[Ripose]

My doctor cut me off Ativan 7 mg (cold turkey) and gave me 1.5 mg of Klonopin which has little to no effect.

What med(s) could I ask her about to stop akathesia, anxiety and panic attacks?

I see her next Wednesday.

I also think I am suffering from what should be called "War Stress Disorder".

[Tucson]

Buspirone (Buspar)

[Heisenberg33]

Vistaril worked ok for me

Originally Posted by Ripose

My doctor cut me off Ativan 7 mg (cold turkey) and gave me 1.5 mg of Klonopin which has little to no effect.

What med(s) could I ask her about to stop akathesia, anxiety and panic attacks?

I see her next Wednesday.

I also think I am suffering from what should be called "War Stress Disorder".

I was taking steadily increasing doses of Valium for paralyzing post-mania anxiety, and I was very wary of becoming addicted to the Valium, as my climbing tolerance was obvious: I could feel that the effect of a 10 mg dose took 40 mg to replicate only a couple months later, and benzodiazepine addiction is rumored to be hell, so asked my pdoc if he could prescribe something instead of benzodiazepines.

He put me on gabapentin, an anticonvulsant also used to treat neuropathic pain, first 400 mg per day with reduced Valium, now 1200 mg per day without the Valium; the maximum recommended dose according to my pdoc is 3600 mg a day.

Though the anxiety has not completely subsided (as should be evident from the freaked-out tenor of some of my posts), there has been an appreciable improvement, and my need for the Valium has subsided substantially. Ask your pdoc: gabapentin, aka Neurontin. I take it in conjunction with the anticonvulsant Depakote.

[HALLIEBETH87]

Gabapentin (Neurontin) but vistaril too

[mindwrench]

I have Vistaril but find that I need a higher dose than prescribed to get the desired results.

[BeyondtheRainbow]

I also find gabapentin to be really good for anxiety. I choose it as my PRN over klonopin usually plus I take 800 or 1200 mg daily (we're still messing with doses so this goes up and down).

[Moose72]

My dr just cut me off. Period.

[Unrigged64072835]

I take Neurontin and Vistaril for my anxiety. My pdoc doesn't prescribe benzos so this is what I get.

[raspberrytorte]

I take gabapentin and propranolol. I was given gabapentin as a clonazepam replacement. It works alright. I need a higher dose.

[still_crazy]

gabapentin. And the new one...lyrica. its Schedule V as opposed to the bzd drugs, which are all in Schedule IV.

BuSpar didn't do much for me. Vistaril was OK as a night time sedative. I've found...over the long haul, anti-epileptics help my anxiety. Depakote is supposed to help. I don't care for Depakote, so I'm prescribed trileptal and a low dose of lamictal.

Vitamins. I take massive doses of c, b-100 complex, natural form e w/ mixed tocopherols, and...B3. I take the niacinamide form, some people prefer old fashioned niacin. I take 3 grams in time release tablet form. Over time...it works nicely (for me).

[Sad Mermaid]

If you do not have low blood pressure, Atenolol might be tried to combat akathisia. What is the cause of akathisia?

I take Propranolol twice daily for migraine, high blood pressure and anxiety. I've been very anxious recently and it doesn't seem to be working that well but perhaps I'd be worse without it. I have nerve pain and anxiety and from what I'm reading here, gabapentin seems a good option!

[LucyG]

The amino acids GABA, tyrosine and DL-phenylalanine are all great for anxiety. GABA and tyrosine both are the premier amino acids used in treating anxiety. DL-phenylalanine is used by the body to produce dopamine and norepinephrine in the brain. Both make you feel happy.

A couple of other things you might look into is increasing your magnesium as it's very calming. Symptoms of low magnesium include anxiety and depression. Meds of all kinds are known to both block the body's ability to utilize magnesium and deplete it as the liver works to detox the meds from the liver. You need to take a highly absorbable form of magnesium such as magnesium chloride, citrate or malate. DON'T take magnesium oxide as it's so poorly absorbed that all it does it give you raging diarrhea. Be sure and take calcium and vitamins D3 and K with the magnesium as the four nutrients work together.

Another common supplement that helps control anxiety is the B vitamin inositol.

