[Beck]

I'm in the states, and feel that just trying a benzo would help me immensely.  I'm on my third anti depressant, the other two didn't help me with anxiety at all, yet I can't get a single benzo to try for a day.  I've been to two general doctors, one psychologist and two psychiatrists, and all have said NO.  I've spend a ton of money just in the last year, and all they want to do is push anti depressants on me, and tell me that if it doesn't work for anxiety, just up the dosage.  Yikes!  I've had bad withdrawal effects from Effexor and even Prozac, and I hate going through the alphabet of AD's just to appease my psychiatrist.  End rant

[december_brigette]

Hi, especially to Username,

I've seen your posts here and about Seroquel. I, too take seroquel and the occasional Xanax XR.

However, I get these medicines legally, from my pdoc. I understand you may have some problems obtaining xanax or another benzo from your current doctors. and unfortunately i am unfamilair w/ UK's health system. However, telling people here that you might get xanax from an "accquaintance" isnt gonna win you any supporters.

i know you are not the only person who has obtained these medicines from "unconventional" sources. But, you are gonna have a really hard time explaining your situation and having people here support you when you do something that is "illegal."

december

[username]

december_brigette, on Jul 3 2005, 03:01 AM, said:

Hi, especially to Username,

I've seen your posts here and about Seroquel. I, too take seroquel and the occasional Xanax XR.

However, I get these medicines legally, from my pdoc. I understand you may have some problems obtaining xanax or another benzo from your current doctors. and unfortunately i am unfamilair w/ UK's health system. However, telling people here that you might get xanax from an "accquaintance" isnt gonna win you any supporters.

i know you are not the only person who has obtained these medicines from "unconventional" sources. But, you are gonna have a really hard time explaining your situation and having people here support you when you do something that is "illegal."

december
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Don't worry - I am very unpopular here as it is.  Besides, this is the internet, not real life.

Sometimes it is necessary to be unconventional.

[Velvet Elvis]

I had a pdoc mention to me one time that the pdocs in the UK and Oz. are often 10-20 years behind the rest of the world.  My gf wanted to do graduate studies in the UK and ultimately decided that she couldn't because it was too unlikely that she'd be able to get the meds she needs there.  Apparently the Benzo thing isn't quite so bad in Ireland but they are still pretty backwards with regards to the cultlike obsession with monotherapy.

[username]

[Panz]

have had the ill luck of falling in the anti-benzo camp of pdocs, so I've been forced to deal with my severe panic disorder and bpd with just paxil and seroquel, which have increasingly not been enoght to keep the wolves at bay...  Friday, I couldn't stop the urges to cut and burn and the wall of emotional overload broke and I ended up in the ER. They gave me some Ativan to keep me from chewing the equipment off the walls and then 2mgs of Klonipin, which I am to take daily...I'm new to the med, but it does seem to help so far

This post has been edited by Panz: 17 July 2005 - 02:27 PM

[queenofthebean]

[quote name='dreamless' date='Jun 28 2005, 12:42 AM']
[quote name='Sunshine' date='Jun 28 2005, 03:27 AM']Is all of Europe like this, or just the U.K.?
[/quote]

FWIW, I'm in the U.S. and haven't yet managed to convince a doctor (either the primary or shrink varieties) that I would probably benefit from benzodiazapenes.  (Although, since I have no self-esteem, the manner in which I attempt to convey that I might need this stuff probably could not be called "assertive.") 

When I told my primary care doc that my anxiety was totally out of control (and holy crap was it ever), he told me that could be caused by the Concerta I'm went on for ADD a few months prior.  Maybe I should have mentioned that I've had these sorts of all-out panic episodes for years...

Anyway, he gave me Wellbutrin for the anxiety, which I found odd.  It hasn't helped, or else I can't tell to what degree it may have been helping before I quit it a few weeks ago (just started taking it again out of desperation, though, like, maybe this time it will work, or maybe it was working before and I just managed to avoid noticing the change...).

Maybe I should look for another doc?  Because this is only getting worse.

[gretl]

queenofthebean, on Jul 21 2005, 11:59 PM, said:

Maybe I should look for another doc?  Because this is only getting worse.

Hello Queen!  Just finished reading your story on the Miscellaneous board (yes it was long and wordy, but in a good way  )  I'm wondering if you've discussed this all this with your current pdoc yet?  Does he/she know that you stopped the Wellbutrin?  I agree that it's crazy that some people prescribe that one for anxiety.  <shaking my head>  Maybe you got it because of your potential for cycling; it is supposed to be the safest for bipolars.  And yeah, benzos might be helpful (BTW I somehow doubt that "agressiveness" LOL would help you get one!)  You might also discuss atypical antipsychotics like Seroquel, which has the potential to mitigate anxiety, depression, AND mood cycling.

Anyhow, I'd say yes, you definitely need some med tweaks, but whether or not that means a new pdoc, only you can guess.  Welcome!

