Question about anxiety and meds

I wanted to ask those of you who take meds like xanax for anxiety, which doc you get those meds from.  Do you get them from your rheumy or your primary doc?  Does it really matter who you get them from?  I've been having a difficult time with anxiety lately, especially in the evenings, but also have some on and off throughout the day.  I'm not sure if it's because I've been on a little higher dose of prednisone or not - I'm back down to 10mg today and am supposed to be down to 7.5 again in a week.  I hate turning to another pill, but feel like I need some help.  Since getting lupus my brain doesn't work the same way anymore and it's hard for me to use some relaxation techniques that I usually use.  Thanks for any help or info about this 

Hippimom, Since I believe my evening anxiety & sleeplessness comes as a side effect of my prednisone, the rheumy is the first doctor I mentioned it to. Consequently, he is the one who prescribed Xanax for the evening (to keep away the mind circles), as well as Trazadone as a sleep aid. My system is naturally ultra-sensitive around sleep, so I've need this help even when we started w/just 7 mg of Prednisone. Does it really matter who you get anti-anxiety meds from? I think it does, because I don't really want my PCP to prescribe something to relieve symptoms from a med my rheumy is giving me. It seems to me the rheumy would be more up-to-date on the best "corrective" med to use. If I thought anxiety (or depression) was more situational or mental in its source, then I would be more likely to visit a PCP or a psychiatrist. Since you & I have had similar responses to medications in the past, my bet would be that this anxiety is from the extra pred you are taking right now, and that a small dose of Xanax from the rheumy would fit you right up! Cheers,

hey!
at first i was taking lorazapam (ativan) for anxiety and because i had trouble falling asleep. It didnt seem to work very well for me so i asked my rheumy to prescribe me something else. My rheumy gave me a prescription for xanax, i take 1 mg a night (if i feel i need it). The prescription i have is for .5 mg 3 times a day (as needed), so if i do get anxiety during the day, which happens sometimes, then i can can have some relief.

ps-i have a question for you hippimom...you said you are on 10 mg of prednisone...i currently am on 9 mg but my face is STILL swollen! do you have moon face from prednisone too?? do you have any idea when it is supposed to go away? thanks :)

Hi Hippimom,

 

I SO know what you are going through with the anxiety.  I have it in a big, bad way.  I've been really good for about a week now, but the last 5 months have been the hardest of my life.  The anxiety is overwhelming sometimes. 

 

I'm on a Benzodiazapine.  Very addictive.  Make sure you ask your doctor what family of meds your pill is in.  Stay away from the benzo's.  They're mild tranquilizers.

 

I know how addictive they are because I'm on one!  Frisium, also called Clobazam.  I was given it when I started having simple partial seizures after my stroke in 2002.  I had no idea what I was taking, until this last December.  The drug stopped controlling my seizures, so my neuro told me to start tapering down on the drug so that I could be put on something else.  Well. I went from 40mg a day to 30mg a day in 2 weeks.  I went through withdrawal hell for two full months.  Coming down on the drug revealed a nasty anxiety disorder that I didn't know I had!  So we upped the med to 32.25mg and it just barely takes the edge off.  So I'm dealing with anxiety, and seizures at the moment.  Along with balancing my lupus and fibro and my business!  FUN TIMES!!

 

So make sure you know exactly what you are taking and just take enough to curb the anxiety.  With cognitive behaviour therapy and deep breathing exercises, your anxiety should improve.  The deep breathing really helps me.  Also, get all caffeine and sugar out of your diet.  Those contribute to the adrenal glands pumping out more cortisol and causing the anxiety to worsen.  You can email me any time if you want to talk about it more.  It's definitely hard to cope with isn't it. 

 

Blessings!

Ginny

HippiMom,

I take Xanax for anxiety and to help sleep.  I take .5 to 1 mg/day, divided up in two or three doses.  I had to take much more when I was still on Prednisone.

I started Lexapro a few months back, and in addition to helping GREATLY with depression it has lessened my anxiety and I take less Xanax these days.

The Xanax and Lexapro are prescribed by a psychiatrist, whom I see in person every six months.

My PCP or rheumy probably would prescribe Xanax short-term if I asked, but since I have been taking it for years and also am taking the antidepressant, both drugs are supervised by the psychiatrist.

Benzodiazepenes can be addictive, but I do want to say that I've been on them at much higher doses years ago and did not have any psychological or physical problems when tapering and even discontinuing Xanax (under my doctor's supervision, of course).

I'm sorry to know that you are feeling stress and anxiety and hope you find relief soon.

