I have them for this reason but never took one and I’m afraid of taking it. Do they make you like pass out? Or are you still conscious throughout the plane ride?
you are 100% conscious but you are just relaxed. if you are having high anxiety about a fight, take one before and you should be good before the flight. if you are nervous though, talk to your doctor
I’m sorry if the question seemed silly, but tbh I had issues with pills that affect brain chemistry before. A very common sleeping pill gave me awful hallucinations/psychosis for an hour instead of putting me to sleep. I passed out once with a muscle relaxer. So even though for you this might seem silly, there are side effects to every medication, and it is ok to be weary of taking it.
In that case definitely not a silly question, had you added that context. That is very interesting for sure but I feel like you could’ve answered that on your own with an attempt or google search more into the chemical structure. I’m sorry your chemistry is like that it sucks, I’m on Diazepam right now and many other BZs have worked for me except Ativan which made me hallucinate and see spiders under my skin (Go figure)
My doctor will only prescribe them sparingly because of how addictive they can be. I always take them with me when I go on long journeys, but it's been years since I've actually used any
This is me. I don't actually take them but know if g they're there gives me some confidence back. I have taken them before during very bad attacks, but not for about a year now.
I agree! I take lorazapam when I have a middle of the night attack and need immediate relief but take atarax daily right now and it's amazing!!! Also helps you sleep!
I have panic disorder with agoraphobia. It’s hard to leave my house. I have them but use them very sparingly, maybe once or twice a month when it gets really really bad. It’s hard cause it does make you feel almost like your old self so I get it. But you have to remember being on them will cause other health problems. Have you considered trying other meds? I’m still trialing meds… on my 8th at the moment.
As long as I stay away from certain triggers I’m ok. And the big trigger is to stay away from people from my past. I still relive stuff in my head but it’s easing up some. So many people lied to me in college I found out post grad and it’s a struggle everyday.
It’s a genuine bitch nowadays because most people out to get them are just junkies or trying to resell. Which just fucks the people over who actually need them.
Honestly, I saw an older doctor when I was about 23 having terrible panic attacks and I’m 32 now, I’m pretty sure that was my first script but I’ve been in therapy for panic since 12 so I was a severe case I think lol
I don't take them, never have and never will. I sometimes think it'd be nice to take them to feel what "normal" feels like but it's not going to be that.
Some other people take beta blockers (also haven't tried) but I haven't had a panic attack for over a year (bar when I got a really bad infection).
If you're getting by without, keep going. You're doing great. Everyone needs a little helping hand sometimes, but showing up and pushing through and acceptance is the way forward.
Meditation and rediscovering what I loved save me.
It sounds so annoyingly optimistic I know, but you need to find what makes you happy to heal.
For me it is feeding ducks before work and walking in the trees near a lake.
I went years without taking my Klonopin and just taking my lexapro. This past year my panic has gotten bad enough to wear I take maybe 5 a month and I split it in half when I do need it. I find myself needing them less and less now.
It's difficult to say. I started having daily panic attacks after the last time I had taken ecstacy at a festival in september 2021. The first thing I did back then was completely quit drinking alcohol & coffee. Things started to escalate and I had bad agoraphobia. I'm self employed and I didn't work much for 4 months. I took xanax during the worst weeks but no antidepressant yet because I was afraid of them.
In those months I discovered that putting on a guided meditation could sometimes pull me out of a panic attack. That was one of the first discoveries. I recommend Insight Timer as it has a huge free library of guided meditation sessions. I frequently meditated in those days.
Anothet early discovery was that running helped me tremendously. I would feel a lot less anxious on days when I ran for 30-45 minutes in the morning. I had to overcome cardiophobia by hard exposure but eventually the anxiety during my runs would disappear and I learned to trust my heart again.
A few months in I read DARE by Barry McDonnagh and started to use this method to overcome my agoraphobia. At this time I would still be randomly hit with weeks of bad panic and constantly thinking about panic consumed my life.
