It’s been quite a while since I’ve been here. It’s been 3 years since my last vertigo attack. I can think of a few possibilities why my attacks have lessened - gluten free diet, HCTZ, low sodium, anti-migraine diet, being a little more lenient with the valium, or it could be some other reason, I really am not sure 100% what it is!
So, while I haven’t had vertigo for a bit the fear of it is ALWAYS there. I still get motion sick very easily and have days when I feel pretty bad like I’'m rocking and on the edge of it. Luckly I also have a few days when I am feeling pretty good. I have a prescription for valium - to take when I get a severe attack (I’ll take 10 mgs for that). I find if I take a half tablet (2.5 mgs) when I’m feeling off balance and on the edge of vertigo it helps within 30-60 minutes. Also if I take a half tablet because I have insomnia (a chronic problem for me) I will feel much better for a couple of day. Likewise when I take it for my dental phobia, again I feel much better for a couple of days after my dental appt. I probably average out to 2.5 mgs a week, sometime maybe a little more, lke this week, cause I have been feeling especially bad and woke up this AM feeling like things were moving and I thought for sure vertigo was coming but it never did. I never shook the off balance feeling and it was much worse than my usual off balance feeling so I ended up taking half a tablet later on.
My question to you - do any of you take valium on a daily basis and does it help? Do you find that you need more and more as time goes on? That is one of my fears about this stuff, along with getting addicted. But then I tell myself, if it helps, why not take it every day? I know a couple of people who are or have been addicted and I don’t want to do through that. So I really feel in a quandry about whether or not I should take it on a daily basis or even every 2 or 3 days. I’d love to hear your opinon.
I was taking valium 2mg maybe 10 times a month sometimes until i got onto Lyrica.
Now I try to limit it to about 4 times a month. last time was for tinnitus which returned painfully in middle of the night
the other night, i thought it was a siren going off.
I would like to take more, especially because it helps when wobbly. i need it when I’ve been for a long drive and have jitters that night and can’t sleep.
The neuro seemed to be more concerned about the benefit wearing off over time and then the need to increase the dose or having it stop working,
which has just occurred to me may be addiction? anyway, he said it is unknown at what dose this could happen, so even though it is such a small dose
the risk is there. which just seems unreal that the thing that helps, they don’t want you to have, when they are ready to shovel anti-depressants
to you. and if you ask for a script it’s “didn’t you see our sign?, we don’t prescribe drugs of addiction”
Do you find that only Valium helps or do other benzos help as well (like clonazepam or alprazolam)? One problem with taking benzos like valium daily is that they can cause or exacerbate existing depression.
I was taking valium 2mg maybe 10 times a month sometimes until i got onto Lyrica.
Now I try to limit it to about 4 times a month. last time was for tinnitus which returned painfully in middle of the night
the other night, i thought it was a siren going off.
I would like to take more, especially because it helps when wobbly. i need it when I’ve been for a long drive and have jitters that night and can’t sleep.
The neuro seemed to be more concerned about the benefit wearing off over time and then the need to increase the dose or having it stop working,
which has just occurred to me may be addiction? anyway, he said it is unknown at what dose this could happen, so even though it is such a small dose
the risk is there. which just seems unreal that the thing that helps, they don’t want you to have, when they are ready to shovel anti-depressants
to you. and if you ask for a script it’s “didn’t you see our sign?, we don’t prescribe drugs of addiction”
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Rebzi, it also helps me greatly when I am feeling wobbly but like your neuro I am also concerned about the benefit wearing off over time and the need to increase the dosage. That is why I take it as little as possible. But lately it seems I need it more than once a week. But so far no doctor (and I’ve seen plenty) has been able to come up with any other solution (and I’ve tried plenty). Valium works the best for me. I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place, as they say.
Do you find that only Valium helps or do other benzos help as well (like clonazepam or alprazolam)? One problem with taking benzos like valium daily is that they can cause or exacerbate existing depression.
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A good part of my depression is because of this darn vertigo/dizzy/balance disorder I have and the unknown as to how I will feel on any given day or even any given minute as the way I feel can change that fast. If I could take valium everyday (without the worry of becoming addicted) I think it would help with the dizzies, which in turn would help with the depression. I think most of the benzos help ane every one has their favorite, some swear by clonzepam, others by valium, etc. Valium is the only one I have tried so I’m sticking with that for now. But if someone tells me one is much faster acting I might change. I also like valium because it is fairly long acting so unless I’m feeling extra terrible I don’t have to take it every day.
My doctor prescribed valium almost 13 years ago for vertigo, and I’ve kept it on hand ever since. I, too, worried about the addiction issue and also about taking it too often to the point that it stopped working when I needed it most. My initial prescription was for 5 mg. up to 3 times per day as needed for dizziness, and during those first years there were many days I took the limit. Later they lowered it to 5 mg. up to 2 per day, which is where it stands now. All these years later, my usual dose is 2.5 mg/day unless I’m having a horrible episode in which case I might take a total of 5 mg. Some days I take none. My doctor advises me to be aware of how much I’m taking. I have always been careful and am actually taking much less than at first.
