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Jimbo
08-03-07, 19:58
This is something that has come up a few times recently with my psychiatrist and more recently with my therapist.

I've been taking diazepam (valium) occassionally when I'm feeling very anxious and it does a great job of calming me down and makes me feel much more relaxed and calm, the best out of any tablet I've taken. I get so hyped up sometimes, it feels good to have the sedative effect to calm me down, especially because they work so quickly.

Obviously I'm aware of the addiction potential for diazepam and I only take it when I'm feeling really bad, but this seems to be fairly regularily, especially over the last week or so while I've been changing anti-depressant medication. I've probably taken at least 1 a day at 5mg and up to 3 tablets a day when I've been really jittery, for about 2-3 weeks. I'm a bit concerned about the addiction side of it, as I could easily see myself falling into a habit of taking them because they make me feel so good. My GP keeps on presribing when I ask for them tho.

My therapist while questioning me about medication said that he was very against the prescription of any benzo's and that a low dose of an antipsychotic can have the same effect and be sedating and calming like diazepam but without the potential for addiction. My psychiatrist also mentioned it as something that we could try in the future before. I think Clozapine and Haloperidol were mentioned, but they all have crazy sounding names so i could be wrong, lol.

I've had a search of the forum but I can't really find anything that describes how they make you feel or any comparison between them and the benzo's.

Is there anyone out there that takes them? How do they make you feel? Do they work as quickly as diazepam or do you have to take them for a period of time before the effect starts? How do they compare to benzo's? What are the side effects?

Any info would be helpful.

Jim

happyone
08-03-07, 22:12
Hi there Jimbo,

I was recently prescribed Chlorpromazine which you would use in pretty much the same way as you would valium. They helped in a variety of ways. They helped lessen anxiety as it was happening, also anger. They helped me sleep which was a bonus and they helped slow down some of the mad thoughts that are going on in my head. I have recently had them changed to quetiapine because I was a little light headed in the mornings with the chorpromazine which wasn't a big deal except I like to go running in the morning.
I would never take valium on a regular basis, I have lived with someone addicted to it and seen the withdrawal effects. If you feel you need something, I would recommend you give the anti psychotics a try. I for one am glad that docs are looking at alternatives.
Happyone
xx

Jimbo
08-03-07, 23:11
Thanks for the info Happyone,

I think it might have been Chlorpromazine he said instead of Clozapine. He mentioned about 4 or 5 different ones. I think with Chlorpromazine he mentioned a dose of about 25mgs does that sound right?

It just suddenly hit me earlier after what my therapist had said today and when I was about to take one that maybe I was taking it because it would make me feel good rather than because I absolutely needed to. Also that I have been using them on and off for about 6 months, with big gaps of months in between of course. I don't think I'm addicted to them, but I can so easily see how it could happen to me.

I do think I need something like this, as the worst thing for me is the mad intense rushing of emotions I get along with the panic and anxiety. I just feel on edge, like my thoughts are rushing and I can't calm down a lot of the time. The diazepam really does help a lot but I feel very scared of addiction and today made me think about that. I too have heard and read the horror stories of people who are withdrawing from them.

At first when they were mentioned to me, I thought "no way", I'm not a scitzo or a psychotic. I've been through 5 different anti-depressants now and although they are making me less depressed they don't do anything for these mad thoughts and intense emotions for me.

I think I might ask if I can give them a try when I see my GP next week.

Jim

happyone
08-03-07, 23:15
The dose sounds about right Jimbo.
You can take 25mg each time you fel the need up to a max of 400mg a day I think. I never took more than a 100, then found that 25 mg at night was enough for me, with the occassional one inbetween.
Try not to get put off with the anti psychotic title, if you look them up you will see they are also prescribed for anx.
Happyone
X

Caribou
09-03-07, 15:47
Chlorpromazine and Clozapine (Clozaril) are both anti-psychotcs so it could have been either of those that was mentioned. Chlorpromazine and Haliperidol are both the 'older-style' anti-psychotics and are often used in lower doses to sedate anxious patients. They are not addictive, unlike benzos, but I think they would also be used as a temporary measure. The side effects are severe for people who use high doses for schizophrenia or bipolar, but I'm not sure of the side effects for the low dose.

