Confused and need advice
I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis July 17th of 2018.
My neurologist had put me on 1 mg of Klonopin 3 times a day he put me on 600 mg of Tegretol 200 mg 3 times a day and Copaxone already loaded syringes 40 mg.
He put me on the Tegretol because my electrocardiogram came back that my brain spikes were too close together.
I went back to see him and Copaxone was giving me very very very bad anxiety and he hopped my Klonopin to 2 mg 3 times a day.
So I stopped taking my Copaxone on my own because of the anxiety and I just kept taking the Klonopin as prescribed and the Tegretol as prescribed and I have an alcohol problem so I was drinking while taking these medications and I'm not taking my Copaxone shot so now I'm taking more Klonopin than prescribed sometimes 8 mg a day sometimes 9 trying to get off of the alcohol.
Not much more to say other than I'm just confused and I don't know which way to turn I can get myself off of the alcohol not a problem however getting back down to 2 mg of Klonopin is going to be rough I don't know if there's a medication out there for relapse remitting Ms that does not cause so much anxiety I don't know if I could live without being on some type of benzo because my nerves hurt.
I have heard of people taking CBD oil and I have tried it and it is amazing I'm starting to wonder if I would be better off on a muscle relaxer rather than such a high dose of Klonopin and the only reason he put me on such a high dose was because of the anxiety from the compact Zone however the 2 mg of Klonopin does not even take care of the anxiety from the Copaxone so I'm in a little bit of a catch-22 I also take Zoloft for depression and I take pravastatin for high cholesterol
My question is I get two or three days without alcohol and I start getting these fits alcoholic fits I think what I should do is just stop alcohol together and then talk to my doctor about a Klonopin taper and see where it goes from there I don't know if I could live without being on some kind of benzo because my nerves hurt that bad.
This is my first post so I would appreciate any positive feedback thank you in advance Warriors I love you guys God bless
Bit confused as don't take meds as nothing available for progressive MS. But sense tells me take one new drug at a time to try and understand how it effects you. Its very encouraging that CBD helps. Just wanted to reply to your post and hope another member can help. x
I’m so sorry you’re going through all of this. Are you sure the anxiety was caused by the capoxone because MS can cause anxiety as well. I’ve had severe anxiety all my life plus daily panic attacks so I was put on a daily dose of Xanax which over time turned into a big dose of taking 9mg a day and sometimes probably more. Benzos aren’t meant to be taken everyday because the body becomes tolerant really fast so you keep needing a higher dosage for the same effect which my doctor had never told me. I tried the taper so many times and couldn’t do it and was told by my doctor withdrawal can cause seizures and in some cases be lethal if you don’t do it the right way. That gave me more anxiety of course. After ten years of being on it I decided to go to a detox to get off of it safely and it wasn’t nearly as bad doing it in a hospital. But then shortly before being diagnosed my anxiety increased so much. I get physically sick when I get too anxious. One day it magically all went away and I honestly think it’s because of the lesions in my brain. But staying off of it wasn’t a problem and I only take a benzo now if there’s something that does make me really nervous like an MRI. I’ve never had a problem with alcohol, but I did with pain killers because starting at a young age I’d get kidney stones so I went to an out patient for people with alcohol or opiate addiction. There are some medications for alcohol withdrawal. Naltrexone I believe is one of them and some people with MS take a low dose of it to help with symptoms and inflammation. I’d definitely talk to your doctor about everything. There’s lots of DMTs now, tons of meds that can be used for anxiety, and medication to help with alcohol withdrawal. I honestly never thought I could not take a benzo because of how much anxiety I had, but it’s possible. I’d get so nervous just being at home during the day watching a movie. I’d have no idea what would cause my anxiety to randomly flair. For once I haven’t had a panic attack in months when before I’d have several a day. Benzos over time usually end up causing more anxiety. This was just my personal experience with addiction and with benzos. Also, even if you were only taking it as prescribed your body would still become addicted over time since it’s taken every day. Please let me know if you have any questions. I’ve been off of for almost two years now. Best of luck.