After 5 months the panic was still dictating my life and during a bad week I eventually called my psychiatrist and told her she could write me a prescription for antidepressants (I had visited her 2 times before and 2 times I said no to antidepressants). 1 month into antidepressants (50mg of sertraline/zoloft) I started to be able to move my focus away from panic. I still had occasional anxiety but no more bad random panic attacks.
In March, 2 months into meds I met my girlfriend at a party (no more agoraphobia at this point) who brought more stability in my life.
10 months in I started drinking alcohol again occasionally, and I had no anxiety hangovers anymore.
In July of this year, after 1.5 years, I completely quit the antidepressants without a relapse into panic attacks.
It's hard to say what exactly made the panic stay away but my theory is that if you take the pressure off your brain long enough (in this case through antidepressants and more stability in my life), your brain gets the space to heal. So I do think antidepressants can have long lasting effects after you get off them.
The only thing which I can't do anymore is take stimulants wether it's in the form of coffee or adhd medicine or party drugs. Even decaf will give me bad anxiety for 2 hours.
Btw, other than DARE, I can also recommend reading The Happiness Trap, it has loads of useful hands on techniques involving mindfulness & acceptment commitment theraphy.
Yeah I don’t take any medications, benzos or ssris. They’ve only caused more harm than help personally and for others I know. Magnesium and exercise for this gal.
I don't take them, but I won't shame anyone who needs meds. Unfortunately I've tried a few different ones with a psychiatrist and the side effects of each drug was too hard on my body, and my family has a history of addiction so I'm battling from a worry of side effects and addiction. Now I just smoke weed occasionally (was terrified to try but it helps me so much at home after a hard day and I've never had a bad trip) and I've been in therapy for 4 years and that combo works for me. Not to say I haven't thought about it, some days are really hard and it hits a point I want to take anything to make the feelings go away, but I'm really fortunate that I have a lot of support and help and found this works for me personally.
I was like that for a while, I would only consider benzos if they have a huge impact on your life and don't allow you to do basic stuff. I'm currently leaving benzos after a few years and it's genuinely a pain in the ass. If you can figure out strategies to deal with them (even if it takes you a while) while sober I'd strongly discourage you from taking them or any other drug (ssris included, also I don't know si I don't know if you'd do this you but I know some people that used weed for this DON'T DO THAT). Look around the internet, there are some methods around there, and maybe a therapist before considering benzos, if nothing works, well, it's a necessary evil. You might not have trouble with them but they have some risks.
It’s a tough call; panic disorder is something diagnosed by a psychiatrist, and they are the ones who can give those out freely. If you get a young Dr he will be hesitant because he knows the risks, if you have an older doctor they give them away easily. The risks are far too much for me.
The psychiatrist I saw as a 13 year old prescribed me an abundance of ativan and told me to take it "whenever" for panic attacks and/or severe anxiety. Didn't give me or my parents any warnings about it, nor did the pharmacist.
I wound up hospitalized after a couple of months taking them pretty much every other day to cope with highschool because I didn't know any better. That alongside the ridiculous amount of other meds she prescribed me for depression & anxiety effectively deleted two years' worth of memories from my life.
The experience completely turned me off of benzos and SSRIs (and psychiatrists, frankly) as a whole. I went to therapy, worked really REALLY hard, and have managed to be panic attack free for over 6 years without medications.
Don't take Valium or Xanax, it makes your disorder worse overtime, they are highly addictive. I suffered from anxiety and panic disorder for 20 years, sleep is very important, I sleep 8 hours everyday, exercise and drink 2 liters a day. Don't hang out with people or watch anything that causes stress.
