Anxiety and medications

[MCfan1]

Hello again, I know I have been posting a good amount of questions lately about my anxiety, but I am going through a rough time right now and it is not easy getting a hold of my doctor to answer these questions.  I find this site therapeutic and really do appreciate everyone's opinion because I know you have experienced what I am going through.  Of lately I've been somewhat confused about my medication for anxiety.  I only started having anxiety a little over a month ago due to me letting thoughts about HSV and my misdiagnosis build up in me until it peaked.  I'm not going to go into details because I've already been down that road in the forums and don't feel it's neccessary to do again.  My main questions here deal with medication. I have been on Ativan regularly taking .5mg doses three times a day since January 23.  I did take the Ativan for a couple days before but stopped becuase I didn't like the side effects.  Eventually I went back on it a week later because my anxiety wasn't getting better.  So I've been on Ativan for just about 4 weeks now, the only change in dosage I made was cut down my daily Ativan dose to 1mg a day because I was feeling better and wanted to try to get off it.  Well at the beginnig of this week my anxiety came back so I started taking my regular prescribed dose of 1.5mg a day.  The problem is that while I am back to taking the Ativan at my prescribed dose I feel it is not working.  I tale it in the morning when I wake up and I have not felt calm at all, I'm feeling on edge all the time and am getting worked over little things again.  Could this be because my body has buit a tolerance to the AtIvan already? It doesn't make sense to me because I lowered the dose for about 5 days last week and it was working fine and when I started getting anxious again I upped my dose to regular level and all of sudden I don't feel the effects.  The only thing that keeps me calm is when I take 50mg of benadryl along with my Ativan.  Since once again I could not get a hold of my doctor I ran this by mother who is a nurse and she said that it would be ok. Has anyone else gone through this?  So now to get me through the day I am taking my regular doses of Ativan of 1.5mg a day and two doses of 50mg of benadryl during the day and 25mg at night with my last dose of Ativan and 1mg of melatonin to make sure I sleep.  I never had a chance to ask my doctor about the melatonin either because he is not an easy person to get a hold of because he is usually extrememly busy.  My final question has to do with zoloft.  About two weeks ago my docotor also prescribed me 25mg of Zoloft.  I didn't get a chance to talk to him personally because he ccould not reach my cell so he talked to my mother instead.  I was confused as to why he prescribed me zoloft because at the time I was starting to take Ativan on a regular basis.  I never really thought about the zoloft after that because the Ativan seemed to be getting the job done.  But now that it's effect seems to be waning I'm considereing give it a shot.  Has anyone had any experience with zoloft for anxiety? Does work it?  After doing some research I read that it is not addictive which I kinda of like because I was always hestitant with Ativan because of it's addictive nature.  My docotor also said that I could that if needed I could  increase my dose of Ativan to 2mg daily.  So he pretty much gave me a choice of what to do a) increase my dose of Ativan or b) start taking the zoloft.  Now I know no one here is a doctor and I know I have to make this choice but I'm just lookig for some opinions and advice from people who have been down this road.  I'm trying to keep myself calm until I can get in to see a psychologist March 2. As always, thanks for your time and help! I really do value this site and it's support.

[MCfan1]

What kind of allergic conditions do you mean? Is there a possibility that an allergic condition could cause anxiety?  I find this interesting because as mentioned before I had skin reaction to something last spring and the doctor told me it was contact dermatitis.  I would get bumps all over my hands and sometimes on my forearms and would itch all over my body.  That is why I was originally prescribed the Atarax.  To do this day I still itch but have learned to somewhat cope with it. I figured I would just check because I am going to my doctor's this week to talk about medications and to have tests done for thyroids, adrenal glands, blood sugar, and Lyme disease, since I was bitten by a tick a year and half ago.  I'm just getting these done to rule out and medical reasons that could cause my anxiety and if there is an allergy test I might as well throw that one in to be safe.  Thanks for your help!  

