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the letter my general practitioner sent me today is crippling


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this is what i sent her  (Hi Dr Shurilla i'm writing this message to ask you if at all possible, i can do an e visit with you instead of coming in to the office . i have a very hard time leaving my home , in fact i rarely leave my home at all due to due my anxiety and panic disorder. I understand your position, however, but i hope you understand mine.

Thank you for listen Michael )  this is what she sent back

 

(I highly recommend that you see a psychiatrist and perhaps a counselor if you are unable to leave your house, as they may be able get you on a better med regimen. I am wanting to wean you off the benzo, and try even an antidepressant, this is why I wanted ot see you. I can do an Evisit but I will not be prescribing the ativan (the benzo) long term and I recommend you see a psychiatrist. ) 

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Frankly, I would tend to agree with her advice for you to consult with a PDoc and/or Counselor. Most general practice Physicians, and certainly a Physican's Assistant, could face strong professional and peer scrutiny by repeatedly prescribing benzos long term to someone exhibiting a upward trending dose increase and conditions that are as limiting as what you described. A good PDoc or Counselor would (should) indeed be able to better address your situation and may offer better insight in way you can improve your life in society with your anxiety and panic disorder.
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how am i supposed to see a pdoc or Counselor if im un able to leave the house ??  and ive been down this road with my old doctor before he retired and it was my idea to get off ativan  but the taper was to fast and i failed that is my biggest fear that the new dr will try to taper me by 25%  every 10 to 14 days  thats way to fast  10 to 5 percent a month is whatshould be the standard  but dr arnt educated enough about how bad benzo withdrawls are and how withdrawls  can last years or the rest of your life
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I wish I could snap my fingers and be your neighbor. We'd team up, strike out and together get you to a provider that can assist you in the proper manner.

 

First, I would ask your current Doctor / PA to make an official referral for you to a PDoc and Counselor. She should do this since that is what she is urging. I would ask her to explain your home bound situation and see what they have to say. I hate to admit it but I fear a new practitioner will not blindly prescribe the medication you seek / need without a face to face consultation that involves a treatment plan. And if your current Doctor isn't going to keep prescribing the Ativan, you're facing a forced tamper that will likely be far harsher than anything Doctor recommended. Once the referral is made, I would then be a strong advocate for yourself to get your point across to them that you are home bound and needing some level of intervention to achieve the ability to attend an appointment, get stabilized and on a treatment plan that suits you.

 

Good luck. Try to start addressing this issue today.

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shes new only been seeing her for a year    my old doctor  who was my dr since i was 4years of age till i was 30 years old im now 31  put me on ativan  in 2013  n just kept me on it  im sure i can explain that i need atleast a couple of months to try and get my shit tohether before i even try n start this tamper n then i will unleash my 4 years of benzo knowledge i  have one her and see if we can come to a common ground on figuring out a taper the problem is gp's or even pdoc are not expects trying to wean someone of a benzo they believe like a 10 week taper plan applys to all and that is the furthest thing from the truth because no to ppl are the same there should be a law in place for a min of 6 months for benzo tapers  !!!

 

    HEATHER  ASHTON  SAID THIS  I TOTALLY AGREE 

 

the general aim of the doseage taper of the benzo is to achieve a slow steady  smooth  falling blood concentrartion of the benzo  allowing necessary time for the pharmalogic and psychological  adjustments  and this may include actual  resynthesis  of gaba  benzo receptors  which have down regulation during the long duration of use !! there cant be a single protical  that applies to everyone because everyone is different the whole process may takes weeks, months or every a year or more its seems to me theres no reason to hurry  in patiences who been taking benzos for years anyway  and in my experience the best results achieved  if the patient himself and not the doctor is in control of the rate of withdrawl and he or she can proceed at whatever rate  he or she find tolerable

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In the past few weeks i have developed the same symptoms.  so many fears of doing or going certain places. It comes and goes. Unfortuately it has happened twice the day of a doctor app. I am terrified of trying to get there. Fearing it will build and become a thousand times worse the closer i get.

I thought of asking for a web cam visit also.

I am afraid of being cut off too.

As its our tapering and getting off that is causing this horrid symptom.

Doctors need to believe us. I find it astounding that with all the proof of what getting these do. That they dont believe us. This is nothing like normal anxiety.talking your way around it when it happens is near impossible.

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@marie808  your right marie doctors are blind to this all even with all the research  and my mind work the same was as your if i had a problem going a certain place i will remember and the anxiety is terrible because it like returning to the scene of the crime
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In my state, it's actually illegal for doctors to prescribe medications over e-appointments/phone calls. I do suggest seeing a psychiatrist if you can, though, even if you have to take someone with you for support.  They will most likely want to put you on an SSRI/SNRI--the only way my psych would help me with a long-term valium crossover was if I went on an SSRI (in my case, Zoloft).  This is controversial

obviously, and many will object to exchanging one poison for another, but it is what it is, and I'm a year off benzos and doing fine. I totally get not wanting to leave the house, though--in the darkest periods of my withdrawal, going to doctor appointments was one of the hardest things I had to do.  I had to take my wife with me to a few appointments because I literally could barely make in the door and explain what I was feeling without her.  Another thought--if you think CBT would help with your agoraphobia (I think it would) you can try counseling online.  Example (not endorsing this, nor have I used it, but I've heard of it through several other forums): www.betterhelp.com. Perhaps the first step is to work on curbing the agoraphobia, and then the benzo taper. At the very least, showing your GP that you are being proactive might convince them to be more flexible on a long-term taper. Just some thoughts.

