Set Back

[HipHopHead]

After getting back on Zoloft, my anxiety was improving. I went a full week without needing Ativan. I thought things were about to get back to normal. This week, I was hit again with panic attacks and anxiety. Now I'm spiraling in fear that the Zoloft isn't working anymore and I won't have a way to handle this.

[litethatnevergoesout]

how are you prescribed your Ativan? how long have you been on it what’s the dosage?

[HipHopHead in reply to litethatnevergoesout]

I got it prescribed by my primary care doctor. They gave me a very small amount and suggested .5mg a day, as needed. It helps but also makes me incredibly tired which interferes with work. I use it as a last resort

[litethatnevergoesout in reply to HipHopHead]

I understand. for some reason it’s prescribed for as needed, and the drowsy side effect I believe to be misused by some practitioners, although for some patients it can be a bonus since anxiety can keep us awake too frequently.

HipHopHead im going to say that your reboot of anxiety is because you went a went a week without taking your benzodiazepine. doctors fail to mention this to patients. Abruptly stopping the Ativan, even at the dose you are on, there’s benzodiazepine withdrawal and it has persistent symptoms of what it has been prescribed for. I looked up Ativan’s half life and if you abruptly stopped taking it then 3-4 days to a week is how long it takes to clear your system.

be careful to not abruptly stop taking your Ativan. benzodiazepine withdrawals are only remedied by taking benzodiazepine. Zoloft won’t do anything for it.

[HipHopHead in reply to litethatnevergoesout]

That’s very good to know. My doctor didn’t mention anything about that even when I told her about mg symptoms. She has mentioned more than once the Ativan is very addictive and she will only prescribe a small amount at a time. It’s reassuring to know this set back could be withdrawal symptoms and not an indication that the Zoloft stopped working.

[litethatnevergoesout in reply to HipHopHead]

I am not a doctor but I have been on benzodiazepine for a very long time and have been down this road before many many times. this is actually a controversial thing, part of the big benzodiazepine cover up. patients tend to know more about the risks than the doctors. there’s a lot more to it than just being addictive.

Benzodiazepine withdrawal is considered one of the worst things that can happen to someone. all the focus and staying in the present and breathing techniques in the world won’t do anything for it.

I can say confidently that your rebound anxiety is due to Ativan withdrawal, keep the Zoloft going. it should be reassuring that it has kicked in and can work as prescribed.

[litethatnevergoesout in reply to litethatnevergoesout]

keep in mind that benzodiazepine withdrawal looks and acts like anxiety but it’s not.

[Nothing_but_books in reply to litethatnevergoesout]

Ain't that the truth. 😳😬

[Kinlay in reply to HipHopHead]

Managing meds and dealing with side effects can be SO frustrating! You may want to consider using a pill splitter and cutting the Ativan pills in half to avoid the tiredness. I find that .5 mg is too much, so I only take .25 as needed. My doctor also told me to try not to take it on two consecutive days, because you can build up a dependence pretty quickly with regular use. Also, keep in mind that even with the right meds, life can throw you curve balls and you may still have times when your anxiety acts up more. If it goes on for longer than a week, however, I would reach out to your doctor and let them know. Best wishes!

[1947treble]

Rather than being fearful over the long term try putting your effort and mind in the day, hours, or even minutes already present. Work on distractions, coping skills, self-talk, talking to your doctor and the things you can do along with the medicine. It takes daily participation in your wellness and healthcare to reach the best solutions. However, go easy on yourself and celebrate even the smallest progress. I also prayed for you.

[HipHopHead in reply to 1947treble]

Yes, I try to focus on the present and not let my anxiety consume me.

[Meowmix8]

This is my seventh week on Zoloft… I still feel “ antsy “ at times. This is my first time with this medicine and am on it for ptsd. When I have a good day or days, I don’t want to get my hopes up that I will continue to have just good days. I do go for acupuncture and that seems to calm me down for awhile. I have done acupuncture for four weeks, once a week. I love it and do think it really helps. Let me know if this helps!!

