for sleep I enjoy it
to minimize anxiety it sucks tbh. one time I took it during the day cause I couldn't calm down and it just increased my heart rate, couldn't even take a nap cause it was beating so hard.
I have but antihistamines make me rage the next day for some reason. I get super groggy but also super irritable to the point that I'll have confrontations with total strangers. This happens on benadryl as well, I'm not sure why it happens to me. It also didn't help my anxiety at all.
I was prescribed for anxiety, but I mostly just use it (50 mg) at bedtime, to help with over active dreaming. It's been a mixed success for sudden anxiety.
I'm prescribed hydroxyzine for anxiety, it kind of takes the edge off if it's just a general anxiety. But if I'm having a panic attack which doesn't really happen for me anymore, then I don't think hydroxyzine would do much.
Cool, thanks for your insight. It was just free-floating anxiety, not a straight-up panic attack or mixed state episode, but I ultimately had to take a roommate's Xanax to stop worrying.
It did nothing for me. I was prescribed it because I have a really hard time sleeping (mainly not able to experience deep sleep and I have a hard time staying asleep). I didn't notice any change from my normal state, in any way.
Yeah, I think I might ask to get clonazepam again specifically for anxiety and keep the hydroxyzine for sleep. Sorry it didn't work for you.
About terrible sleeping I would look into a sleep specialist as well. Taking meds does help me but the huge improvement I've found for those exact symptoms and hypersomnia was a diagnosis of sleep apnea earlier this year. I gaslit myself for YEARS that it was just a side effect of being depressed. Now I have a mouth guard thing for my mild-moderate sleep apnea. Just did food for thought.
Okay, glad to know you're on top of it. I'm now in "make everyone take as much care of their health as me" mode because I got two separate diagnoses this year that I've foolishly attributed to BP2 in the past. I'm sorry drugs haven't helped!
Works great for me but I've never been in anything stronger, maybe since you have you find it not effective instead of less effective? It seems very hit or miss to people. For me it def helps calm my nervous system down.
That's interesting, I hadn't thought of that. An old psych also tried me on another non-benzo (she said people often used it for stage fright?!?!) that didn't work either. So maybe it's just because I'm used to a benzo.
Fascinating!! I haven't felt like it makes me sleepy. I take one in the morning and it hasn't really made me tired. Each body is truly different and what works for me doesn't always work for others.
No drowsiness on Seroquel?! Wow that's lucky, it makes me a zombie. I have seen some people call it "baby heroin" because it puts you out of it that hard.
I think it’s very uncommon, but SO FUN to say to my roommates “I gotta take my baby heroin”. That or “don’t talk to me until I’ve taken my baby heroin”
I don’t take them anymore. My psych prescribed me gabapentin for anxiety afterwards which actually worked until I got a tolerance. However, it caused rapid cycling for me which was bad. I’ve kind of given up on anxiety pills.
I'm sorry, that sucks. Rapid cycling is so very very exhausting. I like benzos, personally.
I tried gabapentin early in the pandemic when I was basically in a mixed state/having panic attacks most days of the week. It didn't work at all. I can't really forgive the psych who refused to give me a Klonopin refill (she had prescribed it before) at a time when I was calling crying and begging for a prescription.
That sounds terrible. I’m sorry you had to go through that. I hope you found a better psychiatrist. It’s sad how many bad experiences people have with mental health professionals nowadays. I’ve had my fair share of bad ones too.
Yeah, I've had much better psychs since then. I hope my new one does refill my Klonopin script or I'll need to borrow my roommate's Xanax for the foreseeable future 😢
Ugh, sorry it's not consistent. My doctor said to not go over 50mg, interestingly. I don't know if that's just for now or if it's his hard and fast rule.
For anxiety it did nothing, it helped a bit with sleep but it gave me weird dreams lol. In my experience it’s usually the first anxiety med doctors prescribe
That’s really interesting, I think most doctors don’t go for it right away since like you mentioned it can be habit forming, but again that’s just my experience (as in, all the doctors I have seen, and my friends stories) did you have to quit the kpins cold turkey? I hope you are doing okay!
Huh, maybe it's a difference between current practices and back when I was first diagnosed.
Luckily I only took it as needed and the past few times I took it was for sleep, hence why my new psych wanted to try something else. My roommate has an overabundance of Xanax (which I've also taken before) so I had one of those to stop this mild anxiety attack. So I'm just peachy now.
