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Diazepam anti depressants

5 replies

molly2312 · 24/11/2019 18:12

Hi, I hope I can get some help on here. I have been on 200mg of Sertraline for years, I suffer with terrible night sweats which I mentioned on here once before, so last year my GP told me to take 100mg for a week then the next week to just stop them all together. I hate to say it but over a few weeks I lost the plot getting more and more agitated and angry at even a missplaced sock, by rhe Sunday morn ing I was chopping up veg for the slow cooker and thought I could slit my wrists. So hubby took me to A&E and was given diazepam till I could see my GP. It's come to a point were sleeping on puppy pads and getting changed 3 or more times a night with the sweats has got me so tired and horrific headaches that I asked my GP to be taken off them again, they said to do ecaxctly the same over 2 weeks again but I was too terrified to try that so they me to a phyciatrist instead. She said we would do it really slowly so I came down to 175mg and she gave me 14 tablets of 2mg diazepam and told me to cut it in half and try not to take it if I can help it, well I did have to take them as I could feel myself changing and my hubby works away so I am at home with a teemage boy to love and look after. I had another appointment with her on Thursday just gone, she has given me a script for 14 more of the 2mg of diazepam but told me I'm only allowed 1mg per day. As I was leaving she said I will probably see you in the new year. Being quiet as I am and also poorly on the day I just took the prescroption and never said anything, how on earth are 14 tablets going to get me through till new years, she asked me to try some days without taking them and maybe half a one in between some days. Just the panic about not being able to cope is enough to tip me over the edge but she said we don't really like to give these out. Does anyone know what I can do and am I going to ruin chrisrmas for my poor family by being the screaming banshee I was last year, sorry it's so long but I don't know what to do, thanks in advance if anyone at all can help xx

OP posts:
FlissMumsnet · 25/11/2019 22:35

Hi molly2312,

We're really sorry to hear what's going on for you right now. We can't offer any professional medical advice but we would encourage you to seek real life help from experts.

It may also be worth posting in General Health or Mental Health - we really hope you'll find the advice and support you're looking for.

Flowers
AuntyElle · 25/11/2019 23:01

Antidepressant withdrawal can be absolutely hideous, OP. Flowers

It was negligent of your GP to suggest you come off them so quickly, that is not the official guidance. The NHS website has better basic guidance than that given by your GP: www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/medicines/how-should-antidepressants-be-discontinued/

I’m not clear though - are you staying on 175mg for the time being? But still feeling withdrawal symptoms? If you stay on that dose you should gradually adjust to it and feel better.

Your psychiatrist is right that diazepam should only be used very short-term as it is addictive. It sounds like she was meaning for you to take them just at the very worst moments, not daily.

I would suggest you get this book, by a Harvard psychiatrist, for some other ways to help you manage:
www.amazon.co.uk/Antidepressant-Solution-Step-Step-Overcoming/dp/074326973X?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

molly2312 · 26/11/2019 12:51

Hi sorry if I haven't been very clear, I am staying on the 175mg dose till after christmas. I do still feel jittery and agitated so they are taking me down very slowly this time, I can't explain the feeling very well, she told me to half a tablet so I take 1mg in the morning and the other half if I feel I need it. Thanks for replying x

OP posts:
AuntyElle · 26/11/2019 14:06

Have DM’d you, molly. Your diazepam is a very small dose, but the NHS guidance is not to take for more than four weeks at a time of taking daily. (In my DM I said 2-3 weeks, which I have seen advised, but I just checked the NHS advice.)
Flowers

HigherFurtherFasterBaby · 01/12/2019 08:43

Hi OP

I’ve been on 2mg of Diazepam for 6 months now. It has been life changing for me; however another GP who I’ve only seen once has “raised concerns” so now my usual GP is making me wean off it.

It is horrific to wean off, even a small dose. I have been at my worst this weekend and have had to start taking them again; I’ve now levelled off this morning but I’m terrified I’ll be refused more tomorrow when I call. My next appointment is the 10th and I don’t have enough to get me through.

I need to wean off them much slower.

I’m also on Venlafaxine, Propanolol and Quetiapine.

To wean off and SSRI, you need to stabilise on the lower dose before you drop to the next lower dose and it should be done in as small an increment as possible. I’m not familiar with Sertraline as I’ve never taken it, is there a way to make the wean down smaller?

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