Hi Kathryn....
You are in a delima, but I can tell you are not liking this at all....so I agree with j2006....tell the doc you DO NOT want
to take addictive stuff anymore and
to do something else and
get you
off the stuff.
Librium is often prescribed for benzo (
ativan, etc...and alcohol withdrawals. It is addictive (just wait) BUT takes much much longer
to become so. It can be used for maybe a week or two for w/d's and stopped abruptly without much problem. Benzo's have an addictive effect after 2-3days and produce w/d's that soon.
Also, are you aware you are now on 2 benzodiazapenes? In the "circle of users" I grew up with (20's) we called benzo's "the pam family". We knew anything in the "pam" family was "good"....in the
valium, xanax,
ativan calibur of some sort. In other words, meds generic's names ending in "pam". So you have temazapm, and lorazapam (
ativan).
Valium is called diazapm, klonapin is a "pam" too...can't remember the generic name.....Anyway, everytime a "pam" is added it might as well be the same as just upping your
ativan dosage. I hope this is making sense...not sure if I'm making this clear or not.
The point being "adding fuel
to the fire" is just prolonging and increasing withdrawal effects when you finally actually do withdrawal. It will be more difficult, take longer, hurt worse....becoming a vicious cycle. It's like having 3 drinks a night for a month and upping it
to 6 drinks a night. The more you drink, the bigger problem you have.
I'm not a doctor by any means, but a long time addict with a bit of a jaded past with it. My past drug use was not legal or if it was it was by "doctor shopping". In any case, it was not "legit". So we "educated" ourselves on what do
get, why, what it did, how
to counter it, how
to get "up, when
to "come down" and by what means. I can hear it in your post that you are not happy with the feelings you are having and feel it snowballing. Well you are right, it is.
There are other anti-d's that address anxiety as well as depression that may be able
to be used that can maybe "take the place" (for lack of a better term) of
ativan,etc... I know that Celexa is one of them. I've taken both Lexapro and Celexa and Celexa really worked well, for me anyway, with anxiety and depression.
I hope I can be of some help
to you. I understand your plight. Needing anti-anxiety meds but they are addictive. You never really said what the
ativan was for? There is also a sleep med called Trazadone that works pretty well for sleep and really isn't addictive. When I say "really isn't" I mean no withdrawals really. When stopping it you just have problems sleeping without for a week or so....no sweats, and shakes, and shock
to the body.
Good luck
to you!
Shay