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Klonopin & Gabapentin for sleep
Sleep Health | Last Active: Mar 27 3:29am | Replies (86)Comment receiving replies
I finally got to see a psychiatrist through the VA. After reviewing my list of medications, she told me not to take alprazolam/Xanax (I'd been taking 0.5 mg for many years. I asked her why, since I take such a small amount--never more than 0.5 mg's, and ofter go 3-5 days without taking any at all. She said that doctors should not prescribe Benzos--never, and when I asked her why, she replied, "because they may impair your cognitive abilities." I got up and walked over to her where she was holding the list of meds I'd given her and proceded to point out six med's on the list which were more likely to cause memory problems: Depakote (for being bipolar), Lexipro (anti-depressant), Lipitor (because I'd had a mini-stroke several years ago), Gabapentin ( for pain/sleep--had service-connected injuries while in Vietnam and whenever I'd roll over in bed, I'd awaken from sharp pains in either of the surgicall-repaired shoulders), and Celebrex--also for pain. Every one of the above-mentioned med's are worse than the small doseage of Benzos I'd been taking, and I when I asked her why those med's shoulden't be removed from my prescriptions, she simply looked down, kept entering notes into her desktop, and when I questioned her again, she simply gave me a stern look and went back to her notes. You want to know how I feel about doctors. They're people who seem as if they're underpaid while making $3-4 hundred thousand dollars a year plus benefits, and exactly as you stated, "...don't know shit." I personally research all the medication the doctors prescribe, including the chemical structures, speak to pharmacists who usually know a heck of a lot more than the quacks I've seen, and most of them should have their licenses revoked. I have yet to find a doctor through Medicare or the VA who will even prescribe a couple of miligrams/month of Benzos so that I can titrate off the crap they had originally prescribed. Every time I see a neurologist (for Parkinson's), or a primary care physician, or in the last case an uncaring robot-like psychiatrist, I expect the worst (and usually get it--especially the being talked down to as if I were too stupid to respect their god-like superiority), or ask to be titrated off most of the med's I'm taking, my words fall on deaf ears. Doctors use their patients as guinea pigs while getting kick-backs from the sales reps for Big Pharma. Healthcare in this country is just another rotten business.
Replies to "I finally got to see a psychiatrist through the VA. After reviewing my list of medications,..."
I'm glad you figured out that healthcare in the U.S. is a business. I've been all over the globe as an international pro surf bum. In the industrialized countries I visited, they ALL had socialized healthcare, universal healthcare, or similar care for not only their citizens, but even passersby like me. And in the countries that didn't, I paid cash for whatever care I needed; and the cost was always far below what doctors bill you for here.
I can relate well to your post. In fact, at first I thought I was reading something that I'd written and forgotten about. That's how closely your story is to mine. I once asked a psychiatrist who I was seeing reply when I asked him about the long-term effects of Depakote, Zoloft, and whatever Benzo he had me on, he gave a terse reply while typing his notes, not bothering to even look at me, "Can't be good." These days, I'm having to fight for my rights from the VA with whom it takes months to see a neurologist, and usually a quack, in order to get a diagnosis for Parkinson's Disease; probably a result of Agent Orange exposure while serving in Vietnam or drinking toxic water when I was stationed in Camp Lejeune. The young enlistees are being advised on how to get disability claims even before their enlistment period is up. It seems as if everyone one of them got severe PTSD no matter what occupation they have or had while in the service. I'm a Purple Heart vet and these kids enlisted. I'm receiving a 20% disability, which is not much. And the VA is ignoring Vietnam veterans like me, waiting for us to die. I'm currently experiencing withdrawal from years of taking Benzos which were prescribed by the VA, and the VA doctors, acting as gatekeepers tell me my illness is not service-connected, but as a result of bipolar med's I took over the years. Talk about a Catch 22. At my age, it really wouldn't matter much if I was prescribed as little as half a mg of Klonopin, but I am unable to find a doctor who will even consider prescribing benzos. I didn't expect nor did I want to live beyond eighty, but as I close in on that day, I'm wishing someone would put me out of my misery. I'm no longer able to drive, public transport is nonexistant where I live, and I sit at home all day, alone and isolated. This is not a way to live out one's life.
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I also take lorazepam off and on for several years and when you ask for it they make you feel like a drug addict. I don’t have an addiction problem Never have. I take these when I need them which might be several times a month. Even the pharmacist has an attitude when he refills it. I have to agree with you on everything. I just had a stroke in my eye and have been to 4 retina specialists who have each given me a different diagnosis and if I asked questions I am either smirked at or consistently talked down too. Something needs to be done about their uppity god like attitude with their patients. I am tired of taking this abuse. I cannot get a straight answer from any of them and they make me feel like I am a bother. They refuse to send me to any specialist as to what happened to me because they think they are above anyone. The whole medical profession needs up hauling. I can’t tell you the last time I was treated with respect or concern from a Doctor. Obviously I am not the only one. Wish you luck.