Med student needs advice
Posted , 8 users are following.
I am a third year med student who is suffering from severe stress.I am new to these boards hoping to find some advice and reasurance. Being a med student it is difficult for me to go to colleagues for advice first of all I am a perfectionist and it is difficult to admit a problem secondly I appreciate the anonymity that the boards offer. I know the textbook side of this problem very well,but there is the human side also so my goal in being here is to hopefully talk to those who have anxiety and stress and learn their coping mechanisms. I have been taking Diazepam for sleep it has helped some, However I can not take it during the day. My problem is it is not working very well and I do not want to take more. I am very frustrated that I can not control my stress an anxiety.I have an enormous work load ahead of me and I don't see how I can cope.
0 likes, 7 replies
pat03161 emmalynn42719
Posted
Hi emmalynn42719. I worked in MH most of my life and before that in the medical/dental field in the States. Had the same kind of problems as you have outlined...for which I send empathy to you. I understand your workload pressure and the stressors and anxieties that your chosen career will throw your way. Best to seek some counselling in these early days - before using Diazepam as a sticking plaster becomes the need to use them as a major dressing! You know how difficult it is to wean from Diazepam...now is perhaps the time to re-assess? Try some other tools (time management, counselling, alternative therapies, MIndfulness, etc and perhaps speak to your student counsellor and discuss your problems). There is no definitive answer to handling stress better; it can only be handled by the sufferer when they really look into what is really, really bothering them...and then beginning slowly to listen to,yourself and act on what your body is trying to tell you.
Am thinking of you and hope things begin to improve soon...but don't wait for them to go away or "get better" without some input from yourself. Things honestly only improve when we actually HEAR what our bodies are trying to tell us.
Pat D x
cia42277 pat03161
Posted
fred21728 emmalynn42719
Posted
I can only tell you personal experience with diazepam/zopiclone and it has been horrendous and still is , i was taking 100 to 125 mg a week skipping days , i didnt even know i had a problem till a few months ago .
I dont know how much you are taklng or for how long - but being a med student iam sure you will know if its been much more than a month you may have an issue with them , all people are diffirent though. the thing is the more you take many people say they eventually become less effective which i think could well be the case.
regarding a coping mechanism if you do have issues with diazepam ,almost everyone on seems to agree is to very slowly taper from these - there is no other way , believe me i have tried and researched for many many hours , a slow taper is by far the best solution.
All the best fred
emmalynn42719 fred21728
Posted
carol20979 emmalynn42719
Posted
tess33005 emmalynn42719
Posted
Hello Emmalynn,
I'm a Registered Nurse and Midwife. I started taking diazepam occasionally to help me sleep when I was a student nurse on night duty.
Forty years later I was addicted to every benzo and Z drug that the manufacturers ever invented.
I am now sixty years old. I finally got help from a specialist doctor. I was able to take 100 mg (one hundred!) diazepam plus 28 x 7.5 zopiclone, all in one go, by the time my tolerance grew.
Please don't let this happen to you. Stop now, before it's too late, darling.
Love and hugs Tess xxx
mary35957 emmalynn42719
Posted
Hello emmalynn, the most helpful and beneficial advice is to seek help from a councillor or therapist. I did this and it was so so good for me. These people are professionals who give impartial and constructive help, they don't judge and most have been there themselves, one session with the right person is better than any drug - try it.