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I went to a psychiatrist


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I went to a psychiatrist last Friday to discuss how I tried to wean off of Xanax and told him I ended up updosing to 1.5mg on April 1st.  I told him I was having panic attacks in the morning until I increased the Celexa my GP put me on to help with my anxiety from 20mg to 30mg at night.  I told him that I still wake up to anxiety (around a 2 on a scale from 1-10) which is obviously much better than the 10 I was experiencing from the panic attacks.  I told him that pre-weaning I never had anxiety.  He asked me if I was sleeping ok being in 1.5mg of Xanax and I said yes.  He felt I needed to increase the dose to 2mg and let him know if I was still feeling the same come today.  Well I tried calling him to say I still wake up with anxiety but he had left the office and won’t be back until this Thursday.

 

I’ve taken the 2mg for 3 days and feel that the 1.5mg was doing fine.  I think the Celexa should be upped instead.  What is the forum’s thoughts on this?  I’m afraid of issues with taking 2mg for a week and then trying to reduce it down to 1.5mg.

 

I just want to get back to no anxiety so I can recuperate awhile before attempting to taper again.  Any help would be greatly appreciated!

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If it were me, I'd go with my instincts and it sounds like yours are telling you that the 2 mgs isn't the right call for you.  And honestly, anxiety at a 2 on a scale of 1-10 sounds manageable if you're sleeping, I'd call that a win with the 1.5 mgs of Xanax and even on your current dose of Celexa.  Going from 1.5 mgs to 2mgs of Xanax is a big increase, the equivalent of that in Valium would be like going from 30 mgs to 40 mgs, its a pretty big jump which could take you many months to taper from if you stay at 2 mgs.
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Agreed. If it were me, I would stay at 1.5 mg to avoid issues with updosing.

 

I updosed from .75 mg k to .875 mg k when my sleep got rough (due to tolerance setting in), and if I had been able to avoid that, I could've shaved months off my taper. But at the time, I didn't know any better, and my doctor gave me the green light because neither did he. And that makes me wonder now if the nocturnal panic attacks started due to the benzo and not just due to the PTSD I'd been experiencing. I don't believe I was in tolerance then, but I updosed a quarter tablet then, which at the time was a 1 mg Rx, so .25 mg. If I had avoided that, I could've tapered from .5 mg k and shaved many months off my taper. The common refrain is to avoid updosing, if possible. I wish someone would've told me.

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Pamster,

Giving it more thought, the anxiety is probably ranging from 2-4 and it is during the day, not while I’m sleeping.  I need something during the day to address the anxiety.  I am hoping that the Celexa can do that for me or some other med.  Being on 1.5mg I would have thought would get me back to how I felt pre-tapering but it hasn’t.  Could it be that my body is still in a state of flux from what it’s been through

even though I’m back to 1.5mg and that after awhile I’ll be back to my pre-taper self?  Also, the anxiety is causing me to be in pain from my ulcer.  I have to get rid of the anxiety or I’m going to be really suffering!  I’m a mess right now.

 

Can I become addicted to clonazePAM if I take one 1mg tablet once every 10 or more days apart for help during an extremely difficult day?

 

This when I have taken it:

Took 1mg on 1/25/22 (Tuesday) @ 3:15p

Took 1mg on 2/13/22 (Sunday) @ 2:40p

Took 1mg on 3/13/22 (Sunday) @ 8:45a

Took 1mg on 4/5/22 (Tuesday) @ 1:25p

Took 1mg on 4/14/22 (Thursday) @ 10:10a

Took 1mg on 5/9/22 (Monday) @ 12:12p

Took 1mg on 5/10/22 (Tuesday) @ 7:00a

Took 1mg on 5/18/22 (Wednesday) @ 10a

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Its very difficult to go home again and by that I mean getting back to how you felt before feeling these symptoms, once this process starts it seems like the only answer is to go up in dose or taper off and be free.  The trouble with going up in dose is that once your body becomes tolerant to that dose, you have to raise it again and eventually you get to the point where your doctor won't or can't prescribe the increasing amounts. 

 

My suggestion would be to learn coping skills for your anxiety, many of our members rely on what they call their toolbox to help them through the day. Relying on a drug that is only recommended to be taken for 2-4 weeks isn't practical and taking it intermittently can lead to what is known as kindling, here are some definitions. 

 

Kindling - The Alliance for Benzodiazepine Best Practices

https://benzoreform.org/kindling/

 

Kindling - Benzodiazepine Information Coalition

https://www.benzoinfo.com/kindling/

 

 

 

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