End the search for detox rehabilitation centers in Los Angeles without breaking a sweat. Just be with https://www.blvdcenters.org/facilities/intensive-outpatient-program/orange-county and be sure to get the best help ever.
Diazepam is used to treat anxiety, alcohol withdrawal, and seizures. It is also used to relieve muscle spasms and to provide sedation before medical ..
Lozap Tablet is a medicine that is used for the treatment of Mental Disorders, Psychotic Disorders and other conditions.
Lozap Tablet contains Clozapine as an active ingredient.
Lozap Tablet works by decreasing the serotonin level in the brain.
End the search for detox rehabilitation centers in Los Angeles without breaking a sweat. Just be with https://www.blvdcenters.org/facilities/intensive-outpatient-program/orange-county and be sure to get the best help ever.
Diazepam is used to treat anxiety, alcohol withdrawal, and seizures. It is also used to relieve muscle spasms and to provide sedation before medical ..
Lozap Tablet is a medicine that is used for the treatment of Mental Disorders, Psychotic Disorders and other conditions.
Lozap Tablet contains Clozapine as an active ingredient.
Lozap Tablet works by decreasing the serotonin level in the brain.
Adcapone Tablets (Generic Entacapone Tablets) are used as an adjunct to Levodopa and Carbidopa to treat end-of-dose “wearing-off” in patients with Parkinson’s disease.
Entacapone tablets effectiveness has not been systematically evaluated in patients with Parkinson’s disease who do not experience end-of-dose “wearing-off”.
Slipping pills can be proven a valuable gift for an Insomnia patient but you must take it on the prescription of a licensed doctor and from a trusted online store. Buying it from an unauthentic store and without prescription can cause several severe problems.
Tadalafil Dapoxetine Tablets to treat Erectile Dysfunction and Premature Eja...The Swiss Pharmacy
Tadalafil and Dapoxetine Combination medication is a combination containing Tadalafil 20mg and Dapoxetine 60mg in a single tablet.
Tadalafil Dapoxetine Tablets are used for the treatment of male erectile dysfunction as well as treatment of premature ejaculation in men at the same time.
Treating Treatment Refractory Depression With TMS, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. TMS is for patients suffering from depression who have not achieved satisfactory improvement from prior antidepressant treatment. These slides show research and anecdotes taken from actual results of patients who've tried TMS.
Dapoxetine tell you how to treat premature ejaculationPhcoker
Dapoxetine is a medication used for the treatment of premature ejaculation (PE) in men 18–64 years old. Dapoxetine works by inhibiting the serotonin transporter, increasing serotonin's action at the post synaptic cleft, and as a consequence promoting ejaculatory delay.
https://www.phcoker.com/product/129938-20-1/
Most people with a mental illness would be lost without their day-to-day medications. Whether it is an antipsychotic drug, a tranquilizer or an antidepressant, the symptoms of most mental illnesses are managed with medications.
William Allan Kritsonis, Editor-in-Chief, NATIONAL FORUM JOURNALS (Founded 1982). Dr. LaVelle Henricks, Texas A&M University-Commerce and colleagues published in national refereed journal.
Dr. William Allan Kritsonis, Distinguished Alumnus, Central Washington University, College of Education and Professional Studies, Ellensburg, Washington; Invited Guest Lecturer, Oxford Round Table, University of Oxford, United Kingdom; Hall of Honor, Prairie View A&M University/Member of the Texas A&M University System.
Melissa Hinkhouse
Advanced Pharmacology NURS-6521N-43
Professor Dr. Vicki Gardin
Discussion Board Week 1-Original Post
11/30/2020
I have worked in an outpatient behavioral health clinic for the past seven years with many different providers. I live in a rural community, many patients wait six to twelve months to be seen. Patients being treated for Attention Deficit Disorder must be officially tested before being seen by a Psychologist. For this discussion board post, I have changed the name of my patient to Paul to ensure patient confidentially. The provider I worked with this particular patient will also be referred to as PMHNP to ensure provider confidentiality.