Jimbo
13-03-07, 19:08
I talked about them with my GP today, but I'm still very wary of them.

She suggested Resperidone or Olanzapine, or possibly Quetiapine but I said I wanted to go away and read up on them first before trying them.

(:read:Google... oops:blush:)

I don't like the sound of the side effects for most of them, the 'tardive dyskinesia' thing (involuntary facial movements and twitching bascially) but I think that is probably only for large doses?

Resperidone which was the first one she mentioned put me right off as the main side effects are insomnia, agitation, anxiety... exactly what I'm trying to avoid! I want it to calm me down, not make me agitated and anxious, lol. Olanzapine doesn't sound much better either.

Quetiapine sounds like it might be better as it has sedative properties and is often used in people with sleep problems, which I do.

I have to go back next week so I might ask to give Quetiapine a go if she is happy with that.

Has anyone been given Quetiapine and in what doses, how did it go?

Jim

happyone
13-03-07, 19:45
Hi,
I have recently been changed from chorpromazine to quetiapine.
I find it's sedative properties at night quite good. It doesn't give me a hangover effect apart from just a tad more difficult to waken, but once I am up I am ok. For me, it helps to slow down crazy thoughts that I have.
I only take 50mg at night and as of yet have not been told to take it for general anx throughout the day, so can't reply as to how good it is for anx. I did find the chlopromazine good for anx but they made me too tired to take them during the day but I still had the racing crazy thoughts with only taking them at night.
Hope this is of help.
Happyone

Ellen70
14-03-07, 03:33
Hi all, I have been taking Quetiapine 25mg at night for a fortnight now and it is very good to make you sleep, too good actually, I now sleep for 10 hours without waking! No side effects either. It hasn't helped with my racing thoughts and general crazy mind though as I am on a really low dose. Will be seeing my psychiatrist on Friday and will ask her to increase the dose so my mind will stop torturing me. I was very apprehensive about taking an anti-psychotic again as I had taken Risperdal, Melleril and others before and the side effects were horrendous. I am therefore pleasantly surprised with the Quetiapine (Seroquel) so I would advise giving this anti psychotic a trial. Hope this helps.

jo61
14-03-07, 09:29
Hi Jimbo, it's horses for courses. Whatever suits one doesn't suit all. I tried Seroquel for five days and hated the feeling it gave me so stopped taking it. My psych had told me to try it and if it didn't work to put it in the bin so I did. I know someone else who uses it really successfully. Good luck and let us know how you get on.:yesyes:

Jimbo
20-03-07, 10:51
Just saw my GP, talked a bit about it.

She said she would normally sugest Resperidone or Olanzapine first, but I wasn't too keen on some of the side effects I'd read about it. Especially as I seem to be one of those side effect prone people, she understood why I was worried about trying those.

Talked about Chlorpromazine and Quetiapine, she said that Chlorpromazine is an old type antipsychotic and she doesn't prescribe that a lot, so wasn't so keen on the idea of that. Quetiapine she said is a very new drug and although the rate of side effects are fairly low, she wanted to check with my psychiatrist before she prescribed it. Provided he was happy that it wouldn't interfere with any other medication he was planning to prescribe she thought I could give it a try.

She's going to phone me today or tomorrow and discuss what we are going to try. I'll keep this updated as to what happens.

Jim

Jimbo
21-03-07, 15:20
Well my doc phoned, she can't get hold of my psychiatrist and she cannot prescribe Quetiapine without his say so.

She caught me off guard while I was dosing in the afternoon and against my better judgement I agreed to give one of the other ones a try. Resperidone. 0.5mgs a day.

I'm a bit worried about the side effects of these, as the most common side effects are anxiety, agitation and insomnia.:wacko: The things I'm trying to avoid. :lac:

I'm trying one this afternoon so will see what happens, anxious already before I've even taken it :wacko: .

Jim

Jimbo
21-03-07, 22:09
Well, it hasn't really helped things at all. I definitely don't feel any calmer.

It hasn't have a massive effect, I just ended up feeling really anxious for a few hours with a pounding headache and felt a bit dizzy. :sad:

Gonna try 1 more tomorrow then give up on them if I don't feel any better.

