My advice is not to take drugs at all, they only cause harm

Girl, I feel your pain! And although Klenopin has been my "Saving Grace", it will be same as your Ativan. I never calm down or slow down unless I keep going for months and finally crash and sleep for a few days.

There have been times when I wanted to take an "extra" klenopin, but I just trudge thru it because I do not want to go over the prescribed amount. I'm already at the max as it is. So switching over to klenopin isn't going to solve your problem. It might at first, but eventually it will be just like the Ativan.

I never have peace or tranquility. And as for not taking any drugs at all............... there are some that can do that as they are still functioning with flutters of anxiety. That's what I USED to have. I used to call it my "adrenaline rushes". But now......... my life and this "thing" has changed so much that if I have to rely on meds to slow me down just a tad, then so be it.

Misty, I think I've tried every SSRI there is on the market with the klenopin. Most of the SSRI's either had bad side effects, did nothing or caused higher anxiety.

When I finally find a new pdoc, I think I'm going to ask for an "older" med to coincide with the klenopin and stay away from the ones you see commercials for, etc. But I truly don't think an SSRI is the answer either.

Hell, I DON'T KNOW the answer............... all I know is I want my old life back............... which was before I went thru menopause!!!!!!!

And these are supposed to be the GOOD years??? I'm looked at as the "life of the party" and I don't even drink........... I just can't sit still or stay quiet!!!!!

I can't wait to hear what your dr tries you on come Monday and see how it works. I'm following in your footsteps!!!!

I have been on Lexapro for 8 days and it did make my anxiety worse, but now I'm starting to see some good results. I'm hopeful it will continue to work.

if i dont take drugs i dont live !

had to come back in here ems you have no idea what garbage is coming outta your mouth.....you obviously have no idea what we are suffering thru this afflication.....and it might be best if you go in a corner and do some reading some serious reading and then you may have understanding and empathy because you aint got either now that is very apparent !!!!

and linduh darlin if klonopin gives me 4 years of reasonable calm i will be happy....ativan has kept me alive and klonopin will too .....then further down the road there may be better solutions for us.
love mistyblade xxx

You are right, I didn't think of it that way. To make it work and las 4 years (at least that's how long I've been on it and now it seems to be wearing out it's welcome) is to take a lower dose regularly........... as the anxiety starts to creek back in, ask for a little higher dosage, and keep going like that until you're at the max. I'm not sure if it's based on size or what....... I just know that I take 4 mgs a day and that's the max. I started at 1 mg a day (.25 four times a day), and even at that small dose, it helped to calm and relax me. but your body does grow accustom it, as your doctor will tell you, and then you'll have to increase it.

But you are right............. 4 years of a little calm every now and then beats none at all. Maybe I should be asked to be switched to Ativan. How long did that work for you before it stopped?

linduh it has been 15 years......stated on 1 mg 3 times a day which was great now on the highest which is 2.5mg three times daily....the last week i have doubled that.

good for you sweetie.... i will read about lexapro....good luck to you !
love mistyblade xxx

when i would take ativan, i'd notice a few hours or a day after, i would start to feel restless and panicky because i was withdrawing from it.

it's not really the best thing to take anyway....because it sounds like you are addicted to it when you have access.

not sure what else there really is..

i take seroquel, which seems to help with anxiety and also sleep.

Thanks girlfriend. You let me know what your dr says about switching over to klenopin when you go tomorrow. If all sounds good, then I will ask my doctor on the 31st about switching over to Ativan. If memory serves me right (which I don't have much of), of course they are both benzos, but I think switching the kind makes a difference.

I love the idea that Ativan helped you for THIRTEEN years! That is AWESOME! I'm assuming that since they are both benzo's there are no side effects from leaving one to go to another? Ask your doctor tomorrow.

I don't see mine again until the 31st. Since I just lost my dad in May, my gift to my mother for Christmas is to get her out of the house and take her to Nashville, TN (Home of the Grand Ole' Opry)........... but I will tell you. I might be double-dosing too during that trip. My mother is one of my triggers and 12 hours in a car just to get there.............. Whoa! I need this trip to be a relaxation for me so maybe I need to feed HER a klenopin. Sneak it into a drink or something!

I do believe she is part of the reason that my panic attacks and anxiety has returned so robust in the last few years. I realize now that my dad was like a buffer. She has he same type of issues that I have and almost unbearable for me sometimes......... but I'm all she has so I have to just cope and try really really hard to not go off or say the wrong thing or all hell breaks lose. I do no want to go to Nashville and walk on eggshells the whole time. I want to be "myself" and "myself" for whatever reason gets on her nerves. But "herself" sometimes gets on mine. LOL! It's a vicious circle. I'm looking foward to getting a way for a few days as I need it desperately, but which is the worst of the two evils? ARGH!

I LOVE roadtrips and have been many places "in my own life". I haven't taken this long of a roadtrip since my trigger switched 5 years ago. I hope my driving abilities do well as my mother doesn't drive............ she just likes to tell me how to and use her imaginary break!

So again, I am SO looking forward to a roadtrip and getting a way for a few days, I might be going right towards a bees nest.

So taking doubles don't hurt you in anyway? LOL! Just curious cuz' I can see it coming for me. Or I might take my 2mg pills and cut them in half and that way I can take 4 a day versus 2 a day and take them in intervals throughout the day.

What a life. I want off the damn rollercoaster.

ems489 - r u having a laugh? how can we not take meds? like misty... sez, no drugs no life. if you dont take anything, then think yourself lucky, cos it cant be that bad. i hope you never have to go to the doc balling your eyes out, in total hell - begging for tablets to make it better. lol xxx be careful with klonopin, seems that u build up tolerance to it fast and need the dose upping, i been taking it a year, an its not the same! i'd luv more! but i'll resist while its barable!!

oh yes i am addicted to it....or as my doctor says my body needs it, he dont like to say addicted, i told him he was my dealer and i was a junkie.....he said that was stupid talk and i musnt think like like that

ativan got me off grog 15 years ago so at least i am not drinking anymore i was addicted to alcohol i am a alcoholic so if i am addicted to medication that is how it has to be ....dont like it but much rather be like that than pick up a drink.yes ativan has bad withdrawals and they come pretty quick, you gotta never run out of em....i did once but never again thought i was going to die...you can have seizures if you withdraw quick as well.....or run out off em !

love mistyblade xxx

have a good trip linduh i will miss you....no taking extra has never hurt me....this is the first time i have ever taken doubles for a week....had no bad effects on me....but you shouldnt do it....so DONT !!!will talk to you more later.
love mistyblade xxx

Actually i wish i could take meds like all of you, but i cant. i have a severe phobia of any kinda of meds, ive been prescribed dizaepam and propanol and they all sent me into sevre panic attacks. Ive suffered like this for about a year or so. so in my mind meds are the enemy, i would love to be given the help that everyone is receiving but how can i when my mind works like this? trust me i undestand the hell you all go through, ive been off work for 2 weeks because i cant leave me house how am i going to get better? i cant go on like this but i have no choice.

i was only voicing my opintion because in my mind thats the way it works.

i hope you find the right meds for you, and i hope they make you feel loads better i honestly do.

take care x