manchester paul

hi all..

as a recovering alcoholic in my 3rd year of sobriety im really struggling of late with generalised and social anxiety,so much so that i havent worked since december and avoid all social situations at all costs,even to visit my doctor or therapist i need to take a 5mg diazepam to get me there,but i only use these when i need to as i dont want to substitute the alcohol with valium and become dependant on these although i think i may have become psyhcologicaly addicted from the first time i took it.

has anybody any experience with trazadone for their anxiety as my doctor does not think medication is the way forward for me and thinks CBT will be the best option even though i have had 12 sessions with my therapist,the anxiety does not seem to be getting any better.

thanks in advance
paul

feef

Hi Paul, I personally dont understand why doctors still prescribe diazepam. There was such alot of people who became addicted to them in the 70s and are still on them today! Things havent changed.There is still people getting "hooked" on them. Crazy! Talk to your GP about something which is not additive? W
Whats CBT? is it cognitive therapy?

manchester paul

yes mate cbt therapy..tried effexor xr,paxil,escitalpram no good for me

GingerM

You might want to look into clonazepam - it doesn't seem to be as addictive (doesn't seem to produce as much euphoria - it is still 'habit forming', and you will still become dependent on it). I've found the combination of clonazepam (klonapin) with cbt works really well for me and am down to one session per month from 2 sessions per week.

I also found that the cbt skills are really difficult to use if the anxiety goes over a certain level - it just gets too hard to think and remember the skills. I'm pretty sure that's why the combination of benzo + therapy has helped me so much. I've learned a lot of skills which I got to practice when I wasn't all spazzed out with anxiety so that when a big crunch did come along, I was better able to work with it. I still have certain triggers, but I know exactly what they are and can use rescue drugs for those occassions.

Ten Chips Down

Hi - this isn't a bash on benzos but clonazepam--Klonopin in the states--is far worse to stop than Valium. It's more addicting, not less. Any addict or alcoholic should proceed with great caution before getting on any of this stuff. - If they ever plan on stopping. ...lol

Hi, Feef! Man, I so agree. CBT stands for cognitive-behavioral therapy.

Ten

daydream

Ten Chips is telling the truth. Klonopin is bad stuff and requires regular monitoring (bloodwork, I think). It is highly addictive. After decades of trying to live with debilitating anxiety and repeatedly refusing benzos, i reluctantly agreed to try Vistaril (hydroxizine). Vistaril is not a benzo. It is an antihistamine. At first i would not take it, but when someone traumatic happened that had me shaking from head to toe for days on end, i finally tried it, and it worked. It did not make me feel weird or under the influence in any way. It just stopped my shaking and made me feel a bit calmer inside. It didn't take away my feelings entirely, but it took off the edge so i could function. As a recovering addict, I have to be extremely careful, so I only take it when i am extremely nervous. Lesser levels of anxiety I can live with, just like our literature talks about in reference to pain. Of course if one abuses vistaril, it can get a person loaded. That's why I talked it over with sponsor first, kept friends and sponsor informed of how often I was taking it, asked friends to intervene if necessary, etc. Oh and of course, I reminded my mental health professionals that I'm an addict and to watch me closely. I told them exactly what signs to look for that might point toward me having a problem with it. it's now been 2 years and I feel safe taking it because I am diligent in maintaining my recovery. If i ever lose respect for how quickly a med can take me down, or if I ever lose the spirituality I've gained in recovery, that's when they need to take me off it, before I get a wake up call worse than that. Anyway, that's all I have to share.

ccgirl

I tried cbt and it was a wonderful experience.

As far as trazadone, it is an anti depressant that helps with sleep. I'm not sure how it works with anxiety.