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  • 1 month later...

Hello Jumpman,

I am not being cavalier about the issue you face. 

I am not trivializing your predicament. How do I read such a sad post? I feel for you it's a hard read. I can validate your feelings easily. I can see advice given you from professional and BB sources and see their point.

 

Did you know that sometimes we are the ones who we get the answers from in the first place?

 

Read what you titled this post, " the letter my general practitioner sent me today  is crippling "

 

The truth is there, almost- If you are at home and cannot leave you are already crippled. You informed your doctor honestly.  Your doctor has advised you of the next appropriate step to take in your present condition. That message hurts and is scary but the doctor's message is not crippling you.

 

As only a B-buddy, I can't lie to you and tell you it will go away, without getting checked out. Hey, if we're wrong you start a fresh attempt with added care that you sought responsibly. There is no shame there. But, to help you not face a possibly real problem with real consequences is ethically wrong.

 

I wish you the utmost peace, hope, and courage in deep humility,

Eutychus

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I am in a similar boat. I suffer from agoraphobia. But I can get around with a trusted support person.

 

It was actually Ativan that made me agoraphobic in the first place I believe. My doctor insisted I go on an anti-depressant, but I had such a bad reaction

to ant-depressants that I refused. He saw it as me being stubborn. I explained that I believed I would be better after getting off the benzos completely.

He finally reasoned that he would allow me to taper off with him, but after I was off I would be on my own and should see a pdoc.

 

I have seen pdocs before, and their standard protocol is to put you on SSRIS. I found that these heightened my anxiety so much it was unbearable. It may work for some though, but I couldnt imagine putting that kind of stress on myself, especially going through withdrawal.

 

Did you have agoraphobia before going on Ativan? You may actually feel BETTER once you start tapering. For me, some symptoms got better, some got worse (unfortunately agoraphobia has been present throughout my benzo use).

 

This sounds awful, but if SSRIS are not an option for you but the doctor says they will not allow you to taper without an SSRI - you could pretend to take them, but ask for a slow taper bc of the increased anxiety. OR you could just tell the doctor the anti-depressant is making things worse. I know it is dishonest, but sometimes you have to do what you need to protect your health and sanity in my opinion.

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I am so sorry!

 

This infuriated me so much.

 

What is it with these people.

 

They hand those #&@()&+ pills out and then when people are crippled by trying to come off of them they take no responsibility and provide no help. They don’t even believe what patients say and refuse to learn about the harm they are causing. Where is the duty of care in all of this.

 

And then to suggest you see a shrink when you have said you can’t leave the house. Unbelievable!

 

Ask her if she can recommend someone who a) have knowledge of benzo withdrawal and b) can provide a home visit.

 

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Im also spending most of the time indoors due to one panic epeisode that was major causing a lot more on daily basis ever since (10 days now maybe).

 

There are counsilors online via skype, but still too costly for me. There are even websites that match you with a psychologist. Dont suffer alone, this forum exists to give each other support.

 

Life is really horrible for me right now but I am sure for some other it is even worse. If I have the luxury to type this to complain, things arent that bad for me yet. I have to wait and wait .... Yes waiting is not so nice, but what else is there to do. We chosen to heal and healing is not easy, and Time with Patience are the most valuable healers. It helps a lot to have a skype councilor if you can have one.

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update  went to the doctors  and she is not going to take me off ativan  we had a long discussion and she wanted to try me on lexapro  i told her how bad of a reaction i had on zoloft so she started me on 5mg  i tryed it different pill same story  this time i stayed on long but to no avail some of the side effects went away but the ones i did not like stayed the depresonaliztion  and insomnia  so i stopped talking it after 6 days  we were in agreeance that if i didnt not like the ssri i can stop it and just stay on the ativan im just not starting to feel normal again im not sure what the ssri does to my brain but after stopping it i feel weird for almost 2 weeks  i now have to go in to see her every 6 months and we both agree ativan is not the answers to my problem so i may start tapering soon and see how it goes i failed once before but that was years ago before i knew anything about benzo and how terrrible they are
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Hi Jumpman23,

I'm glad you were able to get to your doctor! You sound a lot better than before.

Just to hear she's working with you must relieve some of the anxiety.

You seem to have a general direction you both agree to head toward. Besides, you've gained experience in tapering since the last time.

Good to know that you can meet /6 months as you can respond and adjust as you go.

Very glad you got over this bump.  :thumbsup:

Eutychus

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Glad to hear you were able to open the lines of communication with your doctor. Good luck with your tapering. It took me a bit to recover from from my trial with anti-depressants too.

 

You aren't alone. This is a difficult road we are on but we can do it slowly.

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thank you everyone  for the responds and support this is the most responces ive ever gotten on a single post and i must say i final feel accepted ive been posting here for 10 months and never got more then one or 2 responces ever  thank you all again i will keep posting and keep everyone updating thank you for caring and most importantly getting where i am coming from because nobody gets it  or my situation thats why i joined the group 
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Hi Jumpman23,

That's what the site is for. We are all here for each other.

There are many of us; some can't reply at the time they're

a tough spot or helping another. I cannot possibly reach out to everyone.

A lot of the time a well phrased subject line does help.

I try two positive posts, one for me and one for my Buddies.

I'm happy you are a buddy. :)

Eutychus

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