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Benzos Do any other women have this issue when it comes to taking any benzodiazepines?

L

LynnD

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Joined
Dec 8, 2017
Messages
31
I find that, in the two weeks before I start my period I can take Clonazepam or Ativan and they don't work at all - for example, I took 2 mg of Clonazepam on January 12, 2018 and it didn't work at all, even after I increased my dose by five more milligrams!b(I have always had a naturally high tolerance when it comes to benzodiazepines, and I don't drink or take any other drugs that would cause a cross-tolerance; I don't even smoke). I don't abuse drugs but I was desperate for anxiety relief, and I don't abuse drugs nor do I drink or smoke so I don't understand why it didn't work.

All of my drugs have been prescribed by the same doctor, even the Ativan, we decided to try that (last week) when I said the Clonazepam didn't seem to be working at all. I was prescribed fifteen 1 mg Ativan pills and was instructed to take up to 3 mg as needed (I need at least 3 mg for it to work, but 4 mg seems to work better). I took the 3 mg when I got home and then, two hours later, I took another 1 mg and still felt nothing, even though I had an empty stomach (I had not eaten since the day before at lunchtime; I also find the pills work on an empty stomach, if I take them when my stomach isn't empty they won't work at all).

I ended up taking the remaining 11 mg (since I took a total of 4 mg) and didn't feel any relief at all; even though I haven't been taking benzodiazepines constantly (even though it may seem that way).

Today, my doctor prescribed 7 mg of Clonazepam and I took 4 mg, even though I knew I had a small bowl of cereal earlier, but that was a few hours ago, and approximately four hours had passed between the time I ate and the time I took the pills).

Even though I'm not constantly taking the drugs, I find this happens every time just before I start my period - I take pills but they don't work, even though I don't abuse them nor do I take anything that can be considered "cross tolerance".

I asked my doctor about this and he doesn't know what to say.

I am wondering if any other women have experienced what I have: when they take drugs in a certain class, and during or just before I start my period, it seems whenever I try to take these drugs, they don't do anything.

If you have had this problem, please let me know; it would be great to find out that I'm not the only one with this problem!

I am also stressed about a medical test I have coming up next Tuesday (January 30, 2017) and am hoping the Clonazepam will work then, because I have been stressing about this appointment for a few days now. I took the pills this evening to see if it would alleviate my anxiety but it doesn't seem like it has,
 
I can only speak for the be-testicled half of the population, and have no experiences (personally) with dysmenorrhea or hemorrhaging in my reproductive organs.

But obviously if menses is a stressful period for you, it would make sense that you might need more anti-anxiety medication.

Hopefully this bump will attract attention from the pool of gorgeous period-having females here at Bluelight.
 
Hi Lynn D,

I have found this to be the case for me too - I however suffer from endometriosis so I naturally suffer with bad pain and heavy bleeding which in turn spikes my anxiety 10 fold.

I hope all goes well with your test

Regards
BtS
 
The pre menstrual symptoms of anxiety or stress are related to a sudden spike or drop in oestrogen.

A monophasic contraceptive which allows you to skip periods helps and you wont get the sudden release of hormones like you do now.


Taking that will help you use benzos a lot less.
 
Thanks guys. I also suffer from heavy bleeding too, and it seems that nothing can be done.

I have tried medications to control this (such as birth control even though I don't need it for birth control) but it made my seizures worse (I have Simple-Partial Seizures; these involve me having an aura that appears in the form of a quote that I can't identify followed by an overwhelming sense of fear - even though I am already on anti-seizure medication these seizures still happen, I rarely have Grand-Mal Seizures; the last time I had a Grand-Mal Seizure was November 15, 2008 and that was not caused by drugs, drug withdrawal, or anything else) but they make my Simple-Partial Seizures worse. My doctor doesn't know what to do because of this, so it seems I am stuck and just have to somehow deal with these feelings.
 
Try tranexamic acid. Its not a birth control. Just take it during your period to decrease the amount but it wont affect any pms or anxiety due to oestrogen.
 
Thanks, I will try that.

