Coping with severe anxiety

Hi everyone, I have recently been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder after experiencing my first panic attack about a month ago. Ever since I have been experiencing persistent symptoms such as shortness of breath, weakness, fatigue etc . On top of all this I have been suffering from a recurring wisdom tooth infection and will have to go to surgery soon for this depending on lockdown regulations and the severity of my condition. I feel extremely unwell everyday and because I have only started medication (anti-depressents/anti-anxiety we well we antibiotics) have been feeling the side effects. The problem is that I’m starting the second term of uni now and have no idea how I’m going to cope with this workload . Some lecturers have been understanding and have allowed to give me exemption untill my medication starts working however others have will not give me exemption. I am considering a leave of absence however this is a difficult decision for me as I care greatly about my academics and will extend my degree by a year. I’m really not sure what to do in this situation and have no idea how or when the medication is I’ll take effect. Any advice on this matter?

How long have you been on medication? what is the doctor's plan for your antidepressants treatment- how long for?
Stop your course and restart in October.
Get a counsellor as soon as possible. Yoy don't want t become reluant on antidepressants and their side effects. You need to know what triggered those panic attacks. There is always sn underlying reason. I know how truly awful they are!

Hi there , thanks for your reply
I’ve been on anti-anxiety medication for nearly three weeks which was prescribed by my GP , I saw a phsyciatrist two days ago who said that I needed to go on an anti-depressant to actually help solve the anxiety itself. The doctor said the anti -depressants I need to be on for between 6-9 months and he has also mentioned therapy and we are busy applying for medical aid benefits to fund these. I think a lot of different reasons triggered my panic attacks, including academics as I put a lot of pressure on myself , my mom has recently been sick and had to undergo surgery so yea it’s been everything building up.

yes. keep going. and keep checking your treatment plan to make sure that people who are helping you are planning treatments and support properly for you.

Yes I guess I need to be patient with this medication as they do say it gets worse before it gets better. The general consensus that I’m getting from everyone (including my friends and family) is they I should take this break. Thanks very much for the advice x