Here's an article on natural alternatives to benzos:

Natural Alternatives To Xanax, Ativan, And Anti-Anxiety Drugs - Reset.me

[raspberrytorte]

Originally Posted by LucyG

The amino acids GABA, tyrosine and DL-phenylalanine are all great for anxiety. GABA and tyrosine both are the premier amino acids used in treating anxiety. DL-phenylalanine is used by the body to produce dopamine and norepinephrine in the brain. Both make you feel happy.

A couple of other things you might look into is increasing your magnesium as it's very calming. Symptoms of low magnesium include anxiety and depression. Meds of all kinds are known to both block the body's ability to utilize magnesium and deplete it as the liver works to detox the meds from the liver. You need to take a highly absorbable form of magnesium such as magnesium chloride, citrate or malate. DON'T take magnesium oxide as it's so poorly absorbed that all it does it give you raging diarrhea. Be sure and take calcium and vitamins D3 and K with the magnesium as the four nutrients work together.

Another common supplement that helps control anxiety is the B vitamin inositol.

Here's an article on natural alternatives to benzos:

Natural Alternatives To Xanax, Ativan, And Anti-Anxiety Drugs - Reset.me

Thanks for this info, lucy! Very helpful. My anxiety has been awful lately. I'm going to buy some magnesium.

[Gabyunbound]

Propranolol has been great for me for the physical manifestations of anxiety (not as much for the feelings of anxiety, if that makes any sense). In fact, I hadn't been sure how well it had been working when one morning at work I noticed that a piece of paper I was holding was shaking and then later my legs were shaking, all from anxiety. I realized I had forgotten to take the propranolol that morning. So anyway, I think it's really really effective for shaking related to anxiety.

[Ripose]

Originally Posted by Sad Mermaid

If you do not have low blood pressure, Atenolol might be tried to combat akathisia. What is the cause of akathisia?

I'm not sure what med withdrawal caused the akathesia. I just know it started when she changed a few of my meds without telling me.

[fairydustgirl]

You don't mention if you are prescribed an antidepressant, some work with anxiety. Luvox is one that is labeled for ocd and off label for social anxiety, perhaps it would help. It helped get me over a very bad spell.
A friend spoke with me tonight about the problem of anxiety and depression (she is not bipolar) and agreed that sometimes the anxiety is bad, for me it's almost worse than the moods swings themselves, it's fuel to make them worse.
I don't have experience with the meds that the others have mentioned.

There is a website called crazymeds.us that has some very interesting information about many psych meds, the author uses both patient information from the med websites, as well as, other sources of information. if you have ad blocker it won't work though.

[ComfortablyNumb5]

I think gabapentin works wonders for my anxiety and it has no benzo tired feeling. But I hear it can for some. I take 800mg 3x's a day as a stabilizer.

But wow they cut you off 7mg like that?! That's a bit worrisome as you were on a pretty high dose. Yea 1.5 klonopin probably won't do much there. Good luck and if you get any physical WD then please go to the ER. Benzo WD is as dangerous as booze WD.

[raspberrytorte]

Benzo withdrawal is a total nightmare. One of the worse experiences of my life!

If you're having a hard time with it, ripose, please tell your doctor.

I'm sure this varies a bit, person by person but my doc said it takes 6 weeks at 6mg per day to form a physical dependence. If this applies to you, be very careful. Maybe he gave you the low dose klonapin to help buffer withdrawl? Wouldn't hurt to ask your doctor if he knows what he's doing.

[Ripose]

The only antidepressant I am taking is Cymbalta.

Yeah, they cut me off cold turkey while I was in the hospital for a broken hip. Plus some other changes. They did not even tell me and I did not notice any difference until I ran out of painkillers they prescribed, so it was nasty and a total surprise.
I mentioned it to my doctor and she basically just ignored me. But this time I have some ideas to bring up with her thanks to all you great people!

[AncientMelody]

Wow that was potentially dangerous. I'm glad it wasn't worse for you, poor call on the hospital docs and for your doc to ignore it./

[bioChE]

Holy crap, 7mg to 0 cold turkey? As said before, I'd consider that dangerous. Maybe the Klonopin helped you over the withdrawal hump.

Regarding your question of a replacement, I've had decent success with gabapentin helping to control my anxiety. I've been prescribed it to help with nerve pain, but it does have an overall calming effect associated. I know some psychiatrists use it for GAD symptoms, and I've also heard of it being prescribed as a mood stabilizer.