Diazepam vs Anti-Psychotics

[Jimbo]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.

(Google... oops)

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]

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]

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]

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.

[Jimbo]

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