Please help, I am so scared to take valium

[TriciaB]

Hi everyone

I am new here and I desperately need some positive reviews on taking valium, I had it prescribed to me 6 months ago, but am so scared of having a bad reaction to it. 25 years ago when I first started having panic attacks and anxiety a Dr prescribed me frisium, I had a terrible adverse reaction to it, I am ashamed to say I had murderous thoughts, good job I had enough savvy about me to know this was wrong and fought against the feelings, consequently that experience led me to having a phobia about taking any tablet, even panadol. It took me 5 years before I attempted to take a quarter of a panadol. I changed my Dr and he wanted me to take prozac , yet again it took me a few years to pluck up courage to take it and when I did I started on the liquid literally taking one drop every day for a few days then increased it by another drop until I was up to the required 5mg. I was then ok to switch to the capsules, to this day I am still taking prozac but for at least a year I have been feeling the prozac isnt working anymore. Anyway 6 months ago our first grandchild was born and its been like I am the one who suffered post natal depression, stupid I know, but my original panic and anxiety started 10 weeks after the birth of my last child. So I think thats where the connection comes in.

This is why my current Dr prescribed 2mg tablets of valium, for my severe anxiety, yet no matter how bad my anxiety is, and believe me its sky high at the moment, its lasting near enough all day, my sleep is crap because my heart is thudding so hard, my stomach is in knots all the time....I still cant bring myself to take the valium, I have got as far as cutting the 2mg into quarters thinking just take a little bit, just the sheer action of taking a morsal of it to try and get over my fear, but the fear of a bad reaction outweighs everything.

This phobia even extends to taking vitamins, it takes me months and months to pluck up courage to take even a simple vitamin B.

I am desperate because I cannot bear this constant anxiety all the time, I am housebound at the moment because of my anxiety.

Can someone help me please

[nicola1980]

Hi i use diazepam and its an absolute lifesaver, believe me it will help calm your anxiety down, 2mg is only a small dose and i promise it will help you x x

[TriciaB]

Hi Nicola

Many thanks for your reply

What can I expect to feel like if I take it? Bearing in mind I will probably only take a crumb of it at first

I forgot to say in my first post that normally I am quite a happy, bubbly person but have become depressed this past week because of the constant 6 months of high anxiety and have lost weight because when I am anxious I have to force food into me plus I go poops a lot when I am anxious.

[kittikat]

Hi TriciaB,

Sorry to hear you are having a bad time at the moment. Please don't worry about the diazepam, it's a benzo, not one of the anti-depressant type meds which can have some awful side effects. I am currently on 12mg diaz daily (4mg taken 3 times a day) and I have been on this dose since last November when I had a major berakdown. It has been a lifesaver for me and although I also have a fear of taking any meds (due to some terrible side effects I experienced on others) diazepam has it's place in anxiety management and has given me very little in the way of side effects. 4 months ago I was a quivering wreck and could not leave my house at all. I basically stopped functioning. 2mg is such a low dose, you probably will not even notice anything....you will just be slightly more relaxed and hopefully less anxious!!

I would say please try not to worry and give it a go....you may find it to be the lifesaver I did. Even after 6 months on 12mg day, I am now able to 'function' day to day, just perhaps not quite 100% alert and sometimes find that I am a little more tired than usual. I can now get out a little and I have returned to work (major achievement!!) Although I still experience anxiety, panics and agoraphobia, I don't know where I would be now without the diazepam

Good luck, Kitti x

[LAURA48]

Hi everyone

I am new here and I desperately need some positive reviews on taking valium, I had it prescribed to me 6 months ago, but am so scared of having a bad reaction to it. 25 years ago when I first started having panic attacks and anxiety a Dr prescribed me frisium, I had a terrible adverse reaction to it, I am ashamed to say I had murderous thoughts, good job I had enough savvy about me to know this was wrong and fought against the feelings, consequently that experience led me to having a phobia about taking any tablet, even panadol. It took me 5 years before I attempted to take a quarter of a panadol. I changed my Dr and he wanted me to take prozac , yet again it took me a few years to pluck up courage to take it and when I did I started on the liquid literally taking one drop every day for a few days then increased it by another drop until I was up to the required 5mg. I was then ok to switch to the capsules, to this day I am still taking prozac but for at least a year I have been feeling the prozac isnt working anymore. Anyway 6 months ago our first grandchild was born and its been like I am the one who suffered post natal depression, stupid I know, but my original panic and anxiety started 10 weeks after the birth of my last child. So I think thats where the connection comes in.

