Mental Health Just wondering /I could really use help on this...

[Joker11789]

My psychiatrist took me off 4mgs of Clonazepam a day , 45mgs of temazepam at night for sleep he now has me at 1mg of clonazepam a day and 15mgs of temazepam (only 10 a month) .

He decided to pressure me to try serequel (he asked every month for a year I said fine I'll re-try it ..I came back said it makes me horribly sick he said you'll get use to it ..raised the dose from 25mgs to 100mgs and now I don't take it) .

I have stayed up 5 nights in a row in the past month and felt horribly ill among many other problems such as stress and well multiple anxieties going off (I have Panic attacks , GAD, Social(SAD), agoraphobia , PTSD and many other anxiety problems plus sever.Insomnia ) ...

He said you can't take Clonazepam or temazepam the rest of your life. Is he right?

Also abilify , Effexor , serequel and meny other types of ssris have made me very ill..

what can I do , what should I look into meds wise ? I just want to function again .

Also when my insomnia and anxieties aren't treated like when I was younger I was arrested a lot and def not fit to be a responsible member of society but I've changed ..the courts had me mandated to continue my meds that this doc took me off of ..

my my old doc who I was doing great with retired and this new guy has been my doc for 3yrs now and I've been miserable but he's all I can get at the moment so I need to stay until I find a new one..

anyway my doc right about any of this ? Is there any other meds that help ? any other tips/advice are very welcomed.

also if you think I should get a new doc I agree and I'm trying .

 

[UncookMyBrain]

He is right you cant take those meds your whole life because of tolerance. Seroquel was a good idea to help you sleep but that carries health risks such as weight gain.
45mg of temazapam is above a therapeutic dose you know that right? the max dose is only 30mg, if you stay on it you will need more and more for it to do its job and being a benzo it can cause you a world of problems in itself.

It sounds like you dont tolerate meds very well however I think your current doc is doing the right thing but he should refer you to a psychologist.

I have had the same issues as you GAD, SAD, Agoraphobia and PTSD. I HIGHLY recomend you start exercising regularly. Once you become accustomed to pushing yourself through a bit of muscle fatigue from jogging or weight training you get a bonus of being able to push yourself through agoraphobia. Also you should try expose yourself to your agoraphobia fears and you will find your social anxiety reduces. The deep breathing from the exercise also clears your mind and helps the GAD.
For SAD I recomend some vitamin D3 daily and if you can afford it a light lamp at noon or some mid day sun for 20 to 30mins.

If you dont do these things you can get a lot worse, you could become a recluse, your SAD has the potential to progress to cyclothymia.

Also agoraphobia is re-occuring so you need to stay on top of it, a daily routine where you constantly confront your fear or upkeep a lack of fear would be a wise idea.

 

[Trying2Iso]

Man im telling you i am the expert on Seroquel withdrawal, I've been on and off it since age 16, and have come off of 800mg/daily cold-turkey multiple times hit me up i'll give you advice.
It is inadvisable to be on benzodiazepines for long periods of time because of tolerance and dependence.
Try Lamotrigine (lamictal) it is a mood stabilizer used for depression and bipolar disorder, and also psychoneurosis. It is not related to antipsychotics or antidepressants, but can help with conditions these meds can help with.
I recommend that med because it helped me a lot, and you haven't had success with conventional meds.
Just don't taper up the dose too fast, you can get Stevens-Johnson syndrome which is pretty much the worst disease on planet earth.

 

[Trying2Iso]

seriously, type in Stevens-Johnson syndrome on Google images.
But if you follow the Lamictal starter kit directions you won't risk it, just check your body for a rash every once in a while.

 

[Joker11789]

He is right you cant take those meds your whole life because of tolerance. Seroquel was a good idea to help you sleep but that carries health risks such as weight gain.
45mg of temazapam is above a therapeutic dose you know that right? the max dose is only 30mg, if you stay on it you will need more and more for it to do its job and being a benzo it can cause you a world of problems in itself.

It sounds like you dont tolerate meds very well however I think your current doc is doing the right thing but he should refer you to a psychologist.

I have had the same issues as you GAD, SAD, Agoraphobia and PTSD. I HIGHLY recomend you start exercising regularly. Once you become accustomed to pushing yourself through a bit of muscle fatigue from jogging or weight training you get a bonus of being able to push yourself through agoraphobia. Also you should try expose yourself to your agoraphobia fears and you will find your social anxiety reduces. The deep breathing from the exercise also clears your mind and helps the GAD.
For SAD I recomend some vitamin D3 daily and if you can afford it a light lamp at noon or some mid day sun for 20 to 30mins.