Jimbo
23-03-07, 11:39
Well, I stopped taking them today.

They were just making me more anxious and not making me feel any more relaxed. They were helping with some of the scary thoughts that I was having. But the negatives side effects outweighed the positives.

My psychiatrist phoned me earlier out of the blue and had a good chat through with me about all the different options. He wants me to try a different one called Flupenthixol (Decanoate) instead. It's an injection!!! :ohmy: I would have to have every week or 2 which slowly releases and is sposed to have more of a calming effect.

Bit scared about the injection side of it, but would give it a go if it helps.

Will let you know what happens.

Jim

Jimbo
23-03-07, 18:12
Well, on speaking to my GP, we decided against the injection. Phew! :yesyes:

I didn't fancy the idea of having it injected into my system for 2 weeks at a time. Especially if I had any side effects from it, which I seem to be prone to. I would've had to put up with them for weeks before they went away.

Instead I'm going to try Chlorpromazine tablets.

Still a bit dubious about these sort of drugs, but at least with a tablet if it's not helping or giving too many side effects I can just stop taking it.

Jim

jo61
23-03-07, 18:24
Hi Jim, I used to take Flupentixol tablets and they worked well for me, until they stopped lol

Jimbo
23-03-07, 18:34
They never mentioned them in tablet form, if I don't get on well with the Chlorpromazine I might consider them as another option.

I've been put off the antipsychotics a bit by the Resperidone tho, so I'm not holding my breath, lol.

I just seem to be one of those people that if there's a side effect on the list, I get it. I'm still waiting to grow breasts from the AD's I'm taking, lol! :winks:

Jim

Jimbo
26-03-07, 14:49
I've been given 25mgs 3 times a day.

Took 1 a couple of hours ago and nothing much has happened, I do feel a bit calmer, like my thoughts have slowed down a little. Feeling ok, nothing more than a slight dry mouth.

Jim

Jimbo
26-03-07, 17:51
Soon after I wrote that post I started feeling very drowsy and laid down for a bit. Fell asleep for a couple of hours and had the most disturbing nightmare that I felt like I couldn't wake up from. I have been suffering a lot of nightmares recently so I guess it's nothing too bad, but it really shook me up as it was centred around a lot of my fears about my illness at the moment.:wacko:

Now I've had the chance to calm down a bit I'm feeling ok I think, not really sure.:unsure:

Jim

Jimbo
28-04-07, 12:36
Just a quick update.

Well I stopped taking the Chlorpromazine too. :shrug:

They weren't really helping much, other than making me feel a bit spaced out and drowsy with a few side nasty side effects like very dry mouth, nose and eyes. They didn't seem to be helping the anxiety at all for me.

Saw a psych the other day and they finally decided to give me Quetiapine (Seroquel) which was what I was asking for originally. They seem to be working very well, I was getting a lot of 'visual disturbances' which have stopped almost totally. I'm taking them at night and I'm sleeping better than ever before and my anxiety has reduced during the day too. :yesyes:

I was a bit wary of them at first so I've only been taking 1 x 25mg tablet, but I can take 2 if needed, which I haven't felt like doing so far.

No side effects at all, except for the first night when I got up for the loo in the night, felt a bit dizzy and looked in the mirror and my pupils were enourmous. :wacko: They do have a complete knock out effect so I haven't been tempted to take them during the day, which I can do too if needed.

Jim

Jimbo
09-06-07, 21:07
I've been doing really well on the Quetiapine, the effects have worn off a little now I've been taking them a while. I'm on 75mgs a day and can take and extra one making it 100 if needed. I can sleep really well now and a lot of the irrational thoughts and visual disturbances are gone totally.

The only side effects I seem to get is a little muscle tension and stiffness, sometimes I get a bit 'twitchy' in my legs, as if someone is tickling the soles of my feet. Nothing too bad at all and far less than chlorpromazine, these could just be symptoms of anxiety so nothing to even mention really.

