fed up with doctors.

[erin626]

So I saw my doctor and she asked me why I wasn't taking the xanax she prescribed me daily. I told her it was bc when I took it daily I became addicted and suffered horrible wds. She didn't believe me, said there was no way I experienced it. It made me angry especially because when I accidentally had to go cold turkey from xanax the psych er I went to (3 times in 2 days) also told me I wasn't withdrawing. I'm going to break down my symptoms from those awful 3 days last month.

Severe nausea (didn't eat a thing for 3 days)
Shaky/tremors
Couldn't sit down or be still for longer than 2 minutes
Didn't sleep a wink for about 52 hours
Uncontrollable muscle spasms

Why in the world would I ever take xanax again daily? If those things I experienced weren't withdrawl then I should be dead from some crazy disease. There is no way my body just randomly did that to me.

I just needed to vent. I'm agitated that doctors I talked to think that I didn't have horrible wds and are almost trying to coerce me to get to that point again. Its been a struggle to only take the xanax for my panic attacks when they're so severe that I could be in danger like when I'm driving but its a bit of a slap in the face to be told I was never addicted and should be taking them daily. I'm half tempted to throw my script out and find a new holistic non medication prescribing anxiety doctor.

[erin626]

i tried valerian root..it worked for the first couple times that i took it and then for some reason started causing me more anxiety. im looking into kava kava next.

i have found another doc. hes great. he really sympathized with me about stopping the xanax and agreed that it was a rough time for me. and hes absolutely fine about continuing therapy for my anxiety med free. im really happy i was referred to him. he told me xanax is ok to take just like ive been doing...for severe panic attacks when im driving, at work, or out in public. but he doesnt agree that it should be taken daily. hes very supportive about me not getting hooked on them again and doesnt want me to have to go through it again.

so lets hope ive found my match with this guy. it was a welcome relief to talk to someone in the medical profession who really does believe that i was addicted to the xanax and doesnt want that to happen to me again.

[bmdad]

I think a lot of doctors, but not all, seem to think they are better than most people because they are doctors. Growing up almost every little kid wants to be a doctor. So it seems the ones that become doctors think they are so much better than everyone else. That being said they tend to not be able to admit when they are wrong. Your doctor prescribed you the xanax so dammit you should be taking it! They know what is best for you. They wouldn't prescribe you something that you would become addicted to. The only ones that become addicts are people that abuse their meds. The only ones that become addicted to something a doctor prescribes is someone that is already an addict. They are just doing their job and they are always right. What they say is the way it is. Just because it's your body that is feeling withdraws doesn't mean you are feeling them unless they say so. Why complain, they fixed your anxiety!!
I sure hope you can sense the sarcasm!!! That seems to be the problems with some doctors. They don't care about what a medication can do to us, as long as they feel they "fixed" the problem that we came to them for regardless if it will end up causing us an even bigger problem. It's almost like they think that as long as we feel better they think they fixed us and are doing their job.
I am fortunate enough to have a very caring, down to earth doctor. He's probably about 40 years old. He comes in and spends as much time as I need, not as much time as he wants. He doesn't care if there are 20 people in the waiting room. There have been times I have still seen his car in his spot behind the office and cars in the patient lot at 8 at night even though they close at 5pm. When I first saw him for my back injury he asked me if I had ever taken pain meds in the past. I said no and he explained to me how they can be addicting and that if I ever had a problem to talk to him about it. (I wish I would have taken him up on his advice right when I knew I had a problem) The first time I stopped taking pain meds (before I became as addict) he supported me as much as he could and even called me in the evening at home a few times during my withdrawals. He is a very caring person and not just a doctor that is working only to make a living. He really does care about his patients. I wish he could be cloned.
Erin, you know what your body was feeling. The only thing you could have been feeling was withdrawals. I can understand how agitated you are about them but let it go. Keep looking for another doctor until you find one that you like. Don't be afraid to stand up to a doctor. You have to remember that they work for you! If you hired someone to paint your house blue and they started painting it red would you say anything? Of course you would. If they continue painting it red you would fire them. If you hired someone to paint your house you would paying for a service and expect to have them do it your way, not theirs. It's no different with a doctor. You are paying for a service and if the service isn't the way you like it, fire them. I think most doctor forget that they work for us. It's almost like they feel they are doing us a favor because they became a doctor. Sure, I have a lot of respect for someone that has put in their time to become a doctor to look out for our health but they didn't only do it for us. If they were paid $30,000 a year how many doctors would there be out there? Sure, there would still be some and that is the type you need to find. You need to find one that became a doctor because they want to help others and look at their income as an added bonus. It's not easy finding one like that but they are out there.
Like I said above, don't dwell on what the doctors tried telling you. It's not good for your anxiety. You know what you felt and that makes you the one that is right. Hopefully one day those @******* doctors get knocked off their high horse.
Hang in there. Hopefully you find a non addictive way to deal with your anxiety, or even better, it disappears on its own.
Have you tried any of the natural supplements for anxiety?

Brian

[quitinoxys]

You are not alone, until doctors stop listening to the marketing people from the pharma pigs and educate themselves it will keep on happening. Hmmmmm you would think that these supposed highly educated doctors would know better but most of them don't have a lick of sense and led around like sheep.

[erin626]

My doc said the same thing about it being mental. I didn't buy it. I was in hell for 3 days straight and I know that was just a psychological thing. I was so delerious from the wds I can't remember certain things. I'm glad I'm not the onlt one who was told it was all in my head. It made me feel crazy.

[quitinoxys]

I had the same thing from one of my pain management doctors when I wanted to get off oxys. When I told him how bad I felt he told me it was more in my mind than it was physcial. I told him dude do you own a computer, he replied yes, I told him google oxy w/d and see how many stories you can find about physical pain from opiate w/d. Of course he didn't like that and stormed out of the room and told me to find another pain mgmt doctor. This was about 7 years ago when the Purdue Pharma pigs were marketing oxycontin as being less addiction then any other pain med becuase it was time released LOL. Well we all know what BS that is and that is why purdue was fined 800 million for FALSE advertising. Thankfully some doctors learned that not to listen to the devil but a lot are still very unaware of the effects of the drugs they prescribe. They still rely on the Pharma pigs information and the thing they care about is $$$$$$$

[erin626]

Unfortunately docs make money by prescribing all the stuff that they do. I wouldn't have had to ct from xanax had my doctor warned me about the addiction and wd. It was labor day weekend and I didn't have to work and didn't make it to the pharmacy to refill my script and didn't care bc I had no idea how addicted I had become. Of course when I started the wds my pharmacy had closed for the holiday. I was in real danger from the lack of info I was given about the pills I was prescribed.

I see it a lot here too with other people. Doctors overmedicate people and we all end up in the same boat.

[gnarly_1]

HI  Erin....I detoxed off xanex and it su cked also so I believe you and agree with Sara get a new doctor......Gnarly

[dominosarah]

I am sorry you are being treated this way Erin.  Seems to be alot of doctors out there who arent very educated about addiction.  It is always your right to seek out another doctor of your choice.  I would really think about doing that.        sara