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CAN VALIUM GIVE YOU SUCIDIAL THOUGHTS?


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Hi everyone:

 

I haven't written in awhile but I am going through caregiver exhaustion, well that is what is referred to in a book, I am reading The Benzo Book.

As you all have read, my husband was reinstated on his Valium 5mg on the 31st and has been taking it at 5pm on the dot.

 

He says he feels suicidal, depressed, and thinks he as an underlying disease.( and its not)  His doctor is not giving him confidence, she says he can't be feeling this...yadadyad..tried to push him on cymbalta and I told him to tell her no a/d now, CNS way 2 sensitive. I isn't at appointment  I am usually very vocal and a strong advocate for him , but was at work.

 

 

My two questions are:

 

1) is it too soon to taper?

2) can Valium make you depressed and cause GI problems?

 

Sorry to ramble, feel frustrated and tired.

 

Thanks :'(

Teacher

 

 

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Hi everyone:

 

I haven't written in awhile but I am going through caregiver exhaustion, well that is what is referred to in a book, I am reading The Benzo Book.

As you all have read, my husband was reinstated on his Valium 5mg on the 31st and has been taking it at 5pm on the dot.

 

He says he feels suicidal, depressed, and thinks he as an underlying disease.( and its not)  His doctor is not giving him confidence, she says he can't be feeling this...yadadyad..tried to push him on cymbalta and I told him to tell her no a/d now, CNS way 2 sensitive. I isn't at appointment  I am usually very vocal and a strong advocate for him , but was at work.

 

 

My two questions are:

 

1) is it too soon to taper?

2) can Valium make you depressed and cause GI problems?

 

Sorry to ramble, feel frustrated and tired.

 

Thanks :'(

Teacher

 

 

 

Hi Teacher,

 

Benzos can cause depression. I have heard people state that valium is one of the worst for causing depression. If your husband is not having any other symptoms and seems relatively stable, he can try to reduce his valium by a small amount (1/4 of 2mg tablet or .50mg) and hold there for a week or so and then cut again. Benzos also cause digestive problems for many. Here are some excerpts from The Ashton Manual regarding depression and GI problems...

 

Depression, aggression, obsessions. Depressive symptoms are common both during long-term benzodiazepine use and in withdrawal. It is not surprising that some patients feel depressed considering the amalgam of other psychological and physical symptoms that may assail them. Sometimes the depression becomes severe enough to qualify as a "major depressive disorder", to use the psychiatric term. This disorder includes the risk of suicide and may require treatment with psychotherapy and/or antidepressant drugs.

 

Severe depression may result from biochemical changes in the brain induced by benzodiazepines. Benzodiazepines are known to decrease the activity of serotonin and norepinephrine (noradrenaline), neurotransmitters believed to be closely involved in depression. Antidepressant drugs including the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs such as Prozac) are thought to act by increasing the activity of such neurotransmitters.

 

Depression in withdrawal may become protracted (see section on protracted symptoms) and if it does not lift within a few weeks and is unresponsive to simple reassurance and encouragement, it is worth seeking a medical opinion and possibly taking an antidepressant drug (see section on adjuvant medication). Depression in withdrawal responds to antidepressant drugs in the same way as depressive disorders where benzodiazepines are not involved. If, as in many cases, an antidepressant drug is already being taken along with the benzodiazepine, it is important to continue the antidepressant until after benzodiazepine withdrawal is complete. Withdrawal from the antidepressant can be considered separately at a later stage (See Chapter II, Schedule 13).

 

Digestive problems. Some people have no problems at all with their digestive systems during or after withdrawal, and may even notice that they are enjoying their food more. Others, perhaps more prone constitutionally, may complain of a range of symptoms associated with "irritable bowel syndrome" (IBS). These can include nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, constipation, abdominal pain, flatulence, gaseous distension and heartburn. Quite a few have found these symptoms so uncomfortable that they have undergone hospital gastrointestinal investigations, but usually no abnormality is found. The symptoms may be partly due to overactivity in the autonomic nervous system, which controls the motility and secretions of the gut and is very reactive to stress, including the stress of benzodiazepine withdrawal. In addition, there are benzodiazepine receptors in the gut. It is not clear what the functions of these receptors are or how they are affected by benzodiazepines or benzodiazepine withdrawal, but alterations in these receptors may play some part in increasing gut irritability.

 

Considerable loss of weight (8-10lb or more) sometimes occurs in withdrawal. This may be due to a rebound effect on appetite, since benzodiazepines have been shown to increase appetite in animals. On the other hand, some people gain weight in withdrawal. In any case, weight changes are not severe enough to worry about and normal weight is soon regained after withdrawal. A few people have difficulty in swallowing food - the throat seems to tighten up especially if eating in company. This is usually a sign of anxiety and is well-known in anxiety states. Practising relaxation, eating alone, taking small well chewed mouthfuls with sips of liquid and not hurrying make things easier and the symptom settles as anxiety levels decline.

 

Most digestive symptoms get better after withdrawal but in a few people they persist and become a protracted symptom, raising fears of food allergy or candida infection. These questions are discussed further in the section on protracted symptoms.

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His doctor is not giving him confidence, she says he can't be feeling this...yadadyad..tried to push him on cymbalta

 

This makes me so angry!!  They are drs., prescribe these drugs, and know so flippin' little about them!!!  Where does she think these feelings are coming from?  Some illness that has she has yet diagnosed?

 

And cymbalta?  Well, it made my hair fall out in clumps.  I thought I was going to be bald and my dr. told me that it couldn't be the cymbalta....I looked at the side effects and guess what?  Hair loss.....

 

When it comes to benzos, AD's, side effects, etc.  we need to question everything they tell us....

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I have read that any of the benzos can give you suicidal thoughts. I don't know what to tell you that would help. Even "happy go lucky me" felt suicidal when I was taking it. I had no idea what was happening to me because it was very unlike me. It is part of the whole horror of these meds.

Good luck teacher. I do know those thoughts completely stopped for me once I'd been off a few months and once I knew it was the benzo damage that was causing it.  :)

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