[Waterbottle922]

Saw a new pdoc today and she took me off of ativan and switched me to klonopin three times a day at .5mgs. I'm not sure how I feel about this, I guess good because the ativan wasn't doing anything, but now I have no crisis med and that makes me anxious.
Any suggestions for otc herbs or otc crisis meds? Or should I continue to hound the new pdoc for something?

Thanks in advance.
Kelly

Hi Kelly If the Ativan wasn't doing anything for you then you shouldn't miss it
Klonopin (Clonazepam) is a very good anxiety med. There is no herb or OTC med that would come close to the efficacy of Ativan or clonazepam.
.5mg three times a day seems a little high. You must have been on a high dosage of Ativan I'm guessing.

[Waterbottle922]

I was taking about 2.5mg of Ativan a day with my as needed dose. And 1.5mg when I didn't need my crisis med. So I think that was high, but I got no relief from it. Which is disturbing and confusing since when I had an endoscopy done they ave me 1mg of Ativan and poof I was drowsy and calm. Maybe I grew immune to it, but I don't remember it ever really helping after that first time. Alas, this is turning into my thought process.
I just took my second dose of klonopin so we shall see how today goes.
Thanks again for your input.
Kelly

[sugahorse1]

Sorry - is that really considered a high dose? I didn't think so

Originally Posted by sugahorse

Sorry - is that really considered a high dose? I didn't think so

I guess you're right... matter of opinion really. I've been taking .5mg or less for years and it works fine for me. I recall reading that it doesn't get much more effective at doses higher than 2mg but I don't recall if that was for anxiety or seizures.
I was originally prescribed 1mg Ativan for severe anxiety and a few months later a different doc switched me to .5mg clonazepam. The clonazepam was much more effective. I took the same dosage for years while working in a very anxiety producing line of work.
I think it's a very effective med based on my experience.

[sugahorse1]

I take 0.5mg Klonopin 3 times a day

[splitimage]

I take 1 mg of Klonopin 3x/day and another 2 mg at night. That is condisdered a high dose, but my Dr. says he'd rather have my anxiety managed than me freaking out and relapsing. It works well for me.

splitimage

[LucyG]

A couple of things that help anxiety are the amino acids GABA and L-tyrosine. GABA slows the brain down, and is used to control the manic phase of BP--I've been using it for 5+ years with more success than any pysch med I was ever on. L-tyrosine also helps anxiety but it is stimulating to the brain in one sense of the word in that if you take it at night, it will keep you awake--calm, but awake.

Other things to look into would be Valarian root, natural lithium [lithium orotate], B vitamins, magnesium and calcium.

Here are a couple of links to some very helpful books if you want another perspective on treating mental health issues naturally:

This book is called Heal With Amino Acids and Other Nutrients, and is extremely helpful. I've gotten a ton of info from this book that has helped me get off and stay off meds:

http://www.amazon.com/Heal-Amino-Aci...=billie+sahley

This link is to a book about treating depression naturally, and goes more into the nutritional aspects of vitamins and minerals, food additives and the like. It's very helpful.
http://www.amazon.com/Heal-Amino-Aci...=billie+sahley

Be very careful with klonopin as it can actually cause depression which is what it did to me for years. Once I got off it, I was surprised at how much less depressed I was, and then I went back on it for a sleep disorder and within 3 days was sobbing my eyes out. It made me so depressed it's a miracle I didn't kill myself. Fortunately I remembered my sister telling me a neurologist told her those meds cause anxiety so I googled it, and sure enough, they cause the exact thing they're supposed to treat!! Once I got off it, my mood stabilized in about 3 days and I was fine.