Paul was a ten-year-old Caucasian male referred to our clinic diagnosed per DSM criteria, confirmed via Psychologist testing with ADHD. When he saw the Psychologist, he was also diagnosed with mild depression and anxiety. He struggled with concentration, hyperactivity, impulse control, and disorganization. He presented to his appointment with his mother and father, clean, well-nourished, pleasant, interactive with staff, reported no medication allergies, current medication Zyrtec for seasonal allergies. Paul just had his well-child exam and is current on vaccinations and his primary care provider completed lab work to include CBC, CMP, TSH, Vit D, B12, and A1C, all have returned normal. Family history reported father has a history of ADHD (never medicated), brother has a history of depression and anxiety (never medicated treating with psychotherapy), no other significant family history to report. Paul’s current weight at his appointment was 30kg.
PMHNP spent one hour with Paul and his parents for the initial new patient appointment (Thursday). It was decided Paul would be prescribed Strattera (atomoxetine) 40mg once a day for one week then increase to 80mg once a day. I returned to work on Monday and received a call from Paul’s mom, she said he was acting strange. He was tearful, had been in his room with the door closed for most of the weekend, she stated on Sunday she went into his room and he was crying and said he was just thinking about dying and his parents dying. She stated he had already had his meds Sunday so she kept him with her that entire day and made Sunday night a campout night in the Livingroom so he would think it was fun and she could keep a close eye on him. I had a cancelation that morning for him to come to see PMHNP and he was in to see her within twenty minutes and removed from Strattera. His parents decided medications were no longer the route they wanted to try for treatment and a referral was made for psychotherapy.
The only medication Paul takes on occasion is Zyrtec which is in an antihistamine drug class, Strattera is a selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor; there is no known drug interaction between the two medications. Reflecting on his age and the medication, Strattera has a black box labeled for suicidal ideation with adolescents dia.
get the sleep you need sleep soundly.pdfPaulClaybrook
When you don’t get enough sleep, you lose out. For example, focus, concentration, losing your temper are all tougher to manage. Furthermore, sleep deprivation makes you more irritated, anxious and cranky, which in turn makes it harder to get to sleep at night. It’s a vicious cycle that Neural Balance TM can break!
Ten years ago, prescription painkiller dependence swept rural America. As the government cracked down on doctors and drug companies, people went searching for a cheaper, more accessible high. Now, many areas are struggling with an unprecedented heroin crisis.
Running head BASELINE OF ANXIETY ATTACKS1BASELINE OF ANXIETY A.docxtoddr4
Running head: BASELINE OF ANXIETY ATTACKS 1
BASELINE OF ANXIETY ATTACKJS 2
Baseline of Anxiety Attacks
Kipsey Broussard
Liberty University
The behavior that I observed over a seven-day period was anxiety attacks. I am used to having several anxieties attacks a day and have learned to deal with them, although it does not get any easier. For this study I have used an app on my phone that charts my attacks. I have done this for about six months but will only use the data from a one-week period. Anxiety is defined as a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome. For this experiment I will chart the amount of anxiety attacks in a 24-hour period over the course of seven days. The method of treatment I will be using is 250 mgs of the plant root Kava. Kava has been found to be very successful in the treatment of anxiety. The dosage I will be taking is 250 mg as a single dose. I will then monitor the frequency and duration of my anxiety attacks to see if Kava will be beneficial in the treatment of my attacks. Baseline phase started on September 23rd, 2018 and concluded on September 30th, 2018. I kept track of all attacks no matter if it was a large attack or a small attack. An app on my phone was used for Baseline phase and for treatment phase. When the baseline phase was completed it was then transferred from my phone into a seven-day graph. Because I do normally chart my attacks using the app on my phone, I have an extensive baseline. For this research I will only use the information for the week prior to treatment.
This is a baseline for the number of anxiety attacks for the week before the week of the actual treatment phase. Each day of the week is graphed along with the number of anxiety attacks for that day.
Baseline Of Anxiety Attacks
Column3 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 4 3 5 5 3 4 2 Column2 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Column1 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Running head: UNDERSTANDING ANXIETY 2
UNDERSTANDING ANXIETY 2
Anxiety: What is it and how to treat it?
