Benzos Diazepam and pseudoephedrine for social anxiety/depression?

[Balltripper1]

I have always had anxiety for as long as i can remember (partly due to the fact that i have a mild form of tourettes) but it really started getting bad when i started smoking weed at about 14. Between then and now, im 18, I have done lots of drugs, including a lot of research chemicals, not to mention k2. About 8 months ago, i had a drug induced panic attack that sent me to the ER. This led me to find out that i have mitral valve prolapse syndrome, which really added to my anxiety. Since then, I really havent done any drugs, besides smoking weed pretty much everyday. Just recently, my doc put me on zoloft and clonodine to help with my anxiety, depression, and tics, but the zoloft gave me too many side effects and made it impossible to sleep. After i stopped taking the zoloft i got extremely sick and started taking Mucinex-D (pseudoephedrine). After i started feeling better, i continued taking it and it would make me feel really happy and active during the day. I ran out 2 days ago, and yesterday was the first day of not taking it and my anxiety was through the roof and i just felt absolutely horrible. Later in the day, i got my hands on some valium. I took it pretty late at night, and when i woke up i felt great. I went to pick up some more mucinex and after i took it i felt like my anxiety and depression was gone. But after the valium started going away i just started feeling shitty again.

So basically im asking if it would be beneficial to take the 2 as a combo to combat my depression/anxiety and tics/twitching. I have made an appt with my doctor but its not for like a week. I figure that the valium would help with my anxiety and tics, while the pseudoephedrine can fight the drowsiness/depressing effects that benzos bring with it. Im just not sure if the pseudo would be safe to take with my heart and all, because stimulants are really hard on it, although i havent noticed any palpitations or chest pains more than i normally would. Which may be largely due to my anxiety. I am definitely going to have a conversation with my doc, but i wanted to get your guys' input on the subject first.

Sorry about the long post, i just want you guys to know what ive gone through and stuff

 

[Fire&Water]

A horrible combination...Nasty, get it out of your head

 

[Swimmingdancer]

Self-treating your depression and anxiety with pseudoephedrine and diazepam are just going to increase your depression/anxiety in the long run. All they are doing is alleviating withdrawal symptoms and temporarily masking your depression/anxiety, it is just going to get worse and you will develop a tolerance to these drugs.

You really need to talk to your doctor and he can prescribe a different medication and recommend some therapy.

 

[Balltripper1]

Self-treating your depression and anxiety with pseudoephedrine and diazepam are just going to increase your depression/anxiety in the long run. All they are doing is alleviating withdrawal symptoms and temporarily masking your depression/anxiety, it is just going to get worse and you will develop a tolerance to these drugs.

You really need to talk to your doctor and he can prescribe a different medication and recommend some therapy.

Honestly, id rather it be masked for the time being and age that im at, because it feels like im going to completely fail in life with this anxiety and constant sadness

 

[ErgicMergic]

Ew, pseudoephedrine... you're much better off using ephedrine (Bronkaid, Primatene tabs) at a dosage of 6.25-12.5mg every 4-6 hours or 12.5-25mg as needed.

It is more CNS active than pseudo and releases more dopamine, so there aren't as many NE-release induced side effects as pseudo. Ephedrine is a beast of a social anxiety med, since social anxiety is not a true anxiety disorder, but rather a phobia. Ephedrine gives you the NE and DA release to make you a bit fearless, so it is wonderful for social anxiety.

Ephedrine is really bad for GAD and Panic Disorder, since those are true anxiety disorders, but for phobias, Ephedrine and other stimulants, like stimulant antidepressants, are quite effective.

 

[Swimmingdancer]

Honestly, id rather it be masked for the time being and age that im at, because it feels like im going to completely fail in life with this anxiety and constant sadness

My point was that they lead to much worse depression and anxiety than you had before so masking it temporarily is not worth that, not to mention the health risks, risk of addiction, etc. Get some good professional help for your mental health issues instead.

 

[Alex000]

I'd be concerned about the other contents of the Mucinex-D such as DXM, which you do not want to take daily for long periods, even in lower doses. I would also be concerned about the pseudoephedrine and your heart condition. With the Valium, be careful, and use it only when needed at the lowest doses needed. Benzos can prove to cause a very nasty addiction in some cases, especially when they are not being rx'd and so the supply is not as steady. Just be careful with the Valium - do not use it too often.

