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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 10 of 10. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Amy II on October 1, 1999, at 15:44:12
My doc prescribed zoloft and ativan for my quote anxiety. those of you who have read my story know what i speak of. well I started with 25 mg of zoloft a day for one week and two mg of ativan ( one in the morning and one at night). the secon dweek I am still on two mg of ativan but 50 mg of Zoloft now and by week three I will be on 1mg of ativan and 100mg of zoloft. His theory is giving me some relieve with the ativan until the zoloft kicks in. Well I tried not taking the ativan today and it seems like my anxiety is worse. Or quote anxiety anyway. I have strange body aches inside my body and shadows in my side vision. My arms get sore really easy and my eyes are still dialated. Still having vivid dreams. about 20 to 30 different vision of dreams an night. So I took the ativan and really dont feel that much better. How long does zoloft take to work and are these symptoms normal? numbness goes on in certain parts of my face. I just HATE this!!!. I regret the day i ever took ecstacy. Now my boyfriend is so busy with work he doesn't have time for me hardly at all he is going h8unting this weekend with a couple of friends that i dont trust. He lied about what he was doing today. He said he was working but he was having sushi with a friend and wasn
t working at all. all this is just too much. Maybe I need to find a site where i can talk about relationship issues too. I feel i have no one to talk to. I have limited friends just because i chose to start my life early whe n i was 17 i got married and had 2 kids by 19. divorced and my life has been a roler coaster ever since. Now with this thing that happened to me 5 and half months ago i feel my life will never be the same that one morning i am going to wake up and wont be able to control any thoughts or any movement of myself at all. that i will eventually end up in a looney bin. I wish somoeone out there had answers or knew someone with similiar experiences with ecstacy so i know what i am looking forward to. Complete torture or does it eventually go away. Or will the docs never find exactly whats wrong with me. I have severe drfy throat too is that normal?
Any info will help
thanks, Dazed and confused, Amy II
Posted by Bob on October 1, 1999, at 16:08:35
In reply to effects of going off ativan!, posted by Amy II on October 1, 1999, at 15:44:12
Just to get this straight:
Week one -- 25 mg/d Zoloft & 2 mg/d Ativan
Week two -- 50 mg/d Zoloft & 2 mg/d Ativan
Week three -- 100 mg/d Zoloft & 1 mg/d AtivanAnd you're still in week 2, right?
First of all, your doc's trying to taper you off of the Ativan, so don't experiment and try quitting it cold turkey! From what you've written before, the long-term effects of that dose of ecstasy are bad enough on their own. If you're that sensitive to narcotics, then maybe the Ativan is already hitting you hard with withdrawal effects on top of everything else. I know my brother was on Xanax for just two weeks, and he went through 4 days or so of hard times when he stopped cold. Since your doc put you on the Ativan and he wants to taper you off of it, have patience and follow through on the taper. At 1 mg/d, you might talk to your doc about splitting the dose (since you're taking it 2x/d right now). You also may need to stretch out the taper. Folks who've come off ativan might have something more to say about that.
As for the zoloft, it can take up to two months before it settles in. Zoloft was the first AD I was on. Saying it might take two months to settle in doesn't mean it doesn't have an immediate effect. My first month on Zoloft was a roller coaster. I'd be up for a week, then down the next, but the fluctuations got smaller and the "normal", baseline point got better each week.
SSRIs can take time to settle into their "therapeutic effect". You may feel like you have no time to wait, that things are just too crazy/painful/frightening/whatever to cope with right now. But from the sound of it, you've been going through hell for months now -- in spite of it all, you must have a great source of strength inside of you to have held on this long. You're just going to have to dig deeper.
Keep letting us know how you are. Keep checking in. Everybody was here for you on your earlier posts, and we're not going to abandon you now.
Stay strong,
Bob
Posted by Amy II on October 1, 1999, at 16:23:23
In reply to Re: effects of going off ativan!, posted by Bob on October 1, 1999, at 16:08:35
> Just to get this straight:
> Week one -- 25 mg/d Zoloft & 2 mg/d Ativan
> Week two -- 50 mg/d Zoloft & 2 mg/d Ativan
> Week three -- 100 mg/d Zoloft & 1 mg/d Ativan
>
> And you're still in week 2, right?
>
> First of all, your doc's trying to taper you off of the Ativan, so don't experiment and try quitting it cold turkey! From what you've written before, the long-term effects of that dose of ecstasy are bad enough on their own. If you're that sensitive to narcotics, then maybe the Ativan is already hitting you hard with withdrawal effects on top of everything else. I know my brother was on Xanax for just two weeks, and he went through 4 days or so of hard times when he stopped cold. Since your doc put you on the Ativan and he wants to taper you off of it, have patience and follow through on the taper. At 1 mg/d, you might talk to your doc about splitting the dose (since you're taking it 2x/d right now). You also may need to stretch out the taper. Folks who've come off ativan might have something more to say about that.
>
> As for the zoloft, it can take up to two months before it settles in. Zoloft was the first AD I was on. Saying it might take two months to settle in doesn't mean it doesn't have an immediate effect. My first month on Zoloft was a roller coaster. I'd be up for a week, then down the next, but the fluctuations got smaller and the "normal", baseline point got better each week.
>
> SSRIs can take time to settle into their "therapeutic effect". You may feel like you have no time to wait, that things are just too crazy/painful/frightening/whatever to cope with right now. But from the sound of it, you've been going through hell for months now -- in spite of it all, you must have a great source of strength inside of you to have held on this long. You're just going to have to dig deeper.