Kipsey Broussard
Liberty University
Abstract
Anxiety can be scary and debilitating. There are several forms of anxiety that are defined in the DSM-5 and the ICD 10. Anxiety affects twice as many women as men. Anxiety disorders account for a large quantity of the mental illnesses today. “This makes it the most prevalent mental health condition.” (Craske & Stein, 2016) Anxiety is so widely spread that one in fourteen people around the world have been diagnosed with some form of anxiety disorder. Anxiety is defined as “chronic and persistent worry.” (Stein & Sareen, 2015) This paper will discuss the signs and symptoms if different types of anxiety and will also look at different types of treatment. Physicians and psychologists have come a long way in understanding and tre.
Adcapone Tablets (Generic Entacapone Tablets) are used as an adjunct to Levodopa and Carbidopa to treat end-of-dose “wearing-off” in patients with Parkinson’s disease.
Entacapone tablets effectiveness has not been systematically evaluated in patients with Parkinson’s disease who do not experience end-of-dose “wearing-off”.
Slipping pills can be proven a valuable gift for an Insomnia patient but you must take it on the prescription of a licensed doctor and from a trusted online store. Buying it from an unauthentic store and without prescription can cause several severe problems.
Tadalafil Dapoxetine Tablets to treat Erectile Dysfunction and Premature Eja...The Swiss Pharmacy
Tadalafil and Dapoxetine Combination medication is a combination containing Tadalafil 20mg and Dapoxetine 60mg in a single tablet.
Tadalafil Dapoxetine Tablets are used for the treatment of male erectile dysfunction as well as treatment of premature ejaculation in men at the same time.
Treating Treatment Refractory Depression With TMS, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. TMS is for patients suffering from depression who have not achieved satisfactory improvement from prior antidepressant treatment. These slides show research and anecdotes taken from actual results of patients who've tried TMS.
Dapoxetine tell you how to treat premature ejaculationPhcoker
Dapoxetine is a medication used for the treatment of premature ejaculation (PE) in men 18–64 years old. Dapoxetine works by inhibiting the serotonin transporter, increasing serotonin's action at the post synaptic cleft, and as a consequence promoting ejaculatory delay.
https://www.phcoker.com/product/129938-20-1/
Most people with a mental illness would be lost without their day-to-day medications. Whether it is an antipsychotic drug, a tranquilizer or an antidepressant, the symptoms of most mental illnesses are managed with medications.
William Allan Kritsonis, Editor-in-Chief, NATIONAL FORUM JOURNALS (Founded 1982). Dr. LaVelle Henricks, Texas A&M University-Commerce and colleagues published in national refereed journal.
Dr. William Allan Kritsonis, Distinguished Alumnus, Central Washington University, College of Education and Professional Studies, Ellensburg, Washington; Invited Guest Lecturer, Oxford Round Table, University of Oxford, United Kingdom; Hall of Honor, Prairie View A&M University/Member of the Texas A&M University System.
Melissa Hinkhouse
Advanced Pharmacology NURS-6521N-43
Professor Dr. Vicki Gardin
Discussion Board Week 1-Original Post
11/30/2020
I have worked in an outpatient behavioral health clinic for the past seven years with many different providers. I live in a rural community, many patients wait six to twelve months to be seen. Patients being treated for Attention Deficit Disorder must be officially tested before being seen by a Psychologist. For this discussion board post, I have changed the name of my patient to Paul to ensure patient confidentially. The provider I worked with this particular patient will also be referred to as PMHNP to ensure provider confidentiality.
Paul was a ten-year-old Caucasian male referred to our clinic diagnosed per DSM criteria, confirmed via Psychologist testing with ADHD. When he saw the Psychologist, he was also diagnosed with mild depression and anxiety. He struggled with concentration, hyperactivity, impulse control, and disorganization. He presented to his appointment with his mother and father, clean, well-nourished, pleasant, interactive with staff, reported no medication allergies, current medication Zyrtec for seasonal allergies. Paul just had his well-child exam and is current on vaccinations and his primary care provider completed lab work to include CBC, CMP, TSH, Vit D, B12, and A1C, all have returned normal. Family history reported father has a history of ADHD (never medicated), brother has a history of depression and anxiety (never medicated treating with psychotherapy), no other significant family history to report. Paul’s current weight at his appointment was 30kg.
