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I called in sick today

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 11226

Hello!

Just popped in to remind everyone that all discussion regarding medication is from member's personal experiences and it is important to talk to a doctor when making choices about medication.

Ashley, Health Educator

Here to help :)

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 6252

I like valium because the rebound from taking it hit or miss is not bad. With some it can be bad.

Ativan being the worst. You know that even if you do quit it you will still have one or two days a month maybe when you still need it. This I think is okay. You might not, it depends on how determined you are to stay off. 1 gram of calcium and a cup of ginger mint tea does the same for me in about the same time, about 15 minutes without leaving me sleepy in the morning. But then I am much farther along the road to recovery than most people.

Davit.

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 195

Oh, and I forgot to mention that I got a call into a psyhchiatrist that my therapist highly recommended before I ended up at that other doctor. They are supposed to call me tomorrow to schedule an appointment.

David

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 195

Davit,

Interesting information. Thank you.

When I went to the psyhchiatrist last month, he wanted me to add the Paxil, go cold turkey on the diazepam and cut down the triavil (elavil and perphenazine) to half and also ad hydroxyzine. This is what scared me. I am not going there again, and I never started what he suggested.

In speaking with my therapist on the phone today, I told her such and she realizes I want to get off diazepam because of the side effects. But she does not prescribe meds. She als felt the gaba supplement might be doing more harm than good. I am stopping it for the time being, at least until I am off diazepam. Since I was on nearly 10 mg for a few days and then a few more days after lessening, I am going slower this time.

My history with using it has been to use it for emergencies. I've never taken more than 10 mg in a day and the least amount I have taken it in a day is 2.5 or less. Some times I would not take it at all for several days. I was never using 10 mg for a long period of time. I'd say I was averaging 2.5-5 mg a day, often time none on some days. I have read where some people are on 60 mg a day, My younger brother was on 50 mg a day for quite some time. I never realized so many people got so addicted.

My longest periods of most usage were part of 2005, moderate use between 2007 and 2008, 2009 in emergencies, and then the last 2 years, moderate use of 5 mg in the morning if we had a meeting at work with a lot of people in the room. Only this year have I started needing it more, which probably tells me the elavil/perphenazine is not doing its trick anymore and the move to paxil and CBT seems the right choice.

OK, it's bedtime. I really appreciate your input. Tme to start listening to the MP3 I downloaded.

Thanks,

David

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 6252

Benzos are anxiolytics. They enhance the neurotransmitter GABA, which results in sedative, hypnotic, anxiolytic (anti anxiety), anti convulsive, muscle relaxant and amnesic action. (direct quote) This is without supplementation. Supplementation would most likely increase the effect.

There is a possibility of having countering effects if the hypnotic effect is causing anxiety and the anxiolytic effect is trying to suppress it. This push pull effect would definitely interfere with sleep.

Or it might not depending on how you are with Hypnotic's.

Any thing that increases anxiety is going to increase the need for a benzo if you are taking one. More so than if you are not because of the way Benzos work.

Any thing that causes a foreign feeling has the potential to cause anxiety or panic as you probably noticed with depersonalization.

An interesting aside: Short half life benzos work better for sleep. Long half life benzos work better for anxiety. This is why Ativan is used for one or two nights of sleeplessness. It has too many problems to use it for longer than that.

I'm not sure what you want to do. This is just me, if GABA works for you as an anxiolytic and sleep aid then you should taper off the Benzo. But if it doesn't do both then I would taper off the Gaba till such time as you don't need the benzo.

You will have to play with this one I think but I think taking the two together is probably in most people not a good idea.

Davit.

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 195

Davit,

You're very wise, my friend. Glad you are a member and contributor of this site.

I think calling in sick might be the best thing I have done for my recent anxieties. I got a lot accomplished. I did not cure anything, but I have some new tools to get be back to a healthy zone of thought/being.

Sleeping poorly last night is what caused my morning anxiety and excuse not to go to work. I don't think I have slept good all week. My boss was not mad. It's the first time I have missed an entire day in 2 years.

