Fellow Anxiety sufferer from Northampton, UK

[kym_888]

Hi,
I got told about this site today by an ambulance paramedic. I had a bit of a melt down today, passed out die to lack of food and i was so lucky to have this paramedic come to me, she was a great help, and i know she uses this site, so if u see this, thank you very much!
So a little about myself.... Ive suffered from anxiety for 2 years, and last month was signed off work for another year. I started having problems with my bowls, being constipated a lot of the time, which caused me to feel sick all the time, and i have a huge fear of being sick. I suddenly got really scared of going outside incase i was sick in public, and people looked at me, thinkin i was a drunk or something, cause admit it, not many people in the UK are sympathetic. I was placed on citalapram, and started to suffer from insomia, struggled to sleep every night. After a few therapy sessions, i decided to stop taking my meds (foolish i kno!) i then took another turn for the worse, so went back to the docs and was then placed on Fluoxitine, which seemed to help, but i couldnt really tell as i had just met my boyfriend, and he was my 'coping' mechinasm. He would take me shopping, we would go to his house, see his family, go see friends, and i even started going out for meals and partys. Then 3 days ago, he broke up with me without any warning, i took it really bad. Since thursday ive been feeling like im going to die, i keep getting voices in my head sayin im not gonna be able to deal with it alone, simple things like shopping, seeing friends etc. I really thought i was loosing my mind. So was given some diazapam (CAN I HAVE PEOPLES VIEW ON THAT DRUG PLEASE) started taking it 2 hours ago, and can kinda feel some effects. I seem to be coping at the moment, but i kno when it comes time to go sleep im gonna panic, and feel like i cant cope, and i dont wanna rely on sleeping pills to be able to sleep :weep:

[nomorepanic]

Hi kym_888

A huge warm welcome to nmp.

You'll get loads of advice and support here and make some lovely friends along the way.

Best wishes

[Persephone]

I've taken diazepam for a few years, what kind of thing did you want to know about?

I think it's a very ambivalent drug which means different doctors prescribe it in very different ways. There's a lot of hysteria about it but then it is quite dangerous so that can sometimes be justified.

Benzodiazepines and alcohol are the two classes of drugs which are actually medically dangerous to withdraw from (unlike things like opiates which tend to be hyped up in terms of the agony caused by withdrawl and they never lead to fatalities). People also say diazepam/valium is very addictive- I only think it's addictive in the way most recreational drugs are addictive, that it relieves the things you want it to relieve and it feels nice. If you're the kind of person who seeks that kind of thing above all else then you're going to have a real problem taking it because you'll take as much as you like when you like and then be stuck withdrawing when you run out or constantly seeking new supplies.

I've always been sensible in taking it only when it was absolutely necessary to allow me to go about important parts of my life (interviews, exams, appointments etc) and as such I've never taken much more than 5mg a week on average (often a lot less) and haven't seen any marked inscrease in the amounts I've had to take to produce the same effect (which is one of the hallmarks of substance addiction).

If you take it sensibly then you should be fine. It is not a long term solution to panic and anxiety though and has a very poor outcome when given to people with panic disorder epsecially. The NICE guidelines specifically say that it shouldn't be given. I think that as long as you're aware of possible problems and keep a check on yourself if you ever think you're taking too much then you should be fine. If you take large doses or very regularly then speak to your GP about tapering your dose as just stopping taking it can be quite dangerous.

Hope that helps some.

[kym_888]

ive only had it since sunday, to give me some help over the weekend, but it made me dizzy, weak and drousy, i said to my doc i dont want anything thats gonna just mong me out, i want something to help sure the panic attacks not just put me to sleep,m i already have to take sleeping pills to make me sleep cause i panic most at night