Benzo while starting zoloft

[[Te...]]

Hello, and thanks for letting me join here.  I am a 41 year old women with panic disorder and some ptsd that has had me on a Xanax prescription for about 9 years. My dosage is fairly low…I cut a .25 in half (.125)  and usually take it around noon and then around 10-11pm when I go to bed. This has worked well for me for a long time (though I now realize I shouldn’t have been taking it a long time)…but lately my panic attacks have reared their ugly head after a bad case of flu and lingering fatigue at the beginning of February. During this time there have been days where I have had to do a mid day dose…and even a couple times when I took .25 instead of the .125. 
the panic attacks are still just daily though and it led to an ER visit and a follow up with my primary who wants me on Zoloft (supposed to start tonight) and suggested 1mg of lorazepam 2x’s a day while I get used to the Zoloft. Her thought was lorazepam lasts longer…but will switching from Xanax to lorazepam suddenly cause problems? Should I just up my Xanax for a couple of weeks? I do really feel I need to make a change to a daily like Zoloft, but have so much fear and panic in the meantime and can’t handle the daily panic attacks that are so debilitating to me. Appreciate your advice so much. 

[[Bu...]]

Hi @[Te...],

Welcome to Benzobuddies.

I am so sorry that you are experiencing an uptick in panic and anxiety.  I had this happen many times while I was taking a benzo.  It seems like any kind of trauma or illness can rev things up for a while.  And I know it's miserable.  

Have you considered trying any other types of therapies such as CBT or talk therapy to deal with the worsening anxiety?  The reason I ask is that sometimes things can get complicated very quickly when dealing with new meds, especially when you have had an updose of the one you are currently taking.

I am certainly not telling you to not take the meds recommended by your doctor, I was just wondering if other options have been mentioned as well.  As for switching to lorazepam, it may help because of the longer half life.  The switching itself may cause issues or it may not.    Is your doctor wanting you to just switch them or is she going to have you do a cross taper?  (This is not my area, but other folks might need to know the answer to this to give you the best advice about it.)   Everyone's systems are just so different so we never know until we try something ourselves. 

Have you discussed the option of continuing with Xanax with your doctor?  It would be important to have her on board with this.

We're glad you found us and we'll do our best to support you, whatever you decide.

[[Te...]]

Thank you for your reply, I really appreciate it. 

I have been in counseling long term and unfortunately my counselor of 2 years went out of network in Feb…so I am starting with a new one on Wednesday. 
my Dr was open to me staying on Xanax, I think she just felt it wasn’t working well. (I kind of agree, but I also take less than she prescribes me). My script says I can do .25 3 x’s a day. Maybe I just try to up a little while I start Zoloft? I know that’s not the popular thing to do really, and my goal will be to come off, but the constant panic attacks are so hard on myself and my family. 
 

As for the switch to Lorazepam, she did not want to cross taper, just said to switch to it. I will say..when I ended up in the ER with a panic attack last week, they gave me .5 lorazepam in my IV. It helped very nicely and I got my first good night of sleep in a while. Just not sure if switching will just make more of a mess of things when I am already used to Xanax. 
 

Whatever I do, I have to reduce the panic attacks for now, as it’s really been debilitating. 

[[Bu...]]

@[Te...],

I completely understand.  We all have to deal with the problems before us and take it one step at a time.  I'm sorry about your counselor, hopefully the new one will work out well. 

Does your doctor know that you were taking less than the script?  That might or might not affect her advice.  I am glad that your got some relief with the Lorazepam.  I know how hard not sleeping is, it only makes everything worse.

If you decide to make the switch, you might want to start another thread with that specifically in the title so folks who have done that can relay their experiences.

[[ns...]]