[MCfan1]

Thanks for your help!  I just took 20mg of Atarax with my regular dose of Ativan .5mg to see how it goes.  I figured I would start low and see how it affects me then take it from there.  All I do know is that I am going to have an appointment with my primary care physician and ask him about Sinequan or anything else that will keep me calm until I can get in to see a psychologist.  I really do not want to become dependent on Ativan and am looking to get of it as soon as possible.  So far it has only been 3 weeks on the Ativan and as mentioned before It seems to not the same affect on me and I really don't want to up the dosage.  I am very new to all of these meds since I have never been on anything to control my emotions or anxiety.  It is really scary and I often feel overwhelmed with all the information on some drugs.  Sometimes I don't know who to believe, even my doctor.  I feel that I can't keep my emotions in control and sometimes I will tear up over little things, now I have always been somewhat emotional but never to this degree!  I just want to get the help I need and put this all behind me, as we all know is tough.  I hope there is a day that I won't have to worry about anxiety and wonder how I am feeling every minute of the day.  I tell myself that this was never me before and that I can return to normal but I fear sometimes that is not true.  I mean I just don't understand how one day I can be someone and the next day someone else.  I try to stay positive but I don't know how to deal with everything, and that is where I hope meeting with a psychologist can help.  One thing I do know is that I have to stop reading about everything on the net, especially about meds because it sometimes only increases my anxiety.  In the end it is tough going from a laid back person who thought they could handle anything and then one stupid test for HSV, that was misdiagnosed, can flip my world upside down! Sorry for the rant but I felt I needed to get that out.  Thanks for all the advice, I hope one day this will all be over with.

[MCfan1]

I actually have a prescription for atarax from a skin condition that I had last year.  They are 10mg tablets and I am willing to give them a try.  Would you happen to know what the equivalant ratio of dosage would be to 50mg of benadryl? I also think my doctor mentioned Sinequan to me before he prescribed Zoloft, I'll have to ask him.  Thanks for your help, I can't believe that I had this prescription for atarax just lying around.

[MCfan1]

I am currently using my regular doctor since he was the one who prescribed me the Ativan.  I also am currently seeing a masters level therapist but am going to switch to a private practice psychologists who was recommended by a family member who said they helped them with their anxiety problem.  I know that a psychologist cannot prescribe meds but I figure they can work hand in hand with my regular doctor to figure out the right meds, which hopefully I won't have to be on too long.  Right now I am just trying to find the right meds to help keep me calm until I can get in to see the psychologist, which unfortunately is not until March 2. Thanks again for your support.

[Paxiled]

Nobody can predict how any med will work for you -- it's trial and error, unfortunately.  What I think your psychiatrist -- and I hope you are using a psychiatrist, not a regular doc -- is getting at is Zoloft, if it works, is a long-term solution in two ways:  it works all the time, whereas Ativan is very short acting, and there's a limit to how high a dose and how long one should take Ativan.  And while antidepressants don't meet the technical definition of addiction, they do have many of the same problems quitting, so try to think of what's best for you and not get too carried away with some of the technical terms.  I hope you're in therapy, though -- since you're close to the beginning of this, it's a good time to get intensively into therapy, since meds will help with symptoms but won't provide a cure.  Good luck, and don't worry about posting a lot -- this stuff is really tough when it's new, it's just so weird.

[MCfan1]

Thanks Greenlydia, I did send an email to my doctor explaining the situation since it is impossible to get him on the phone and would take a while to get an appointment.  Trust me no disrespect is taken, I'm just trying to stay calm right now because I'm having problems getting through my day with the anxiety and for some reason I'm worried about upping my Ativan because of it's addictive nature. Hopefully my doctor will get back to me soon but since it's the weekend I probably won't hear from him till Monday.

[RubyWitch]

I know you are going through a rough patch right now, but I can only advise you to contine taking the medications your doctor has prescribed at the dosages prescribed until you can either get in to see him or you see your psychologist. I am not a doctor so cannot say anything about the Benadryl. I know your mother has been a nurse for 30 years and has vast experience with this and many medications. It is your choice to follow her advice. Your doctor has given you the OK to increase your Ativan, I would suggest trying that. But since you have some confusion about what to take, some fears about taking certain meds and a decision to make about taking either the Ativan or Zoloft, sounds to me like you need to have a discussion with your doctor about all these issues. Only you and your doctor should be making the decisions about your medications and I truly mean no disrepsect to your mother's great wealth of knowledge.
Peace
Greenlydia