[Loon-A-TiK]

I'm in the US and my pdocs have all treated the benzo issue differently. My first pdoc gave me Ativan at 2mg/day, and the second made it as needed, which continued for about 2 years to be 2mg/day. My third pdoc didn't like benzos and cut me off of them, I had no withdrawl, and started me on trying all these atypical antipsycotics and even Gabatril to try to control my huge anxiety issue. When I was on the phone with him during an EMERGENCY session to prevent my most recent (2 weeks ago) hospitalization, he finally gave me a script for Klonipin at 1mg 3xday.

Anyway, I ended up in the nut house and saw many different pdocs there. They pretty much agreed that because of my lack of any substance abuse issues (I don't even smoke and never misused Ativan) that they were okay with me being on 2mg klonipin/day.

Since I got out of the hospital I dumped the anti-benzo pdoc and have a new one. He mentioned wanting to take me off of Klonipin, but I will need to emphasize my history and make the case that I am responsible and this is a very good drug for me. My cocktail of Lamictal, Paxil, and Klonipin would not be complete without Klonipin! Nothing has ever helped me so much with my anxiety. The abusers hurt the rest of us who can be responsible and benefit from these drugs.

[queenofthebean]

This post has been edited by queenofthebean: 23 July 2005 - 01:54 PM

[gretl]

OK, to continue the highjack of this thread (ahem, with apologies to username!)...

queenofthebean said:

Anyway, if the average IQ level of participants on this message board - not to get into the hairy issue of "measuring" "intelligence" - is any indication, then "crazy" has clearly never meant "stupid" and I should really sever my cognitive connection between the two.

LOL!  Well, I don't think the two are any more mutually exclusive than they are in the general population, but in my opinion this site tends to attract the brighter crazies.  I suppose you've noticed there's even one mod called "Crazynotstupid" 

Quote

In other words, I had never before read anyone whose writing style was so closely in synch with the way my brain works, and Kate Millett is textbook bipolar [...]The woman is at least as brilliant (and artistically/politically relevant) as she is bug-fuck crazy, which terrifies me to my core because there is still no writer/artist in this world with whom I feel such an authentic affinity.

 
I just checked out a few of her books on Amazon, and it seems to me that you have to carefully consider the times she was in (or started in, anyway).  Civil rights for mental health patients have come a long way (perhaps in part due to Millett and others like her?)  Additionally, *medication* for these disorders has come a long way.  For the huge majority, it's no longer an on/off switch between being yourself and being properly medicated. 

Quote

... to open up my thinking, to consider ways I might actually achieve a less acutely miserable emotional life.

And that's what it's all about.  Why we're all here.  It sounds like you have a lot of thoughtful opinions to offer on many of the topics I've seen discussed; I hope you'll join in!

This post has been edited by gretl: 25 July 2005 - 10:33 AM

[gringa79]

i got a perscription for xanax .25mg to take three times daily prn.  it seems i take it a lot to help me sleep at night because that is when i get most anxious.  i also take it to help me get thru work so i dont strangle the hospital patients that im dealing with. perhaps i am dependent on it and that scares me a bit.  what scares me more is the debilitating panic attacks that i suffered from third grade to tenth grade unmedicated. it was horrible. im surprised i made it thru in one piece.  oh, im in the US too, Minnesota to be exact.

[gringa79]

[gringa79]

[gracelikerain]

I take Xanax 3 times a day.. been taking Benzos for around 4 years..first started with Ativan, then switched to the Xanax.  It is going to be hell to get off of the Xanax if I ever intend on doing so.. I don't even think it "helps" anymore...

This post has been edited by gracelikerain: 17 August 2005 - 09:55 PM

[freesoul]

I was first given benzos (Klonopin) for anxiety attacks and difficulty sleeping/nigthmares after a crisis. My GP was very conservative, nevr giving out more than 20 at the time. I took them for a few weeks and although they helped with the anxiety and sleep I started feeling extremely depressed (they do that in BP, don't they?) and so, first wound down then soon stopped.

A few weeks later I was again feeling extremely sleepless and anxious and just went downtown looking for Valiums...someone sold me Librium and I obliterated myself with them for a couple of days till I was kind of okay. At the next pdoc appointment I mentioned this. He was moralizing as they always do, until I pointed out that if I had ended up in the hospital they would have given me the stuff (or something similar, they seem to go more with Ativan) themselves.

So we discussed the issue and he realized that although I do have a history of substance abuse, "downers" aren't my thing and this use was actually a very rational emergency measure, as is obvious by how and when they were used not misused and by the fact that the Klonopin hadn't previously been an issue and I had stopped it on my own.

So I walked out with a prescription for Klonopin and instructions to use as needed for sudden mania (I am Bipolar and currently very screwed up by a recent run-in involving antidepressants, so my moods are unpredictable) I keep them around and take them rarely; my pdoc occasionally will ask if I need more (he gives a little at the time as I can get suicidal sometimes). I'm legit now. Despite my having used most street drugs in the past, I don't think benzos have a pleasurable effect very much, you just sleep; handy if you need to, however.

So that's my story. Perhaps unconventional. Then again I have an unconventional doctor who respects me and really seems to care, despite my own unique brand of drug/street smarts.