36 minutes ago, [[T...] said:

Hello, and thanks for letting me join here.  I am a 41 year old women with panic disorder and some ptsd that has had me on a Xanax prescription for about 9 years. My dosage is fairly low…I cut a .25 in half (.125)  and usually take it around noon and then around 10-11pm when I go to bed. This has worked well for me for a long time (though I now realize I shouldn’t have been taking it a long time)…but lately my panic attacks have reared their ugly head after a bad case of flu and lingering fatigue at the beginning of February. During this time there have been days where I have had to do a mid day dose…and even a couple times when I took .25 instead of the .125. 
the panic attacks are still just daily though and it led to an ER visit and a follow up with my primary who wants me on Zoloft (supposed to start tonight) and suggested 1mg of lorazepam 2x’s a day while I get used to the Zoloft. Her thought was lorazepam lasts longer…but will switching from Xanax to lorazepam suddenly cause problems? Should I just up my Xanax for a couple of weeks? I do really feel I need to make a change to a daily like Zoloft, but have so much fear and panic in the meantime and can’t handle the daily panic attacks that are so debilitating to me. Appreciate your advice so much. 

Hi Tex123

So sorry to hear you are going through this. I also have anxiety and panic attacks. 

I thought I'd chime in here with regards to the lorazapam and zoloft

I am tapering lorazepam and it's very similar to xanax from what I understand in terms of its half life. Both have their challenges when tapering.

Im no expert but It's been a difficult road for me as has for many here.

Even though the lorazepam worked well for you in the er, switching from Xanax I believe may cause withdrawal symptoms eventually without cross taper. 

Hopefully your doctor will work with you to give you some time to cross taper if you decide to stay on a benzo. 

Upping your xanax could cause more dependents. You should have a regular schedule for when you Take your doses. Going up and back down  could cause withdrawal so I would caution you with this.

I hope you can find another alternative to benzos. Have you considered tapering off of them completely?

I know that the longer I was taking Lorazepam, the more anxiety I eventually got and  this seems to be the case with many here.

We end up needing more of the drug to achieve the initial therapeutic response until we've reached tolerance and can no longer take them at all, forcing us to taper. 

As for Zoloft, ssri isn't the perfect medication for for anxiety. Although the medical community believes this to be the case, This is my experience.

I have done some research and read posts here from members who have a negative experience with them. I would recommend you browse around and maybe read some of these to maybe help you make an informed decision. 

I can find a couple posts here and link them here for you to read but it's usually a good idea for new members to browse around and learn a little bit about what BBs mission is and how it can be of service to you. I'm sure you'll run across a couple of posts on ssri.

Please know, anxiety and panic disorders can be healed without medication. 

If you are interested, there are resources available. 

Were glad you found us, BB has helped me so much as well as so many others.

I'm sure someone else will stop by and add their experience or for some  encouragement and support. Most are very friendly and so helpful!

I hope everything works out for you

Take care

Ns

[[bu...]]

On 02/04/2024 at 03:56, [[T...] said:

Hello, and thanks for letting me join here.  I am a 41 year old women with panic disorder and some ptsd that has had me on a Xanax prescription for about 9 years. My dosage is fairly low…I cut a .25 in half (.125)  and usually take it around noon and then around 10-11pm when I go to bed. This has worked well for me for a long time (though I now realize I shouldn’t have been taking it a long time)…but lately my panic attacks have reared their ugly head after a bad case of flu and lingering fatigue at the beginning of February. During this time there have been days where I have had to do a mid day dose…and even a couple times when I took .25 instead of the .125. 
the panic attacks are still just daily though and it led to an ER visit and a follow up with my primary who wants me on Zoloft (supposed to start tonight) and suggested 1mg of lorazepam 2x’s a day while I get used to the Zoloft. Her thought was lorazepam lasts longer…but will switching from Xanax to lorazepam suddenly cause problems? Should I just up my Xanax for a couple of weeks? I do really feel I need to make a change to a daily like Zoloft, but have so much fear and panic in the meantime and can’t handle the daily panic attacks that are so debilitating to me. Appreciate your advice so much. 

dont do it. that is why I'm on Benzos because Zoloft was insane to get on, so they gave me Lorezepam, and now I'm in preparing land with many others. more drugs means more stimulation to the brain, even if they are called sedating they are actualy stimuli to the brain. if you take a ssri dont add benzos