[circles5]

Hi all,

on monday i had a really bad time - i was suicidal... and ... feeling awful.

on tuesday i got an emergency meeting with my pychiatrist and keyworker/CBT therapist.

Now i'm currently on 20mg Diazepam a day. I wasn't on any anti-depressants; because i hate them with a passion.
I Requested to switch from my 20mg/day Diazepam to Clonazepam as i have tried Clonazepam in the past and found it superior to Diazepam at treating my anxiety disorders.
My only dislike of Clonazepam was that it had a heavier hit on my cognitive ability than diazepam.

She flat out refused - due to not wanting me to become physically dependant on Benzodiazepams... (despite the fact that i've been taking diazepam daily since january 2013) - so i've been physically dependant for a long time already..
This would make sense if they had it in mind to taper me off diazepam .. but they don't have that in mind yet, so i don't understand the reluctance to allow me to try an equivilent long lasting Benzo, at an equivilent dosage.....???

I don't understand their thinking.
So instead they've prescribed me mirtazapine (again) despite me telling them that i've tried it already and had Terrible side effects.
I was given a choice of Mirtazapine or an anti-pychotic (the latter i said; no thankyou)

I know Clonazepam is supposed to be harder to quit... however, i also know that you can switch from Clonazepam (back) to Diazepam and then taper off Diazepam; which is the easiest to taper off due to it's incredibly long half life.

I explained ^all of this to the pyschiatrist and pychotherapist... but the psychiatrist wasn't having any of it.

I'm pretty frustrated, in part to being on mirtazapine (which makes me very moody)
But mainly due to the lack of explaination on the psychiatrists part.

Her reasoning of 'not wanting me dependant on benzos' is totally derelict seeing as i already am, and will not even be considered for a taper untill i am assesed by the inpatient team; in about 3 months time. (i'm going to be spending 3 months in hospital)
My Problem is anxiety, not depression.. and mirtazapine is mainly for depression.

ugh...
Can anyone suggest a way for me to talk to my therapist about this... ?
i can't see the psychiatrist for a while... and i don't want to frankly... - i find them to be robotic, un-emphatic people.
I really want to have a trial on Clonazepam to see if it works better for me in my current situation..
i.e; instead of 20mg diazepam a day... i'd take 1mg Clonazepam /day.

this is oh, so frustrating.

Thanks for any insights/ suggestions
Regards,
Circles5
x

[pinkflower17]

Originally Posted by circles5

Hi all,

on monday i had a really bad time - i was suicidal... and ... feeling awful.

on tuesday i got an emergency meeting with my pychiatrist and keyworker/CBT therapist.

Now i'm currently on 20mg Diazepam a day. I wasn't on any anti-depressants; because i hate them with a passion.
I Requested to switch from my 20mg/day Diazepam to Clonazepam as i have tried Clonazepam in the past and found it superior to Diazepam at treating my anxiety disorders.
My only dislike of Clonazepam was that it had a heavier hit on my cognitive ability than diazepam.

She flat out refused - due to not wanting me to become physically dependant on Benzodiazepams... (despite the fact that i've been taking diazepam daily since january 2013) - so i've been physically dependant for a long time already..
This would make sense if they had it in mind to taper me off diazepam .. but they don't have that in mind yet, so i don't understand the reluctance to allow me to try an equivilent long lasting Benzo, at an equivilent dosage.....???

I don't understand their thinking.
So instead they've prescribed me mirtazapine (again) despite me telling them that i've tried it already and had Terrible side effects.
I was given a choice of Mirtazapine or an anti-pychotic (the latter i said; no thankyou)

I know Clonazepam is supposed to be harder to quit... however, i also know that you can switch from Clonazepam (back) to Diazepam and then taper off Diazepam; which is the easiest to taper off due to it's incredibly long half life.

I explained ^all of this to the pyschiatrist and pychotherapist... but the psychiatrist wasn't having any of it.

I'm pretty frustrated, in part to being on mirtazapine (which makes me very moody)
But mainly due to the lack of explaination on the psychiatrists part.

Her reasoning of 'not wanting me dependant on benzos' is totally derelict seeing as i already am, and will not even be considered for a taper untill i am assesed by the inpatient team; in about 3 months time. (i'm going to be spending 3 months in hospital)
My Problem is anxiety, not depression.. and mirtazapine is mainly for depression.

ugh...
Can anyone suggest a way for me to talk to my therapist about this... ?
i can't see the psychiatrist for a while... and i don't want to frankly... - i find them to be robotic, un-emphatic people.
I really want to have a trial on Clonazepam to see if it works better for me in my current situation..
i.e; instead of 20mg diazepam a day... i'd take 1mg Clonazepam /day.

this is oh, so frustrating.

Thanks for any insights/ suggestions
Regards,
Circles5
x

Sorry you're going through such a rough time. That's weird. That's all I have to say about that. I personally don't think a trial of clonazepam is unreasonable. That aside, why are you so against antipsychotics? They're used for a lot of different things, including anxiety and may help....I didn't want to start one bc I didn't want to feel like I was crazy, but it's helped my depression a lot and when I was taking Seroquel, it did help my anxiety a lot. I don't know, maybe something to thing about.

[-jimi-]

UK an here are similar. They are benzophobic. I think I'm the only one in my country that is on Xanax! Because here it was like you can only get diazepam but then they changed and the only you can get is oxazepam. If it doesn't fit you, too bad, suffer. Everyone who is on a benzo here is on oxazepam.

I think somehow they keep down benzo usage by trying not to introduce other types too much.

Here they rather use antipsychotics even knowing they should be for psychosis, not sleeplessness or anxiety. Antipsychotics are way too risky to give someone who can manage on other meds. Also they love using antihistamines for anxiety even if it's now proven they can cause dementia.

Sigh.

[*Laurie*]

Klonopin has gone from being the *Miracle Med of All Psychiatry* to being on the psychiatry sh-it list. Go figure.

[RisuNeko]

I'm in the reverse situation. I've been on klonopin for years and want to try diazepam because if dosed regularly you don't get the spike in levels throughout the day and then drop down to where it's basically ineffective. It's more even and smooth and I don't really have panic attacks anymore so quick action time doesn't really matter to me.