Lofepramine anyone?

[panic_down_under]

well thats 3 days on 140mg. 1st day was quite good, second bit less so and today a bit harder. here's hoping for more improvements.

Having a good day is a good indicator that you're starting to get a response from the med. The relapse as the higher dose begins to take affect is not a surprise. Increases often heighten side-effects but they are usually milder and of shorter duration than they typically are at lower doses.

[Sober2000june]

heres hoping. sunday managed to keep busy most of day working on updating sons pc for uni. even a good night. today was reasonably good in work then i crashed, but no surprise is ive cut my loraz quite a bit today. lesson to self stop trying to beat the benzos overnight

[panic_down_under]

heres hoping. sunday managed to keep busy most of day working on updating sons pc for uni. even a good night. today was reasonably good in work then i crashed

Sounds like you're beginning to make some progress. Hopefully, the worst is now behind you.

lesson to self stop trying to beat the benzos overnight

Yep, that ain't going to work. Plus when the time comes to begin cutting back it would be better to switch to diazepam (Valium) and wean of it. It has a longer half-life and a wider range of pill dose options which makes it easier to quit.

[KK77]

heres hoping. sunday managed to keep busy most of day working on updating sons pc for uni. even a good night. today was reasonably good in work then i crashed, but no surprise is ive cut my loraz quite a bit today. lesson to self stop trying to beat the benzos overnight

Pleased you appear to be making progress. I think Lofepramine is an underestimated and under-prescribed AD, which should even be considered before some of the SNRIs due to their harsh withdrawal/discontinuation problems.

And I agree with Panic re switching to Diazepam when you feel ready to taper benzo. Makes much more sense.

But for now you should concentrate on recovery - and I wish you luck.

[Sober2000june]

Thansk for the continued encouragement guys. My main concern is valium makes me mega depressed and lethargic.

[Sober2000june]

which makes the distraction impossible

[panic_down_under]

My main concern is valium makes me mega depressed and lethargic.

As you've been on lorazepam for a while these side-effects may not be as severe as in the past. If they are then lorazepam comes in liquid form which makes it easier to wean off by small steps. There are also another long half-life BZD, clorazepate (Tranxene) which on paper should produce the same side-effects as diazepam as they are both metabolised to desmethyldiazepam which does the heavy lifting, but in practice they may differ.

[Sober2000june]

Really low struggling today. Just feel i'm never going to get there.went for 2 mile jog in gym on Monday before office. did miles outside yesterday, but last night felt the darkness coming back for me. I think i am having to take more loraz at night to sleep as the increased dose is making it harder

[pulisa]

I just wanted to add my support to your thread, Sober. I'm not on meds but have been in the past and have had decades of struggling to get through the days with agitation.

It's easy to say keep going when you can't see how things can improve but don't lose hope. You have support from a psychiatrist and should contact him/her if you have reached desperation point. As KK says you do need a stable meds regime and you also need faith that you are on the right meds for you. I know that's a tall order but it's hard to tolerate the "trial and error" approach when you are suffering badly. The prescriber has no idea how bad things can get but you must tell him/her.

[panic_down_under]

Really low struggling today. Just feel i'm never going to get there.went for 2 mile jog in gym on Monday before office. did miles outside yesterday, but last night felt the darkness coming back for me.

While some people experience a continual linear improvement, for others it is a matter of one step forward, two back, and sometimes three or four back. Which is frustrating, but from what I've observed they tend to do better in the long run. Linear improvement can sometimes owe more to the placebo effect than a real change in brain function.

So hang in there, you are moving in the right direction even if it doesn't always seem like it. The second biggest problem with ADs after side-effects is people giving up just before the med would have begun to work, which is not helped by doctors blithely assuring their patients that ADs will work with 2-4 weeks. That is very much the exception, with 5-12 weeks from when a therapeutic dose is first taken being the norm. It takes about 7 weeks for hippocampal cells to go from the precursor stage to maturity although they may begin to have some impact before becoming full mature.