 

[ErgicMergic]

I'd be concerned about the other contents of the Mucinex-D such as DXM, which you do not want to take daily for long periods, even in lower doses. I would also be concerned about the pseudoephedrine and your heart condition. With the Valium, be careful, and use it only when needed at the lowest doses needed. Benzos can prove to cause a very nasty addiction in some cases, especially when they are not being rx'd and so the supply is not as steady. Just be careful with the Valium - do not use it too often.

^ +1

 

[RobotRipping]

benzos aren't great for sadness either, i get super depressed when i'm on them after a while. Pseudoephedrine has no value for treating depression and will worsen your anxiety. There are plenty of alternatives to try that won't worsen your anxiety and will treat your depression. Look into kratom, it doesn't work for everyone but it would address your issues at least and is somewhat sustainable. Stay away from regular stimulants if you have anxiety though.

I'd recommend going to a doctor.

 

[ErgicMergic]

I agree with the posters above, see a doctor, self medicating is the path to destruction.

However, people need to realize that stimulants, especially PNS/CNS ones like Ephedrine and Wellbutrin (SDRI ad), are amazingly effective at treating social phobia, since social phobia/social anxiety is not a true anxiety disorder, it's a fear. Inducing the fight or flight response is very effective in making you fearless, but it can worsen true anxiety disorders like GAD and PD.

 

[helium-4]

You should get counseling no matter if you get a script for benzos or not. I recommend trying it before you go out to optain a script. Counseling will help you dive down and get rid of the anxiety, not avoid the anxiety for years till you decide to get off benzos, which will result in you having worse anxiety than you started with most likely. Benzos really shouldn't be used everyday for that long or physical dependence will quickly take hold, and modulation of your GABAa receptors take place. Benzo WD is pretty terrible. Some say way worse than any opioid. So you could be throwing yourself into the wolves. If you do get benzos seriously go to counseling so you don't have to be on them for very long, or can avoid taking them everday (I don't take my benzos for the whole month, only 1-2 weeks every month.

There is no shame in getting help via counseling. It was one of the greatest thing I could have done for myself.

 

[Pagey]

Doesn't sound very good, you'd run a huge chance to get addicted to benzos, not to mention that they actually make you more depressed WHILE you're on them - I'll let you imagine how it is when you get off.

 

[PinK~cloud]

It is generally suggested to avoid all stimulants if you deal with issues of anxiety. Even things like caffeine can negatively affect one's overall level of anxiousness.
As others have said, drugs like diazepam are good for anxiety, but ONLY in the short term. Long term use can result in rebound anxiety--often at levels not present before starting the drug regiment.
I had really bad anxiety issues at 18 too. I dealt with it for a while, not realizing there were ways to solve it without the use of drugs.

This may be slightly off topic, but it might help. I found that self-help books can really help out (and I was someone who was really skeptical of them). In my case, the books taught me to look at situations with different perspectives; they also taught me to handle negative situations in positive ways.
Try this in the future: whenever you find yourself worrying or being pessimistic about something, deny yourself negative thinking that "supports" your worries. For example (and it's just that, a random example), you could be worried about giving a speech in class next week. You might tell yourself "I'm bad at giving speeches, last time I did one I fumbled with my words and sounded like an idiot." Instead of digging up old memories that support the claim that you're a bad speaker, remember that it's a new situation, and you have more experience than last time you spoke. You could frame it as, "this speech is going to go really well, because I was able to work through and solve the mistakes I made last time, and am therefore more experienced this time around."

Sorry, random tangent and rant. I hope it makes sense, even if it's not the advice you're looking for . I've been in the same point of life as you--sad and anxious--and I promise that it only gets better with time. Trust in it, and keep your head up. "This too shall pass."

 

[RorerQuaalude714]

Any of the above posts that are telling the OP to seek medical advice are absolutely correct. If your depression and anxiety are that severe, self medication is the worst thing you can possibly do. Not only will it exacerbate the main problems but as said above, it puts you at great risk for dependence and addiction issues as well. Whenever you're dealing with a potentially severe mental health issue, the first thing you must ALWAYS do is seek medical attention. I'd recommend seeing your doctor ASAP and if needed, get a consult with a psychiatrist. I don't mean that in a rude way, I'm just saying that mental health problems have a nasty habit of spiraling out of control very quickly unless professional help is obtained ASAP.

 

[BritishLad]

I recently discovered diazapam and most likely many if not all benzos. After a while can in some people turn them sociopathic, sadly for me it's just 10-20mg in one day on it's own that changes me completly. Interesting article but perhaps it's due to the majority of people on benzos have issues that can come out when they finally feel in control.

http://www.ehealthme.com/ds/diazepam/sociopathic+personality