where do they find these idiots???

[[er...]]

I went to the hospital the other day because my tinnitus was so loud I didn't think I could stand another second of it. I was having severe panic attacks and they prescribed me 6MGs of Ativan daily. It also stopped the tinnitus for the first time in over a year. I was there for four days. I had stopped my taper off of Klonopin 14 days before. When I was released they faxed a copy of my report to my Psychopharmacologist (let's call him shit head) and gave me ten tablets to take with me. When I called him and asked for a prescription for 3MGs daily of Ativan he refused saying that treating me for tinnitus was beyond his scope and would be illegal. He said he would contact my primary care doctor or I could see an EMT. This is the same asshole that wanted me to stop my taper off of Klonopin and hold at .75MGs daily forever, THE KLONOPIN THAT HE PRESCRIBED! I told him that I didn't like the way Klonopin made me feel and asked if he could switch me over to another benzo. It's 1:00AM and I'm bouncing off the walls. I have one more prescription for the Klonopin that I can call in tomorrow. That would only put me behind three weeks and it wouldn't do anything to help with the ringing in my ears. He says that he can't legally treat me for tinnitus but since March of this year he has tried Gabapentin, Carbamazepine, Oxcarbazepine, Klonopin and Ritalin to treat my tinnitus. BUT, he can't treat me for tinnitus. Figure that one out. So I said that I would just have to taper off the Ativan. With that he says, "Oh no, don't do that if it's helping with your tinnitus." "You've been suffering from it for so long."

I feel like I'm in a surreal nightmare. This asshole says not to taper off of it but he won't prescribe my any. He's the only Psychopharmacologist in Marlborough Massachusetts. You can take it from there if you have the inclination to do so.

I don't know if I should call in the prescription for the Klonopin tomorrow or not... I'm really suffering. It would be three weeks Monday if I didn't go to the hospital. I can't get over it. He'll give me Klonopin but not Ativan.

Believe it or not this is a true story.

[[Gr...]]

There is no specific approved drug to treat tinnitus which is why some doctor won't prescribe benzos for it even if it helps. You have to emphasize you have anxiety and panic attacks, then they can prescribe for anxiety treatment.

[[er...]]

That's what happened. The hospital told him they treated me for tinnitus. It's so loud right now I can hardly stand it. I took .25MGs of Klonopin and that only made matters worse. I sent him a fax and left a message on his voice mail today. Tomorrow is Monday and I don't know what I'm going to do if he doesn't put me on Ativan. It seems that Klonopin seems to cause the most tinnitus for people. My primary care doctor doesn't believe in benzos or any type of narcotic pain medication so there's no help there. I started having awful withdrawal yesterday. I'm in rough shape. It's amazing what doctors will let people go through without helping. They were very understanding and helpful at the hospital. When I told the doctor there what was going on he said "I'll get you some relief right away. Come with me." So I was there for three days on Ativan and the tinnitus stopped. I called my doctor expecting to get help, well you know the rest.

I have a boat load of Klonopin so it's not like I couldn't get high if I wanted to. I REALLY hate fucking benzos.

[[Ph...]]

Sounds like you have to live with the Klonopin until you can get a written diagnosis of panic disorder, at which time you can get the "shit head" to prescribe Ativan.  Any chance you can head back over to the hospital and ask the doctor that handled your case to change the diagnosis from tinnitus to panic disorder?  How about calling a psychiatrist on Monday AM and requesting an urgent appointment?  Hang in there buddy, once you get this situation handled, we're all here for you to help you get rid of this shit forever.