10-05-2019, 03:12 PM
If you still have your doctor that initially prescribed you the diazepam you might want to ask about moving down to serax or oxazepam. It's one of the main metabolites of diazepam and is prescribed for most of the same indications as diazepam except for muscle relaxant reasons. It's one of the most mild benzos, maybe even more mild than librium, simply because drowsiness is not nearly as pronounced as any of the others.
I had a family member who was prescribed diazepam when she was experiencing very high stress levels at her workplace. To be honest, most of it was brought upon by her never-ending desire to climb the corporate ladder. She worked harder than everyone else, always stayed later than everyone else (salaried so never received overtime), and like most jobs, regardless of individual drive, had to deal with incomptent coworkers (she was a manager at this point, so many subordinates were simply lazy and she would end up fixing or just doing their work for them, which added to the amount of time she worked, and of course, her overall stress).
Being very sensitive to medications, she went back to her psychiatrist after only 2 weeks because the diazepam was too much...daytime drowsiness, began forgetting daily/weekly task deadlines, and overall just felt like she was in a state of fog.
BUT, being very aware of how the medicine was making her feel and having a psychiatrist that wanted the best for her; for her to succeed and at the same time giving her something that she could use in her 'toolbox' of coping strategies, ultimately gave her a script for oxazepam. It allowed her to continue doing everything she already was doing, didn't drain her energy levels, did not put her in a mental fog,, just as she very accurately put it at the time "helps me deal with idiots at work without making me want to scream".
Anecdote aside, I don't think I've read much about serax being used to help oneself 'wean off of benzos', but your mentioning of continuing to work a stressful job and a desire to get off of benzos reminded me of her story. If you have a psych that you've been with for a while, I'm her he/she would be more than happy to switch you over to oxazepam. It's considered one of, if not, the mildest Benz still prescribed without much hesitation as the recreational value is incredibly low, yet for people who need a little 'something' and work high-demanding, highly stressful jobs, this is an easy decision for a psychiatrist to make IMO. I think one of the only reasons it's not prescribed more often, is that most people who are looking to be on a Benz want something stronger, like Loraz/ativan or clonazepam/klonopin. Doctors are very aware of oxazepam, it's probably that they've just not been asked about it for a long time, or if they have, it comes from an extremely small percent of their patients...patients that want to still have 99% of their mental faculties available, but need just a TINY bit extra, to, as my relative put it, 'help me not want to scream at my coworkers.'
If you can make it down to a few mg of diazepam, it may be worth trying out oxazepam. Especially in an office setting, it's much more safe and the only noticeable effects for her was just allowing her to not become overly stressed about the things she couldn't control. In terms of sides, there was none. She stayed on the serax for years before making it into the C-suite, and at one point I asked her about if she was still taking oxazepam. She told me 'no'. When I asked why and what had changed, her answer was simply that she felt that she didn't need it anymore. Those feelings had dissapeared and no longer felt she needed to take it. Getting off of it after years of taking it did not require any taper. She simply stopped. Of course, I'm sure she did a taper without realizing it, by only taking it toward the end during highly stressful days. Which ultimately became few and far in between
Sorry for the long post, I hope this story provides you with a different perspective and another possible option if you hadn't already considered it, given your concern about holding down a stressful job.
I had a family member who was prescribed diazepam when she was experiencing very high stress levels at her workplace. To be honest, most of it was brought upon by her never-ending desire to climb the corporate ladder. She worked harder than everyone else, always stayed later than everyone else (salaried so never received overtime), and like most jobs, regardless of individual drive, had to deal with incomptent coworkers (she was a manager at this point, so many subordinates were simply lazy and she would end up fixing or just doing their work for them, which added to the amount of time she worked, and of course, her overall stress).
Being very sensitive to medications, she went back to her psychiatrist after only 2 weeks because the diazepam was too much...daytime drowsiness, began forgetting daily/weekly task deadlines, and overall just felt like she was in a state of fog.
BUT, being very aware of how the medicine was making her feel and having a psychiatrist that wanted the best for her; for her to succeed and at the same time giving her something that she could use in her 'toolbox' of coping strategies, ultimately gave her a script for oxazepam. It allowed her to continue doing everything she already was doing, didn't drain her energy levels, did not put her in a mental fog,, just as she very accurately put it at the time "helps me deal with idiots at work without making me want to scream".
Anecdote aside, I don't think I've read much about serax being used to help oneself 'wean off of benzos', but your mentioning of continuing to work a stressful job and a desire to get off of benzos reminded me of her story. If you have a psych that you've been with for a while, I'm her he/she would be more than happy to switch you over to oxazepam. It's considered one of, if not, the mildest Benz still prescribed without much hesitation as the recreational value is incredibly low, yet for people who need a little 'something' and work high-demanding, highly stressful jobs, this is an easy decision for a psychiatrist to make IMO. I think one of the only reasons it's not prescribed more often, is that most people who are looking to be on a Benz want something stronger, like Loraz/ativan or clonazepam/klonopin. Doctors are very aware of oxazepam, it's probably that they've just not been asked about it for a long time, or if they have, it comes from an extremely small percent of their patients...patients that want to still have 99% of their mental faculties available, but need just a TINY bit extra, to, as my relative put it, 'help me not want to scream at my coworkers.'
If you can make it down to a few mg of diazepam, it may be worth trying out oxazepam. Especially in an office setting, it's much more safe and the only noticeable effects for her was just allowing her to not become overly stressed about the things she couldn't control. In terms of sides, there was none. She stayed on the serax for years before making it into the C-suite, and at one point I asked her about if she was still taking oxazepam. She told me 'no'. When I asked why and what had changed, her answer was simply that she felt that she didn't need it anymore. Those feelings had dissapeared and no longer felt she needed to take it. Getting off of it after years of taking it did not require any taper. She simply stopped. Of course, I'm sure she did a taper without realizing it, by only taking it toward the end during highly stressful days. Which ultimately became few and far in between
Sorry for the long post, I hope this story provides you with a different perspective and another possible option if you hadn't already considered it, given your concern about holding down a stressful job.