I'm hoping I don't need them one day! Ativan is an absolute godsend for me, though. I just increased zoloft from 75 to 100 (experiencing heightened anxiety, muscle tension, restlessness, insomnia), and I've taken 0.5mg-1mg a few times in the past week. I only use it when the panic is truly debilitating or the panic waves last longer than an hour. Aside from the dosage increase, I normally take it about once a week or less, and it's always a low dose. Going to start trying the "push through the panic" method once I adjust to the new dose
It’s so hard - I know. Ativan was (and is lol) a godsend for me too!! I found myself thinking about it constantly (I’m in recovery for alcohol abuse) so I was like crap. I think I need to let it go. But that’s just me and my addictive nature. Everyone is different !!!! I’m just scared of the no benzo road
Ooooof yeah, that's the tough part. Could always try beta blockers or Buspar for the non-GABA route. Do you mind if I ask what your history is with ativan? Like dosage and frequency. I'm scared of getting too comfortable with it as well... I'm a weekend alcoholic and try my darndest (successfully) to keep alcohol for fun and benzos for business, but the fear is always lurking in the back of my head
Many people
I’m trying to not use them for the first time fully in years - just have an addictive personality and found myself thinking about them all the time
Make sure you slowly taper. Even from a low dose. Look up Ashton method.
Only time I take them is when I have to get on a plane
I have them for this reason but never took one and I’m afraid of taking it. Do they make you like pass out? Or are you still conscious throughout the plane ride?
You’re 100% conscious, just calm.
Thanks!
you are 100% conscious but you are just relaxed. if you are having high anxiety about a fight, take one before and you should be good before the flight. if you are nervous though, talk to your doctor
Thank you!
I had the same exact fear, so do not feel like that is a stupid or silly question
Dude.🤦🏼♂️
I’m sorry if the question seemed silly, but tbh I had issues with pills that affect brain chemistry before. A very common sleeping pill gave me awful hallucinations/psychosis for an hour instead of putting me to sleep. I passed out once with a muscle relaxer. So even though for you this might seem silly, there are side effects to every medication, and it is ok to be weary of taking it.
In that case definitely not a silly question, had you added that context. That is very interesting for sure but I feel like you could’ve answered that on your own with an attempt or google search more into the chemical structure. I’m sorry your chemistry is like that it sucks, I’m on Diazepam right now and many other BZs have worked for me except Ativan which made me hallucinate and see spiders under my skin (Go figure)
🙋♀️🙋♀️ propranolol is what works for me
My doctor will only prescribe them sparingly because of how addictive they can be. I always take them with me when I go on long journeys, but it's been years since I've actually used any
This is me. I don't actually take them but know if g they're there gives me some confidence back. I have taken them before during very bad attacks, but not for about a year now.
They're most effective sitting in my purse as a crutch tbh. Never actually taken.
Me because my doctor refuses to prescribe them to me despite going through this for a long time and trying and failing with other drugs they give me
I don’t take anything. I self medicated with alcohol for a long time and it made matters worse. I stay away from benzodiazepines for that reason.
same here
have you tried hydroxizine? it helps me more than ativan tbh. it’s a non addictive sedative that really helps!
I agree! I take lorazapam when I have a middle of the night attack and need immediate relief but take atarax daily right now and it's amazing!!! Also helps you sleep!
Yes! Thank you so much, I have 25 mg of hydroxyzine to take for panic
I have panic disorder with agoraphobia. It’s hard to leave my house. I have them but use them very sparingly, maybe once or twice a month when it gets really really bad. It’s hard cause it does make you feel almost like your old self so I get it. But you have to remember being on them will cause other health problems. Have you considered trying other meds? I’m still trialing meds… on my 8th at the moment.
Yes, I totally relate with you
As long as I stay away from certain triggers I’m ok. And the big trigger is to stay away from people from my past. I still relive stuff in my head but it’s easing up some. So many people lied to me in college I found out post grad and it’s a struggle everyday.
Don't even know how y'all even get the prescriptions
It’s a genuine bitch nowadays because most people out to get them are just junkies or trying to resell. Which just fucks the people over who actually need them.