I just realized that I can't take Clonazepam for the test I have to get done, even though I am TERRIFIED, because needles will be involved and it is an EEG (I am terrified of needles). The Clonazepam will affect the results. I tried taking Ativan for an EEG back in 2014 but the results came back saying that I wasn't having any seizures, even though I was. I didn't ask if the Ativan effected the results, I figured that the Ativan was what affected the results when they came back normal (even though I am already on anti-seizure medication; the anti-seizure medication I am on doesn't prevent Simple-Partial Seizures and seizures still show up during EEGs when I only take the anti-seizure medication).

I had researched what drugs I should not take before an EEG and anti-anxiety drugs are one of the drugs listed.

Also, it wasn't my doctor that referred me for the EEG, it was someone in the Emergency Room (last week I went to the Emergency Room because the Simple-Partial Seizures were really bad). The results will go to my neurologist, whom I see in April.

I am really nervous since not only are there small needles (they always use small needles and I am TERRIFIED of needles) but I can't take the Clonazepam either. I'm going to be stressed until Tuesday is over.

I also thought that the Clonazepam didn't affect me last night but it did. After I made this thread, I went to bed. I also didn't feel as anxious as I had been feeling.

I'm sorry to say this but fuck, I am really stressed out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Hi

I dont know what medical tests you are going to have but needles are a phobia in some and high stress can affect your EEG as well.

Can you take someone in with you? They can just gown up.


Hopefully the staff there will help you relax.
 
(Thank you fair ladies, hope I wasn't too crude and mannish)
 
My mom will be coming with me. I had it changed from a regular EEG to a sleep-induced EEG because of my anxiety, but I still cannot take the Clonazepam. I am going to have to drink some medicine when I get there, but I don't know what it is. Do you know anyone who has had a sleep-induced EEG done before? (That is what I am having done on Tuesday).
 
No idea, but wild speculation (my real expertise) would guess maybe a "twilight" procedure, like with a colonoscopy? I think the drug used for that is midazolam, a very short-acting benzo that's used as a pre-anesthesia sedative a lot.' You'd get a near-blackout dose, probably more than you're used to it, and have only pleasant, vague recollections of the procedure afterward.


Maybe like getting nitrous at the dentist? I haven't had either, couldn't tell you.
 
Thanks for your help; I did have the liquid stuff before, in 2009. I think it was Chloral Hydrate but it didn't do anything then and, from the research I did, Chloral Hydrate is no longer on the market.

I tried to ask the doctor (since I contacted the clinic) what would the drug be but she didn't tell me. She would only address the fact that they use the needles on everyone and it's the same amount of "intensity" for everyone. That's all she would say - that it doesn't matter if you are bald, have long hair, or have short hair, since the intensity/pain is the same for everyone, apparently. I have sensitive touch and hearing and she ignored me when I told her that, and I thought she might not have heard me but I said it a second time and it was proven that she was ignoring what I was saying.

This is the same doctor that will be administering the test and putting the needles and cap on me for the test. Wish me luck, I'm going to need it!
 
I see that at least in Iran they use chloral hydrate for inducing sleep for EEG sometimes. I had it once and it didn't do shit for me either.

But the sleep EEG sounds like you are going to be totally unconscious, I wouldn't worry about feeling those little sensors at all. And even with sensitive skin, if you don't need to shave bald for a reading, it sound like they aren't exactly piercing your skin.

To me, speaking again as a virile, masculine ideal of our species, far worse is the EKG. If you've had your vitals monitored in the hospital, you may notice those sensors aren't sharp or piercing in any way, it's just the goddamn sticky glue on them that for me might as well be a Nair commercial. I'm still scarred in some places--like clear-cutting an old growth forest, years later the lush landscape still hasn't recovered to its curly dark-blond glory.

Anyway, I'm guessing midazolam, the short-acting benzo, but it could be a lot of things. Maybe you'll get lucky and have some old-school meds like my favorite, phenobarbital. But I'm positive that the only needle you'll feel is the one that gives you that medicine.
 
I don't know what it would be; when I looked online to see what drug would be used for a Sleep-Induced EEG it said Melatonin (in liquid form). I am having liquid but I don't know if it will be Melatonin since the pharmacies where I live (I live in Canada) don't sell Melatonin in liquid form at all (I called and asked a Shoppers Drug Mart this morning).