If you dont do these things you can get a lot worse, you could become a recluse, your SAD has the potential to progress to cyclothymia.

Also agoraphobia is re-occuring so you need to stay on top of it, a daily routine where you constantly confront your fear or upkeep a lack of fear would be a wise idea.

Thnx and I had handled it all and it all came back worse bc my insomnia isn't being treated properly and staying up with no sleep leads to horrible increases in everything negative for me at least plus your body feels tired .

great advice I really appreciate it and also I'm sry you have the same issues but it sounds like you're doing well , I hope that's true .


as for everyone else thnx for the responses. I wasn't sure I'd even get 1 .

 

[SixBuckets]

Untreated insomnia is possibly the worst thing that can happen to mental health. I'd rank it as more damaging than any other mental illness trigger.

Some doctors have strong feelings about long term use of sleeping pills and sedatives. That's great, they're the ones with the 10 year medical education, but it would be good if they put a little more work into finding solutions for sleep-deprived patients, rather than just telling us we can't use sleeping pills long term.

Have you considered melatonin? It's prescription-only in Australia, but if you're in the USA you should be able to buy it over the counter. It will only work if your problem is related to your circadian rhythms, but when it does work it's amazing.

 

[Joker11789]

Untreated insomnia is possibly the worst thing that can happen to mental health. I'd rank it as more damaging than any other mental illness trigger.

Some doctors have strong feelings about long term use of sleeping pills and sedatives. That's great, they're the ones with the 10 year medical education, but it would be good if they put a little more work into finding solutions for sleep-deprived patients, rather than just telling us we can't use sleeping pills long term.

Have you considered melatonin? It's prescription-only in Australia, but if you're in the USA you should be able to buy it over the counter. It will only work if your problem is related to your circadian rhythms, but when it does work it's amazing.

Id agree insomnia is among the worst and I have sever insomnia and it's like you said hey doc I get it it's not healthy but at the same time I'll sacrifice some health for sleep which is way more important anyway lol .

Ive taken supplements for sleep the best was ZMA with Melatonin & Phenibut plus some benadryls and NyQuil ..gets me solid sleep out like a rock and no waking up until at least 7+ hrs .

Have you ever tried Phenibut ?mor phenibul (I may have spelt it wrong) it's relaxing and can assist in sleep it's in some supplements at stores like vitamin world over the counter non prescription .

 

[Pretty_Diamonds]

Why did he decrease your dosage? Something happened--do tell.

 

[paranoid android]

Did your doctor taper you off that dose or drop your dose to 1mg of Clonazepam and 15mg's of Temazepam all at once? If he did the latter you are lucky you didn't have a seizure dropping your Clonazepam dose that fast. Also while benzos do lose basically all their sedating effect if you take them long enough (unless you increase the dose of course) they don't always lose their anti-anxiety effect. I have been on Clonazepam for almost 9 years now and out of maybe 7 of those years i have been on 6mg's a day. It still works well for my anxiety and have not had to increase that dose in all that time except for a few times when i was going nuts with various problems. I don't always take 6mg's and i can get away with only 4mg's on alot of days. So i guess you could take benzos forever and i do know a few people who have been on Valium since the 70's ffs. I am NOT endorsing the use of benzos here but rather just giving my own experiences here.

As for Seroquel i think that unless you have bipolar disorder, schizophrenia or any other type of psychosis or if you had no luck with anti-depressants and are using it to treat major depressive disorder then the health risks of long term use outweigh the benefits in my opinion atleast. Even at a low dose of 100mg's or less the risk of developing type 2 diabetes is still there if you take it every night for sleep. I take Seroquel for bipolar disorder and honestly if i didn't have to take it i wouldn't. The diabetes risk is what scares me off Seroquel but as i can't afford a better anti-psychotic i am stuck with it. I don't think doctors should be so gung ho to script Seroquel for insomnia as there are alot better and safer meds out there to treat it.