PMHNP spent one hour with Paul and his parents for the initial new patient appointment (Thursday). It was decided Paul would be prescribed Strattera (atomoxetine) 40mg once a day for one week then increase to 80mg once a day. I returned to work on Monday and received a call from Paul’s mom, she said he was acting strange. He was tearful, had been in his room with the door closed for most of the weekend, she stated on Sunday she went into his room and he was crying and said he was just thinking about dying and his parents dying. She stated he had already had his meds Sunday so she kept him with her that entire day and made Sunday night a campout night in the Livingroom so he would think it was fun and she could keep a close eye on him. I had a cancelation that morning for him to come to see PMHNP and he was in to see her within twenty minutes and removed from Strattera. His parents decided medications were no longer the route they wanted to try for treatment and a referral was made for psychotherapy.
The only medication Paul takes on occasion is Zyrtec which is in an antihistamine drug class, Strattera is a selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor; there is no known drug interaction between the two medications. Reflecting on his age and the medication, Strattera has a black box labeled for suicidal ideation with adolescents dia.
get the sleep you need sleep soundly.pdfPaulClaybrook
When you don’t get enough sleep, you lose out. For example, focus, concentration, losing your temper are all tougher to manage. Furthermore, sleep deprivation makes you more irritated, anxious and cranky, which in turn makes it harder to get to sleep at night. It’s a vicious cycle that Neural Balance TM can break!
Ten years ago, prescription painkiller dependence swept rural America. As the government cracked down on doctors and drug companies, people went searching for a cheaper, more accessible high. Now, many areas are struggling with an unprecedented heroin crisis.
Running head BASELINE OF ANXIETY ATTACKS1BASELINE OF ANXIETY A.docxtoddr4
Running head: BASELINE OF ANXIETY ATTACKS 1
BASELINE OF ANXIETY ATTACKJS 2
Baseline of Anxiety Attacks
Kipsey Broussard
Liberty University
The behavior that I observed over a seven-day period was anxiety attacks. I am used to having several anxieties attacks a day and have learned to deal with them, although it does not get any easier. For this study I have used an app on my phone that charts my attacks. I have done this for about six months but will only use the data from a one-week period. Anxiety is defined as a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome. For this experiment I will chart the amount of anxiety attacks in a 24-hour period over the course of seven days. The method of treatment I will be using is 250 mgs of the plant root Kava. Kava has been found to be very successful in the treatment of anxiety. The dosage I will be taking is 250 mg as a single dose. I will then monitor the frequency and duration of my anxiety attacks to see if Kava will be beneficial in the treatment of my attacks. Baseline phase started on September 23rd, 2018 and concluded on September 30th, 2018. I kept track of all attacks no matter if it was a large attack or a small attack. An app on my phone was used for Baseline phase and for treatment phase. When the baseline phase was completed it was then transferred from my phone into a seven-day graph. Because I do normally chart my attacks using the app on my phone, I have an extensive baseline. For this research I will only use the information for the week prior to treatment.
This is a baseline for the number of anxiety attacks for the week before the week of the actual treatment phase. Each day of the week is graphed along with the number of anxiety attacks for that day.
Baseline Of Anxiety Attacks
Column3 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 4 3 5 5 3 4 2 Column2 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Column1 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Running head: UNDERSTANDING ANXIETY 2
UNDERSTANDING ANXIETY 2
Anxiety: What is it and how to treat it?
Kipsey Broussard
Liberty University
Abstract
Anxiety can be scary and debilitating. There are several forms of anxiety that are defined in the DSM-5 and the ICD 10. Anxiety affects twice as many women as men. Anxiety disorders account for a large quantity of the mental illnesses today. “This makes it the most prevalent mental health condition.” (Craske & Stein, 2016) Anxiety is so widely spread that one in fourteen people around the world have been diagnosed with some form of anxiety disorder. Anxiety is defined as “chronic and persistent worry.” (Stein & Sareen, 2015) This paper will discuss the signs and symptoms if different types of anxiety and will also look at different types of treatment. Physicians and psychologists have come a long way in understanding and tre.
Similar to Popping Xanax is more harmful than you think (14)
Running head BASELINE OF ANXIETY ATTACKS1BASELINE OF ANXIETY A.docx
Popping Xanax is more harmful than you think
1. Popping Xanax is more harmful than you think
By Jennifer Bleyer
Published January 31, 2014
Jenna woke up on her kitchen floor. Dimly, the California
teacher remembered bending over the sink, trying to
swallow water. According to the clock, that had been
more than an hour ago. She fumbled for her phone but
couldn't think clearly enough to text for help.