[yhsbirny]

This most likely happened because you stopped the Ativan. Anxiety reduction is just a secondary effect of Zoloft, not a major effect. The major effect is on depression so don't think it's not working anymore; it's just not working on something it was never intended to attack directly anyway. If you can tolerate the side effects. get back on the Ativan. IF YOU NEED IT, DON'T BE AFRAID TO TAKE IT. So many patients and practitioners alike have this thing about benzos, they are afraid of "addiction", afraid of some kind of dependence, etc. The media and medical profession have turned benzos into a scary thing, when they are really the only meds that directly attack anxiety and are not not nearly as dangerous and harmful as they are sometimes made out to be. I have been on a very high dose of Ativan for 10 or 12 years (along with various ADs the whole time) and I know I would not have gotten thru the anxiety without it. Anxiety and depression are related but are still 2 different things and need different treatments. I'll worry about withdrawing from the Ativan when and if I ever need to.

[litethatnevergoesout in reply to yhsbirny]

there are studies and facts, empirical evidence and expert analysis.

benzodiazepines are addictive. “the possible threat of overusing them is real and with that comes dependency, overdose and the potentiality of death.” - Foundations Recovery Network one of the nation’s leading organizations for treating a dual diagnosis of substance addiction and mental health disorders.

"It is more difficult to withdraw people from benzodiazepines than it is from heroin. It just seems that the dependency is so ingrained and the withdrawal symptoms you get are so intolerable that people have many problems coming off. The other aspect is that with heroin, usually, the withdrawal is over within a week or so. With benzodiazepines, a proportion of patients go on to long-term withdrawal and they have very unpleasant symptoms for month after month, and I get letters from people saying you can go on for two years or more. Some of the tranquilliser groups can document people who still have symptoms 10 years after stopping.” - Malcolm Lader, an expert on benzodiazepines at London's Institute of Psychiatry in a 1999 interview on BBC Radio 4

the FDA in 2020 issued a "boxed warning" of “serious risks associated with benzodiazepine use. continued use of benzodiazepines” beyond two to four weeks “had the potential to lead to clinically significant physiological dependence.”

[yhsbirny in reply to litethatnevergoesout]

Benzos are addictive in the sense that you cannot go "cold turkey" off of them; you need a planned withdrawal program. Going cold turkey can lead to seizures and possibly worse consequences. And as for your quotes above, where are the quotes from the millions of people whose lives have been improved and even saved (suicidal->non-suicidal) by benzos? And the last thing I will ask is what is a person like the writer supposed to do then? Avoid benzos and suffer terribly today or use them and worry about a possible withdrawal problem in the future that may never happen? The vast majority of people that have to withdraw do so with little or no problems, but the tiny percentage and outliers "who have symptoms 10 years later" are the ones that get the press and are sensationalized by the media always looking for the next epidemic they can create. The lack of ojectivity of so many of these stories in the medical press sickens me. It's a person's own choice.

[litethatnevergoesout in reply to yhsbirny]

there’s no argument about if benzodiazepines work, they most certainly do. have worked for over 60 years. they are only supposed to be prescribed short term though. there’s no sensationalism about the difficulty coming off of the drug. the percentage of patients that have difficulties withdrawing off of them is quite significant.

[Nothing_but_books in reply to yhsbirny]

It is not "a person's own choice" to be given a benzo prescription with no warning from your doctor about tolerance issues. I -- foolishly -- trusted my doctor, who gave me a benzo prescription for sleep. When it stopped working, he casually gave me a larger dose. When that stopped working... Long story short, when I hit the highest dose allowed, another doctor told me he had never seen anyone on so high a dose.

Of course, that stopped working too. Then I lived through hell. Weeks of no sleep at all, and the worst panic of my life.

Better late than never I did my own research, and learned how to gradually... oh so gradually, get that crap out of my system.

The doctors who don't trust us with information when they prescribe are at fault. Perhaps their education about prescription drugs is too lacking to know what we go through.

The pharmacists who certainly know didn't warn me either. It's a shameful system, and I have chatted with enough other members who had the same experience to KNOW it isn't rare.

[Meowmix8]

I hope you got my reply.