Introduction

[[Ir...]]

I have just recently started taking Benzos (3weeks ativan + 3 weeks chlorasapam) to treat anxiety after I had eye surgery but the calming and sleep benefits have now worn off and the drug makes it hard to tell where my actual anxiety levels are.  My brother desparately wants me to get off them but I am not sure I am ready.  I have always been very sensitive to drugs in general and am wondering when is a good time to try to get off them as my doctors have been very little help with regards to how long I might need to take them...and they are now pushing more drugs (sleeping pills and anti depressants)....Just wondering if anyone has similar experiences and can provide some practical advice?  Thanks!

[[al...]]

Hello there and welcome to Benzo buddies!

 

You are what we call a short term user. Benzodiazepines are meant to be used for no longer than 6 weeks. After this time (6 weeks) dependency occurs. WHat I mean by dependency, is that you body becomes physically dependent on the drug and changes to your brain chemistry occur. This then makes it difficult to simply quit taking the drug. You need to slowly taper off the drug which in many instances can be very painful mentally and physically because your brain has to rebuild and repair itself from the dependency and chemical changes that have occurred. So your brother is correct in his concern for you. Dependency on Benzodiazepines is one of the most difficult dependencies there are and the recovery after quitting them  is much more difficult that recovery from heroin or cocaine for instance because the brain and your central nervous system have to repair themselves which is long and arduous. Having gone through it myself, I would not wish it on anyone.

 

You are a short term user and as such you are not dependent yet and therefore you do not need to do a slow and steady withdrawal. You can simply reduce your dosages over the next couple of weeks or so and then stop using benzos. But please do not take a long time to reduce your dosages and quit, because the longer you are on the drug the more chance you have of dependency. And as you can see, you have already become tolerant to the drug and need more to have the same effect. This is how addictions start, you need more and more and more. You are at the perfect time to just stop and avoid all the unpleasantness that goes along with benzo use. It is like smoking......you are at that point where you can quit easily or you can keep smoking and quit later on (because eventually everyone has to quit) when it is difficult and you are addicted. Quitting benzo's now will be slightly unpleasant, you will most likely experience increased anxiety (which is already happening because you are experiencing tolerance....this is normal and not to be feared as it goes away once the drug is out of your system), moodiness, insomnia, fatigue, loss of energy and irritability for a few days to a few weeks after quitting, but afterwards you will recover and go back to normal. If you stay on them for long periods of time the withdrawal symptoms will be numerous and difficult and will go on for years, not weeks.

 

The choice is up to you. A great place to start would be to read through The Ashton Manual This is a wonderful resource written by Dr Heather Ashton, who is an expert in the field of Benzo Withdrawal. Here you can learn about all the ins and outs of Benzodiazepine withdrawal  and use. And may help you make the decision to keep using or to quit.

 

 

.

 

Again, welcome! AlabamaWerle. xo

[[be...]]

welcome  It sounds like you have already reached tolerance. That is very common and how many of us got on such high doses before we stopped. Benzodiazepines are highly addictive. I understand why your brother wants you off of them. Personally if it was me I would get off of them immediately while it is safe to just stop Staying on them much longer could lead to the need for a lengthy taper and more serious withdrawal symptoms. You may be uncomfortable for a few days but I can assure you it will be far less uncomfortable than a lengthy taper. Get off when you can now. Again, welcome.

[[Do...]]

Classic case of doctors starting from small and gradually getting big. if you know what I mean.

 

Taking one drug to treat one symptom, then symptoms become worse and you are hopeless and have no idea of telling whether it's the drug or your self they push you more drugs and more drugs.

 

I have some questions though.

 

Do you have a history of mental issues?is this first time you take psych meds?

If you don't have a history of mental issues and its your first time taking these kind of med,may I ask why did this eye surgery made you anxious so much that you had to take meds?

[[Ir...]]

Here's a little more about myself but feel free to skip to my questions if it's too much.  I am male & 41 years old.  I have never been treated for depression before however I have a stressful job (which I am currently on leave from as my anxiety makes it very hard to function.  Also I may have had  undiagnosed mild depression/anxiety from my job before the eye surgery.  The eye surgery was successful however it's unclear if I will recover %100 of my vision in my left eye and I wont know for up to one year so this was initially my major source of stress.  I've been reluctant to go on anti depressant medication so that's why the Psychiatrist gave me Ativan and then Clonazapam however this only helped until now and I'm getting rebound anxiety that is very hard to take.  In addition I believe it may have made my depression worse although the major source of my depression now if how crapping the anxiety if making me feel.  I went back to see the doc and he didn't really seem concerned just prescribed more pills and rushed me from his office. (an anti depressant and some sleeping pills as I have only been getting a couple hours of sleep per night and then waking suddenly jerking awake and feeling anxious for the rest of the night.  Last night I took a sleeping pill (sublinox) and managed to sleep 6 1/2 hours however I actually feel more anxious today then I did yesterday when I only had 2 hours sleep.  My doc said they are ok to take together but I am unsure.

 

(1)  I am wondering if I taper down from Clonazapam what affect this might have if I have depression and also what the increase in anxiety may do when I'm trying to start an anti depressant??

 

(2)  How hard will it be to quit Clonazapam if I take it for another six weeks if I am get started on the antidepressant before I attempt to quit the clonazepam?

