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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 4 of 4. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Greg B on June 27, 2002, at 12:43:53
My situation in life has been horrid. I am tired of it and want to see if any others have seen similarly. Since last spring I went through enormously tough times: losing about $40,000 in one night...2 relatives died, my girlfriend died in a car-accident, my mother had to go into a home due to Pick's disease...and I had to become her guardian..and still am dealing with a lot of the stuff relating to it....STRESSSSS!!!!!
As a result, I have had nasty anxiety. It actually seemed to start heavily after I discontinued use of cocaine a little over a year ago. Since then I have tried countless things to eliminate these physical symptoms of anxiety.
Right now, as per my Neurologist, I am on 2700 mg/day of Neurontin. By itself, it seems to make me kinda robotic. Additionally, though, I take lorazepam daily at different doses (depending on "supposed" need...usually 1.0 mg 2x day). As well, I take 10-12 mg Ambien each night to get to sleep.
Unfortunately, Ive been in serious ruts here financially and have been depressed...and have been adding alcohol to this equation. Everyday now I feel like I am having a heart attack...my heart rate will sometimes sit between 110-130 for hours. Most people will tell me to go to ER then...but it happens so often. This is driving me crazy!!!
I know I need to stop the alcohol as it is probably the biggest problem here...but when I try to stop, I get these nasty physical symptoms of anxiety...like heart-related. AT this point, I want to quit all of my medications...all of which I know I need to wean myself off of. But first and foremost, I need to eliminate these physical symptoms when not drinking. If I can do that, for at least a week, I can quit the alcohol..then slowly work myself off the rest of the meds.
Any suggestions?
Posted by katekite on June 27, 2002, at 19:16:11
In reply to Situation: Ambien, Lorazepam, Neurontin, Alcohol, posted by Greg B on June 27, 2002, at 12:43:53
First off: You poor thing! I'm not one to ooze out sugary sympathy but you sound like you've been through a hellish experience. Good for you to get off cocaine.
You do need to stop the alcohol... its a depressant and you are already depressed enough. Before you try it again though, see a regular general practice doctor and talk to them about this heart thing, whether it could be serious. There's no need for it to be happening at the time you talk to them. Tell them you are trying to stop drinking completely due to depression, and see if they have anything helpful to say. A neurologist is most likely not the person to ask about either issue.
Now a question: did you find the cocaine was stimulating (did you have tons of energy) or did you get a mellowing effect? 15% (I think that was the statistic I saw) of cocaine users turn out to have undiagnosed attentional problems (like attention deficit disorder) and lots of secondary problems like anxiety or depression or substance abuse. Treating the ADD makes the other problems easier to deal with. A neurologist hopefully would have excluded that already, but I thought it couldn't hurt to ask. If you wonder if its a possibility there are online quizzes such as the one at www.mindfixers.com -- I found it helpful.
Take care,
Kate
Posted by jay on June 28, 2002, at 2:09:51
In reply to Situation: Ambien, Lorazepam, Neurontin, Alcohol, posted by Greg B on June 27, 2002, at 12:43:53
Has any doctor ever suggested adding an antidepressant? Maybe one or two may help balance out the depressant effects of the other meds, and maybe crave alcohol less.My father, who suffers from alcoholism, is taking Doxepin at bedtime (200 mg), which seems to help a bit. He can't abstain from using alcohol, but I don't see his using it affecting badly on other parts of his life. Before Doxepin it was.
It may take some trial and error, but hang in and pray, hope the best you can...as that seems to really help also.
Best wishes...
Jay
> My situation in life has been horrid. I am tired of it and want to see if any others have seen similarly. Since last spring I went through enormously tough times: losing about $40,000 in one night...2 relatives died, my girlfriend died in a car-accident, my mother had to go into a home due to Pick's disease...and I had to become her guardian..and still am dealing with a lot of the stuff relating to it....STRESSSSS!!!!!
>
> As a result, I have had nasty anxiety. It actually seemed to start heavily after I discontinued use of cocaine a little over a year ago. Since then I have tried countless things to eliminate these physical symptoms of anxiety.
>
> Right now, as per my Neurologist, I am on 2700 mg/day of Neurontin. By itself, it seems to make me kinda robotic. Additionally, though, I take lorazepam daily at different doses (depending on "supposed" need...usually 1.0 mg 2x day). As well, I take 10-12 mg Ambien each night to get to sleep.
>
> Unfortunately, Ive been in serious ruts here financially and have been depressed...and have been adding alcohol to this equation. Everyday now I feel like I am having a heart attack...my heart rate will sometimes sit between 110-130 for hours. Most people will tell me to go to ER then...but it happens so often. This is driving me crazy!!!
>
> I know I need to stop the alcohol as it is probably the biggest problem here...but when I try to stop, I get these nasty physical symptoms of anxiety...like heart-related. AT this point, I want to quit all of my medications...all of which I know I need to wean myself off of. But first and foremost, I need to eliminate these physical symptoms when not drinking. If I can do that, for at least a week, I can quit the alcohol..then slowly work myself off the rest of the meds.
>
> Any suggestions?
Posted by Greg B on July 1, 2002, at 15:54:03
In reply to Re: Situation: Ambien, Lorazepam, Neurontin, Alcohol » Greg B, posted by jay on June 28, 2002, at 2:09:51
Thanks for your responses. At the right time too...as I just got back from court regarding my mother's estate (because I'm guardian/conservator)...and it was very disappointing...adding tons of more work to my already overloaded task list.
I have spoken with my reg. doctor about the chest pains, etc...they have discounted it as anxiety symptoms...5 times in ER with EKGs and blood tests showed no signs of heart attacks. I am currently scheduled to see a cardiologist w/in a month to do stress tests, etc (Im doing this on my own).
My neurologist did prescribe an anxiety...Effexor. I started it and 3 days later had a break down and started drinking more...I didn't want to mix so I stopped it...and after reading that these anti-depressants can take months for effectiveness...I just kind of felt like it wasn't a quick enough solution...good-game to my impatience.
I've begun weaning myself off of neurontin. And, hopefully, and going to wean myself off of beer one beer per day roughly. Throught about the same time period off of neurontin. I don't know what this will do...good or bad. I guess I will see.
I will let you know the results..maybe it could be helpful for someone else with similar issues in life.
Again, thanks for your replies.
This is the end of the thread.
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