I doubt I will be unconscious; when I had the Sleep-Induced EEG in 2009 I didn't sleep during the EEG at all; this time I plan to stay up all night the night before the EEG so I will be able to fall asleep when I go for the EEG the next day!
 
Well, melatonin, despite what the label says, hasn't ever put anyone to sleep, and definitely not any anxious person (might help you sleep well, some benefit, etc).

I'm going off what the UK Epilepsy foundation says

Your doctor might ask you to have an EEG test while you are asleep. This could be because your seizures happen when you are asleep. Or you may have had a standard EEG test when you were awake, but it didn’t show any unusual electrical activity. When you are asleep, your brainwave patterns change and may show more unusual electrical activity. There are also some types of seizure that mainly happen during sleep.

A sleep EEG test is usually done in hospital, using a standard EEG machine. Before the test, you may be given some medicine to make you go to sleep. The test lasts for one to two hours and you usually go home once you have woken up.
​

An oral solution of who knows what (well, the doctors know), but I'm sure you'll sleep blissfully through the whole procedure. At one to two hours, midazolam is a perfect candidate.

I'd advise against pre-medicating with any kind of cocktail for that reason, although if you do, make sure the staff know how much of what and how long before you took it, so they can adjust your sleep-med dosage if they need to.
 
I'm not going to pre-medicate; I only called the pharmacy to find out if Melatonin was available in liquid form since that was what I found online. The pharmacist said they don't sell it in a liquid form. I also called a different pharmacy (Lawtons Drugs) and they said the same thing - that they don't have a record of Melatonin as a liquid.

I don't know if Midazolam will be used since this is an EEG and I don't think they use benzodiazepines for this type of test.

I am still nervous, especially since I will be dealing with that doctor/technician that wasn't nice to me.
 
Melatonin isn't a pharmaceutical drug, at least in the US. By itself, you probably won't find it in any syrups or liquids, but you can find it pretty cheap as supplement tablets, and it's added to all kinds of powders you pour into tea, or with me, diet sprite.

I'm sure it's already in some kind of liquid form, along with stuff like acai berry or 5-hydroxy tryptophan, ginseng and wombat farts, at your nearest holistic Vitamin Shoppe.

I am 100% positive you will not receive melatonin as an anesthetic for this procedure: outpatient sleep EEG. You either misheard or the staff misspoke or were confused. In any case, there's no reason to worry about it, since they won't do the procedure unless you're pleasantly sedated and then in a comfy longish-naptime.

By now I'm sure they're aware you have anxiety issues and have a protocol ready to go. And if you get there and anxiety intensifies, just let them know. They have an entire hospital pharmacy at their disposal, and could put the wildest-eyed scrap-metal-flinging shadow-people-chased MDPV addict into a coma if they wanted. They'll hold until you're ready to go, and dope you up as much as you need.

EDIT: And you're not guaranteed to have the same technician. They're shift workers and you might wind up with like the Tuesday guy or something.

You can also always assert yourself as necessary and have a replacement or reschedule. This is not a court-ordered procedure, you have every right to tell a doctor to fuck off if you need to. Some of them don't hear it often enough.

That can often backfire, and I don't recommend rudeness in hospitals, but it's important to maintain an attitude of personal sovereignty. You don't have to do anything. You choose what you're going to do.
 
They said it was a Sleep-Induced EEG and that I would get something prescribed to drink, but it would be given to me when I arrived at the appointment. They didn't say what the medication would be, only that it would be liquid. I thought it might be Melatonin based on what I looked up on Google - I typed "What Is Given As A Liquid For A Sleep-Induced EEG" and the result I found (listed on various pages) was Melatonin.

It will be the same technician since she informed me that it is just her and someone else working there; apparently the other person isn't in very often, this technician is there 99% of the time.
 
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I've had this procedure more than once, there are no needles involved, unless I somehow missed a differentiation in your particular, upcoming sleep EEG test?

Edit: I will third chloral hydrate having zero effect, what a bullshit drug.
 
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