jothenurse
22-05-10, 12:45
I hope to be going back to work, maybe starting at the end of next week. I have a panic disorder. My boss said for the first couple of weeks if I just want to work a few hours each day that would be fine, then go back to full time.
I have been on a medical leave for about two and a half months and of course I am very nervous about going back. I am in a management position and have lost about 20 pounds. How have you handled going back to work? I know staff will be commenting on my weight loss, and questions of how are you doing, though not all know why I was off work. Most will know it was due to stress because at that time, my boyfriend and I decided to not live together but still see each other, then he had a heart attack, and then my Mom broke her arm and ended up in the nursing home that I work at for a short time - I was also trying to work full time. But - not everyone knows I have a panic disorder.
The other thing - has anyone tapered off of benzodiazepines before? I am on Ativan - for the last few months - but at a fairly low dose according to my psychiatrist and the pharmacist. I was taking for a little while 1 mg in the morning and 1 mg at noon. I never seemed to need any more after that for the rest of the day, or very infrequently. I have decreased the noon dose to .5mg, for the last 5 days and that seems ok. Today I am trying to decrease the morning dose to .5mg, and continue with a .5 mg in the morning and a .5 mg at noon, especially seeing that I will be going back to work and will be nervous. The 1 mg dose in the morning makes me sleepy and dizzy, so would prefer to get that to a.5 by the time I go back to work. The pharmacist said that I do not need to worry about rebound/or big withdrawal problems (like seizures) because I never was on that much of the medicine. But I am still scared. Any suggestions?
I have been on a medical leave for about two and a half months and of course I am very nervous about going back. I am in a management position and have lost about 20 pounds. How have you handled going back to work? I know staff will be commenting on my weight loss, and questions of how are you doing, though not all know why I was off work. Most will know it was due to stress because at that time, my boyfriend and I decided to not live together but still see each other, then he had a heart attack, and then my Mom broke her arm and ended up in the nursing home that I work at for a short time - I was also trying to work full time. But - not everyone knows I have a panic disorder.
The other thing - has anyone tapered off of benzodiazepines before? I am on Ativan - for the last few months - but at a fairly low dose according to my psychiatrist and the pharmacist. I was taking for a little while 1 mg in the morning and 1 mg at noon. I never seemed to need any more after that for the rest of the day, or very infrequently. I have decreased the noon dose to .5mg, for the last 5 days and that seems ok. Today I am trying to decrease the morning dose to .5mg, and continue with a .5 mg in the morning and a .5 mg at noon, especially seeing that I will be going back to work and will be nervous. The 1 mg dose in the morning makes me sleepy and dizzy, so would prefer to get that to a.5 by the time I go back to work. The pharmacist said that I do not need to worry about rebound/or big withdrawal problems (like seizures) because I never was on that much of the medicine. But I am still scared. Any suggestions?