Posted , 6 users are following.
I have severe anxiety and panic attacks. Am on 40mg citalopram for 4 month with no improvement. Doc just gave me diazepam. Its not helping and is making me have more attacks.. Anyone else experienced this...
1 like, 17 replies
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harriet67221 sarah94324
Posted
Dom05879 sarah94324
Posted
Hi, it's very rare for benzos to increase anxiety, they are one of the most effective drugs to use to battle anxiety (only in short term or for infrequent use due to addiction potential). What dose of Diazepam are you taking? It might just be you are taking too low a dose to feel the anxiolytic and relaxant effects.
harriet67221 sarah94324
Posted
I have sent you a PM that I feel may be useful re diazepam.
As I said previously these are opiates and NHS England is advising on their prescribing as well as on the opiods that do not alleviate chronic pain.
Dom05879 harriet67221
Posted
Hi Harriet, what opiates are you referring to? Diazepam is a Benzodiazepine and Citalopram is a SSRI, so I'm not sure what opiate Sarah has mentioned?
harriet67221 Dom05879
Posted
Sorry I meant to write benzos but was distracted by an urgent phone call!!!!!. I did refer to them as benzos in my initial postings though.
?Citalopram - ssri's. These have a
bad press and have lots of adverse side effects.
I included the latest info re the opiods as they have now been proven to be ineffective in treating chronic pain . Article in the TIMES..NHS England have disclosed this info.
in the Tmes about
Dom05879 harriet67221
Posted
No worries, I just wanted to ensure Sarah didn't get confused and thought Diazepam was an opioid/opiate.
I agree that opioids need to be avoided for anything other than short term pain relief and certainly wasn't advocating their use.
SSRIs do have lots of downsides, but despite the fact I am deeply wary of them, Sertraline played a massive role in saving my life as I was suicidal beforehand and getting stable on the medication really made a huge difference. So I'd say SSRIs can still play a helpful role, particularly with severe clinical depression, but people need a holistic approach and not just take an antidepressant and think they will get better. If people have mild or slightly moderate depression and/or anxiety then I'd always recommend trying recovery options without using SSRIs or other antidepressants.
Benzodiazapines need to be treated with real caution too. They are highly effective fort anxiety, sleep disorder or muscle spasms/tension but again should only be used short term as addiction is a real risk and they are hard to withdraw from.
carol84640 sarah94324
Posted
Hi I'm on diazepam but find them calming but it doesn't last long.i know some people feel awful on them and can make your anxiety worse. The problem is that there very addictive but saying that so are a lot of antidepressants it's a vicious circle xx
harriet67221 carol84640
Posted
Hi Yes benzos are extremely addictive and people quickly develop an intolerance to them so require higher and higher doses . Benzos have a long list of very nasty side effects including suicide ideation, anxiety, depression, light headedness, vertigo/dizziness, paranoia spasms, nausea, diarrhoea , respiratory problems ,seizures, panic attacks, insomnia, fatigue, depersonalisation etc,etc.
That is why they are to be used very cautiously. They are terrible to withdraw from and it has to be done very, very slowly.
?NHS England are trying to dissuade the prescribing of them and promoting non medication alternatives to deal with anxiety.
harriet67221 carol84640
Posted
Benzos are terrible drugs with harmful long term effects. I personally would discourage anyone from taking them. They can cause suicide ideation, anxiety, depression, suicide, irritability, light headedness, dizziness, vertigo, spasms, neuropathy, seizures etc etc. It is all there on the PIL and internet.
carol84640 harriet67221
Posted
carol84640 harriet67221
Posted
While I agree that Benos are addictive and I wouldn't advise anyone to start taking them unless absolutely necessary so are a lot of antidepressants and other meds the list of things you have put can also be found on a lot of other meds to antidepressants being one of them so I think you could be frightening people
harriet67221 carol84640
Posted
carol84640 harriet67221
Posted
harriet67221 sarah94324
Posted
Tried to send a list of side effects of benzos but gone to moderator. Do not know why. Benzos are big business for Big Pharma.
harriet67221 sarah94324
Posted