I have a dilemma with anxiety and insomnia. Now my health care provider prescribed me Valium and Rivotril. Even so I read that they can turn into tolerant and addictive and then I have to take increased doses. Can I stop this from happening by taking it every second day or would it suffice if I only leave it out on the weekends? Or ought to I take valium 1 day and rivotril on the up coming day? Thanks for your aid.
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I suffer from anxiety but have hardly had any of it since I started exercising regularly. Those meds will make you worse off, better if you go the alternate route by trying natural cures. Good luck!
You will just have to adjust it as you go. I take both Xanax and Ambien and I try to alternate them and I only take them on the same day when I’m not able to sleep at all on the Xanax, then I will only take 1/2 of the Ambien. I don’t have to take the Xanax everyday but sometimes I do to sleep just to relieve the bad taste and drowsiness I get the next day from the Ambien. I have also only taken 1/2 of either when needed to try and alleviate the dependence. I’ve decided that the reason why I am taking the Ambien is because I couldn’t sleep in the first place so what difference is it going to make if I get dependent on it. At least I am sleeping. I am hoping the anxiety will eventually go away when we sell our house or I find a full time job or my husband finds a job, whichever come first. Good luck.
I would not let your doctor put you on an SSRI. I tried it for six weeks recently and the side effects are worse then the actual anxiety. I thought they would wear off but after going on the internet and reading actual user reviews I found where the side effects have never gone away and some people had been taking it for years. Yes I felt calmer mentally but physically I felt like electricity was going through my heart, I couldn’t keep my jaw unclenched, both of my arms hurt, my insomnia was worse and the most intolerable was I had no sex drive and could not orgasm when I did try. No way, don’t do it not for general anxiety. It took over 2 weeks for the effects to go away after I stopped taking it and I am finally having orgasms again but they aren’t even close to what they were before I started taking it. Don’t do it, not for anxiety alone.
Valium is no longer routinely prescribed for anxiety or insomnia- or at least it shouldn’t be. It is quite worthless and can in some cases make the problem worse. The main problem is it’s addictiveness. You can become addicted to Valium in as little as four days. If you take Valium for 3 consecutive nights in a row and omit on the fourth night, you will experience some degree of withdrawal.
The body also develops tolerance to this drug very quickly, you can’t prevent this, the more you take it, the more tolerant your body becomes to it, after which time the drug is completely WORTHLESS. The problem with using ANY drug as a sleep aid is that ultimately you will develop a dependency on it and thus be able to sleep with out it. Your GP is about to make your problems 100 times worse.
It would be better if your GP grew a brain, paid attention to current prescribing guidelines and tried to resolve the underlying reasons for your anxiety and insomnia. CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) would be a rational choice with an SSRI in the meantime.
Add: sorry I just noticed the other drug he has prescribed you, so your Drs answer to your anxiety and insomnia is to give you two Benzo’s? That’s completely illogical. Go back to your GP and ask for a more rational and realistic management plan, this is frankly abhorrent.
Oh dear it’s 2am here and Rhianna is still trying to get me to save the world. I long since realized that was not possible, but she has persuaded me to comment on your question.
I am retired now so I can start my answer with a very not professional ARGHHHHH!
Until the 1900s doctors,bless their cotton socks, thought it was a good idea to prescribe laudanum for insomnia and anxiety, basically opium! It was fashionable and to be frank they had little else. In 1903, the first barbiturate (“barbital”) was used in medical practices. In 1912, a common barbiturate, Phenobarbital, was introduced. This was hailed as a huge medical breakthrough allowing doctors to stop using those terrible opiates which were so addictive.
The first benzodiazepine, chlordiazepoxide (trade name Librium), was discovered accidentally in 1955, and made available in 1960 and diazepam (Valium) since 1963. Doctors thought these were marvelous and it allowed them to replace those terrible and addictive barbiturates.
Good news in 1986 for treatment of insomnia nonbenzodiazepines, which include zolpidem, zaleplon, eszopiclone, and ramelteon were introduced. These enabled doctors to change from those nasty addictive benzodiazepines. These nonbenzodiazepines are now known to be so addictive that Valium is used to wean patients off them.
I guess you see the pattern the poor patient is little better off than he was in 1900 taking his laudanum.
Of the 2 drugs you have been given Rivotril,clonazepam, is the most addictive, and as Rhianna noted only used for epilepsy in the UK, and thus FYI has the highest street value. Neither improve insomnia. Chronic users statistically get off to sleep on average 20 minutes sooner and stay asleep for 30 minutes longer than they did before they started any medication. By far your best option is to get your GP to wean you off both drugs, this is usually done by converting to Valium alone and then gradually reducing the dose.
Best management for anxiety, which causes your insomnia, unquestionably CBT, cognitive behavioral therapy, no medication, with a 70% cure rate.
The benzodiazepine receptors in the brain don’t distinguish between valium or rivotril but, the shorter the half live the less tolerance or withdrawal is suffered. You are much better off taking only Diazepam (Valium). try a 12 hourly dose, begin low and adjust it if you are getting increased anxiety, inner shakes or other withdrawal symptoms.
good luck