Laura

Hi Hippiemom

I just wanted to give u a big hug. Man anxiety sucks. I get real anxious after I have been in the sun, and this can be from many hours after the sun to a few days. I keep a log of my sun exposure for referance along with the uv index. As before, the meds I am on make me more sun sensitive so in turn I get this other crap. I take an herb called Holy Basil to help with relaxation. I also take Valerian Root which is recognized as a good sleep/relaxation aid for Fibro. I hope you are able to get some rest. I know of some CD's with the subliminal messages on them, not that I am sure of the subliminal messages but the talk through meditation until the messages used to help with me sleeping as a teen during my flares. I know because I would fall asleep before the cd was over. I hope you feel better.

Leta

Hi Hippi.  I'm really sorry about your anxiety.  I've been seeing a nurse practitioner, Alex, at my psychiatrist's office for about 3-4 years.  I also have had increased anxiety lately and Alex started me on Lamectil with Xanax PRN, two months ago.  I take Ambien each night, which is addictive, so I can't take Xanax daily.  The Lamectil is working well.  I also take Seroquel each night to stop the racing thoughts.  Seroquel is a psychotropic and in high doses (>600mg) is used to treat schizophrenia, but thank God the television doesn't yet talk to me personally and 200mg does fine.  My major depressive disorder has been relatively stable for about 2 years now with Prozac.  Like the rest of you, all of my docs keep current medication lists for me.  I could be wrong, but I think I'm one of the few on the forum who sees a psychiatrist.  My advice is for you to get your anxiety meds from the doc who can see you first, then let the others know.  Xanax is great for short term and works within hours.  I hope you get some good rest soon.  Love ya Sis!  

Sorry to hear about the anxiety.  As I've read the replies here I see a lot of us do experience the anxiety.  I was taking Xanax and it was abruptly stopped and then started into withdrawal symptoms and got put back on to taper off of it.  Am now past that and the anxiety is back with a vengence.  I hesitate to ask the doctor for anything as I have experienced the withdrawal of what I now have come to know are addictive drugs.  I can see both sides of taking versus not.  I was much calmer when on the Xanax and am now a lot more uptight and just downright moody.  I was getting the med from my old PCP and saw her assistant who is the one who stopped it abruptly.  So, I am now at a point where I want to feel calm but am investigating alternative solutions to it other than anti-depressants.  I hope you can find relief soon.

Hi Hippimom--
I take Klonopin and it is a benzodiapine and I like it much better than xanax, because xanax and valium had a tendency to make me depressed afterware and get a drug hangover. Klonopin has the added bonus of being commonly prescribed for restless leg, and it works quite well. Also, I find the nexxt day I have more energy for some reason. I am addicted, but I would be addicted to prozac, or imipramine, or neurontin or any other drug they gave me. I get mine from my primary care doc for restless leg and I just found it easiear to get refills from her. She also has me take extra sometimes as a muscle relaxant. I hope you get this sorted out soon.

Hippi--

I'll jump in here for two reasons: #1 It might be time to see a psychiatrist for med management if you've tried 3 anti depressants and think that you can't take any, you could be wrong. There are many, many more out there. They all have different chemical formations that might do better with you. Also, if you feel the need for an anti anxiety med, they are the best qualified docs to prescribe these as well. I see a neurologist for my seizures that are a part of my hashimoto's encephalopathy disease (the neuro treats that as well), but the neuro insists that a psychiatrist prescribes for the depression and anxiety which are also a result of the encephalopathy (just as lupus can affect the CNS). He won't prescribe for those conditions because they aren't his areas of expertise.

The second reason I'll jump in is that one of the anticonvulsants I take is Topamax. It is also sometimes used to treat migraine headaches. I haven't heard of it being used to treat anxiety before. Fortunately, I don't experience the "stupid" side effects that some folks do. (I've heard it referred to as "dope-a-max!)But there's an example of how the same drug affects different people in different ways. Interestingly, the enceph. brought back my migraines on a daily basis--severely. The topamax didn't help them at all! We had to experiment and experiment until we found something to help control them. You just never know.

So IMHO I would ask even Josh's ped. rheumy if that's the dr. you respect most at this point about a p.doc for you to get some real help there for your mental/emotional health needs. It is just as important as the physical aspect of the disease if not more so.

xoxo emmie

(((Hippi)))

   I hope you get some relief soon. Glad you are calling the doc today. Let us know how it goes. Take care and hang in there. You are in my thoughts and prayers.

                                                                   Babs

I did it!!! I called one of the docs about 30 minutes from here that one of my friends sees. She said he has helped her with her headaches and her anxiety. I see him Friday morning. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, I always get nervous when I see a new doc because you never know how it will go.

Good luck hippi... will be thinking of you. It's good that you got a referral from a trusted friend, who has been helped by the doctor. That always makes the anxiety of the first visit much better. Please let us know how it goes.

Take Care