Valium

Hi all,

Does anyone have experience with Valium for PTSD or anxiety that they could share with me?

I'm on clonazepam right now, but the doc that I've been with for 2 years (and I trust him) said that just one of my events would be enough to cause problems with a person....and I've got a lot of high-stress events that I went through. Plus there are 2 new ones happening right now that are really messing with my head, and that in turn is making ALL these memories flood me.

He lowered my dose of clonazepam for one month (I usually only see him every 6 months), and then he wants to put me on the longer-acting Valium (half-life is 30-200 hours).

I know that doctors don't like to prescribe Valium, but I guess after I showed him a list of events in point form, he thought that I needed a little more help in the meds department.

What doses have you found to be helpful, does it make you tired or only in the beginning, and did it cause any problems for you? Also, did it help you to sleep at night? I know that we all have different chemistries and I'll get varying responses, but it'll give me some idea.

Right now, besides the clonazepam (which I'm weaning off of) I'm also on Effexor XR and Lopressor SR.

Thanks, guys.

God bless,
Sandy

sandy i am on diazapam which is a similar drug for anxiety. i have been on it for a while, they dont like giving it out in the uk because it is addictive. my body seems to have gotten used to it as i have to take more each day and still fell anxious

hope this helps

jinnyann

i took it for a year, due to horrid panic attacks, and it really helped me. i like it better than xanax. i felt less "drugged" and it did really help me sleep. my panic attacks were at night.....

Hi Jinnyann,

Thanks for your response. Oh, I hope it doesn't act upon me the way it did with you....having to keep taking a higher dose to get the same results. I was taking so much clonazepam (approximately 12-14 mg spread out daily), that he was concerned. So he has titrated me down to 6mg daily (it's going to be a REALLY tough month to get through right now), and then put me on the much longer-acting Valium. I just hope I find a reasonable dose that keeps me steady and calm enough when the memories come a-knockin'.

All the benzos are addictive, but if the right dose can be found to help me function better, then I really don't care.

I'm sorry you have to keep raising your dose. What did you start out on, and how much are you on now?

God bless,
Sandy

Hey there fayerody,

I'm glad to hear that the Valium worked for you. I'm anxious during the day, and too vigilant at night to sleep well. I can't say that I've ever felt "drugged" on any of the benzos, but there have been some antidepressants that have made me loopy! No thank you.

Was it difficult to come off of? And I can't wait if it actually allows me to sleep!!!!!!!

God bless,
Sandy

Xanax has gotten a lot of bad press in the past decade but I feel it is one of the best meds on the market.

My doc (now retired) explained to me that if you have a lack of a certain chemical in the brain that Xanax will effect you differently than a normal person.

Proof of that pudding is my brother who takes a large amount everyday and it does not affect him adversely at all. It keeps him from heart palpitations and high anxiety. He was really really sick until he discovered Xanax.

I have tried to stop Xanax since my doc retired and it is so difficult to get prescribed but I think maybe I should continue with it and just find a pro who will understand that it keeps me on an even keel and out of panicky states that come on for no real reason.

I think it is a life saver drug even though some say it is too powerful, addictive, etc. I have never gotten addicted to it in 14 years of use. Forget, skip a dose...nothing happens bad. I guess I am one of those of which my doctor spoke.

Hi pescador,

It's funny that you should mention Xanax because, out of all the meds I've tried over a 3-4 year period, this particular one had absolutely no impact upon me. It was like offering me a candy. It had a placebo affect. I've heard from one other person who has said the same thing.....that it didn't work for him either. Soooo, I don't think I will be trying it again. Lol. I hear that it does wonders for MANY people, and I have a friend who uses it daily for years and it helps his anxiety a lot. I'm happy when people find meds that work for them because sometimes it just takes FOREVER to find the right med or combination. But for some reason, Xanax just didn't help me even in the slightest. Weird how our bodies work, huh?

God bless,
Sandy

<font color="#000088">I'm on Valium,it's mainly for my mustle spasms,but my PDoc just gave me more for my Anxiety,and it works really well,since I've been on it for so many years ,it doesn't make me drowsy during the day,but it helps me sleep at night.I take anywhere from 30-40 mg. per day.
I don't care for xanax,it doesn't effect me either! But I know people here that would sell thier soul for it.It actually sells on the streets here.Pretty dumb huh? </font>

i'm wary of benzo's because of their addictive properties. addictive properties include the following:

- tolerance. a lot of people (though not all admittedly) find that they need to keep increasing the dosage over time in order to achieve the same effects.
- withdrawal. a lot of people find that they suffer severe withdrawals (including risk of seizures and the like) for a couple of weeks after they stop taking the medication. withdrawal symptoms can last for up to a month. part of withdrawal includes 'rebound effects' which basically means... a more intense experience of precisely what you are feeling now.
- addiction. some people find that they end up doctor shopping and lying etc in order to obtain a dosage that they come to believe is adequate.

benzo's are thought to work by sedating. they negatively impact on cognitive functions like memory, learning, etc (as has been shown in psychological experiments) and also behavioural functions like reaction time, co-ordination etc. have you ever chatted to someone who you know full well is drunk and yet they deny that they are? ever tried to get their keys off them to prevent their driving? they swear that the alchohol isn't affecting them at all and yet they would show up to be negatively affected with respect to cognitive functions like memory, learning, etc (as has been shown in psychological experiments) and behavioural functioning like reaction time, co-ordination etc.

there is no evidence that psychiatric medications affect mentally ill people any differently from how they affect animals or non-mentally ill people. the cognitive and behavioural impairments (and subsequent denial of cognitive and behavioural impairment) is common to both mentally ill and not mentally ill people.

are you in therapy at all? i know that things can be really hard... but i think that benzos are more likely to harm than help long term... can your therapist teach you some self soothing strategies to help you get through this difficult time?