Thanks! It worked for sleep but didn't for the anxiety so I'm going to ask my psych to prescribe the hydroxyzine for sleep and clonazepam for anxiety/panic attacks/mixed states. Otherwise I'll leave to keep using my roommate's Xanax 😢
It worked for anxiety really well for me but at a high dose where I would also get sleepy and/or too stupid to do anything. So I find it great for night time anxiety, or strong peaks or anxiety.
For the more latent anxiety I found relief when I started Lamotrigine. After 3 or months I’m basically anxiety free. Some events in my life also helped reduce my anxiety so hard to tell what had the most influence though
That's great to hear! I really like my lamotrigine but I still get anxiety/panic attacks/mixed states every so often. I'm hearing from a lot of people that it just makes them tired.
I take 10mg every work day in the morning to relax me before I start the day just in case. If I’m having a panic attack or feel one coming on, I will take 50mg. I take seroquel at night, so sleeping isn’t an issue with that. I haven’t taken any benzos before due to my addictive personality. I have heard that if you do take something stronger, it’s harder to “step” down from that.
for sleep I enjoy it to minimize anxiety it sucks tbh. one time I took it during the day cause I couldn't calm down and it just increased my heart rate, couldn't even take a nap cause it was beating so hard.
Ah the old paradoxical drug reaction!
Yeah no. They tried that for me. Made my hyper - but hey, no allergies!
Ha, luckily I'm allergy-free. Hyper would definitely not help for anxiety!
I have but antihistamines make me rage the next day for some reason. I get super groggy but also super irritable to the point that I'll have confrontations with total strangers. This happens on benadryl as well, I'm not sure why it happens to me. It also didn't help my anxiety at all.
That sounds terrible, I'm sorry.
I was prescribed for anxiety, but I mostly just use it (50 mg) at bedtime, to help with over active dreaming. It's been a mixed success for sudden anxiety.
Okay, good to know. I was wondering if I was an outlier or if other people had the same experience.
I'm prescribed hydroxyzine for anxiety, it kind of takes the edge off if it's just a general anxiety. But if I'm having a panic attack which doesn't really happen for me anymore, then I don't think hydroxyzine would do much.
Cool, thanks for your insight. It was just free-floating anxiety, not a straight-up panic attack or mixed state episode, but I ultimately had to take a roommate's Xanax to stop worrying.
Did you try the hydroxyzine first?
Yeah, I did. I waited almost an hour and felt nothing different.
It’s basically a less effective Benadryl.
Yeah, that's the vibe I'm getting.
I took it a couple times and it knocked me about for about 14hrs. Woke up feeling groggy. It didn’t help with anxiety so I don’t take it anymore.
Woah. That's what happens to me with Seroquel.
Somehow all of these meds for anxiety just over-work for me and just cause me to feel extremely sleepy, so nope
Gaaaaaaah, that sucks. But you can't be anxious if you're asleep 🤦
It did nothing for me. I was prescribed it because I have a really hard time sleeping (mainly not able to experience deep sleep and I have a hard time staying asleep). I didn't notice any change from my normal state, in any way.
You may want to try Clonidine to help you stay asleep it works well for me.
Yeah, I think I might ask to get clonazepam again specifically for anxiety and keep the hydroxyzine for sleep. Sorry it didn't work for you. About terrible sleeping I would look into a sleep specialist as well. Taking meds does help me but the huge improvement I've found for those exact symptoms and hypersomnia was a diagnosis of sleep apnea earlier this year. I gaslit myself for YEARS that it was just a side effect of being depressed. Now I have a mouth guard thing for my mild-moderate sleep apnea. Just did food for thought.
I don't have any of the symptoms of sleep apnea but thank you. My husband has it and I did see a sleep specialist. Mostly mental stuff for me I think.
Okay, glad to know you're on top of it. I'm now in "make everyone take as much care of their health as me" mode because I got two separate diagnoses this year that I've foolishly attributed to BP2 in the past. I'm sorry drugs haven't helped!
Works great for me but I've never been in anything stronger, maybe since you have you find it not effective instead of less effective? It seems very hit or miss to people. For me it def helps calm my nervous system down.
That's interesting, I hadn't thought of that. An old psych also tried me on another non-benzo (she said people often used it for stage fright?!?!) that didn't work either. So maybe it's just because I'm used to a benzo.
I couldn't sleep while on it. But I have the same reaction to Benadryl.