"I felt these horrible jolts running through my head and body; I couldn't stop jerking," she recalled.
"Then I began seeing stuff that wasn't there, creepy-crawly things. I didn't know what was
happening, but I worried I might be dying."
The previous morning Jenna, then 33, had inexplicably woken up shaking.
"I'm usually pretty confident and outgoing, but I felt like I couldn't leave my apartment," she said.
"Somehow I made it to school. My boss noticed the shaking and was concerned; I told him I wasn't
sure what it was and I went home early."
There, things got worse. Her twitching intensified, and she grew increasingly confused. Then she
passed out.
Once Jenna regained consciousness, she hauled herself to her sofa. Over the next two days she
couldn't eat or drink, and her mind drifted in and out. Finally, Jenna's mother stopped by--and found
her daughter curled up in a fetal position on the floor, clutching her cell phone, twitching
uncontrollably.
"My mom dragged me to the car and got me to the emergency room," Jenna said. "The ER staff
asked if I'd taken any drugs or alcohol, and I told them I hadn't."
When a nurse wanted to know what prescriptions she was on, Jenna told them generic Xanax, noting
that two nights before she passed out, she'd run out of the pills she'd been using for anxiety.
After testing her blood and urine, staffers administered another drug that, like Xanax, is in the
benzodiazepine family.
"Almost immediately, I stopped shaking and felt totally normal," Jenna said. "It was as though
nothing had ever happened. Nobody there told me, but I put it together: I'd been in withdrawal. I
was dependent on Xanax."
Jenna had first gotten a prescription eight years earlier when she was a student and saw a doctor,
complaining of insomnia. After discussing her problem, "he decided I was anxious," she said. "I had a
busier life than some, but I didn't think I was especially anxious. He told me there was this great
drug I could take. He prescribed a milligram per day of the generic form."
2. At first, she loved it.
"It was amazing," she said. "I could sleep anywhere, on the spot."
A few months later, though, her insomnia returned, along with a new sense of nervousness that
struck between pills. Over the next couple of years, her doctor upped the dosage until it reached 6
mg per day, an unusually high level.
Jenna's experience--extreme as it is--shows that this drug, which more and more women today are
using, may carry severe risks.
"Dependence on benzodiazepines like Xanax is a serious problem, especially among young women,"
said Harris Stratyner, cochairman of the medical scientific subcommittee of the nonprofit group
National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence. "Frequently, it's not because they've been
abusing the drugs; it can be caused by following the prescription their doctor gave them."
Related: 20 Superfoods For Weight Loss
A tranquilizer, Xanax has many close cousins, including familiar names Valium, Klonopin and Ativan.
Alprazolam (Xanax's generic form) is the most prescribed psychiatric drug in the United States,
reports health care technology and information company IMS Health. There's good reason: Used
properly and under the right circumstances, Xanax works fast and safely to relieve symptoms of
anxiety and panic disorders, as both clinical studies and patient experience show.
Benzos activate the brain's GABA receptors, inhibiting neuron activity and leaving you more relaxed
and often sleepier.
"With Xanax, you typically feel the effects within 15 to 20 minutes of taking it, and they wear off
within six hours," said Jennifer A. Reinhold, assistant professor of clinical pharmacy at the
Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. "In contrast, with SSRI [selective serotonin reuptake
inhibitor]antidepressants--which are also prescribed for anxiety disorders--patients generally
experience a lag time of four to six weeks before they start working."
Doctors also often prescribe Xanax as a short-term fix for moments of acute anxiety or to help
manage specific phobias.
Related: 6 Moves To Resize Your Butt and Thighs
"I'm not a fan of Xanax, but I might prescribe just a few pills on occasion for patients with fear of
flying; it works," said Dr. Catherine Birndorf, a New York City psychiatrist and a self contributing
expert.
Yet its cred as a highly effective drug also makes it a frequently abused one: Experts say that benzos
are so widely available and sometimes used so casually that they can seem benign.
"The culture in which we live sends messages that there is no reason to tolerate discomfort," said
Susan Foster, vice president and director of policy research and analysis at the substance use and
addiction nonprofit CASAColumbia, adding, "That fuels misuse of prescription medications."
