Clonazepam, sertraline (zoloft)

Thanks happycat...yes, it's important to remember there's lot's of alternatives, and none of them are "happy pills"

Some days I wish I knew where to get some of them... :wink:

Yes, sorry about that. We get so many spammy posts for a lot of these drugs that, unfortunately, we've had to filter quite a few of them, and it hampers a good discussion such as this one.

And -- I second that -- good luck to you, flushd.

Re: Clonazepam, sertraline (zoloft)


i want to add a comment here. as happycat & Chai stated, ssri is not a happy pill. i had similar concerns to yours before i started taking paroxetine aka p-a-x-i-l; i didn't want to become mindlessly happy or stop being generally cynical. in my case, my fears were unfounded. all that happened is that i was no longer consumed with anxiety so i had a chance to experience other emotional states. i've even experienced depression a few times since, but only under truly depressing circumstances.

yeah yitwail...that's a good thing to mention...you will become depressed, when it's a situation in life where it's normal to be.

Maybe the word sad is better.

I'm cynical as ever.

I think your doctor did you a tremendous disservice by giving you 30 clonazepam.... "only" 30? That's a ridiculous amount to start off with. I only let my patients have 6 a month.

As for starting the SSRI at all, I would, if you haven't already, definitely see a counsellor first.

Physicians who prescribe have precious little time to get to the bottom of a lot of people's anxieties. Counsellors/psychologists do.

Wait on the drugs, talk to a professional that can inventory your life for you.

I see way too many people taking 90 of the 1mg tablets monthly, and can't stop.

What's your profession?

First off I want to thank everyone for their support and info.
Thank you.

Oh yeah, this here is Flushd under a new username for now. To be clear.

Update: As of now, decided to wait on trying the script. Went to see the appropriate people, and talked it out some more, knowing from past experience that Right in the Middle of a Severe Anxiety episode is not the time to make major decisions. On monday I will go to re-evaluate the situation.

My thoughts on medication has changed. A lot. And my thoughts on this whole situation.

Time passes regardless, as Noddy mentioned, and there is nothing noble about slugging through unnecessary suffering for nothing.

It's beginning to make more sense to me, the place of medications, and it remains an option. More accurate would be to say for the first time I can see it as an option that makes sense, and could possibly help me achieve my goal of living a good life.

Just wanted to update considering how all of you were kind enough to reach out on such a personal issue. It means a lot to me.
It meant a lot and it helped me in a time when reassurance and calm 'voices' went a long way. The reassurance was something I was looking for as much as the info, which I couldn't see at the time but do now. I appreciate the gentleness shown about that, too.

I'll leave this post at this for now. Otherwise no one will read it! And it's the most important stuff at the moment. Talking about anxiety and depression could result in novels!

A physician.

A psychiatrist?

I want to address this.

I checked, and yup, I did state that I have a psychiatrist GP therapist trio.

Maybe you did not read it or process it.

I appreciate the concern and opinion. Everyone is welcome to weight in.

It does it distress me a little bit that you were so willing to give that sort of advice though without even listening/processing/considering all the info given.

I admit it was a personal thread and not a general one, and so it was a bit irritating to have to go through yet another flippant comment about what is best so specifically - going so far as to claim the "expert" statis to give your opinion more weight, or simply being mindless to the seriousness I wrote in.

If you're looking to open the floor about all the reasons why people should be cautious about medications, trying alternate routes first and while, it'd be cool (seriously) if you would start a thread on that. And tell us more about you and maybe your area of expertise etc.

I'd be right there, and a lot of the folks on this thread already know it, to point out the benefits of thorough care.

What saddens me is that right when a person most needs help and to have their objective wits about them to evaluate what path to go to get better,
that's exactly the time when it is so hard to think straight and to be a good judge of what is what.
That's exactly when opportunistist and people looking to push their own come to fore and hold up a Help sign.

Maybe you've never been so black that this would even come to your mind.
Honest to the earth, I could understand that.

It is seriously difficult to try and slug your way through the Bazillions of opinions, pieces of research, judgements, and yes I will even say discriminatory attitudes.

It is hard to find quality care, and for all the pieces to go together. Meanwhile, having control over the whole mess.

Thanks.

Thanks Snood. You being on the alert didn't go unnoticed.

mushy,

i went through the same thing with my ssri. i was in therapy for years, but it wasn't enough, so i went to a psychiatrist at the suggestion of my therapist, and that's how i started on meds. it also wouldn't surprise me a bit if Chai or happycat went through a similar process.

No. But most people find it easier to get into our office than a psychiatrists'. Or they don't like them. So they usually wind up on our doorstep.

Usually, when I recommend a psychiatrist, our patient population acts as if they couldn't be bothered with such a suggestion.

I asked because you menationed something about only "letting your patients have" a few benzodiazepines at a time. I'm not aware of any other doctors using them but shrinks.