I can really use the support right now...

Hi,

 

I had taken Lorazepam for the past three years for anxiety and panic attacks (last dose was .75mg twice daily) and just recently (two months ago) a doctor helped me come off of it COMPLETELY by switching me to Clonazepam and several other medications. This doctor told me he eventually wants me off of Clonazepam as well, and these other medications would help me accomplish that.

 

I currently take daily as follows:

 

1. Clonazepam - .5mg twice daily, once when I wake up and once around 5pm

 

2. Duloxetine – 30mg once daily in the morning – was told it would help with the anxiety

 

3. Gabapentin – 300mg four times daily, once when I wake up, once at around 3pm and two of them at bedtime – was told this would also ease the morning anxiety

 

4. Hydroxyzine – 10mg three of them at bedtime – was told it would help with sleep. The Gabapentin as making it hard to fall asleep. This IS helping me with sleep.

 

I usually wake up with anxiety, headache, jaw pain, neck pain, back pain, nose numbness and some eye pressure. It used to be much worse, but it seems to have gotten a bit better, except the nose coldness and numbness – it seems to be present quite a bit during the course of the day.

 

When I take my morning medications, my symptoms mostly subside. However, I KNOW when it’s time to take my afternoon doses because a headache creeps in and I start feeling more anxious and the other symptoms start returning.

 

I have a very stressful life and have been told that stress can eventually lead to experiencing real pain as a result. BUT I’ve also been to neurologists and neurosurgeons who had me scanned (head, neck, spine CT/MRI) and said I have herniated discs and that was the cause of my pain and causing me anxiety. HOWEVER, these doctors did pain injections – including ones I was put to sleep for – and it did not help. I also did around 30 sessions of physical therapy and had some visits to a chiropractor and even an ENT (thought it was TMJ) in the last year and that didn’t help either. 

 

So my question is as follows – am I taking the right medications currently? Does this mix of drugs make sense? Are there other things I should consider doing based on what I described? Do you guys think something else is wrong with me?? 

 

 

Thank you in advance for any replies - I can really use the support right now. I'm thankful I don't have panic attacks anymore and totally off of that dreadful Lorazepam, but I wonder about the future - if I keep taking these meds and slowly bring down the Clonazepam dose and use the other meds to help limit withdrawals - will these morning/afternoon symptoms eventually go away for good?

Hi fruitpunched,

 

Wow, that's a lot of medications!  I've never taken any of them except for the Clonazepam but I've seen many topics on our Other Medications board, so you may want to head over there to do a search for what others have to say about them.  I will tell you we have support threads on the forum for some of those meds for folks having difficulty tapering from them, just a heads up for your future.

 

Can you tell us how long you've been on all of those medications, is it only since you crossed to the Clonazepam?  You ask, are you taking the right medications currently, we can't answer that since we don't know your medical history, but for me, the only thing I used to get through withdrawals was time and it worked for me.

 

I'm glad you no longer have panic attacks, that's good, and hopefully when you finally get free of the benzo you'll be better able to handle any panic attacks you might get.  I've never had a panic attack, but I can tell you that normal anxiety is nothing compared to benzo anxiety, hopefully it will be the same for panic attacks. 

 

Oh, and just to refresh you, here is the list of symptoms from chapter 3 of the Ashton manual, it looks to me like everything you're dealing with is in there. https://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzcha03.htm#14

 

Pamster

Hi Pamster,

 

Yes - I've only started taking these other medications since crossing over to the Clonazepam. My general doctor (can't afford a physc one anymore) told me taking this mix of meds would help me with withdrawals from the Lorazepam.

 

 

Thanks!

 

 

Hey FP, can you tell us if the Dr crossed you over slowly or just did a quick switch?  Mary 💜

Hi Mary - it was an immediate switch from one to the other - like one basically replaced the other.

FP, the immediate crossover is probably causing some of your issues.  All benzo's are different and mostly need to be crossed over slowly so you can adapt to the new benzo as you go.  I am not sure how old you are, but most of us have wear and tear on our backs, and the fact that nothing he did helped, makes me believe it's benzo causing your back pain.  I am not a Dr, but it seems he thought out what he gave you, but maybe rushed adding all the meds at once.  No, imo, I don't think there is anything else wrong with you. 

 

I wish I knew more about all the other meds.  Besides withdrawal symptoms there are also the side effects of all the meds.  If the meds are helping you, stay on them and let your body adjust.  When do you plan on tapering?  Go very low % and take your time between cuts.  Never just stop any med, always slowly come off.  Hope someone else comes on to help too.  My opinion is just give your brain and central nervous system time to stabilize after the quick c/o and the new meds.  Then start a slow taper.  It is usually recommended taper benzo first and definitely stay on the meds that help.  You and your Dr can figure out how and which med to taper next.  Good luck, keep us posted.  Mary 💜💜

I have had a cold and numb nose off and on for the past couple of months, as well as some patches on my face. The fact that this goes away tells me that the nerves aren't permanently damaged. They're just misfiring in some way right now. It still feels bizarre even so.

 

Liz