Valium/diazepam wearing off or not working at times

[westeastern]

well that it. I'm wuite ashamed to say it but my body will just not keep this stuff working in my system. It feel weird in between doses (been on it for only 2 weeks) and my dosages are way too high for me to sleep. If my doc wasn't Jewish (he's away the next 2 days, for I think Roshashana, no offense to anyone) I'd be at his office asap. I need to start getting off diazepam immediately. I don't know the proper way to ween off or iF there are supplementary meds that can help. I'm pretty scared at how quicky my body got immune to it. Do this mean I'm an addict? Or is diazepam just not right for me? I was on Klonopin last year and it took 6-8 months for me to build up a tolerance where I had to get off of it, but i mean c'mon, 2 weeks? This is bothering me.

Also, has anyone had any luck with Buspar? It's supposed to be like diazepam but longer lasting and less habit forming.

[westeastern]

saw doc in person today. he said he never heard of diazepam completely wearing off in 2hrs. he gave me klonopin (whoop-dee doo) up to 20mg a day

[northstar]

hi westeastern, i hope the new drug is helping you to feel ok at this stage?

i was just wondering have you ever thought about the fact that you've been on all these drugs, so many different kinds and dosages and you're still not feeling right? i tend to believe that meds only work on getting rid of a symptom rather than working on the root of the problem.

have you tried anything else other than meds to help you on your way? have you looked into nutrition or therapy? on the general discussion forum here there are tons of posts with advice on ways to help yourself along with your meds or i can post some for you here if you're interested. i suffered with anxiety for 2 years and learning about nutrition and its effect on the body i discovered information that saved my life and i no longer have the problem now.

[westeastern]

hello all.i I've progressively getting pretty down and depressed (before the new drugs too)

first off the klonopin works like crap. 10 20 30mg, i feel nothing. slight dizziness for half an hour, talkative for 2hrs. then sleepy. maybe benzos arent for me. maybe meds aren't either. maybe i cant be fixed.

I've had back problems for almost a year, I haven't been financially assisted, I can't work most jobs the way my back is. My school has been a roller coaster as far as me getting into a class. I started in '06 it was supposed to be a 9mo program, I'm still there slated to finish in march '09. $30k debt from school, $3k debt with CC cards. Again, have no income. I'm ranting. sorry. Also just had a big fight with my best friend last night haven't talked to him yet so i dunno whats going to happen. getting my license next week, can;t find insurance that will cover me, nor do i have a car, hence any jobs within driving distance that are out of range of pub. trans. is outta the question. fucked.

anyways, 35mg of klonopin, I might as well have taken a Tylenol. no effects. xanax is supposed to be like every 4hrs of some shit, but that's another benzo.

i dont know whats stronger, mg wise, diazepam, klono or xanax. doesnt matter really.


dunno about the natural thing, right now i just want to stay in my bed for the next month and smoke as many cigs as i can.btw im not suicidal, so dont worry. my email is poweredbyv8 AT gmail DOT com if you have any concerns. i check it on my phone several times a day. anyones welcome to email me, bitch at me, help, or just say hi. or dont email at all. its okay.

btw, music is the only thing that can get everything off my mind most of the time. so its music time.

[Carla]

Hi!
I am sorry you are so down. Are you able to get thro this weekend and then get to the doctors on Monday to discuss your medication. I know you have already been, but there are so many medications available, I am sure there is one to suit you. Are you giving the medications enough time to work. For some of them they can take up to 3 weeks to kick in for you to feel the benefits. I realise things are very tough for you but hang on in there. Life wont always be this terrible. In some of my worst moments when I thought nothing would ever or could ever improve, I got thro it somehow. First I wld get your medication sorted and then once you have done that, then try getting help for your back problem and then sort out the rest. Just take 1 day and 1 issue at a time. I am sure your best friend and you will make it up. Have you told your friend how you are feeling? Do you have family who are there for you? You are not alone in what you are going through, believe me. Things are really tough for me at the moment but I am just taking it 1 day at a time. Keep posting. It is very quiet on here at the moment isnt it, but I am sure you will get other replies. Hugs...