One thing I avoid is taking a pill just because I’m “feeling bad” or am antsy or even sad. I use it only for vertigo/dizziness/migraine headaches and occasionally for muscle spasms in my neck and shoulder area, which makes the dizziness worse. The only other medication I’ve tried for this is ativan, which made me feel drugged and didn’t work as well. I realize everyone is different, but this is what has worked for me.
I am in a holding pattern on .25 of Klonopin or 2mg Valium along with my Celexa. I only take it before bed as I dislike to be groggy during the day. It has been two years now with no dosage update. The docs are content with this dosage.
The combination seems to work but I get depressed by the fact that i still have this condition! I can feel it beneath the medicine and it shows itself when I work out, drive, play basketball or play with my kids. I just want it gone. I feel like I am perpetually putting a band aid on an injury that won’t go away.
Longshort - do you or your doctor ever worry about addiction? or does the benifit of feeling better outweigh the worry? I so agree with what you say “I just want it gone. I feel like I am perpetually putting a band aid on an injury that won’t go away.”
Longshort - do you or your doctor ever worry about addiction? or does the benifit of feeling better outweigh the worry? I so agree with what you say “I just want it gone. I feel like I am perpetually putting a band aid on an injury that won’t go away.”
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They told me that with that dosage, I could just come off in by reducing my intake slowly over the course of a month. They said that a normal dose is like three pills of 0.5 and I am taking half of one pill per night. I don’t crave it, in fact, I prefer to be more awake.
They also gave me ambien because sleep is the time that I really feel the vertigo. However, the instruction label says that people have been known to get up, eat, drive, and have sex without remembering it. So I have been too chicken to try it.
Longshort - do you or your doctor ever worry about addiction? or does the benifit of feeling better outweigh the worry? I so agree with what you say “I just want it gone. I feel like I am perpetually putting a band aid on an injury that won’t go away.”
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They told me that with that dosage, I could just come off in by reducing my intake slowly over the course of a month. They said that a normal dose is like three pills of 0.5 and I am taking half of one pill per night. I don’t crave it, in fact, I prefer to be more awake.
They also gave me ambien because sleep is the time that I really feel the vertigo. ** However, the instruction label says that people have been known to get up, eat, drive, and have sex without remembering it. So I have been too chicken to try it.**
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I think the incidence of these weird things happening is pretty low. My concern would be addiction. Perhaps you want to start on a low dose (? 2.5 mg) for just a few nights and see if it even helps you at all. Another thought is instead of Ambien, have you tried taking an anti-histamine at night? Maybe talk to your doctor about trying a low dose of Atarax (hydroxyzine) or Phenergan (promethazine) at bedtime. (I think someone on this board ? Kelly ? takes Phenergan at night and it also helps with her dizziness, if I recall correctly.) I know I sleep great when I take it for nausea.
Anyway, someone posted something that I found interesting.
“My doctor said it was originally developed for inner ear disorders (in the low dose) and that later on in larger doses, used for other issues.”
Has anyone ever heard of this? I did a quick search on things like history of valium and orignal use of valium but couldn’t find anything to support this. I would like to think it is true. Whenever I tell someone I take valium for vertigo or vertigo prevention or just feeling off balance I feel like I have to explain myself and tell them I don’t have vertigo because of anxiety, I take the valium because it acts directly on the vestibular system, calming it down and the vertigo has nothing to do with my nerves. I know it’s none of their darn busineess but I still feel like I have to explain.
I did read somewhere that valium is very effective in controlling seizures from epilepsy but is very rarely used because after about 6-8 months a tolerance is reached and the meds have to be increased to be effective. I’m thinking the same might be true if taking it to control vertigo.
Regarding promethazine for sleep - I have found that to be very effective. I’ll take 6.25 mgs and that is enough to knock me out of the the night. If I take a full tablet, 12.5 mgs I am totallay zonked out and wake in the morning wondering what the heck happened to me the night before. Benadryl on the other hand, does absolutely nothing for me. As far as ambien goes, I’m also chicken. Insomnia has been a big problem for me the last several months.
I am currently on verapamil 80 mg twice daily, fluoxetine 20 mg once a day and clonazepam 0.5 mg twice daily. I also take a low dose of zofran for nausea once daily, twice daily when dizziness or migraine flares up and causes nausea. I also take imitrex as needed for migraine breakthroughs. I have been on this combination for over a year and it seems to be working for me. I was very worried about being on a benzodiazepine but I have never felt the need to increase my dose. I was initially on alprazolam and could feel it wear off. I didn’t like that. Clonazepam is longer acting and I have never had any weird side effects. I know benzos can be addictive and have been very careful to never take more than my prescribed low dose. If I felt the need to increase I would talk to my doctor and try to get off the med. Clonazepam has helped me. I think with any med, be aware of the risks, how it specifically affects you and keep in close contact with a doctor you trust.