Zoloft amd klonopin withdrawal

I am a 49 yr old female. Started having anxiety attacks 8 weeks ago after severe stress dealing with my 81 yr old mother having health issues (visiting nuring home everyday and hospital 3 weeks out of two months). I live 1000 miles away.Went to emergency when visiting my mom in icu.They gave me .50 zoloft and .50 klonopin. Came home, saw my dr, said to continue on same dosage. Still wake up with anxiousness, think zoloft is giving me these symtoms (symptoms). Dr wanted to switch me symbalta (looked it up--said it was for bi-polar). I requested to try to go off zoloft. She said to take one every other day for two weeks and then quit. Keep taking Klonopin. Now I see Klonopin withdrawal and side affects are bad and maybe I'm getting symptoms from that too? This is the first morning I was to not take zoloft but heard tapering slowly is better, so took half (will do for two weeks) and then down to .125 for two weeks, now I wonder if I should get off klonopin first or what to do. Should I request a referral to a dr skilled in psychiatry that know these medicines better than my family dr?

[sandi875th]

I agree that zoloft can cause panic attacks, as a matter of fact every anti-depressant I've ever took caused me to have panic attacks. klonopin is a benzo and one should never suddenly stop taking them, You can have seizures if your addicted to them and stop taking them all at once. What you need to do is start cutting down on them slowly. If you can live without taking them, than don't stay on them. Once you are addicted to them it is so hard to get off of them. They are for bi-polar patients but they are for alot of other uses to. They will help your anxiety. They are a slower acting pill than say a xanax and people are less likely to abuse them than a xanax but they are addictive just as any "nerve pill" is! My doctor told me they are stronger than any other nerve pill. He said they just enter the body slower but they stay in longer, I don't know if he is right or not but that is what he told me. Anyway, I have been on nerve pills since my 20's and i'm 43 so i'm addicted and I hate it, I wish I had known how addictive they were and how sick you get when you try to stop taking them. As a matter of fact, long term use can cause damage to the brain which mimic's the symtoms (symptoms) of bi-polar disorder. or so I've read!! At 40 I was told I was bi-polar..I'm now told I can never stop taking them. When they tryed 3 years ago, I was so sick I was hospitalized, lost 60 lbs. threw up all the time and was sick for months. They took me off valium only to put me on the klonopin. I could go on and on because it was the worst experience of my life trying to get off of them. However, they are great for short term use only, unless of course you have a condition which requires you to always take them as i now have from taking them for so many years!! Yes see a specilist, I finally did, just wished I had 20 years ago!!