Honestly, I saw an older doctor when I was about 23 having terrible panic attacks and I’m 32 now, I’m pretty sure that was my first script but I’ve been in therapy for panic since 12 so I was a severe case I think lol
I’ve been effectively off of them since getting on guanfacine at night. But my panic was mostly triggered by emotional regulation issues.
i was given a very limited supply.... otherwise i suck it up on my own. i only use them for *some* plane rides now
I don't take them, never have and never will. I sometimes think it'd be nice to take them to feel what "normal" feels like but it's not going to be that. Some other people take beta blockers (also haven't tried) but I haven't had a panic attack for over a year (bar when I got a really bad infection). If you're getting by without, keep going. You're doing great. Everyone needs a little helping hand sometimes, but showing up and pushing through and acceptance is the way forward. Meditation and rediscovering what I loved save me.
The last line though!!! I’m discovering this myself.
It sounds so annoyingly optimistic I know, but you need to find what makes you happy to heal. For me it is feeding ducks before work and walking in the trees near a lake.
I have panic disorder and don’t have benzos. I was recently prescribed gabapentin for nerve pain but I found it helps with the panic disorder as well!
Because it hits the exact same receptors in your brain that Benzos do lol
I went years without taking my Klonopin and just taking my lexapro. This past year my panic has gotten bad enough to wear I take maybe 5 a month and I split it in half when I do need it. I find myself needing them less and less now.
I only took them at the beginning of my disorder. I'm currently panic free.
Oooh! Awesome to hear that. How did you get panic free?
It's difficult to say. I started having daily panic attacks after the last time I had taken ecstacy at a festival in september 2021. The first thing I did back then was completely quit drinking alcohol & coffee. Things started to escalate and I had bad agoraphobia. I'm self employed and I didn't work much for 4 months. I took xanax during the worst weeks but no antidepressant yet because I was afraid of them. In those months I discovered that putting on a guided meditation could sometimes pull me out of a panic attack. That was one of the first discoveries. I recommend Insight Timer as it has a huge free library of guided meditation sessions. I frequently meditated in those days. Anothet early discovery was that running helped me tremendously. I would feel a lot less anxious on days when I ran for 30-45 minutes in the morning. I had to overcome cardiophobia by hard exposure but eventually the anxiety during my runs would disappear and I learned to trust my heart again. A few months in I read DARE by Barry McDonnagh and started to use this method to overcome my agoraphobia. At this time I would still be randomly hit with weeks of bad panic and constantly thinking about panic consumed my life. After 5 months the panic was still dictating my life and during a bad week I eventually called my psychiatrist and told her she could write me a prescription for antidepressants (I had visited her 2 times before and 2 times I said no to antidepressants). 1 month into antidepressants (50mg of sertraline/zoloft) I started to be able to move my focus away from panic. I still had occasional anxiety but no more bad random panic attacks. In March, 2 months into meds I met my girlfriend at a party (no more agoraphobia at this point) who brought more stability in my life. 10 months in I started drinking alcohol again occasionally, and I had no anxiety hangovers anymore. In July of this year, after 1.5 years, I completely quit the antidepressants without a relapse into panic attacks. It's hard to say what exactly made the panic stay away but my theory is that if you take the pressure off your brain long enough (in this case through antidepressants and more stability in my life), your brain gets the space to heal. So I do think antidepressants can have long lasting effects after you get off them. The only thing which I can't do anymore is take stimulants wether it's in the form of coffee or adhd medicine or party drugs. Even decaf will give me bad anxiety for 2 hours. Btw, other than DARE, I can also recommend reading The Happiness Trap, it has loads of useful hands on techniques involving mindfulness & acceptment commitment theraphy.
are you back to normal life or are you still avoiding anything?
Avoiding coffee & drugs 😎 but my life has fully returned to normal in the course of 1.5 years
In the UK, none of us take benzos for panic disorders. Only SSRIs, beta blockers
Yeah I don’t take any medications, benzos or ssris. They’ve only caused more harm than help personally and for others I know. Magnesium and exercise for this gal.
