Don’t stop taking your anti anxiety medication if you feel good!
My daughter, who I have written extensively about here (see the post My Daughter Got Help with her Anxiety) had been doing soooo well. Anti anxiety medication alone was not enough for her. With the addition of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, she began to have many anxiety free days and was sleeping well. In addition, she started acupuncture for her migraine headaches which had not been responding to medication (and are connected to her anxiety). The acupuncture was working well for her too! And then her therapist and her psychiatrist decided that maybe Beth should try to wean off of some medication. Beth was feeling so good that she agreed. WRONG WRONG WRONG.
A person such as my daughter who has suffered her whole life with debilitating anxiety and had finally found a combination of medication and therapy that was working should not have been taken off her medication. To make matters worse, the psychiatrist made this change just as she was about to disappear for her August vacation. If that wasn’t bad enough, she also made the HUGE MISTAKE of lowering 3 medications at the same time, and in large doses. ANY GOOD PSYCHIATRIST KNOWS THAT YOU TWEAK THE MEDICATIONS IN TINY AMOUNTS TO AVOID WITHDRAWAL AND TO ALLOW YOU TO SEE WHAT IS CAUSING WHAT REACTIONS.
So Beth is now in her 3rd week of severe withdrawal from Prozac and klonopin. The doctor dropped the Prozac from 40mg to 20 mg a day, and also reduced the klonopin from 40mg to 30 mg a day. She also stopped the Buspar at the same time.
Beth has been having nausea, dizziness, diarrhea, vision problems, headaches, insomnia and anxiety. She has been unable to work or play. This is so unacceptable. I had confidence in this doctor who has taken care of Beth so well until now. I guess she was in a rush to get out of town and stopped thinking clearly?
So let this be a warning to everyone who needs to advocate for themselves. NEVER let a doctor increase or decrease more than one medication at a time, and never in large doses. IF IT AIN’T BROKE, USUALLY YOU DON’T NEED TO FIX IT.
Tags: paxil withdrawal, paxil, neurontin, klonopin, anti-anxiety medication, generalized anxiety disorder, GAD, CBT, cognitive behavior therapy, worry, psychotherapy, Celexa, paxil CR. psychiatrist, withdrawal, migraines, acupuncture
- Posted in : generalized anxiety disorder
- Author : freebird
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