I recently saw my Pain management Dr., I have disc disease, 3 bulging discs, sciatica, and arthritis. But prior to this, I had been on 2mg Xanax for serious anxiety issues. I was on these for about 6 mos. and when I saw my pain doc I asked him about Valium, for a couple of reasons, 1- the xanax were starting to make me a little moody, which I am very rarely, and they justed seemed to have a little more potency, that I wanted, but lower doses were not enough, so long story short I am trying 10mg valium, hopefully it will help with my back as well as being calm and keeping the stress managable. I am on a lot of strong pain meds as well. That is why I was wondering what would be close, dosage-wise, compared to the xanax. Sorry if this is confusing, just trying to find a little help. Thanks!
Q: Regarding my question about Valium and xanax comparison, I was just wondering how close the 2 were
Hi hurting36,
I'm sorry that you have so much pain. I'm wondering if your pain doctor is handling your valium prescription (it wasn't clear to me from your statement). If not, I'd take this question to him/her.
You may also try neurofeedback to help manage your pain. Also, Dr. Walcutt and I have had a number of people tell us that our stress management CD helps with reducing the experience of pain as well. Cogntive behavioral therapy (CBT) has also been shown to help with pain management.
I hope these ideas give you some additional resources to help you cope.
Regards,
Jennifer L. Fee, Psy.D.
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Just a word of warning. Different people react differently to different medications. Whilst Effexor (Venlafaxine) may be really helpful for some people others might find it unhelpful. My personal experience of Venlafaxine was that I couldn't cope with the side effects after 6 months but experienced nightmare withdrawal symptoms. There are some scary stories out there about these withdrawal symptoms but I think they are overdone; although bad they do go after a couple of weeks. BUT we should be careful about recommending meds. without the benefit of medical advice.