addicted.....

the dochas givenme diazapam for extreme anxiety attacks. he says just until the prozac levels out.

i swallow them everytime i feel bad, scared about getting addicted to them, don't know what i'd do without them as it is. i just love the feeling of calm that washes over me - anyone else taking them? or anything like?

if i didn't have them at moment, i'd be climbing the walls or just taking sleeping pills to leep everything away. will anxiety go do you think, will i wake up one morning and cos the prozac levelled out, not need diazapam?

worried, jinny xx

Hi Jinny
Having to take diazepam for a short period ot time should not be too much of a problem but, if you are taking them often and "like" the effect they have on you, you should just be careful that you do not "like" them too much.
They are highly addictive is abused so, if you only take them when absolutely necessary then it should be fine BUT, if you are taking more than about 3 a day, you need to start cutting down and trying to cope at time without them.

I take one every night......love it too........probably too much but it helps me sleep. I have valium just to mellow if needed in the day. Xanax for major attacks and they whop me good so I take them if I need a guarantee of sleep. Temazepam nightly for anxiety reduction to sleep through the night.....

Dang, I'm a pill popper............dang..............

thankyou for the advice. i didn't have one yesterday, but needed onetoday.

my sleeping pillsare wearing offeffect wise, bit scared about that, had one at 7.30ish, woke a midnight. not good
i apereciate your help on this, cheers kerry xxxxxx

I had a big fear of getting addicted to anti-anxiety meds. I'm a heavy smoker and I was psychologically addicted to anti-nauseants for a while, so I know I have an addictive personality. My aunt went through a horrendous addiction to sleeping pills and my brother spent a year in a rehab program for addiction to various drugs and alcohol. Their experiences scared me. I told my doctor about it before she prescribed me anything, so she gave me Clonazepam in combination with Celexa when I was trying to get over agoraphobia and panic attacks. She said it tends to be less addictive than some of the other benzodiazepines because it doesn't kick in as quickly. It doesn't give you that quick relief and feeling of calm that Ativan and Valium do. It's effective, but it's not a quick feel-good fix.

You should talk to your doctor about how you're feeling about diazepam. He/she might be able to prescribe something that will help with your symptoms but not be as addictive.

I took 0.5 mg Clonazepam once or twice per day for over 2 years. I never felt the need to increase my dose and when I got to the point where my panic attacks started to go away, I took it less frequently and went through no withdrawal. I hardly ever take it now. It worked very well for me and I didn't develop any psychological or physical addiction to it. Unlike some other drugs, I also found that I never felt the urge to take more of it. It remained effective at a low dose. I have taken Ativan for flying and I'm glad I don't have a regular prescription for it. It acts so quickly, I would probably have felt the urge to pop one frequently just because I knew it would make me feel instantly relaxed. I'm better off without access to something like that.

Good luck. I hope you find something that works for you. Worrying about addiction will just increase your anxiety. That's counter-productive. It's good that you're paying attention to it and wanting to do something about it. Keep us posted.

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Juliana said:

Worrying about addiction will just increase your anxiety. That's counter-productive. It's good that you're paying attention to it and wanting to do something about it. Keep us posted.

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I couldnt agree more with this comment. The first step in combatting any addiction is admitting that it's there. Sounds to me like it shouldn't be an issue for you as you are already aware of the potential problems. Good luck.

doc wont give me any more. had 2 x 5mg today, not worked, head foggy, still know in stomach. climbing walls with them, god knows what i'll do without them

not supposed to take sleeping pills every night either. how do the bloody docts expect you to survive til i'm diagnosed properly and put on correct dose of whatever. i'm tearing my hair out actually, cant get any peace

thnx for replies

jin x

I can understand how distressed you feel. One thing I can recommend is St Johns Wort. You can buy it over the counter from most chemists. I started taking this a few weeks back, its a herbal remedy to treat anxiety and depression. Its quite potent even though its herbal but there's no hit like you get from synthetic prescription drugs. Its certainly taken the edge off for me. One thing to note is that its not a good idea to mix them with other medications as there can be interactions, so it may be an idea to consult with your GP first.

I really do feel for what you are going through, you're not alone.

thankyou anxietyman,

i have been lookinf into this before. i am on thyroxine and not supposed to take st johns wort with that. but thankyou for advising me, always apreciated

jin xx

hi jinnyann.

I hope you're having a good day.

The drug can be addictive. There's a difference between use and abuse; addiction and dependence. I had a big concern with this when I went into pain management. I spoke with the doctors at length about this.

If you're taking more than you should, you might be abusing. If you're taking them when you don't really need them for the prescribed cause, you might be abusing. If you're starting to feel like you can't do things without them causing you to take more than needed, you might be abusing. These are some of the things to ask self.

If you are abusing the med, you could become addicted. If you're taking them as prescribed and for the right reasons, you might get dependent on the relief and properties. That said, physical dependence is much easier to come off of than abuse due to the psychological factors in abusing them.

This is what I've learned.

((((((((((( JinnyAnn )))))))))))

I hope things calm for you soon.

BioFeedback therapy helped my panic/anxiety more than I could've imagined. I was able to go off of all meds afterward.

Love,

KD

Hi Jinnyann,
I totally can feel your discomfort and fears-- I've been there!

Pls. ask your doctor about gabapentin. Great for anxiety and nonaddictive.
Take care,
Okie

I take 4mg of Diazapam every night for sleep. It works very well for me. I am a very high energy person. I also take 100mg of Zoloft daily. I have tried many herbal remedies such as St. Johns wort, and sooooo many others because I had an aversion to taking drugs and I did not want to be one of those "weak ones" that need drugs to function.
My condition got progressivly worse over a period of 10 years until I finally relented to my doctor of 20 years and started taking meds 6 weeks ago. Since then I have not had any problems and I sleep like a baby with no side effects.

Just as an aside, my doctor is surprised that i have continued to lose weight (down 4 lbs) even though Zoloft has been reported to increase appitite. Today I asked him if I could buy an elliptical machine for exercise. He said most definitely YES
I can say that have not felt this good in a long time and I am glad I finally followed the advice of my doc.

He just renewed my 'scripts for a 1 year period.

Good luck with your situation.

thanks for all your comments and caring guys

will take on board, love, jinnyannxoxoxox