This is why my current Dr prescribed 2mg tablets of valium, for my severe anxiety, yet no matter how bad my anxiety is, and believe me its sky high at the moment, its lasting near enough all day, my sleep is crap because my heart is thudding so hard, my stomach is in knots all the time....I still cant bring myself to take the valium, I have got as far as cutting the 2mg into quarters thinking just take a little bit, just the sheer action of taking a morsal of it to try and get over my fear, but the fear of a bad reaction outweighs everything.

This phobia even extends to taking vitamins, it takes me months and months to pluck up courage to take even a simple vitamin B.

I am desperate because I cannot bear this constant anxiety all the time, I am housebound at the moment because of my anxiety.

Can someone help me please

Hi

So sorry you are going through a hard time but your fear is perfectly normal - I was on Prozac for 15 good years but second time on it made me suicidal - so if I was told to take it again probably run a mile!

Frisium - I don't think they prescribe that here in the UK - tbh - have never heard of it but it is in the benzo family like diazepam - you must give it a go if your anxiety is so bad - you know what sort of side effects to look out for?

Try breaking into a quarter and build up - anxiety is horrible - did you tell your doctor what had happened before?

Give it a go and good luck - it is such a common benzo.

Laura

---------- Post added at 15:36 ---------- Previous post was at 15:33 ----------

Kitti - totally agree with you have been on Lorazepam for 27 years normally only been taking 0.5mg and it has been a lifesaver - had had to increase of late - after a terrible time - and I cannot fault but will go back to 0.5mg as was given them when there was not much talk of addiction.

They are given such bad press but for severe anxiety they are brilliant.

[TriciaB]

Hiya kittikat, many thanks for your positive reply I will take on board all you have said and attempt to try and take a quarter of my dose very soon, I feel so bloody stupid having this phobia and fear about taking valium, I feel even more stupid about being scared of taking even a simple vitamin b.

Hi Laura, it wasnt till a few days ago that I googled frisium and discovered its a drug used in seizures as well as anxiety so why on earth I was prescribed that all those years ago is beyond me. Yes my current Dr knows what happened before, but he doesnt come across as sympathetic or understanding to the deep fear I have about medication now.

[Bea66]

Hey there, please, please give it a go! I too was terrified of taking pills after a dreadfull reaction to an ssri antidepressant that had me hospitalised, but eventually the anxiety got so bad I couldn't function. I was given 2mg diazapam to take when needed, and was sure it would kill me, but my goodness, it took 8mg to even take the edge off, so please don't worry about such a tiny dose, its given me my life back! Good luck, be kind to yourself and give it a go xxx

[Sal W]

Tricia, please don't worry, I take 5 mg diazepam a day and it has helped so much. 2 mg is such a small dose and I am sure it will help you. Let us know how you get on, Sal x

[TriciaB]

Many thanks Sal and Bea for your positive comments about taking valium. I woke at 4am this morning, as soon as I wake the anxiety starts in my stomach and then my heart starts thudding, its like my stomach has this enormous pulse that in turn starts my heart thudding, then my mind starts working a million miles an hour. I was so close to thinking to hell with it I am going to take a tiny piece of my 2mg valium but yet again I chickened out and reached for my phone and headphones and listened to a inner peace hypnosis guide.

God only knows when I will eventually pluck up courage to take this valium.

[Anxious_gal]

Wow I could have wrote the post myself , I've got the same problem from a bad reaction to one medication .
Can you tell me if diazapam take away the mental anxiety too ?
The Seditives I'm on relax me , make me sleep bit the fear /anxiety is still in my head .
I only rarely it though , my doctor offered me diazapam but I was too paranoid to try it/switch meds.
Is it the same as Valium or slighly different ?
The Seditives I take are called lexotan .
They have no side effects other than my anxiety goes up when they start to wear off .
They last 12 hours so I try to sleep before they wear off

All I can say is try a 4th and go up in the dosage .