Consumed daily in high doses, even for a month, Xanax can lead to physical dependence. But just
accepting pills (hashtag: #Xannies) from friends here and there is risky--and not only because it's
3. against the law. It puts users at risk for a psychological dependence, in which they believe they can't
get through life without help from a pill.
"I know from a clinic where I work that even people who aren't physically dependent on benzos can
get desperate for them," Reinhold said.
The more people regularly take these little pills to soothe themselves, the more their minds may
start to crave them.
As she notes: "Maybe they can't get through a job interview or a big date unless they have one. They
ask friends for them, they go to multiple doctors or they may even try online pharmacies that
illegally hand out pills without prescriptions."
An estimated 14.7 percent of Americans ages 21 to 34 have taken tranquilizers without a
prescription or even recreationally, according to 2012 data from the Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration. Meanwhile, the number of ER visits from people misusing or
abusing alprazolam skyrocketed 172 percent from 2004 to 2011, the most recent federal statistics
available.
Related: Secrets To Firing Up Your Metabolism
The drug can be particularly dangerous when taken in combination with other substances.
"If you mix a benzo with another drug that subdues your nervous system--painkillers, alcohol,
antihistamines--the effects can be dangerous or deadly," Reinhold said. "Remember Heath Ledger?"
Even when used as prescribed, Xanax can become habit-forming, Birndorf said.
"As your body acclimates to it, you could end up needing more of it, and sooner, to get the same
response."
If that happens and you abruptly stop taking the drug, you might go into withdrawal. This can lead
to muscle twitches, depression, anxiety and, in its severest form, seizures. Says Dr. Stuart Gitlow, an
addiction psychiatrist and president of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, "Withdrawal
from benzos can be more dangerous than withdrawal from heroin."
Those risks are very real for women; an estimated 32.5 million alprazolam prescriptions were
written for women in 2012 versus 15.3 million for men, according to IMS Health.
"Women now are more aware of just how bad stress is for them, and they are more likely to seek out
remedies," Birndorf said. "They may believe that taking Xanax to relieve those feelings is beneficial.
But it doesn't address whatever was causing their stress to begin with."
Still, the fact is that some doctors--who more than anyone should be aware of the risks--are doling
out Xanax in irresponsible and harmful ways. Though Xanax's prescribing information has long
included clear wording about potential dangers and warnings against overprescribing, and medical
organizations such as the American Psychiatric Association echo these in their guidelines, some
doctors aren't paying attention.
4. Benzos are now so mainstream that "psychiatric issues are sometimes being treated by primary-care
physicians, who may not have enough training in or understanding of these drugs," Gitlow said.
More than half of all benzo prescriptions are written by primary-care physicians, not psychiatrists,
according to one study published in the journal Psychiatry.
"Doctors who don't understand these drugs often up the dosage--to treat symptoms that the drug
itself may be causing," he added.
The lack of awareness is complicated by the fact that many patients self-diagnose and ask for the
drugs by name.
"It's not that there are a lot of doctors just saying, 'Oh, I'll hand this stuff out like gummi bears,'"
Gitlow said. "But people are in distress, and they want an instant cure--so it's hard for some
physicians to withhold it, especially when they know they'll just get it elsewhere."
Even psychiatrists can feel trapped by a system that pushes them to opt for a quick fix rather than a
long-term solution.
"Physicians have less and less time to spend with patients or may see them only occasionally, when
their talk therapist sends them in for drugs," noted Dr. Harold J. Bursztajn, a forensic psychiatrist
and an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
"Anxiety can almost always be treated in other ways, but too many doctors are too rushed to search
for the root of a patient's problem when there's a supposed solution that seems quick, easy and
effective."
Once a doctor prescribes the drug, follow-up care may be lacking, as Kim in Pennsylvania
discovered. The energetic then-20-year-old college student started having frequent anxiety attacks
and visited a doctor, who had previously prescribed generic Xanax for her to use as needed for
occasional anxiety. This time, he put her on it daily.
The drug soothed her panic but made her so drowsy that she began to oversleep and miss classes.
Her GPA dropped, and she took to avoiding her friends. After a month, the anxiety returned in
between doses.
"I was taking it religiously, but the feelings were three times as strong," she said.
The next semester, she took a medical leave of absence from school and holed up in her room at her
parents' house.
