So to be clear, I'm currently suffering from the worst anxiety of my life at 29. Severe agoraphobia, panic attacks, hypochondria and the list goes on. I've taken Valium for years (only occasionally) and it always helped a lot and I'd only need 10mg. Now, my anxiety is so severe I need 30 at least just to be able to go to a store or appointment without freaking the fuck out.

Recently, I started seeing a psychiatrist my mom has been seeing since I was a kid. I explained my issues to him and he prescribed Paxil along with Ativan. I haven't even started the Paxil yet (my hypochondria is making me petrified of the side effects). I did try the Ativan (1mg) while having a panic episode, and it did fucking nothing for the anxiety - all it did was make me EXTREMELY drowsy for 30-40 minutes, then I was anxious again. 

So I ended up going back to the psych, explained that Ativan doesn't make me calm and asked if I could try Xanax. He said he had no problem prescribing that so he did. Just tonight, I had another panic episode not long after waking up, so tried the Xanax for the first time. Took half a pill (0.5 mg) on an empty stomach, and it did practically nothing except slightly take the edge off. So I waited an hour, took the other half, and I now am feeling really calm and chilled out, but no tired or drowsy feeling. So I think Xanax might be the right choice for now, but I seemingly have to take a full pill for it work.

So some questions I have for yall:

Is it normal to need such a "high" dose of Valium and Xanax to get relief? I've seen people say that 10mg of Valium or 0.5 mg of Xanax "knocked them out". I just don't understand this lol.

Also, does Ativan not work for anyone else for anxiety? I thought it'd work great after hearing other people's experiences with it and was surprised it didn't help me. It really just feels like an extreme version of Ambien, it makes me feel weird too.

Last, has anyone had success with Paxil for severe agoraphobia and panic? I really want to try it but am just so scared of side effects and it making me feel horrible or weird. If anyone has has success with it I'd really like to hear your experience. 

Thanks everyone for reading, and sorry this post is so long!