>
> Keep letting us know how you are. Keep checking in. Everybody was here for you on your earlier posts, and we're not going to abandon you now.
>
> Stay strong,
> BobThank you bob,
Words of encouragement are somewhat easing. I wish I could find someone that has had this experience before it would help alot. I just wonder if you can permenantly damage cells in your brain that will give you parkinson like symptoms or schizophrenia like symptoms an dit just doesn't go away. Would an MRI show up anything or an eeg? I guess just take it one hour at a time. When I feel bits of rage and out of control i wish i had a pill that would just knock m out until its over, Thanks evrybody for listening. Still hanging on, Amy II
Posted by Brandon on October 1, 1999, at 18:30:18
In reply to Re: effects of going off ativan!, posted by Amy II on October 1, 1999, at 16:23:23
Amy,
First off ecstacy has never been proven to have lasting neurological effects on the brain. The only study that showed damage was done on rats and the dose was many many times higher than a normal dose of E. Plus rat brains are much different from human brains. I have taken LSD and E a few times and the last time I took a psychedelic I had a very bad experience which led me to stop taking it all together. For almost a year after I had a lasting depression and anxiety coupled with some slight paranoia. Luckily I stayed in school and toughed it out. I went to a doc to find out what was wrong and was diagnosed with ADD. Since then I tried several stims which only partially helped. I have found that most of my symptoms were merely psychosomatic and disappeared after some time. Just for your info I started taking St. Johns Wort (Movana for its high hyperforin content) and after some time noticed a marked reduction in my symptoms. You're not alone in this...many people have had bad experiences with these substances and if you're not prepared for it it can have lasting impacts on the psyche...but most are psychological and do go away...sorry for rambling on.
Brandon
Posted by Noa on October 1, 1999, at 23:16:44
In reply to Re: effects of going off ativan!, posted by Brandon on October 1, 1999, at 18:30:18
Amy, just a thought about those aches and pains...have you consulted anyone about fibromyalgia? I don't know much about it, but there are surely folks here who do.
Posted by Bob on October 2, 1999, at 0:15:47
In reply to Re: effects of going off ativan!, posted by Noa on October 1, 1999, at 23:16:44
Amy, that's gotta be some comforting news from Brandon ... particularly about the lack of evidence of permanent effects. So just keep getting help out there in the real world, and here in the virtual world ... you can ride this out.
Now me, on the other hand, back around '81 I went and saw David Lynch's Eraserhead stone cold sober, and I've been emotionally damaged ever since ... ;^)
Bob
Posted by dj on October 2, 1999, at 11:28:10
In reply to Re: effects of going off ativan!, posted by Bob on October 2, 1999, at 0:15:47
Now there's a depressing movie...like BIG PUN's comments above it's absolutely bizarre...
> Now me, on the other hand, back around '81 I went and saw David Lynch's Eraserhead stone cold sober, and I've been emotionally damaged ever since ... ;^)
>
> Bob
Posted by Dee on October 2, 1999, at 16:46:46
In reply to Re: effects of going off ativan!, posted by Noa on October 1, 1999, at 23:16:44
I haven't hear of any permanent damage on e. either. I wouldn't worry too much of that. I struggled with same question after long term crystal meth use, an I've found that what I assumed was neurological damage was merely withdrawal symptoms. This is my experience: After severe drug abuse it takes years before you are back to normal. It was only after a year clean that I could clearly see that there is a lot more to recover.
Second point that I wanted to make is that even if there is physical damage to the brain, that doesn't mean your faculties are damaged permanently. There is a very good back up mechanism in our heads - if a part of the brain is damaged, other parts will take over these function. This is how for instance people who have been paralyzed after a stroke can fully recover.
DeeP.S. You will be hearing much less from me for a time, I hope. I am over my present low - which I cleverly discussed as a casual babble never mentioning I was down. I've been hiding in my house for a week now, you guys have been my only contact with the world. Thanx. Gotta go, there's a Saturday nite waiting for me (of course it scares me... but!)
Dee
Posted by Ann on October 2, 1999, at 23:10:12
In reply to Re: effects of going off ativan!, posted by Dee on October 2, 1999, at 16:46:46
Regarding the aches and possible Fibromyalgia, I've had Fibromyalgia (FMS for short) for years, and to me it sounds more like you may be coming down with a cold or virus. The dry throat and body aches sounded very typical, something like that was going around here about a week ago, I had horrible leg pains and so did folks who don't have FMS! One thing to remember when starting a new drug regimen is that it's easy to blame all symptoms on the drugs, but other illnesses can and do occur independent of the medication.
Good luck,
Ann
Posted by saint james on October 6, 1999, at 1:59:29
In reply to effects of going off ativan!, posted by Amy II on October 1, 1999, at 15:44:12
> My doc prescribed zoloft and ativan for my quote anxiety. those of you who have read my story know what i speak of. well I started with 25 mg of zoloft a day for one week and two mg of ativan ( one in the morning and one at night). the secon dweek I am still on two mg of ativan but 50 mg of Zoloft now and by week three I will be on 1mg of ativan and 100mg of zoloft. His theory is giving me some relieve with the ativan until the zoloft kicks in.
James here....
Sounds like your doc is really trying to help you. Atavin is best used for your exact situation, short term, till the AD kicks in. It also seems that he/she really explained the reasons behind everything. It is going to be ~4 weeks b4 you feel the AD working and it is not uncommon for these first weeks to be more jittery, so Atavin makes since to me. Follow your doc's dosing schedule and report how you are doing. Let your doc decide how/when to taper the Atavin.
james
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