Jim:hugs:

Alabasterlyn
09-06-07, 22:48
Jimbo I'm glad you decided to swap from the benzos and go for something else as it did sound from your first post that you were beginning to use them more and more often. The addiction problem with benzos is something we are all aware of, but the other worrying part about benzos is the tolerance we can develop, which in itself can actually cause the symtpoms we are taking the benzo for.

I'm glad the new meds you are on seem to be working out for you :)

Jimbo
10-06-07, 12:44
I agree, I was getting very tolerant to them and they weren't having much effect any more. I didn't have any problem stopping them thanfully.

The quetiapine actually seems to work a lot better than diazepam, and has also solved a lot of other problems I had.

Jim:hugs:

Jimbo
20-07-07, 10:44
Thought I'd post again as I'm finding recently that my sleep is getting progressively worse again. I'm only sleeping for a maximum of 4 hours in a row and usually waking up every 2 hours.

My doc suggested increasing the dose to 100mgs in the evening, which I might try. Has anyone else been on this sort of dose?

I thought these sort of things weren't addictive so why do I seem to be developing some sort of tolerance to it? Is this normal and would I have to keep incresing dose for them to be effective?

Jim :hugs:

happyone
20-07-07, 11:38
Jim it is so funny that you should post this as I have been getting a bit concerned about my level of quetiapine (seroquel). I was taking 50mg and having a great sleep but more often than not I am now taking 100mg as I had started having trouble getting to sleep (unless I had alcohol which increases the effect, but I am trying to keep away from it on a regular basis) Shrink says this is ok, but I have found myself wanting to take more.
Last night for example, I was really down. I feel on the edge of a down time and at 6pm I thought to myself 'I could take 150mg of them and it would knock me out really early' as I just wanted to shut out the world.
I am worried I am beginning to abuse them:wacko: but I can't face nights without them or something.

Sorry I haven't been much help eh?

happyone
xx

Ellen70
20-07-07, 13:33
Hi Jimbo and everyone,
I posted on the first page of this thread that I thought the Quetiapine was great but I had only been taking it a couple of weeks then.

Since then the doc has upped my dose to 100mg at night and 25mg twice a day. Even at 100mg I no longer sleep and the day dose is doing absolutely nothing for my anxiety. I have dizziness and a constant feeling that I am going to fall over and my mind is foggy, even though I still have racing thoughts.

So I am now an ex Quetiapine fan. I am seeing my shrink on Wednesday and am telling her that I am no longer going to take the Quetiapine.


Ellen

Jimbo
20-07-07, 20:49
It's a bit of a pain as these really help a lot. But insomnia is the worst thing for anxiety, it makes things 10 times worse when you haven't slept in days.

I guess on a possitive, some of my more disturbing symptoms like seeing and hearing things have completely stopped while on them, which has reduced my anxiety loads. Which still continues, but they don't solve my general anxiety and stop me panicking.

I really wish they would invent a non-addictive valium, as they are the only thing that completely cured my anxiety. :mad:

Let us know how you get on Ellen, often you don't realise how much these things are helping till you stop. Good luck,

Jim :hugs:

joy
22-07-07, 13:52
I am on Risperidone an anti p for about 3 weks or so, it seems to be helping the anxiety but I have no brain. Its really affecting my memory. Do you think this is a side effect and will it get better

Love Joy

Jimbo
22-07-07, 14:08
I tried Risperidone for about a week at 0.5mgs 2xday but it didn't agree with me. Gave me really bad headaches, felt very strange, detached and didn't sleep a wink. It actually made me feel more anxious, but maybe that was because of the lack of sleep and I wasn't on it for long enough to give it a chance.

My GP told me it's the most common anti-p prescribed in small doses for anxiety. So it might work for some people. I think with these things they effect each person differently. I seem to be one of those people that's very susceptable to side effects.

From what I understand they are pretty much instant acting and don't take a while to get into your system like AD's so I doubt things will change much. Some of the side effects might diminish over time, but I'm not an expert so I would go check in with your GP / psych and explain the problems.

Jim :hugs:

joy
22-07-07, 17:04
Seeing the psych on Wed. I agreed to try Risperidone combined with Duloxetine. Really I want to change meds but agreed to try the combo first. Actually I've started sleeping on Risperidone after being on Sleepers for a year so I suppose thats good at least

love joy