Diaz v Fluox - advice please........

[MJD]

Have been taking diazepam for about four years now to control anxiety. Dose is 5mg, but recently have been using up to three per day (15mg). It really does work and gives me back my 'old self' as if before the panic attacks became more and more prevalent.

Doc has prescribed Fluoxetine and advised to leave Diaz alone.

Q. What are people's experiences of Fluox? Previously had Citalopram but it pretty much sent me into a flat spin for a week before I stopped it and went back to Diaz.

Doc has said that he will no longer prescribe Diaz due to potential addictive effects.

Very concerned because if Fluox is not an equal substitute then I won't be able to function in meetings, presentations, dialogue etc etc etc

Advice would be appreciated.
M

[Mrsh11]

I have taken both in the past but they have different effects. Diazepam is a fast acting sedative that calms you down quickly and lasts a few hours. Fluoxetine is an antidepressant and takes a few weeks to work, they don't have a rapid effect but have to build up in your system. I had diazepam to help while the other started to work and now only for emergencies. I found the side effects of fluoxetine unpleasant and am now on citalopram but everyone is different with what suits. Hope this helps.

[blueangel]

I'm amazed that you've been able to get diazepam for four years, as I think it's normally only prescribed for a maximum of 28 days. Have to say I think your doctor is doing the right thing.

There are a number of anti-depressants to try which will help suppress anxiety and my best suggestion is to ask your GP about whether or not you can taper the diazepam dose down to help you.

[Emphyrio]

While I agree that diazepam should not ideally be used long term (unless as a last resort) - your doctor did the wrong thing by taking you off it suddenly. You should go back and ask to come off it very slowly to avoid withdrawal. There are plenty of horror stories about benzo withdrawal out there. Here's a link to Prof Heather Ashton's guide to coming off benzos.

http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzcha02.htm

Your taper could take 6 months to a year.

As for fluoxetine, it is one of the most 'activating' antidepressants, and can cause physical anxiety/agitation in people. It worked for me for a long time, but found that it made me really agitated. Antidepressants also have their own issues with doctors rarely tell you about - including bad withdrawal symptoms.

[blueangel]

Probably need to qualify what I said yesterday, as I was in a hurry and wasn't very clear. I think your GP is doing the right thing steering you away from diazepam, but you do need to taper off the dose over a period of time. As Emphyrio says, the withdrawal can be pretty unpleasant for some people.

However, if you are tapering them down, you do need to follow the medical guidance on it exactly.

I can't really comment on fluoexetine as I only ever took it for a few days some years ago. The side effect I suffered was severe headaches and so my GP took me straight off it and I went on to paroxetine at the time.