They are basically only trading on the side effect of strong sedation that Quetiapine causes through it's H1 antagonism. It would be much safer to take a sedating anti-histamine such as Hydroxyzine, Diphenhydramine, Doxylamine, Promethazine, etc for sleep as they don't fuck with your metabolism like Seroquel does. The more sedating Tricyclic anti-depressants such as Amitriptyline, Trimipramine, Doxepin, etc taken at lower doses then used for depression would also be another option. The anti-depressant Mirtazapine (brand name Remeron) also causes sedation at low doses because of it's very potent H1 antagonism and although it can cause massive weight gain because it can give you the munchies so bad that it makes Cannabis look like a Amphetamine it doesn't screw with your metabolism as much as Seroquel. I also found it to be more sedating then Seroquel ever was.

 

[Joker11789]

Did your doctor taper you off that dose or drop your dose to 1mg of Clonazepam and 15mg's of Temazepam all at once? If he did the latter you are lucky you didn't have a seizure dropping your Clonazepam dose that fast. Also while benzos do lose basically all their sedating effect if you take them long enough (unless you increase the dose of course) they don't always lose their anti-anxiety effect. I have been on Clonazepam for almost 9 years now and out of maybe 7 of those years i have been on 6mg's a day. It still works well for my anxiety and have not had to increase that dose in all that time except for a few times when i was going nuts with various problems. I don't always take 6mg's and i can get away with only 4mg's on alot of days. So i guess you could take benzos forever and i do know a few people who have been on Valium since the 70's ffs. I am NOT endorsing the use of benzos here but rather just giving my own experiences here.

As for Seroquel i think that unless you have bipolar disorder, schizophrenia or any other type of psychosis or if you had no luck with anti-depressants and are using it to treat major depressive disorder then the health risks of long term use outweigh the benefits in my opinion atleast. Even at a low dose of 100mg's or less the risk of developing type 2 diabetes is still there if you take it every night for sleep. I take Seroquel for bipolar disorder and honestly if i didn't have to take it i wouldn't. The diabetes risk is what scares me off Seroquel but as i can't afford a better anti-psychotic i am stuck with it. I don't think doctors should be so gung ho to script Seroquel for insomnia as there are alot better and safer meds out there to treat it.

They are basically only trading on the side effect of strong sedation that Quetiapine causes through it's H1 antagonism. It would be much safer to take a sedating anti-histamine such as Hydroxyzine, Diphenhydramine, Doxylamine, Promethazine, etc for sleep as they don't fuck with your metabolism like Seroquel does. The more sedating Tricyclic anti-depressants such as Amitriptyline, Trimipramine, Doxepin, etc taken at lower doses then used for depression would also be another option. The anti-depressant Mirtazapine (brand name Remeron) also causes sedation at low doses because of it's very potent H1 antagonism and although it can cause massive weight gain because it can give you the munchies so bad that it makes Cannabis look like a Amphetamine it doesn't screw with your metabolism as much as Seroquel. I also found it to be more sedating then Seroquel ever was.

Thank you for the education and I agree with points you made but also wish I never got taken off my meds I feel so much worse .

the serequel I won't touch after the first month or so of nothing .

He tapered me from 4mgs a day to 2 and now 2 pills a day at .5mgs..

I was doing good too now everything's so stressful among other horrible feelings and ahhh it pisses me off honestly I'd honestly rather die from being on Kpins for life than off them and continue to suffer.

 

[Joker11789]

Why did he decrease your dosage? Something happened--do tell.

He didn't say he told me one time he's taking me off clonazepam and no more benzos ..then I noticed my scripts changed ..

 

[paranoid android]

Thank you for the education and I agree with points you made but also wish I never got taken off my meds I feel so much worse .

the serequel I won't touch after the first month or so of nothing .

He tapered me from 4mgs a day to 2 and now 2 pills a day at .5mgs..

I was doing good too now everything's so stressful among other horrible feelings and ahhh it pisses me off honestly I'd honestly rather die from being on Kpins for life than off them and continue to suffer.

Taking Clonazepam everyday for life won't kill you. However abrupt withdrawal from a high dose could possibly kill you or at the very least cause a seizure. I have known people to take Temazepam for sleep semi regularly in doses of 15-30mg's (those are the standard doses in Canada) and not need to increase the dose or even develop any real addiction as long as they skipped days of using it. However i found Temazepam to be the most psychologically addictive benzo and really the only one i got any euphoria from and abused to any extent. But benzos are very subjective in their effects and everyone reacts differently to different benzos.