Kim discussed her situation with the doctor. He suggested increasing the dosage, but she refused.
She'd become concerned about her reaction to the drug.
"Between doses, it felt like my spine was hooked up to an electrical socket and there was a chemical
storm inside my head," she said.
The symptoms were worst when she woke up: "I had to keep my pills beside my bed so that before I
even opened my eyes, I'd be melting one under my tongue. I'd dry heave and cry until it kicked in."
Then one morning, she experienced what's known as a paradoxical adverse reaction--a rare,
5. unexpected response to a drug that can't be explained. She had popped her pill and was lying there
waiting for it to take hold, except nothing happened. She felt so scared and shaky that she took
another. And then, in a half hour, one more--followed by a fourth one 30 minutes later. Within
minutes of downing the last pill, her legs began shaking violently. The toes on her left foot curled up,
and her tongue stiffened.
"The next thing I remember is the paramedics running in," she said. "I'd had a seizure."
The debilitating pangs of interdose withdrawal had been awful enough. Now, Kim started to worry
about how she would ever get off the drug.
What makes it even rougher for women who become dependent on benzos is that many physicians
do not fully understand how to wean them off the medication.
"While most doctors should know how to taper properly, not everyone does," Birndorf said.
Few women are more aware of that than Emily, who lives in Indiana. She was prescribed generic
Xanax at age 25, a few months after she'd had a baby. She was filled with anxiety, often irrational.
"I worried that someone would feed her something she might choke on," she recalled.
When the drug didn't help and she became desperate, she admitted herself to a psychiatric ward;
during the week she was there, relatives cared for her little girl.
Emily was taken off alprazolam and put on the generic form of Klonopin, which is slower-acting.
After being released, she followed up with her doctor, who continued her on that drug, but Emily
didn't feel much better on it. Her anxiety attacks persisted.
"Every day was a struggle," she said.
After several months, she started looking for other doctors to get her off the pills. One wanted her to
go cold turkey, but she'd been reading up online and knew the dangers of benzo withdrawal.
"Once you've been on Xanax or similar drugs for a month or more, you may need to taper off them
gradually," Birndorf explained.
Tapering is a stepladder approach that involves slowly decreasing your dose by tiny increments. It
may also include switching from a faster-acting benzo like Xanax to a slower one, such as Klonopin,
as the hospital had Emily do.
"If you've been on a high dose for years, tapering from benzos can possibly take much longer than
with other drugs, like SSRIs--maybe even a full year," Birndorf said.
Sometimes, she points out, patients don't comply with the tapering process because they don't
realize how dependent on the medication they may have become.
Unfortunately, relatively little is being done in this country to increase awareness of benzo pitfalls-
-and for now, too many women are learning the hard way. Although the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention supports more education of health care professionals about benzo misuse, along with
increased monitoring of prescription drugs such as these, for the most part, painkillers get more
attention in the medical community.
6. After contacting doctor after doctor, last year Emily found a nurse-practitioner knowledgeable about
benzo tapering who helped her cross over to generic Valium. She's still going through the process,
with bouts of anxiety when she cuts a dose.
"But at least now I know why," she said. "And I'm getting better." She hopes to be off benzos
altogether within the year.
Now living with her fiancé, Kim is also working with a nurse-practitioner to taper off benzos. She has
reenrolled in school but at times still struggles to get by.
"My body and my brain have to learn how to handle even the most minor stresses on their own all
over again, like driving on busy roads," she said.
So far, Jenna is the only one of the women in these cases who has made it completely off benzos.
About a year after her trip to the ER, she married and discovered that she was pregnant. She'd been
trying to taper on her own, but knowing that the drug could potentially hurt the fetus, she managed
to find a benzo specialist a three hours' drive away. Because of her pregnancy, she chose to taper
faster than usually recommended.
"I had some withdrawal symptoms--shakiness and feeling scared all the time," she said. "But it was a
compromise I had to make for the sake of my baby." She had a healthy girl.
Jenna has cofounded an online support group; it now has more than 500 members. "What I hate is
how Xanax has become known as such a cool pill," she says.
"You watch a sitcom and someone says, 'Oh, I can't get to sleep without white wine and a Xanax!'
and all I can think is, Wow, that's not funny after you've lived through it."
This article originally appeared on Self.com.