New pill pushing psychiatrist

My old psychiatrist moved away, we agreed to start a SSRI and if needed a low dose of oxazepam for a few weeks and then taper off.

 

This new psych wrote me a different script.

Sertraline 25mg, then up to 50mg.

Xanax 2 mg bars "when needed"

Clonazepam 2mg for sleep every night.

 

Surreal, really. What is wrong with some psychiatrists? 2mg xanax a day AND 2mg clonazepam? 

No way i'm taking that ofcourse. It took me 9 months of hell andmore to get off 0.5mg clonazepam and now that idiot wants me to take 2mg for sleep, hahaha.

 

 

He’s an idiot.

You know with that dose of sertaline you may not need ant Benz cover at all.

Wishing you the best

Dick

Yes i hope so Dick. i felt very anxious on low doses of ecitalopram and paroxetine in the past. Let's see how i will fare on sertraline.

 

I'll have to search for another psychiatrist....

 

 

 

 

You have to go through a period of anxiety with Zoloft. I couldn't handle the constant jitters so I had to stop. I'd get another psychiatrist. Talk about hitting a hammer over your CNS!! Slow and steady is better for it, NOT switching pills willy-nilly. What is the psychiatrist thinking???

 

My theory on doctors and pills is that the more they prescribe, the better they feel that they've done their job. But that doesn't work for the CNS.

Terry

The psychs I have worked with often thought a person needs a mega dose of x.  But what was offered here was much to much Benz to cover sertraline . 

When they were first peddling sertraline  they sold it to us as a drug for minor depression and best for ladies.  -)  Now they have jacked it up so some of my patients were on 300 a day. 

Let’s hope Nick can get away with a few days of cutting  klon and feel better soon.

 

Imho Drs should listen to patients more. or try the b....y drugs for themselves first.

Dickie

 

Nick,  that’s ridiculous. Did you inform the new psychiatrist that you were trying to get OFF the benzos??

 

My nurse practitioner (who originally prescribed me the Ativan)  refused to believe that I was experiencing with drawl  ...  when I described my symptoms,  she kept trying to prescribe MORE benzos!  She wrote me a script for K and also mentioned  Xanax. Thank goodness I had found benzo buddies ...  I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I was experiencing BWD.  It’s been three months since my last Ativan and I’m feeling SO MUCH better

I'm already off benzo's for 3 years but still not doing ok and the GAD +panic disorder has reared it's ugly head again, that's why i'm going on a SSRI.

I agreed with the previous psych. to add a low dose oxazepam alongside the SSRI for just a few weeks to mitigate the startup symptoms like increased anxiety.

A benzo for just a few weeks is ok, but this psych. tries to get me hooked again by prescribing two different benzo's of which one very high dosed. 2mg clonazepam == 40mg diazepam!

Nick,

 

Thankfully, you are informed of the risks associated with benzos!  Maybe you can educate your psychiatrist.  We live in a frightening world of pill pushing docs!

 

SaraSue

I'm already off benzo's for 3 years but still not doing ok and the GAD +panic disorder has reared it's ugly head again, that's why i'm going on a SSRI.

I agreed with the previous psych. to add a low dose oxazepam alongside the SSRI for just a few weeks to mitigate the startup symptoms like increased anxiety.

A benzo for just a few weeks is ok, but this psych. tries to get me hooked again by prescribing two different benzo's of which one very high dosed. 2mg clonazepam == 40mg diazepam!

 

Could you add a signature, Nick? This would make answering more easy..

This cocktail you got prescribed is horrible. I would go and search another doctor who is willing to help you to find a life without any meds, instead of going back on the cocktailing road so to speak. I disagree also in the thought that " a benzo for just a week is okey" because what do you do when the other med doesn't work the way you want within a week? You stick to the benzo and search another second med. And then a third. And in the end you will  need to taper all of them. Again.

What other options were you offered? Did you try therapies or exercising or other things? Is there any kind of different support than meds offered where you live?

I have been polydrugged and it always started exactly like you wrote above. I hope you could maybe find another way to cope. I am 3 years med free and feel so much better without any meds. I though I would never make it. But it worked out. Still I feel that it might take years until all symptoms are finally gone, but I think it was worse it. It makes me so sad to read what your new doc prescribed cause its just not the right way, it wasnt for me, just made me more sick.

Wishing you the best!

Marigold

Nick

I know that you fear going onto an SSRI without benzo cover, and that it is usual to cover the first few days ( a five day course is all I ever gave) with a benzo, but Marigold has a point.

You spotted immediately the dangers of polydrugging from this new psych and felt that was way to much stuff.

Marigold offers other ways of overcoming the first few days sertraline “kick” and I would seriously consider them.

You also have time, so there is no reason why you cannot start the SSRI in halves and use exercise, deep relaxation and posting or PMs as often as necessary to get to that days 5 approx when the SSRI is stable.

Your default position is a very short course of a benzo as you planned and you are a determined bloke who would not go past the first few days with benzo cover.

You have to balance the options and Marigold is right to raise concerns imho.

I know from bitter experience that I was so agitated on Seroquel they gave me Diaz 30 and it’s turned me into a poly user even though I have reduced substantially!

Those of us with CYP450 deficiency have to cope with initial side effects as you know, but you have support on here and am sure will do it.

Best wishes as ever. You are not alone. Try not to anticipate discomfort— I do and feel for you.

Dick

 

I am going to try the sertralin without a benzo first, i have it on hand just to be sure i have something to fall back on if the anxiety becomes unbearable.

 

I already suffer from severe GAD and panic disorder and i don't know how much more i can take. I tried ecitalopram and paroxetine years ago but had to stop taking it after 1 or 2 doses because of the anxiety.

