Oxazepam, From Occasional To Daily Use.

[Moon]

I suffer from c-ptsd and went through a new extremely traumatizing event last week.

After a talk with my psychologist and doctor today. I have gotten daily Oxazepam prescribed. I had some stocked already for occasional use and emotional emergencies and never used more than 3-4 per month.
I've been told that a low dose per day (2x 5 mg) can benefit me to not feel the constant anxiety.

My doctor said that the addicting effect is negligible, but I am worrying about it nonetheless. It helps, but I really don't like the idea of being dependent on something like this.

Does anyone of you have experience with using Oxazepam on a daily base?
What dose did you have, how long did you use it and how easy/hard was it to stop using it?

Thank you for your answers


(edit: asked this in my topic as well, but I figured this would be a more appropriate section. Sorry for double posting)

 

[EmmaOwl]

I suffer from c-ptsd and went through a new extremely traumatizing event last week.

After a talk with my...

I'm sorry :(
My own experience with this med: I've been given it during a hospital stay, when the staff was concerned that I might go through a med withdrawal. (I had to look it up and see - I took it under the brand name of Serax.) It was an especially good choice for me, because I was unable to take SSRI's -which can be a bad combination.

I'd call oxazepam very mild and, as long as you stick to your doctor's guidelines, it's not such a bad med to be on. I've never heard of anyone getting psychologically addicted to it. (That doesn't mean it never happens, but I've observed addictions to many things...never this particular benzo-like medication.) As for the more physical symptoms, even though I took it 2 or 3 times a day, I never noticed a withdrawal from it, & I was extremely sensitive to any medication in my system.

Standard disclaimer: I am NOT a doctor, nor a therapist... and everyone is different. But taking an anti-anxiety medication soon after a traumatic event can help some people to remember things in a more "healthy" way - theoretically, it allows you to remember the trauma, while cutting down on the amount of total panic. It helps your mind process things...and the last thing you need is to add a new trauma to cptsd. Follow your doctor, don't stay on it for years, you'll be fine - in my experienced-but-uneducated opinion. Good luck. The last thing anyone here needs is ANOTHER trauma. I generally would not speak so positively about being on benzodiazepines. In this case, I hope it helps you process this most recent trauma in a calmer, more therapeutic way.

Please check back and let us know how you're doing? I'm so sorry, I wish I could do more to help.

 

[Moon]

Thank you so much for your answer and understanding.. your words soothed my fears a little bit

With the doses I can at least do my daily tasks and responsibilities reasonably as well, and calm down my constant state of anxiety.
Still feeling of hovering in a limbo, but in a slightly more.. realistic way.

I'll continue taking the medication at least until upcoming Friday when I have a new appointment and take it from there.

thank you again