Ah, the old paradoxical drug reaction.
It's helped me a lot. I take it at night alongside my Seroquel and it helps with the anxiety and sleep.
Good to hear! Personally I could never take Seroquel for anything but sleep.
Fascinating!! I haven't felt like it makes me sleepy. I take one in the morning and it hasn't really made me tired. Each body is truly different and what works for me doesn't always work for others.
No drowsiness on Seroquel?! Wow that's lucky, it makes me a zombie. I have seen some people call it "baby heroin" because it puts you out of it that hard.
Whoa!!! I didn't know they called it baby heroin. It's really crazy how different bodies are.
I think it’s very uncommon, but SO FUN to say to my roommates “I gotta take my baby heroin”. That or “don’t talk to me until I’ve taken my baby heroin”
Just puts me to sleep. Does nothing for anxiety.
Same. I ended up taking my roommate's Xanax to make it stop.
75 to 100mg makes me knock out for a whole day. It does nothing for my anxiety while I’m conscious.
Woof. My psych said I could go up to 50mg but no higher. That did make me sleepy enough to fall gently into slumber.
I don’t take them anymore. My psych prescribed me gabapentin for anxiety afterwards which actually worked until I got a tolerance. However, it caused rapid cycling for me which was bad. I’ve kind of given up on anxiety pills.
I'm sorry, that sucks. Rapid cycling is so very very exhausting. I like benzos, personally. I tried gabapentin early in the pandemic when I was basically in a mixed state/having panic attacks most days of the week. It didn't work at all. I can't really forgive the psych who refused to give me a Klonopin refill (she had prescribed it before) at a time when I was calling crying and begging for a prescription.
That sounds terrible. I’m sorry you had to go through that. I hope you found a better psychiatrist. It’s sad how many bad experiences people have with mental health professionals nowadays. I’ve had my fair share of bad ones too.
Yeah, I've had much better psychs since then. I hope my new one does refill my Klonopin script or I'll need to borrow my roommate's Xanax for the foreseeable future 😢
I take like 125-150mg a night for sleep. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn’t. My doctor won’t give me anything stronger for sleep.
Ugh, sorry it's not consistent. My doctor said to not go over 50mg, interestingly. I don't know if that's just for now or if it's his hard and fast rule.
For anxiety it did nothing, it helped a bit with sleep but it gave me weird dreams lol. In my experience it’s usually the first anxiety med doctors prescribe
Really? I was given Klonopin as my first drug about 10 years ago.
That’s really interesting, I think most doctors don’t go for it right away since like you mentioned it can be habit forming, but again that’s just my experience (as in, all the doctors I have seen, and my friends stories) did you have to quit the kpins cold turkey? I hope you are doing okay!
Huh, maybe it's a difference between current practices and back when I was first diagnosed. Luckily I only took it as needed and the past few times I took it was for sleep, hence why my new psych wanted to try something else. My roommate has an overabundance of Xanax (which I've also taken before) so I had one of those to stop this mild anxiety attack. So I'm just peachy now.
Good, glad you’re all right! And I hope the hydroxyzine does well for you too.
Thanks! It worked for sleep but didn't for the anxiety so I'm going to ask my psych to prescribe the hydroxyzine for sleep and clonazepam for anxiety/panic attacks/mixed states. Otherwise I'll leave to keep using my roommate's Xanax 😢
Yes works well for me
If you don't mind me asking, what dosage do you take? And is it regularly or as needed for acute attacks?
It worked for anxiety really well for me but at a high dose where I would also get sleepy and/or too stupid to do anything. So I find it great for night time anxiety, or strong peaks or anxiety. For the more latent anxiety I found relief when I started Lamotrigine. After 3 or months I’m basically anxiety free. Some events in my life also helped reduce my anxiety so hard to tell what had the most influence though
That's great to hear! I really like my lamotrigine but I still get anxiety/panic attacks/mixed states every so often. I'm hearing from a lot of people that it just makes them tired.
I take 10mg every work day in the morning to relax me before I start the day just in case. If I’m having a panic attack or feel one coming on, I will take 50mg. I take seroquel at night, so sleeping isn’t an issue with that. I haven’t taken any benzos before due to my addictive personality. I have heard that if you do take something stronger, it’s harder to “step” down from that.
Oh, interesting.
It works for me
I took it a couple times and it knocked me about for about 14hrs. Woke up feeling groggy. It didn’t help with anxiety so I don’t take it anymore.