I agree alexandra!

I suffered a psychotic break this AM. My Xanax brought me out of it. I am careful as to how much I use this drug.For me, tho, When I lose comtrol..it ropes me right back in. I really would not want to be without it. dottie

SAndy . I have been on diazapam for prolly 6 years or more now. Same dose as when i started. Has always worked for me. They started me on it when my jaw was broke for muscle pain. because it gave me very bad tmj. Then with my parents and son they just kept me on it. That is the only thing i take.
It has always been the same dose.

Hey there,

I was put on valium for anxiety. Initially I had to take 5mg 3 times a day to break the anxiety cycle. I was quite 'doped' up.. but nothing major, I will still able to function. Since then I use it to sleep if I am having trouble, just 2.5mg. It does work, you will be able to feel the effects not long after you take it, I usually take it about 15 mins before I go to bed and sleep better than without it.

Because I take such low doses, its probably no help to you, but I will say that it does work, it relaxes your whole body, and allows u to let yourself slow down and relax.

One thing I have found is that I still think the same, but my body wont react if that makes sense. Without valium I panic just as I am falling asleep, when I take valium i still think it, but my heart doesnt start racing, and I dont freak out!

Just the warning about it being addictive though, it is. When I took it regularly for the week, dr said ok time to get off, I was like noooooo, lol.. but it was fine... I just use it now when I need to, and have had no probs, i really only take it once a week to get a good nights sleep.

Good luck with it,

Kel xx

I take 4mg for sleep. I don't use it all the time, just when I feel anxious and can't sleep. Works fast too.

My doctor lists me each year as PTSD, severe and permanent. Lovely, huh? And what are SOME of the lovely events that made my anxiety go haywire? Just a few:
1. worked on a major airline crash with no survivors (only body parts, no bodies). worked in the morgue for 4 months, plus plane pieces were there and personal belongings kept in 3 refrigerated trucks because everything was covered in body fluids and tissue. Anniversary is approaching
2. husband of 12 years used to strangle me (no breath in, no breath out, no noise), smother me and throw hard things at me in bed. Out of bed he shot a gun right past me (causing some hearing damage in one ear), his friend and he held me down and injected me with their drug of choice, and he hurt me. Among the few things he did...before the kids and I left.
3. heard one of my officers get shot at a service station (wearing a vest), and the 3 horrible screams he made. His partner running around the building and unloading his weapon on the car that was squealing away. Officer survived, but heart stopped 3 times.
4. had a friend murdered 2 years after I saved her from drowning, and they never found out who bashed her head in
5. I just passed my 3rd year anniversary of slicing my wrist wide open

So I need help in the anxiety department, and clonazepam works okay at high doses. But now I've got two new stressors that are causing all my other memories to flood back in, and I'm having a difficult time. Thus the doctor's recommendation for Valium.

1. Husband still believes I'm his property, and has spoken of looking for his career openings in my area of the world
2. Had to say "no" to my 18-year old son when he wanted to move back in with me for the third time. So, so guilty. But too stressful. Ended up in hospital the 2nd time because he just pushes the stress too high. But....I'm his mum. And I'm saying "no".

So I'll take the Valium. I don't care if I get addicted in any way. I need to be calm to function, and talking just does not do it. Sometimes meds are necessary.

I'll write something more about my husband later under PTSD. Just what I need right now. I'm going to lose it. I just don't stop shaking.

God bless,
Sandy

</font><blockquote><div id="quote"><font class="small">Quote:</font>
SandyWeb said:
Hi all,

Does anyone have experience with Valium for PTSD or anxiety that they could share with me?

I'm on clonazepam right now, but the doc that I've been with for 2 years (and I trust him) said that just one of my events would be enough to cause problems with a person....and I've got a lot of high-stress events that I went through. Plus there are 2 new ones happening right now that are really messing with my head, and that in turn is making ALL these memories flood me.

He lowered my dose of clonazepam for one month (I usually only see him every 6 months), and then he wants to put me on the longer-acting Valium (half-life is 30-200 hours).

I know that doctors don't like to prescribe Valium, but I guess after I showed him a list of events in point form, he thought that I needed a little more help in the meds department.

What doses have you found to be helpful, does it make you tired or only in the beginning, and did it cause any problems for you? Also, did it help you to sleep at night? I know that we all have different chemistries and I'll get varying responses, but it'll give me some idea.

Right now, besides the clonazepam (which I'm weaning off of) I'm also on Effexor XR and Lopressor SR.

Thanks, guys.

God bless,
Sandy

</div></font></blockquote><font class="post">

Sandy,
I have been on xanax for about 20 years and never increased the dose; in fact I have decreased it over 1mg. and it still works fine for me. No tolerance withdrawal, etc. I actually used valium, the longer acting benzo, to decrease the xanax, ala Heather Ashton's method.

I saw a renowned psychopharmacologist here in Boston who said tha t benzos are one of the safest psych. drugs out there as far as side effects, etc. and I believe it!

Also,I have never had a pdoc refuse to prescribe me benzos here in the US. Xanax has been a lifesaver for me and I feel that it has not adversely affected me cognitively or any other way, I did successfully quit it some years ago by reducing very gradually. Valium is easier to taper off, as it has the long half-life and active metabolites.

I am so sorry for all the trouble you have been/are going through.


Olivia

P.S. I take 1.5mg. xanax, equal to about 20mg. valium or less.
It does help me to sleep some. Benzos can make some people feel tired in the beginning until your body is used to them.