Aa
About vistaril
My doctor gave me vistaril for anxiety. It is absolutely worthless. Its like taking a placebo. It does nothing for anxiety. Im going to ask him to put me on a low dose of clonazepam (0.25 mg) for twice or three time a day. I don't see what harm this will do since it is a very low dose but Im sure it will help more than that worthless drug vistaril. Why do they put people on vistaril when it dosent work? In cahoots with the drug company?
Just one small point -- klonopin is no less or more addictive than any other benzo, but because it's usually dosed regularly each day it's more likely to be addictive in practice than ones dosed as needed. Of course they don't tell you that when they put you on them. Just important to know the nature of the beast, though that doesn't mean one shouldn't take the stuff if necessary.
Hello and welcome!
Doctors are often cautious about jumping to a medication in the benzodiazepine family, due to the issues of tolerance and dependency. Vistaril is an antihistamine, so it's essentially like taking a Benadryl. Surprisingly, some people actually DO find some relief with it, and it's not surprising that a doctor would err on the conservative side and try something like that, with less risks and considerations than an anxiolytic medication.
ANY benzo can cause dependency and tolerance, so care really must be exercised when considering using one in an anxiety treatment plan. First I would recommend going in and talking to your doctor about the fact that the Vistaril was ineffective. I would caution you against actually asking for a certain medication, as that can throw up some red flags for a doc. Unfortunately abuse of these kinds of medications is rampant, so they really do have to be on guard for any signs of drug seeking behavior. Instead, I would ask him if a benzo may be something reasonable to try next. As far as WHICH benzo would be appropriate depends a lot on your cycle of anxiety. I'll briefly explain some of the differences for you...
Klonopin is a longer acting benzo that, to be the most effective, really needs to be dosed at least twice a day regularly. That would be a better option for someone with more mild, yet more constant anxiety. A shorter acting benzo, like Xanax or Ativan is best used as a rescue med, for times when anxiety is peaking, like in a panic attack situation. It works fairly quickly, peaks quickly, and leaves the system quickly, whereas Klonopin needs to build in the blood plasma to reach a therapeutic level of effectiveness, and has a much longer half life.
There are also of course the antidepressant options for treating anxiety, which are usually better longer term options than a benzo. Those take time to work and can sometimes be a little difficult to tolerate at first.
Whatever you decide to do with your doctor, just go into this understanding that NO medication is a "cure". Meds have their place in anxiety treatment, but truly the MOST effective treatment modality for long term management is changing the way you think, which can usually be accomplished with therapy. If you haven't gone that route yet, I would strongly encourage you to try that before going the medication route.
A visit with your doc is definitely in order. Be sure to update us, let us know how you're doing and what you and your doctor decided is the next best course of action for you!!
Doctors are often cautious about jumping to a medication in the benzodiazepine family, due to the issues of tolerance and dependency. Vistaril is an antihistamine, so it's essentially like taking a Benadryl. Surprisingly, some people actually DO find some relief with it, and it's not surprising that a doctor would err on the conservative side and try something like that, with less risks and considerations than an anxiolytic medication.
ANY benzo can cause dependency and tolerance, so care really must be exercised when considering using one in an anxiety treatment plan. First I would recommend going in and talking to your doctor about the fact that the Vistaril was ineffective. I would caution you against actually asking for a certain medication, as that can throw up some red flags for a doc. Unfortunately abuse of these kinds of medications is rampant, so they really do have to be on guard for any signs of drug seeking behavior. Instead, I would ask him if a benzo may be something reasonable to try next. As far as WHICH benzo would be appropriate depends a lot on your cycle of anxiety. I'll briefly explain some of the differences for you...
Klonopin is a longer acting benzo that, to be the most effective, really needs to be dosed at least twice a day regularly. That would be a better option for someone with more mild, yet more constant anxiety. A shorter acting benzo, like Xanax or Ativan is best used as a rescue med, for times when anxiety is peaking, like in a panic attack situation. It works fairly quickly, peaks quickly, and leaves the system quickly, whereas Klonopin needs to build in the blood plasma to reach a therapeutic level of effectiveness, and has a much longer half life.
There are also of course the antidepressant options for treating anxiety, which are usually better longer term options than a benzo. Those take time to work and can sometimes be a little difficult to tolerate at first.
Whatever you decide to do with your doctor, just go into this understanding that NO medication is a "cure". Meds have their place in anxiety treatment, but truly the MOST effective treatment modality for long term management is changing the way you think, which can usually be accomplished with therapy. If you haven't gone that route yet, I would strongly encourage you to try that before going the medication route.
A visit with your doc is definitely in order. Be sure to update us, let us know how you're doing and what you and your doctor decided is the next best course of action for you!!
Vistaril is a brand name for a very cheap generic, hydroxizine, so I doubt this is a case of conflict of interest with a drug company.
I would guess your doctor is trying to be conservative to see if you get relief from a drug with few side effects or addiction potential.
Clonazepam is a benzodiazepam. It is probably the least addictive for this class, but it still can be addictive. Given your doctor started out with Vistaril, he probably will want to move cautiously with Clonazepam. It can be very useful as an initial treatment for anxiety, but in the longer run you'd be wise to couple this with therapy with the goal of getting off Clonazepam so you can be both drug and anxiety free.
For a family member who has managed to get all sorts of benzos out of their doctor without little sign of improvement, we are now trying Neurontin, which can useful for anxiety. It is nonaddictive, although it has to be tapered up and down.
I would guess your doctor is trying to be conservative to see if you get relief from a drug with few side effects or addiction potential.
Clonazepam is a benzodiazepam. It is probably the least addictive for this class, but it still can be addictive. Given your doctor started out with Vistaril, he probably will want to move cautiously with Clonazepam. It can be very useful as an initial treatment for anxiety, but in the longer run you'd be wise to couple this with therapy with the goal of getting off Clonazepam so you can be both drug and anxiety free.
For a family member who has managed to get all sorts of benzos out of their doctor without little sign of improvement, we are now trying Neurontin, which can useful for anxiety. It is nonaddictive, although it has to be tapered up and down.
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