[Carla]

Hi again...
Just to add, yes listening to music does really help...the right type tho not depressing music! lol I find when I am really down that music can really lift how I am feeling even if it is temporary. Just for the time I am listening to it, it really can help, as does reading too, basically anything that can give your mind a rest from the anxiety and problems. Keep posting and let us know how you are.

[westeastern]

update:

me and friend are fine. all's good there

not really depressed anymore, just more annoying/sick n tired of med after med working 25% one way another med working 50% another way.

been on diaz for about lets say 2 weeks. klono about 1 week. the benzos, acordng to what ive been told take that long to level off. i was at a relaxed bar/lounge tonite, testing out the effectiveness of the meds. i didnt feel comfortable at all there, didnt really want to be there (i like the place, i was just uncomfortable). talk to a few people, made me more uncomfortable and anxious. again, i dont have panic attacks or agoraphobia. so, what other viable meds are out there that are 'next on the list' to see if they work?

i have school all week next week mon-fri 8-7 so no doc appts. i can call though.

what should i do? i feel i have no direction at this point. dunno

[Carla]

Hi again
Glad you and friend are ok now. I have been on Diazepam and it really made my anxiety worse and I became depressed and I came off it due to that. You say you are at school all this week - can you not take some time out of school with permission to go to an appointment. If things are not improving you do need to tell your doctor. Maybe you need to give the medication longer to work? I dont know what other meds there are as I dont take medication myself, maybe some of the others on this forum can help you with that? I wldnt place all my hope on medication. I think 50% is medication and 50% self help/therapy. I know anxiety makes you feel fed up cos sometimes it never seems to go. I have been there. It is so frustrating at times but what I do is not allow it to make me scared, I just go with the flow of it. Sometimes it is always there but how I am dealing with it is reading lots about it, doing a lot of self help techniques, and taking natural supplements plus eating very healthily and not drinking or smoking. Exercise helps too. I find it really helps me. If things got so bad then I wld take prescribed meds tho. Do you have support off other people? I hope things get better for you/

[westeastern]

hey all

been busy at school, sorry i havent replied.

current update over the last month or two:

well last i posted, i was on the welbutrin still 300mg 1x a day and klonopin (again) at 4mg 2x a day. klono didn't do much really, same as before with the others. i dont know, maybe this stuff really takes a while to kick in? thing is, from what i've read online is that most benzos are supposed to be taken up to like about 4-6 weeks (on average) if that's correct. i was on klono 2 yrs ago for 8months, and i've read many many people whove been on it for years. so i dont know what the story about that is.

then i was on lorazepam (which, if i remember correctly, basically turns into valium in the body, but the body metabolizes it instead of taking it straight). his thought was that might extend the efficacy of our goal. no luck though.


anyways, been talking with my doc (i've also been going to counseling, which i think helps too) and since i've almost exhausted every benzo out there, he said let give something one more a try which was clorazepate (aka Tranxene). nope, no dice there either. i was on 1-2 7.5mg 2x a day, 1 extra if i really needed it (not that it worked anyway).

so today i went back to update him. we came to the conclusion that benzos probably wont work for me. we needed to give something else a try. so he put me on gabapentin (Neurontin) 300mg 3x a day. i've also been on Ambien to help me sleep the past month. that doesnt even work half the time.

what am i, a unstoppable energy/anxiety machine? lol, everything thrown at my doesnt calm me down. havent given the gabapentin a shot yet, just started today, so we'll see.

anyone else have experience with gabapentin?


take care all

[westeastern]

hmmm this ones quite interesting. seems to work well so far (2 days in) but getting used to the dosage is a little bit of a bump in the road. it can catch me off guard and i'd be out of balance/dizzy. but it's not like an intoxicated/high unbalance, more like a calming relaxed state. So relaxed infact that it's like i forget to stand up straight lol. thats the best i can describe it. but its not like im holding onto things to walk straight or bumping into stuff everywhere and falling over.

on the other hand, i havent been in any anxiety provoking situations yet, but no GAD so far, so thats good. no noticable side effects either. again, only day 2, so we'll see how it goes.