diazepam advice please

[stemac1982]

so ive posted about diazepam a few times since ive joined the site . i was currently prescribed 2mg diazepam for panic attacks and general anxiety which i have suffered with for the last seven years . recently my anxiety and panic attacks have been going threw the roof . im a single parent to so for all you single parents or parents on here you can appreciate how stressful things can get at times . anyways the last few weeks my anxiety has gone from what id say was a 3 to a 8 on a scale of 1 to 10, so i took a trip to my local gp and explained my problems and asked if there was anything i could take to at least take the edge of . my symtoms are sudden rushes of fear which lead me to curl up in bed thinking that im constantly going to die i get to the point were i darnt move this mostly lasts for a couple of hours . my gp has offered me anti depressents so as fluxotine etc but i declined them as ive heard bad things about the side effects and i have a phobia of taking medication . anyways he prescribed me 28 2mg diazepam tablets to take as and when needed . the night before i visited my gp i had the worse panic attack ive ever had hence the reason i dragged myself out to get some help . as soon as i left the gp surgery i popped a 2mg tablet and hoped for the best despite my fears of taking tablets . i never really felt any relief infact i probably felt a bit worse maybe a bit dowsy but im not sure if this was all in my head because i was paranoid about taking them . a month has now passed and ive taking about 12 of these tablets when ive had attacks only 2mg at a time and i dont feel any different untill later on at night maybe when the tablets have wore off i feel more panicky and scared im having scary thoughts racing thoughts as soon as my head hits the pillow and now im not sleeping as good as i was . now i understand the addictiveness of diazepam so im not wanting to constantly be on this medicine but ive heard some wonderful things about it . what i really want is some advice off previous users about there times on this medication . with me not feeling any real effects of them im wondering if i could maybe double my dose try them three times a day for a week or so which the doctor stated i could do , im not sure id just appreciate some advice if possible ... sorry for the long story but im at the ned of my teather now ....btw im 6ft1 male 31 years old 14 stone ...thanks again :yahoo:

[stemac1982]

31 people viewed this not one can give any advice don't no why anybody bothers to post anymore

[susan64]

Hi stemac1982, I would try the double dose! If the doc says it's ok go for it. I take 5mg Diaz when I need it badly enough but usually 1/2 a tab works for me, I'm also on 20 mg of cit too. You just need a bit more help to get back on an even keel. Good luck and don't give up trying to beat the anxiety demons! X

[caroline-j]

Hi Stemac. I use to take Diaz. I was given 2mg that I took three times a day. I found from my experience that when I was given 5mg to take at night I had a much better sleep. Hope you start to feel better soon. t.c x

[stemac1982]

Thanks you for much for your replys x

[SarahH]

I appreciate you have a fear of medication and while diazepam is great for short term use you may want to look on here about other meds you can take long term. The side effects are usually short term.The diazepam will probably not be prescribed for you long term and may get you into a withdrawal cycle where the anxiety gets worse..but I hope
not.....

Good luck

sarah

[yenool]

im not sure id just appreciate some advice if possible ... sorry for the long story but im at the ned of my teather now ....btw im 6ft1 male 31 years old 14 stone ...thanks again :yahoo:

I would maybe go back to the doctor and discuss the options. The way I see it is you can either be given a higher dose of diazepam, or be switched to a similar but more potent medication like clonazepam or lorazepam...... or look at completely different medication classes like antidepressants or gabapentin and pregabalin which are anticonvulsants.

I'm not surprised you don't get any relief from 2mg to be honest, it is almost a homeopathic dose, especially for a large man.

[MrAndy]

You should only be on benzos for 3 to 4 weeks max anyhow as they are so addictive,I would book another doctors appointment if I was you

[dally]

Hi
If you ar having no effect with 2 mg
I would def double the dose.
And just see how it makes you feel.
As I have stated before Valium is a great medicine, used wisely, and carefully.
But there is no point taking a dose that is not helping your anxiety.

I too have a thing about taking meds, so I know how you feel.
I once told my psychologist that I was taking half a 2 mg tab. Cos I was soooo scared to take "drugs" . She laughed and told me I would b as well just drinking a glass of tap water for all the effect I would have.
So......
You have to take an appropriate dose for your level of anxiety!

I also have found, that if I have had an extremely stressful time, like a bereavement and an impending funeral (I also have degrees of agoraphobia). I take 5-6mg three times a day one day before the event. Or 2-4mg during the day and 6mg at bedtime.
Taking it over a 24 hour period seems to help me wind downwards, rather than just relax for a few hours then become anxious again. For me, this has stopped the anxious spiral getting worse.

I have also been prescribed propanalol , which I have taken and does make me feel sleepy. Which I don't like during the day. I really have to work hard at understanding my reactions to meds, incase I am imagining them. Because thousands of people take propanalol every day without side effects(including my own family). So my logical self tells me it is my anxious brain that is convincing me that I am sleepy and not the drug!

[stemac1982]

Thanks very much for the advice everyone I took 4mg yesterday and was still panicky no really effect other than a bit tired

[teej]

Hi stemac

Have you considered finding out about pregabalin (lyrica)? It works in a completely different way to other anti-depressants as it specifically tackles anxiety.

I started taking it a couple of weeks ago and noticed an immediate lift in my anxiety which has kept dropping ever since. I take the max dose which is 600mg. I've had a terrible time on pretty much every anti-depressant going too so I feel your pain.

I've had experience with benzodiazepines too. I found that after going through alcohol detox (valium is used for that in a high dose) my tolerance to them went through the roof. 1mg lorazepam once a day is effective for me, but I try and avoid taking them more than 4 days in a row before having a break from them for a week or so by which time my tolerance seems to drop again.

Hope that helps.

T

[mr benn]

I took 2mg a couple of times a day for a couple of weeks and felt fantastic. Prob is the doctors wont prescribe it for long periods of time. Shame becuase I felt the effects almost immediatly. And Ive been on Trazadone for 3 months or so and dont feel half the effects.