What kind of reaction were you hoping for?
Just stick with it. Even at 0.5 mg three times a day, it’s pretty strong stuff.
Oh, to not have that “in the hosp. waiting for the doctor to come back with your test results and tell you that you have cancer” feeling, 24/7. That would be nice.
What about Paxil? Is Paxil any good?
I visited an old college buddy living up in Rhode Island last weekend. She’s on Paxil, and she loves it. As a matter of fact, her husband and everybody else she knows up there is taking Paxil, too. “I don’t know anyone who isn’t on something! Ha ha ha ha!” she said. The dinner they cooked wasn’t very good.
Ukulele Lady has been nudging me toward sedating myself for weeks now.
Just FTR, Neurontin can be bad about making you keep the weight on I’m on that, and it’s hard to take weight off, and effortless to put it on. Weight gain is listed as one of it’s side effects, and I’ve had friends blow up like a blimp on it, and slim down once they were switched off it. Paxil’s a double edged sword too, more so then Neurontin is. I’ve never been on Paxil, but known people who are, some say it’s good, others say not so good. Read up independtly on any medicine you are prescribed, and also discuss it frankly with your doctor, all the pros and cons.
Why not go to counseling, if you don’t want anti-depressants? Try counseling, and see if that might help ease the stress, and if it’s not enough you might have to go on a mild anti-depressant or anti-anxiety medicine. Try counseling first though, to help you find ways to deal with the stress on your own.
I don’t understand why you’d turn down anti-depressants, but ask for Valium. AFAIK, it’s habit forming. Not sure if it’s addictive physically, mentally, or both. Not trying to be snarky, or give offense, truly wondering. I think it’s wise that you are going in for help now.
If you have such a long haul ahead of you, you’re going to need support, and chemicals alone aren’t going to carry you well. Get a counselor to help you deal with this, and if they determine that you need to temporarily go on medicine too, do so. Do what it takes to help you stay whole through your forthcoming ordeal.
Tell the counselor you want help learning to stand on your own, without chemical help after this ordeal is done. If they are a good counselor that will be a goal they can help you with. This is similar to what they do with people who are depressed because of life situations that will change in time.
Good luck, I’ll think of you and pray.
I am not a doctor or any of that shit!
Eve, honey, I didn’t know it was that bad. Sounds more like generalized anxiety disorder that bubbles over into panic. Benzos like Klonopin can definitely help with that, but it’s good to have a baseline med that keeps things in check, and that’s usually an antidepressant. Sorry.
My advice (that you want to hear) is to get an emergency appointment and ask for an something faster-acting that you can take when things get really bad - something sublingual. Those work pretty much instantly but I find they don’t dissolve quite as they should.
My advice (that you don’t want to hear) is to find out how much your doctor knows about the use of antidepressants and anticonvulsants in generalized anxiety disorder. In my opinion, you could definitely benefit from a baseline med for the anxiety, and use the benzos on top of that as needed. Paxil was mentioned, but pretty all of the SSRIs can be used for GAD, even if not indicated for that. The more sedating ones - rather than the activating ones (like Prozac) - would probably be better for you.
As for anticonvulsants, that’s moving more into shrink territory, but they can work wonders for anxiety.
Finally, there’s BuSpar. It’s a non-benzodiazepine anxiety drug that takes a few weeks to work, and that you can take along with the Klonopin.
{{Eve}}
That was me for most of my life (as far back as I can remember, anyway), and it’s something I would wish only on the worst of my enemies.
Benzodiazepines don’t work for me- I was given Ativan before a dentist appointment once, and it didn’t do anything for the anxiety. Prozac alone didn’t do it, either, but the combination of Prozac and Buspar has helped a lot. I also take Inderal as-needed for the physical symptoms of anxiety. Don’t give up- it’s not necessarily easy to find a med or combination of meds that works for you, but it is so worth it.