Re: Re: panic attacks / fluttering heart / shallow raoid brea...

[Guest guest]

Ya'll, I definitely wasn't knocking using sedatives... I just meant, I'd start gradually and work up. I explained that it's easier to step up to stronger meds than to step down...If you take less addictive drugs like Klonopin for 6 months and find it isn't therapeutic -you can always bump up to a drug like Ativan or Vallium, is what I meant.

I didn't mean Ativan is stronger in a sense that it will leave you doped up more so than Klonopin, but rather --- it's more addictive. I wouldn't want to subject my body to an addictive drug until I'd ruled out other alternatives available first --- which was the case when my doc has used Ativan with me. I'd already been on Klonopin and Xanax for years, and when one came to a point it wasn't working as well without huge doses -- I'd switch to another one. Finally, Ativan came into play. I've also been on Vallium in the distant past. I just wouldn't recommend those for long term use.

Addiction isn't always a mental thing at all... I know people take offense to the term, but it's something that inadvertently happens to the best of people. It doesn't mean you're always mentally addicted or weak. Your body can addict to medications as easily as it can illegal substances, and withdrawals can come just as easily. It isn't fun. Ativan is listed as being highly addictive, so I was just trying to warn about it to start at lower risks, and work up.

I understand that sometimes addictive drugs are necessary. My pain drug of choice is highly addictive, so I really watch my use on it.