Pretty Pee'd Off With Doctor

[Quest4NSR]

Done up like a kipper,

I asked for something just to relax my muscles as when I was in hospital they gave me Lorazepam (tiny dose) and found it helped, I asked for something similar and he put me on Mirtazapine. When I looked it up it's a bloody Anti Depressant (which I cannot stand). So angry as I trusted him, I should have researched it when in the hospital and I would have rejected them right away, I took three already. I started feeling weird like something was happening to my nervous system (as I was on Sertraline in the past) and it was very similar. They do make you feel sleepy at night but I don't want mind altering garbage in the body.

I'll have to speak with my GP now, DARN IT as I saw my EP today too and I could have brought it up with him.

Anyone else using muscle relaxants like Diazepam or Lorazepam along with other medications for AF? Would like to hear your experiences

[etheral]

I have been taking Diazepam for muscle spasms due to botched cervical disc surgery on an as needed basis for years. I am also on a regime including an antiarrhythmic for AFib. There has been no interactions. Caveat: Any benzodiazepine, such as Xanax or valium will cause physiological addiction if taken on a regular basis and need tapering off if stopping to prevent possibly dangerous withdrawal effects.

[Racquet in reply to etheral]

The medics can be so irrational. They'll prescribe toxic drugs like fleccanide but are loathe to prescribe a benzodiazepine. Yeah, yeah, I know that one can get addicted to them and have a tough time off them, BUT I fail to see what danger they present if you get one or two prescriptions of 28 of them in a whole year. That's hardly going to make one a drug addict. The GP could obviously refuse your request for a refill if you're asking every few weeks.

I don't think they are empathetic to an AFibber's level of anxiety during an episode. How many of them have experienced it themselves?

I have a prescription of diazepam and I only use it when absolutely necessary. Having taken one, I can actually fall asleep and spend hours of the episode blissfully unaware of it. Isn't that reason enough to justify this medication.

[Ppiman]

Mirtazapine is, chemically, an antihistamine that has found use as an antidepressant. It will help relax the muscles without any chance of addictive potential which can occur with benzodiazepine drugs. This is why GPs don’t like giving them. Hospital doctors are much less worried as the dosage is so short term.

Mirtazapine made me feel dreadful - zombie-like, but I know some find it to be very helpful, especially with insomnia.

There really is no other class of drugs like the benzodiazepines but you’ll need to convince your doctor you really would benefit to get them prescribed these days.

Steve

[PlanetaryKim]

I use lorazepam occasionally on an as-needed basis. I have a small supply and i take one if i am feeling agitated and stressed and cannot bring it under control by other means. I find it super effective. However, because it's a benzodiazepine, it is such a struggle to get doctors to refill it. You would think I'm asking for heroin. Any time I try to get a refill, the doctor always tries to give me anti-depressant instead, which I don't want, and which really is the type of drug you are supposed to take daily and long-term, not intermittently on an as-needed basis. So I feel if I followed doctors advice, I would be headed into a situation of more drug use than i want. Plus the wrong type of drug for my situation. I find the lorazepam perfect for occasional usage for stress, tension, anxiety. I just take a tiny amount - 0.25 mg.

On a related note, I am watching the new TV series Dopesick. Boy is that good! Tells the story of how the opioid crisis started, focusing on the Sackler family that owned Purdue Pharma and all they did to launch and dishonestly peddle Oxycontin as a "non-addictive" opioid.