4WWWW

Just curious - Do recovering Alcoholics use these ever?

I have had some serious panic attacks / anziety during my first three months of recovery and it was suggested by a counselor to use zanax when needed. My Dr prescribed a low dose.

What are your thoughts please? I have taken some - is that ok?

Dee74

I'm of the firm belief that prescribed drugs are between you and your Dr 4www.

I've been honest with my Dr about my past...I'm not on anti anxiety meds but I do take pain relief as needed - I don't abuse them, I take strictly as directed and they don't hit the 'go' button for me like other drugs used to

I think there's a big difference between drugs that we once used to escape our life and drugs we use now to enhance our life

D

karilynn27

I agree with Dee. I was very honest with my docs. I think it is dangerous when people begin to tell others what may or may not be right for them when it comes to medication issues. Stay honest with your docs, my psychiatric drugs are nothing to fool with.
All my best
K

Lyoness

I agree that that decision is between you and your doctor. If you are taking prescribed medicines as prescribed that is completely different from your addictive substances. Just stay honest with your doctor and yourself and you'll be fine.

Natom

Hey 4W,

I'm in NA and the general consensus in my area is that if they are actually for a medical issue and are taken as prescribed then there is no problem. Obviously you have to be very wary if your medication gets changed. Ask your Doc about it, they will normally offer a couple of alternatives.

Tom.

LadyinBC

I don't see why it wouldn't be okay. I take paxil everyday for my depression.

dedubya

Hey Im not a doc, so take this as my personal experience.
Listen to your doc, and your body. My doc prescribed klonopin to me for 4 yrs for anxiety. it worked at first. then stopped. Tolerance builds fast. the withdrawals are absolute hell and lasted months for me.. I had no idea since I took the dose on the bottle. But I was drinking then too. be careful with the benzo ****. just my experience.
dub

mittens2020

I'm not a doctor - but i can tell you I am on anti-depressants daily and anti-anxiety meds (as needed). I was on them before sobriety and my doc monitors them. If anything I am hoping to get off of them as my sobriety continues. Doc and I have talked about it and I have wondered how much of the lingering depression was because I was drinking so much each day. Maybe getting rid of the booze will help me beat the depression!

renaldo

I work with a woman who got a DUI in a blackout using the prescribed dosage of an anti-anxiety medication. Sometimes doctors aren't always right.

Meds never worked for me. Just made things much worse. But I know for a lot of folks, they do help. My nephew is schizophrenic. With his meds he's fine. Without them, disaster ensues.

Xune

I hope you took that story with a very large grain of salt.

SeekSobriety

As long as your doctor is aware of your past drug/alchohol abuses and you are honest with them, taking medicine as prescribed is certainly not abuse. The issue for some
Recovering addicts is abusing the prescribed drugs or lying to Doctors to get prescriptions that Might not otherwise be medically required.