strongmama2015: Don't know what to do (Trazodone withdrawal?)

[strongmama2015]

I'm having such a hard time coping with the intrusive thoughts. I'm scared of becoming psychotic. My anxiety is so bad that it feels I am getting worse. I do think I have problems with standing on my own two feet, but if I can't really eat, drink, exists without being in so much anxiety and fear them I am scared where this will end. I know others here have been through the same and worse, I don't know why I feel this will break me.

[Martina23]

These intrusive thoughts will diminish in time. I have the same problem, I know how it feels. The problem is, when you go to the hospital, you will get only more medication and the intrusive thoughts will not vanish, you will be only so much "calmed down" that you will not think so much about them but also on anything other. Because all your other feelings will be sedated too. Try to distract and give trust your brain that you will not do anything bad and sooner or later they will diminish and then go away.

[strongmama2015]

Hi, everyone. I have been on 25 mg of Trazodone for three nights. I wake up feeling sometimes confused. My morning anxiety is still horrible. Paranoid intrusive bought a are still bad. I am getting by with .25 mg of Clonazepam when the anxiety gets so bad that I think I will have a mental break. I get break through cortisol before I take the Trazodone at night. Is this anxiety normal? I feel like I am on the verge of breaking and believing this stuff. I'm comiting daily.

[strongmama2015]

*vomiting

[Petunia]

Hi Strongmama,

I just read through your thread, I'm sorry you are going through this. There are a couple of things which stand out to me, the first is that you seemed to improve from the Trazodone reinstatement, this was encouraging. But at the same time you increased your dosing of Clonazepam, then stopped taking it for a while then started again, taking it intermittently.

 

 Ive taken Clonazepam sparingly every few days, but I find that it doens't really help to make me feel that better. I think it increases my anxiety and depression. I'm also left with that wired, boiling anxiety feeling in the bottom of my skull and down my spine into the top of my back.

 

 I even got through a. Visit from my mom, however my anxiety shot through the roof after she left and I took my Clonazepam because I couldn't see how I could bring myself down on my own. It's almost 9am and I'm trying to get through the morning. Is taking .25mg of Clonazepam per day alright until I get through the reinstatement, right now I'm just taking .25mg every few days when the anxiety gets too overwhelming. Thanks. Hope you are all doing well as can be expected.

 

Just completed night 5 of Trazodone reinstatement. My cortisol rush is getting so much better. I'm not being woken up by anxiety anymore. My issue is the early morning anxiety that stretches out the rest of the day. I was getting by using .25mg of Clonazepam every few days. But now I take at least one dose during the day, at varying times, for the last 2 or 3 days..... When I take the Clonazepam, I get this hot feeling in my chest and in my head. It gradually goes away. I noticed .25mg doesn't do what it used to for my anxiety. I was so desperate about facing the day last night. Instead of waiting until I couldn't take it anymore, I took the Clonazepam when I first got up to head off the anxiety. My anxiety was so bad I could not fall back asleep properly. I drifted in and out of sleep from about 7:30-9:50am.

 

I had hoped a moderator would have answered by now. What I've noticed is that my anxiety starts to rise and peak from about 6am to 11am, even out somewhat, and spike again around 5pm. I'm in a very bad wave of anxiety right now. It used to ease up the closer I got to bed, but yesterday and today it's been following this pattern. Any thoughts? I'm still on 6.25mg of Trazodone at bedtime. I haven't taken the Clonazepam since Saturday.

 

When you are making changes with more than one drug at the same time, its impossible to know what drug is causing which effect.

 

But my guess is that you are now having paradoxical reactions to the Clonazepam, its not helping with your anxiety, possibly making it worse and you may be getting interdose withdrawal. My suggestion would be to stop using it and give your nervous system a chance to stabilize on the Trazodone reinstatement.

 

Use non drug techniques to manage the anxiety while you are waiting to stabilize:  Non-drug techniques to cope with emotional symptoms

 

During this short time you also increased your Trazodone dose, although I'm not sure exactly how, but you have ended up on 25mg after starting at 6.25? Stop making changes, stop jumping around in dose. It takes 4 days for your system to recognize the change and then several weeks to stabilize at that new dose.

 

Here are some topics to read through which will help you understand what is required in order to give this reinstatement the best chance of working:

 

The rule of 3KIS: Keep it simple. Keep it slow. Keep it stable.

 

About reinstating and stabilizing to stop withdrawal symptoms

 

I'm quite confident that things will start to settle down if you try this approach, it may take a while, but if you are able to be patient a bit longer, it will get better.

 

Petunia.

[strongmama2015]

Thank you, Petunia. I thought I was taking 6.25mg, but it was actually 12.5mg. Then I went up to 25mg. What has me so distressed, is that one of my main symptoms is intrusive, paranoid thoughts. One that is so bad is what if my husband is a serial killer. I know it is ridiculous, but it has been so hard to ignore. I have begun to develop somewhat of a small phobia to my husband. Getting up and taking care of the kids is also really tough. I barely eat and drink and I have vomited everyday for almost 4 days. I know these thoughts are irrational, but they seem to be taking over. That's why I use the Clonazepam because I feel like I am on the verge of a true mental break. I am so weak from not eating I am starting to have trouble moving around. This doesn't seem normal to me. I am scared there is something else wrong mentally with me.

[strongmama2015]

Has anyone tried NLP for dealing with fear of withdrawal symptoms?

[Petunia]

Here are some topics which discuss intrusive thoughts in withdrawal, with some ideas about how to manage them:

 

Intrusive thoughts and increased panic? - Symptoms and ...

 

OCD: obsessive thoughts, compulsive behaviors - Surviving ...

[JanCarol]

Strongmama, how are you?

 

Have you gone to hospital?  I know you were very scared.  

 

Clonazepam can, as Petunia said, cause problems when you take it on again, off again.  It can cause the intrusive thoughts you were having - it can take intrusive thoughts and make them 10x worse - and then - you think you're losing it, going mad.

 

When it's just the chemical.

 

I hope you've found a path through this difficult time, and hope we can be of assistance to you.  When you return, please let us know what has happened, what your current doses are (signature update please?) - and hopefully you will achieve stability soon.