Valium

Hi
Im sorry you got to this point but I also did years ago and my Oto had me go on daily Valium too. I will say that it was effective for me. Taking xanax as needed worked for a long time but eventually it didn't. I was on 15mg of Valium for years and when I went to taper off i found i was severely physically dependent and had to do a very long slow taper to minimize the withdrawal effects. Its not clear who this will happen to and who it wont. I think higher doses for longer times increases risk . I also think previous time on benzos and stopping them may up the risk. Is this the only option they gave you? An oto may offer other options to you. I will say that for me that time was I think the peak of my illness in terms of vestibular stuff and after that i stopped getting vertigo and maybe achieved some type of burnout. I did continue with all kind of other issue though.

 

I used between 2-4 mg of valium a day for a few months. My doc told me it was safe to go to 10 mgs. a day. I never did, I hated the way I felt on valium almost as much as vertigo....I elected to have the laby. Best decision of my life. I hope you find a way out of your misery.

 

I have a bottle of 5 mg valium. I was told to take it when I felt vertigo coming on. If that was the case I would be popping them in like jelly beans. I feel many times a day like uh-oh this could be vertigo coming on. But, then it doesn't.

10 days ago vertigo hit and I waited an hour before taking 10 mg of valium. I guess it was too late. It didn't help. I carry two with me all the time. I will take it sooner next time, No!, there won't be a next time.

Hollyn you said ---I have been totally incapacitated for 3 months now with daily attacks, nausea, shaking, etc. I am weak, malnourished, and constantly spinning. Something must be done soon but not sure if valium is the answers.

I'm thinking maybe taking probiotics and eating healthy raw vegetables might help. Talk to a nutritionist. And of course exercising --even when you don't feel like it. Walking is good.

Good Health to You!

 

I take 10 mg of Valium when I must, and it really helps. But I am one of our oddities here. Drugs do less for me than booze. When I am really having a bad attack, I will swill vodka or whiskey, and everything gets better. I was not a drinker before MM. I am now. Because it is a medication for me. I hate the taste of it. I hate it because my parents were alcoholics. But it does the job for me, and frankly, that is all that matters. I am typing this blitzed on too much Svedka vodka and 101 Wild Turkey. It is what it is. I don't do this every day, or every week. But when I must, I do. To get some sleep. To get the tinnitus to stop raging. To get my brain to focus, which it now does better drunk than sober.

And yes, that is no way to live, and I would not live but for my wife. She is a goddess, a wunderkind, but she hates paperwork. I can do paperwork in my sleep, so I do all of ours. I also edit her novels, which I love, but could never write, because I have nothing I care to say. She does. I make what she says better. That gives me a reason to live. Absent that, it would be a sharp knife in one of my femoral arteries. Because being severely bilateral is a really bad thing.

 

I find this discussion quite interesting. My ENT doc gave me a Ativan prescription for sudden vertigo attacks but only
0.5 Mg and it does nothing. When I hear 10 mg of Valium I wonder how these drugs compare with doses but it seems like a big gap. My MM does not present with much vertigo like I read about here but dizziness that is ongoing. I also notice that potato vodka seems to perk me up and take my attention away from the tinnitus and adds mental clarity but I also read that it is one of the triggers for MM so I find this puzzling. I guess the whole darned disease is a puzzle with always at least one missing piece : Anybody out there have any insight about these two curiosities?

Much Love,
Holly (ironically my last nake begins with an N so it was quite something to see Hollyn's posts)

 

This is one of several charts Ive seen. http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/2172250-overview

So you would be at 2.5 mg valium.
I had good luck for a few years with xanax under the tongue to abort attacks.

 

Thanks Gustav123! This is very useful information and thanks for doing the calculation for me

I find it interstingh that Kaiser would prescribe Ativan that takes longer to take effect and lasts longer in the body as well. I told my Dr there I prefered Xanax when needed because it works for the panic attacks that show up with this CM/MM duo. I got Ativan. But now I have ammunition to make my case although I am not using much of the benzo's because they cause rebound headaches if even used once a week.
Urg!

Holly

 

I was prescribed Valium initially. I then went to Xanax, and was on the Ativan for awhile. It wasn't until I went to a Psychiatrist who did an extensive background of my depression, panic attacks and Menieres that I was prescribed Klonipin. Having tried all of the others, I must say that the Klonipin has worked the best for me. In fact, I have not had a panic attack since taking it.
As far as the Menieres symptoms go, I have been on an antiviral regimen for almost two years. I occasionally experience fullness and tinnitus but no vertigo/nausea,etc.
I can live with that. I am able to do the everyday things that I had put on hold for so long. I have also gotten out of that recluse phase when you don't want to leave the house or deal with outside situations.
Each of us are different. Each of us respond to medications differently. The key is through trial and error to find what works best for you.
I do hope you're doing better.

 

Valium has a huge half life so maybe thats good for a preventative but what amazed me is that even after being on it a long time I didnt seem to build a tolerance and it seemed effective. I would think that use daily habituation would be fast.

You are
welcome
Holly
flo

 

So many different opinions from so many diferent sources it can sure become paralyzing, yes? I do appreciate to connections and caring. Feeling out on a limb on my own many days and this really helps

Love,
Holly

 

Hollyn if valium keeps you from being incapacitated I myself would do it even though coming off could be rough. I myself prefer to use destructive therapies as a last resort while some others dont see it that way. I can respect that view.

Holyflo




choice is good!, what matters is finding what works for you