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[[Do...]]

Its heart breaking that you have a doctor that studied 7-9 years medicine and yet you have to go online to ask on a forum these questions.

 

It's crazy isn't it?

 

Thing is I am not an expert on these drugs.

Most of us aren't.

 

All I can tell you is that it's better never to take these meds if you can.

Try alternative medicine.

 

Don't rush into taking these meds.

 

I think you should stop them gradually and seek help in books and alternative medicine and then see how it goes from there.

[[Ir...]]

Definitely not looking for an expert but rather someone with a similar story!

[[be...]]

Here's a little more about myself but feel free to skip to my questions if it's too much.  I am male & 41 years old.  I have never been treated for depression before however I have a stressful job (which I am currently on leave from as my anxiety makes it very hard to function.  Also I may have had  undiagnosed mild depression/anxiety from my job before the eye surgery.  The eye surgery was successful however it's unclear if I will recover %100 of my vision in my left eye and I wont know for up to one year so this was initially my major source of stress.  I've been reluctant to go on anti depressant medication so that's why the Psychiatrist gave me Ativan and then Clonazapam however this only helped until now and I'm getting rebound anxiety that is very hard to take.  In addition I believe it may have made my depression worse although the major source of my depression now if how crapping the anxiety if making me feel.  I went back to see the doc and he didn't really seem concerned just prescribed more pills and rushed me from his office. (an anti depressant and some sleeping pills as I have only been getting a couple hours of sleep per night and then waking suddenly jerking awake and feeling anxious for the rest of the night.  Last night I took a sleeping pill (sublinox) and managed to sleep 6 1/2 hours however I actually feel more anxious today then I did yesterday when I only had 2 hours sleep.  My doc said they are ok to take together but I am unsure.

 

(1)  I am wondering if I taper down from Clonazapam what affect this might have if I have depression and also what the increase in anxiety may do when I'm trying to start an anti depressant??

 

(2)  How hard will it be to quit Clonazapam if I take it for another six weeks if I am get started on the antidepressant before I attempt to quit the clonazepam?

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Personally, if it was me and I knew what I did now I would stop it today. Staying on another 6 weeks will cause you the need to taper at a rate from 5 to 10 percent every two weeks. You could end up on it for months. What I have learned not only from my own experience but also from other members here is that antidepressants do not work well for depression from withdrawal, and help little if used to treat the side effects of withdrawals. They can also take several months to work. In my opinion your best bet is to get off of them now.

[[al...]]

No one here can really answer those questions for you because it is impossible to know how you will react unfortunately. I can tell you what I would do. Unless I was suicidal or mentally ill I would not go on an antidepressant. They cause significant problems when trying to withdrawal from them  as well.

 

I would try therapy like CBT, for my anxiety. You mention you have had mild anxiety and depression. Using medications that change brain chemistry should be a last resort and not a first one for mild or even moderate depression. Dealing with any contributing life changes or stresses should take precedence over medication. It seems as if your eye sight was causing a significant amount of anxiety, this should not require altering your brain chemistry with pills, because there is nothing wrong with your brain, there is something wrong with your eye. ANd feeling anxious about that would be a very normal response.  But doctors are rushed these days and it's just easier for them to give us a pill unfortunately. Plus therapy and making lifestyle changes is long term and a lot of work, and we all (myself included) like quick fixes.

 

These antidepressants and anti anxiety medications paradoxically increase anxiety for many people. Which you are already experiencing. I am not sure how adding an antidepressant will fix that? Simply getting of the medication causing it would be wiser in my opinion.

 

Getting off it may increase anxiety and depression for a short while but it will settle down eventually. If you go on them for long periods of time and do not address the underlying issues that cause your mild depression and anxiety then you will eventually need to deal with them when you eventually taper them....any way you look at it, eventually you have to deal with the cause of your anxiety and depression. And unfortunately that is what we see very often on here with people who were put on these drugs to deal with anxiety or depression. It works for some time, then it starts causing the same symptoms, they up the dose, it gets better, then comes back again...they up the dose...etc...eventually they realize it is the drug causing the symptoms and they decided to taper. only the taper causes anxiety and depression as a symptom of withdrawal , compounded with the original reasons they had anxiety in the first place and they become very very sick and it is very very hard to do I assure you. Eventually they have to learn to deal with anxiety and depression without drugs. It is inevitable. I would save yourself the pain and hassle...........These drugs stole 4 years of my life I will never get back. They stole years from everyone on this forum, so you will be hard pressed to find anyone on here who thinks going on them is a good idea.

 

I know taking the pills seems like a quick fix..it did to a lot of us...........

 

Bama.

[[ME...]]

Its heart breaking that you have a doctor that studied 7-9 years medicine and yet you have to go online to ask on a forum these questions.

 

It's crazy isn't it?

 

Thing is I am not an expert on these drugs.

Most of us aren't.

 

All I can tell you is that it's better never to take these meds if you can.

Try alternative medicine.

 

Don't rush into taking these meds.

 

I think you should stop them gradually and seek help in books and alternative medicine and then see how it goes from there.

 

Anyone who had experienced the full force of withdrawal symptoms will learn more than any doctor on the particular drug that caused it.