Hello doctor, I am a 41-year-old male. For a long time and I am afraid of death, aviation and diseases, and despite my only and I fear flying. I always found myself assailed by the fear of death while I pray because of that I am trying to finish my prayer soon to escape from there and heading towards the house. This case has happened for more than 20 times. Eight months ago I experienced a state of severe fear when I am in a barber shop. While I was getting shaved I started sweating and my heart accelerates. I left the shop before my shaving was over. I went to the hospital the next day and they told me that my BP was high and I need medication to lower it. Three days after I visited the hospital after a dizziness in my head and my BP was 160/110 mmHg and they prescribed me a medicine, and after the stability of the pressure to 130/84 mmHg anxiety started again and my previous drug was then substituted by Eisenberg 10 mg but I still have a permanent feeling of fear and anxiety, and currently troubled, because I started to forget some of the names and mention them after some minutes at most times. But rarely I have this a kind of confusion, on seeing somebody and due to fear of getting their names wrong I moved away from them. After this, I have done all blood tests to detect the problem and I decided to go to a psychiatrist and he told me that I have an anxiety disorder. He prescribed me Escitalopram 20 mg. But I did not take it. Please help me I am confused.
Hello. I read your query word by word and affirm that this is an anxiety disorder. As you are aware that anxiety disorder is characterized by excessive concern about one or another thing. Many of the patients with anxiety problems present with excessive sweating, palpitations or pounding heart and dryness of mouth along with fearfulness or fear of dyeing. As your psychiatrist told you the antidepressant class of medicines are the drug of choice for your problem. Escitalopram is one of the antidepressants which is commonly used for anxiety problem. Ideally, it should be started with 10 mg and should continue with this dose for three to four weeks before increasing the dose to 20 mg per day. During the initial days, it is advisable to prescribe Benzodiazepines group of medicine as Escitalopram takes some time to act. I understand your fear and anxiety but at this moment you need to see a psychiatrist regularly so he can help you to control the progression of anxiety symptoms. The other option for treatment of this condition is talk therapy or psychotherapy. If you find a psychologist in your town then seeking a consultation with him is a good idea. He/she will guide you through the strategies to manage stress. I hope this helps.