I am sitting at my computer at 2:15 am because I cannot take the side effects of coming off of the ATIVAN my doctor prescribed. I have been on this medication for 2 weeks but it making lose my mind. Today Friday, I was called into my managers office to tell me I was not acting right though I had given her my doctors note and my precription that I was on that would maybe make me feel this way. I have thoughts that I cannot take this pain anymore. I was sent home from work because they thought I was drinking, though I was not. I do not know how to let people know tht I am not drinkg anymore that it is the pills that I was taking. Please let me know if anyone has ever gone through the same thing I am.
Linda, Coming off off benzos can make you crazy....taking them made me crazy though too...you need to talk to your Doctor.
I have gone back to the doctor yesterday. He told me to stop taking the Ativan and has given me a prescription for Valium 5 mg, 3 times a day. I do not know what the anwer is. The Valium makes me groggy and I have a full time job that I cannot walk around like like I am stoned out of my mind. I am at my wits end trying to figure what to do. Is anyone in the same situation I am in? I take Trazadone a night to sleep and that seems to help but I don't know if pills are the answer. I had been clean and sober for over 2 years when the anxiety and panic attacks started again which is why I drank so much in the first place to make the anxiety go away. I do not want to go back to the horrible life of living with the bottle again. I just want to feel better. I cannot not go back to my old life as a non-functional human being who lost almost everything I worked so hard to get back to. I was in rehab for 28 days back in 2003 after I lost my mother at 57 to cancer. I was on the verge of losing my job, my husband divorced me and I lost many friends and the respect of family and friends because they cannot understand what I was going through. They just told me to get over it and use willpower. People who have not gone through the life of addiction believe that it is character flaw and not a disease that sometimes we have no control over. I would look at myself in the mirror in the moring, hungover, sick to my stomache and overwridden with guilt and ask myself what am doing to myself, what is wrong with me but addiction is hell on earth that I never thought I would live through. I just want to get well. Thank you for listenting to me.
Can you get to a meeting? Have you reached out to your HP?
Get off the benzos it you can. It can get alot worst i know from experience. Hiow long have you been on atvan and valium if its only a couple of weeks please talk to yuor doctor of getting off. I was on Ativan for 3 months and still paying for it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Benzos work on the brain in a similar way as alcohol kind of like booze in a pill.
Benzos work on the brain in a similar way as alcohol kind of like booze in a pill.
ATIVAN.....my doctor prescribed that to me also.....I immediately showed symptons synonymous of being intoxicated. It is like alcohol in a pill form, and from what I am discovering...affects each individual with different symptoms. Some benefit and some do not. My physician changed me to 1 mg Xanax and I am regulated now. Some would say this is not a good thing, but as far as I am concerned, they are keeping me from drinking, no doubt about it. I understand that I could be substituting my alcohol for pills, but folks, believe me, I dont do the things while taking the pills that I did under the influence of alcohol. My local law inforcement agencies have not been to my house since I quit drinking and started my meds. So, just ask your doctor, its a chemical thing and ATIVAN is not for you obviously.
That is just my advice and experience.....GOOD LUCK!
Karen
That is just my advice and experience.....GOOD LUCK!
Karen
I just now read this post.
I had said something on another thread about replacing one addiction for another and what I meant about that was that I personally am glad that I had thought about and read about controlled drinking as an option to deal with alcoholism in such a way that alcohol no longer makes someone a danger to themselves or others. As opposed to total abstinance which sometimes requires medication of some sort.
All I meant is that this is the best path for me, I don't really care if someone else needs meds to achieve sobriety. I personally am finding moderate drinking my best way to achieve sobriety, and it seems to be working fairly well as the police haven't had to come to my house lately. But whatever works for you is good too.
Cailyn
I had said something on another thread about replacing one addiction for another and what I meant about that was that I personally am glad that I had thought about and read about controlled drinking as an option to deal with alcoholism in such a way that alcohol no longer makes someone a danger to themselves or others. As opposed to total abstinance which sometimes requires medication of some sort.
All I meant is that this is the best path for me, I don't really care if someone else needs meds to achieve sobriety. I personally am finding moderate drinking my best way to achieve sobriety, and it seems to be working fairly well as the police haven't had to come to my house lately. But whatever works for you is good too.
Cailyn
Karen, Those of us who are on the Program and those of us who are not, and who are not Doctors, should not try to intercede on what is prescribed by a Physician...in my humble opinion.
I am not trying to tell anyone else what they should do about their meds.
I am just saying that having two standard drinks 3 times a week is working out better for me then going on meds personally.
I have not been to a doctor or therapist, but if I do need one in the future I will find a moderation friendly doctor and/or therapist.
But that is just me.
Cailyn
I am just saying that having two standard drinks 3 times a week is working out better for me then going on meds personally.
I have not been to a doctor or therapist, but if I do need one in the future I will find a moderation friendly doctor and/or therapist.
But that is just me.
Cailyn
Cailyn, Hope you didn't think I was directing my post at you...just posting in general, almost always I appreciate everyone's posts here and like to see what working and what's not working for all of us...like I've said before even though I'm on the Program, I know that it's not the way everyone gets and/or maintains sobriety. Hope you are doing well!
Well, I don't have much use for doctors myself, they are just drug pushers far as I can tell. So I am not like well I gotta do what the doctor says cause he is like god or something. In fact I always try something holistic first and if nothing else works then I go to the doctor.
We are self employed so we don't have medical insurance, but even if we did we would probably go the holistic route anyways.
Even though I am going the moderation route I really appreciate all the help that y'all gave me in getting sober in the first place. Even with the moderation route one has to get sober first! (30-45 AB Days atleast)
Controlled Drinking is not just cutting down. Heck If I could of just cut down I would've just done that before in the first place! It is quitting and then moderating after the body and mind have cleared. Learning things like what a standard drink is and how many drinks a week is considered moderate helps. Setting goals helps. And a person has to really want to change their life too.
I find eating protein for breakfast helps, plus taking Evening Primrose Oil and Fish oil every morning helps. Helps as part of whole plan that is- not in a magic formula type of way.
Prayer is still an important part of my Sobriety. I pray every morning that Jesus will help me and thank him every night. So I am finding that alot of things that apply to sobriety through abstainence also apply to sobriety though moderation as well.
Thanks again for all your help,
Cailyn
We are self employed so we don't have medical insurance, but even if we did we would probably go the holistic route anyways.
Even though I am going the moderation route I really appreciate all the help that y'all gave me in getting sober in the first place. Even with the moderation route one has to get sober first! (30-45 AB Days atleast)
Controlled Drinking is not just cutting down. Heck If I could of just cut down I would've just done that before in the first place! It is quitting and then moderating after the body and mind have cleared. Learning things like what a standard drink is and how many drinks a week is considered moderate helps. Setting goals helps. And a person has to really want to change their life too.
I find eating protein for breakfast helps, plus taking Evening Primrose Oil and Fish oil every morning helps. Helps as part of whole plan that is- not in a magic formula type of way.
Prayer is still an important part of my Sobriety. I pray every morning that Jesus will help me and thank him every night. So I am finding that alot of things that apply to sobriety through abstainence also apply to sobriety though moderation as well.
Thanks again for all your help,
Cailyn