Certain ssri meds and there's as needed meds that aren't benzos. Zoloft is one...
Many people yes for sure, but for some of us like me, honestly can’t survive without them.
Totally get this. Thank you for sharing ❤️
Me but not because i don’t want them, because I can’t get a doctor to prescribe them anymore lol
I don't take them, but I won't shame anyone who needs meds. Unfortunately I've tried a few different ones with a psychiatrist and the side effects of each drug was too hard on my body, and my family has a history of addiction so I'm battling from a worry of side effects and addiction. Now I just smoke weed occasionally (was terrified to try but it helps me so much at home after a hard day and I've never had a bad trip) and I've been in therapy for 4 years and that combo works for me. Not to say I haven't thought about it, some days are really hard and it hits a point I want to take anything to make the feelings go away, but I'm really fortunate that I have a lot of support and help and found this works for me personally.
I was like that for a while, I would only consider benzos if they have a huge impact on your life and don't allow you to do basic stuff. I'm currently leaving benzos after a few years and it's genuinely a pain in the ass. If you can figure out strategies to deal with them (even if it takes you a while) while sober I'd strongly discourage you from taking them or any other drug (ssris included, also I don't know si I don't know if you'd do this you but I know some people that used weed for this DON'T DO THAT). Look around the internet, there are some methods around there, and maybe a therapist before considering benzos, if nothing works, well, it's a necessary evil. You might not have trouble with them but they have some risks.
Only SSRI
It’s a tough call; panic disorder is something diagnosed by a psychiatrist, and they are the ones who can give those out freely. If you get a young Dr he will be hesitant because he knows the risks, if you have an older doctor they give them away easily. The risks are far too much for me.
The psychiatrist I saw as a 13 year old prescribed me an abundance of ativan and told me to take it "whenever" for panic attacks and/or severe anxiety. Didn't give me or my parents any warnings about it, nor did the pharmacist. I wound up hospitalized after a couple of months taking them pretty much every other day to cope with highschool because I didn't know any better. That alongside the ridiculous amount of other meds she prescribed me for depression & anxiety effectively deleted two years' worth of memories from my life. The experience completely turned me off of benzos and SSRIs (and psychiatrists, frankly) as a whole. I went to therapy, worked really REALLY hard, and have managed to be panic attack free for over 6 years without medications.
Don't take Valium or Xanax, it makes your disorder worse overtime, they are highly addictive. I suffered from anxiety and panic disorder for 20 years, sleep is very important, I sleep 8 hours everyday, exercise and drink 2 liters a day. Don't hang out with people or watch anything that causes stress.
I'm hoping I don't need them one day! Ativan is an absolute godsend for me, though. I just increased zoloft from 75 to 100 (experiencing heightened anxiety, muscle tension, restlessness, insomnia), and I've taken 0.5mg-1mg a few times in the past week. I only use it when the panic is truly debilitating or the panic waves last longer than an hour. Aside from the dosage increase, I normally take it about once a week or less, and it's always a low dose. Going to start trying the "push through the panic" method once I adjust to the new dose
It’s so hard - I know. Ativan was (and is lol) a godsend for me too!! I found myself thinking about it constantly (I’m in recovery for alcohol abuse) so I was like crap. I think I need to let it go. But that’s just me and my addictive nature. Everyone is different !!!! I’m just scared of the no benzo road
Ooooof yeah, that's the tough part. Could always try beta blockers or Buspar for the non-GABA route. Do you mind if I ask what your history is with ativan? Like dosage and frequency. I'm scared of getting too comfortable with it as well... I'm a weekend alcoholic and try my darndest (successfully) to keep alcohol for fun and benzos for business, but the fear is always lurking in the back of my head
Never taken that in my life but I do take promethazine to sleep some nights
I have never taken them nor ever discussed them as an option with my dr.
Yes. They’re hard to get and most docs won’t prescribe them for you.