting he wouldn't give me Xanax or Klonopin because no doctors today will prescribe them. I plead my case as best I could, but he decided to add Hydroxyzine to my paxil which I have never heard of. He said it is safe and will help my anxiety and panic. He offered to raise my paxil dose to 75 mg from 37.5 but I opted to keep it the same due to some side effects.

Has anyone tried Hydroxyzine as a supplementary med before for anxiety/panic and does it help? I have never heard of it what type of med is it? Is it similar to benzos? Does it help get rid of social anxiety and panic? I will give it a try, doc said if it doesnt help, then may consider something else. Any info would be appreciated, thanks!


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## basuraeuropea (Jul 25, 2012)

it's a potent antihistamine with antiserotonergic (5ht2a) as well as a1-adrenergic, d2 antagonistic properties.

it isn't at all similar to the benzodiazepines. 

it seems to show its best efficacy in those suffering from milder forms of generalised anxiety disorder. although when combined with an ssri, it may be advantageous. 

i think mirtazapine would have been the better choice if i were thinking along the lines your psychiatrist was, particularly if added onto an ssri, and given that you suffer from panic disorder.

i trialed it once or twice at varying doses and as an adjunct agent, although i wasn't nearly strong enough. that was just my experience, though. of course yours may differ.


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## AlexP7 (Apr 5, 2013)

Thanks for the info basuraeuropa, I can always count on you to give me good info  I guess you would say my gad is on the milder end, with occasional spikes, so maybe this will help supplement my ssri. I am already on Trazodone as-needed for sleep, so I guess Mirtazipine would have been a bit much there. So you tried hydroxyzine before? From the brief amount of research I have done, is hydroxyzine a type of tranquilizer that dates from the 1950s? Is it made to treat anxiety specifically? Thanks again for the info. Not sure yet what my dosage will be because he sent my script directly to pharmacy, will be curious to see what that is.


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## ChopSuey (Nov 5, 2012)

In my country they're very reluctant to prescribe medications, but they practically hand out Hydroxyzine like candy. It can sometimes be good for sleep, but can leave traces of a hangover the next day. It's for its majority of users quite useless for anything that does not include sleep aka premium brand sugarpills.


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## barry1685 (May 25, 2011)

Made me feel high for an hr then became a potent sleep aid thereafter. Thus I hated it.


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## GotAnxiety (Oct 14, 2011)

Actually my old roommate had a bottle of 300 of those laying around. It was bad idea at the time I took like 20 of them they made me hallucinate and they didn't help me sleep lol. They have a long halflife pretty good for causing all day sedation if you take the right amount hehe.


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## AlexP7 (Apr 5, 2013)

So is Hydroxyzine Vistaril or Atarax? Is one for allergies while the other is for anxiety? And is it an older tranquilizer that is used for anxiety now? My doc didn't want to give me benzos and I can understand his reasoning because of their issues, but I am a bit worried that this will just put me to sleep. I just need something I can pop and is fast acting when I feel a panic attack or major anxiety coming on. Hopefully it helps though, I'll give it a try. I saw something on youtube saying that Hydroxyzine was from the 1950s and was a tranquilizer then.


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## istayhome (Apr 4, 2012)

AlexP7 said:


> Saw my new GP today, told him my paxil was helping my anxiety day to day but that I am still having panic attacks and anxiety from time to time. I told him I had been given Klonopin many years ago and it helped me a lot, but he wanted to avoid Klonopin or Xanax because he said they're dangerous as far as addictiveness. I was expecting he wouldn't give me Xanax or Klonopin because no doctors today will prescribe them. I plead my case as best I could, but he decided to add Hydroxyzine to my paxil which I have never heard of. He said it is safe and will help my anxiety and panic. He offered to raise my paxil dose to 75 mg from 37.5 but I opted to keep it the same due to some side effects.
> 
> Has anyone tried Hydroxyzine as a supplementary med before for anxiety/panic and does it help? I have never heard of it what type of med is it? Is it similar to benzos? Does it help get rid of social anxiety and panic? I will give it a try, doc said if it doesnt help, then may consider something else. Any info would be appreciated, thanks!


What is so difficult about being prescribed benzos. They're certainly not dangerous. There is a chemical dependency, but true addiction is rare. Anxiety patients being treated with benzos are not going to have cravings to take pills non-stop, or steal, burglar, prostitute themselves, etc. in order to get pills. Also, "pleading" for a drug is the best way to NOT have it prescribed to you.

Being prescribed an antihistamine for anxiety is a truly awful treatment I think.


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## AlexP7 (Apr 5, 2013)

istayhome said:


> What is so difficult about being prescribed benzos. They're certainly not dangerous. There is a chemical dependency, but true addiction is rare. Anxiety patients being treated with benzos are not going to have cravings to take pills non-stop, or steal, burglar, prostitute themselves, etc. in order to get pills. Also, "pleading" for a drug is the best way to NOT have it prescribed to you.
> 
> Being prescribed an antihistamine for anxiety is a truly awful treatment I think.


I have no idea istayhome. I don't think benzos are any more dangerous than certain ssris. I casually told my new GP that I had tried Klonopin & Xanax several years ago for my anxiety & panic disorder and it helped more than anything else has up to date, but he just repeated the same line I have heard every other doc I've seen state. He said benzos are addictive/dangerous and so he prefers not to use them up front. I mean I understand where he's coming from, and I didn't want to seem like I was begging for addictive pills like Xanax/Klono. So it's a fine line. I simply told him that Klono/Xanax had worked for me really well more than anything else has to date and played it pretty casually. And he still didn't want to give me benzos. He did say that if the Hydroxyzine doesn't work we could try something else, but he didn't say what.

He offered to up my paxil from 37.5 to 75 mg but I didn't want to do that, because I am already having some side effects and don't want to take that high of a dose of it. So he gave me 50 mg Hydroxyzine to take with my Paxil. I had never heard of it before and still know hardly anything about it.

I am concerned that based on what I've readh, Hydroxyzine seems to put people to sleep or heavily sedate them, and I already take Trazodone when needed for sleep so what is the point of that? I just need something I can take situationally when I feel a panic attack or major anxiety wave sweeping over me to supplement my paxil. I will go ahead and try the Hydroxyzine but I am skeptical it will work. Don't get why he would give me an anti-histamine when my issue continues to be sudden panic attacks.


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## MrMariner (Mar 5, 2013)

i took it before but not for anxiety. Took it for a bad itching problem i had in my legs from Lupus. I have heard of this medication being used for multiple purposes. Anxiety, Itching, and to help sleep. only side effect i got from it is that it made me pretty tired all day.


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## jim_morrison (Aug 17, 2008)

istayhome said:


> What is so difficult about being prescribed benzos. They're certainly not dangerous. There is a chemical dependency, but true addiction is rare. Anxiety patients being treated with benzos are not going to have cravings to take pills non-stop, or steal, burglar, prostitute themselves, etc. in order to get pills. Also, "pleading" for a drug is the best way to NOT have it prescribed to you.
> 
> Being prescribed an antihistamine for anxiety is a truly awful treatment I think.


Well said, it saddens me that we are living in this day and age yet this is type of thing is considered the standard for modern medicine prescribing.


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