 

I have tried CBT and some other psychotherapy but it doesn't help me, not when my GAD is severe. Especially not now i have some extreme life stressors going on.

I want to give CBT another chance but i need to calm down first.

 

I'm 3 years off clonazepam.

Last year i took 5 ~ 10 mg diazepam / day for 4 weeks + a taper of 3 weeks. I "recovered" from the more severe withdrawal symptoms quite quickly. So that's why i think well, if really necessary i can take oxazepam for a few weeks and then taper off. So far from all the benzo's i have found oxazepam to be the easiest to taper.

See this link this psychiatrist talks about Serotonin medications giving people anxiety he recommends lithium and  Lamictal

Bluepm,

Thanks!

I found this chap too.  The problem is he mixes some factual stuff with his own crazy ideas. Of course Serotonin makes one a bit anxious at first ( if you believe in the deficiency theory) as it raises awareness etc.  That doesn’t seem a good reason to add a thyroid and kidney basher like lithium or an anti epilepsy mood stabiliser either.

 

Whenever someone says yoghurt is good for depression I put them in the crazy category.  Like my sister who has her head massaged for £200 only to be told to avoid tomatoes for her IBS -))

 

Sadly though I was caught in this trap. In bereavement antidepressant medication won’t bring the loved one back. The SSRIs didn’t work so they said “Ah you are clearly in the new bipolar two spectrum and will respond to an anti psychotic” .  Well sleep good but did nothing for mood so they suggested lamotrigine which made me fall over -).  So they add mirtazipine and I just am zonked at night and tense by day.

This psych perhaps needs his head examining and his chaotic meanderings make me wonder if he is ok himself. ??

Dickie

That’s a very good point sometimes we have to have other opinions to see the truth thanks for bringing that to my attention. I’m to the point where you can’t believe anything on the Internet anymore.  Or be careful of what you read .

Yes Dick, that's how it goes with those pill pushers. Sorry to hear it happened to you.

Before you know it you've been labeled with 10 different disorders, take 10 different drugs whilst all you needed was time and some serious counseling.

 

P.s. about Yoghurt. Ofcourse it doesn't cure depression. But if we look at the science - most of serotonin is influenced by the enteric nervous system / produced in the intestines, if the gut is inflamed then you might have less serotonin. See gut-brain axis.

Research also shows our intestinal microbiome contains multiple species which produce neurotransmitters like serotonin. If lactobacilli / bifido in yogurt can increase the population of certain neurotransmitter-producing species then it's not such a far fetched idea. Store bought yogurt is crap and is not going to do anything ofcourse, CFU count is way too low.

This would probably only work for IBD/IBS/severe microbiota dysbiosis patients.

Research into the microbiome is blowing up, i'm confident that in 5 ~ 10 years there will be huge scientific breakthroughs in this area. Like the influence of the microbiome on autoimmune diseases and possible cures.

 

 

 

Nick

I am tongue in cheek about yoghurt-); the fibromyalgia groups use it for their “ leaky gut syndrome” which some docs actually try to understand. Hurrah!

 

I was once delivering twins and the mum refused pain relief.  Her husband rubbed Marigold leaf water on her private parts and I have never seen a such a comfy labour.  So I am alway open to learning.!

 

Half the people can be part right all of the time,

Some of the people can be all right part of the time,

But all of the people can't be all right all of the time.

I think Abraham Lincoln said that.

“I’ll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours.”

Bob Dylan said that.

 

Best wishes

Dick

 

 

 

 

I just took my first dose of 25mg sertraline (zoloft). Let's hope the startup symptoms will not be too harsh on me.

Little bit anxious about that because i can't afford to lose control over my anxiety even further.

 

 

 

Good luck and expect a mild serotonin rush but I promise it will pass. They use sertaraline im UK for adolescent depresion in that dose and they are ok. Though I hate the ideas of young folk going on ADs

Dickie

Thank you, i'm prepared for the serotonin rush. It's now 2 hours since i took my first dose and i feel a bit foggy in the head.

 

T+9 on 25mg sertraline.

The foggy, drowsy feeling has dissipated and replaced by increased anxiety. It's difficult but manageable if the anxiety does not increase even further.

If the foggy and drowsy feeling happens every time then maybe it's better if i take the sertraline before bed.

 

My dogs sense something is wrong and they keep me comfort.

I have always taken SSRIs and before that trycyclics before bed and now mirtazipine-))

A hopeless but hopeful case.

Keep it up Nick

Dick

I just took my first dose of 25mg sertraline (zoloft). Let's hope the startup symptoms will not be too harsh on me.

Little bit anxious about that because i can't afford to lose control over my anxiety even further.

 

Nick if it makes you feel any better,  I tried Sertraline for the first time 5 months ago.  This was a couple of weeks after trying Ativan for the first time.  I did not experience any noticeable side effects.  After the initial two weeks at 25 mg,  I went up to a therapeutic dose of 50 mg.  Still no side effects.  I hope this reassures you.

Yes, but SSRI's are activating for most people, except paroxetine. Maybe it has something to do with the CYP3A4 and other mutations i have.

 

Also wondering if should try a different SSRI because of my CYP3A4 mutation. I did a detoxigenomic panel a few years ago.

 

How's the mirtazapine working out for you?

Restoration123, i'm glad to hear that. Are you still taking sertraline?

 

Yes still taking it.  And when the benzo withdrawal hit,  I was glad because I’m sure that  it helped to mask the chemical anxiety.  It’s been just over three months since my last Ativan,  I feel like I’m dramatically improved so planning to taper off the Setraline when  i’m a bit further along in my recovery.  Hope you feel better soon!