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[Rowan]

Never knew they made 2mgs HB, I think they are just the job for now and then and for muscle relaxing,  cutting a 10 mg into quarters might almost be the same, it would have certainly been welcome when my back was so painful at night, my osteopath said the muscles were very tight.

I don't think I would hesitate now if I needed to take now at that dose.


Would you believe it  I have just gone and rummaged in the drawer to find the pack that I still have, its 2mgs!!! all these years I have had it in my head that it was 10 mgs, just shows what a frame of mind I was in then, it just makes me think more that I was silly not to heed my GPs advice and take them when I needed too.

[CLKD]

cutting Valium into smaller bits doesn't work!  they are designed to release a certain doseage and have a coating on which allows them to be swallowed easier and then 'do their work'.  2mg is usually kept for tapering off.  One only needs to consider tapering if one has been taking them for more than 3 months ........ under GP supervision.

I had tapering for an AD I was taking, although not addicted in the true sense, the side-effects of lesser and lesser doseages made me wired  I would spend a day curled up letting the side-effects work off each time I took less - 3 days then less the doseage - it took 9 weeks.  My main problem was fear that I would never feel well again  , that the new ADs wouldn't be of benefit ....... but they have been !

[honeybun]

I just went to check too  . Yes 2mg so very mild I think.

My GP is ok with things. I booked a phone appointment and spoke to him. He has said there is no chance of becoming dependent on the occasional ones that I do.
He said he has never come across that before.

So that's good enough for me and I shall stop worrying 


Honeyb
x

[CLKD]

.......... knowing these meds work is often enough until I get into a tizzy 

[Cassie]

My mom is going on 90 and has been on Valium 5 to 10mg daily for almost 50 years, jeez, thats frightening, yet she seems to function just fine... would hate her to stop now, prob be the end of her

[Morwenna]

Yes, in the sixties and seventies they (Diazepam and Librium!) were dished out like sweets to deal with what I realise now were the normal stresses of everyday life. I was a child at the time but can remember members of my family and their friends discussing being prescribed a regular daily dose on an indefinite basis, until they felt 'better'. My father particularly had a tough time stopping and concedes now that he never really needed them in the first place 

[CLKD]

Librium kept my Dad kind of stable, he had to have regular blood tests to check the up-take of the drug.  He was given Ativan (blue pill) which he became reliant on.  But there was little else in 'those' days 

[Morwenna]

That's triggered another memory - my Mum died when I was a teenager. I would have really benefited from some counselling - instead I was sent away with a prescription for Ativan 

[CLKD]

How long did you take it for?  I had it as a pre-med before elective surgery

[Morwenna]

I remember taking one and feeling so weird I didn't take any more - looking back I'm glad as I know it wasn't the answer for me at the time...

[Dana]

I'll just chime in a say that no one should ever underestimate the dangers of any kind of benzodiazepine or Z-drug. Addiction is not rare at all. It happens far more often than most people realise, or what most doctors will acknowledge, and it can happen when you least expect it. To put them in the same category as HRT, as having had bad press, is very wrong IMO. The bad press that benzos get is justified.

It is very dangerous to start playing around with them. The danger starts when you think you can just take one "every so often". It's fine if you can stick to that, but thousands of people find that "every so often" soon becomes every day, and before they know it they're hooked. It's not about having an "addictive personality". When someone is suffering they often don't think about the consequences.

Most GPs are not educated in the proper use of these medications. IMO, they should be taken totally out of the hands of GPs, and only prescribed for specific situations by specialists, who understand the dangers and also understand the problems with withdrawal, because they aren't like any other kind of medication. Even the drug companies say they should not be prescribed for any more than 2 weeks, but a lot of doctors simply don't take any notice of that.

2mg isn't really a mild or a low dose. Sure, it's the lowest that can be dispensed, and is the lowest dosage benzo you can get, but stay on 2mg for a period of time and you can suffer very severe withdrawal symptoms which can last a long time - possibly longer than you actually took them for.

The best dose of any benzo is zero. There are always alternatives.

[Taz2]

Could you suggest some alternatives Dana? It would be handy to know what else can be prescribed.

Is 2mg every day worse than 2mg say a couple of times a month to calm anxiety which seems to be how Honeybun is using them?  I remember using diazepam when my first marriage broke up. I was prescribed it for ten days but hated the way it made me feel - so dumbed down and out of it that I only took them twice.

Taz x

[honeybun]

I agree that you have to use them carefully but to say that doctors shouldn't prescribe them 

I too would be interested in an alternative.

I do not feel in any danger of becoming addicted. One on occasions is enough for me and I have been reassured by my GP that this is fine.


Honeyb
x

[Sarah2]

I am no expert on this but the only reason I am posting is to share my only 2 experiences, one very recent.
One is a friend of a very close friend who had a breakdown a few weeks back- her neighbour who is also her GP gave her Valium for 4 days as she was almost suicidal- but he said no more- too dangerous and she is now on other ADs for a year at least.
My MIL was given Valium at 64 - to get over the funeral when her husband died- she couldn't get off them and her GP made the mistake of continuing to allow her to have them. There is a lot more to her condition than that- but valium certainly contributed to her psychological decline and dependency on drugs, of which Valium was one.

[CLKD]

Sadly Mental Health 'services' in the UK are the bottom of the funding pot and are still being cut.  GPs have access to short term drugs but when they refer patients for other 'treatments', they are between a rock and a hard place because these services are non-existent.  In 1992 I was offered talk therapy and 18 months later the Dept sent me a letter to see if I still required it  so being cussed I went along although I had improved a bit. 

Specialists don't always get it right either.  Have worked with some who have no interest in the patient but are there to get their Pension, fortunately not too many but medication - as we have found - is a bit hit and miss as not everyone responds to drug regimes in the 'same' way.  Prozac was supposedly to have 'no side effects'  and it really does depend on whether someone has an 'addictive personality'.  Other people get hooked because they believe what their GP suggests and the weeks go on so they don't think to go back and talk about adjusting the dosage or weaning off.  We can all be guilty of staying in the status quo  ……….

At least we have an NHS and don't have to rely on an Insurance!  The NHS problem is budgets set by a Government who can access Private care  ………..

'most GPs' - would be horrified if they were told what Dana believes  - some are not educated in menopause problems and treatments but to say that they are unaware of the dangers of drug therapies that have been on the market for many years  ……….