I get what you are saying about riding it out with valium. I DON'T want to do that anymore. Not sure how long I need to wean. Any suggestions? A few weeks ago I was taking it nearly everyday up to 10 mg for about 4 days on advice from my doctor to stop the panic, but most days only 5 mg or an extra half.

I did not think of this before, but I have been taking gaba at bedtime. I did a little reading where benzo's act like gaba, a natural amino acid. I am starting to think that taking them together or at all might be causing more of a problem than helping. My therapist mentioned this. I was taking a product called gaba plus every day over a year ago. I was flushed all the time. Then I realized it was the Niacin in it that was causing this. If I am to take Niacin, which I know can be helpful, I need niacinamide, which is no-flush.

On your question of OCD. I believe it is the OCD that leads to my panic. I think that is how it has pretty much always been. I mean, I have had panic attacks out of the blue, but I have always been a thinker. Thinking is fine if you only think good things, but repetitive thought, especially negative ones filling up that bag, like the ones I have described recently - NOT good.

What are your thoughts on Gaba with benzo's, which I described?

David

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 6252

Wrestler.

Cds would be good if they are not monotone. You don't need to fall asleep. Anything that plays the information over and over so it sinks in and is available when you need it would be better than CBT exercises if you are not in a state where you need the exercises. Maybe both.

Ah. Group therapy is very good. It is a proven if you have a good leader.

Unfortunately both my cousins are content to take there meds in the morning and spend there day smoking and living in La La land. They refer to their medication as happy pills. No side effects for them so they can do this. They are not interested in changing for the better. Just coasting through life. Drives me nuts that someone would do this but it is their choice.

The CBT in this program is good. Some stuff on the net is geared to coping in a certain situation with no explanation and no information on how to deal with the primary situation.

Like medication this works but doesn't cure. You want to be able to stop it, not just ride it out.

But first you have to be able to ride it out. The problem as you have seen with the valium is that it is too easy to settle for riding it out till next time.

My therapist is straight up, she would not string me along. She says CBT can cure both panic and OCD and I believe her. If the OCD is causing the panic it has to be dealt with first. If the panic is causing OCD as a way of dealing with the panic then it has to be dealt with.

She says having a song stuck in your head is not OCD because OCD always has a reason, even if it is a stupid reason. Although if there is a reason for the song to be stuck then it is OCD. Therefore getting rid of the reason gets rid of the reason for OCD.

Do you think this is possible? Have you been able to out grow or escape any of the OCD? Has anything in your life changed to make past OCD unnecessary? You know that if you can do this you will be a great help because OCD is common but often so light as to not be recognized. And there lies the kicker, like subconscious thoughts and core beliefs it could be causing the panic in many. OCD would have a major effect on the panic triangle.

Obsessed with a negative thought would keep the negative at the top of the shopping bag.

Davit.

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 1665

Hi Hugs: The lady next door to me had pigeons. She has an older home with a high up widow's walk, looking onto the St. Lawrence River. She put a rubber owl on the edge of the roof. It worked for awhile. Good luck with the spikes.

Sunny

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 195

Davit,

That misspell of like into life is classic, as in funny, because that's exactly the topic. I love life. I just hate the parts of it that are hard, like anxiety and obsessive thoughts. I love to spend time with my wife, laugh, read, exercise, just about anything. I even like to complain. For some reason it feels good sometimes.

I do understand CBT is needed. What do you think of self-help CD's or MP3's. one was helpful to me in the past and I downloaded another one today.

The CBT you are talking about - do you mean the one on the site here or going for pshycotherapy, like I used to do? I have read through part of the program and though it seems helpful, going to group therapy sessions, like I have in the past, seem to be a lot better for me. I would really value your opinion.

I know you said you have family members on Paxil. What else do they do in regards to their conditions?

David

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 1665

Hi Wrestler: Only one day since you started this job? wow, I'm impressed. You deserve a day sick leave. Hope it's going better for you. Thinking of you and will say prayers for you today that you will find just the right treatment for you.

Sunny

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