Man, that stuff is honestly a total lifesaver for mood swings, everyone on this board knows it's a solid stabilizer. You might feel a bit buzzed or lightheaded during those first couple of days when you start a new prescription—that’s just the usual side effects like nausea or dizziness—but trust me, that feeling totally clears up after a few days...
I mean, I haven't dealt with any side effects at all from the meds I'm on, so I really don't get what the big deal is...
Benjamin Robinson3 said:He told me Rivotril might be more effective than Xanax, and since I'm young, I'm starting to wonder if Xanax is even the right call for me. I have another appointment with him this Friday; hopefully, he can monitor my reaction and maybe adjust my prescription with some more pills. I saw some posts here saying you all had good results, so I’m really hoping for the same—I just want this mental fog to finally clear up. I actually received my official diagnosis today, and it's listed as F43.2. It feels pretty accurate, though I suspect I might be sliding into a deeper depression, but I guess my psychiatrist will be the judge of that.
Right now, I'm taking one 0.5 mg tablet in the morning, one in the afternoon, and two before bed. Do you think it would be okay to switch things up and take two tablets in the morning or afternoon instead? I don't feel much benefit from the dose if I'm mostly just using the heavy dose at night to help me sleep.
That’s exactly why I say it works. You really just need to trust the doctor and have faith in the medication; having that mindset is huge for how you recover. If there's any way to avoid benzos altogether—like Xanax or Helex—then honestly, that's the gold standard. From what I've gathered from others, Rivotril seems more potent, but since the active ingredient is different, it just hits you a little differently.
Regarding shifting your dosage—don't start overthinking that right away. What the doc prescribed sounds solid; it looks like he timed it perfectly so it carries you through the day and then helps you drift off at night. If it doesn't feel right, just check in with your physician, just like Michelle Evans suggested.
- I did a quick Google search and realized Rivotril is actually a benzodiazepine too. Look, I'm no expert, so everyone should definitely listen to their doctors instead of some random forum! 🙂 🙂
We’ve actually covered a ton of ground regarding Rivotril on here, so if you just scroll back through my old posts, you'll probably find exactly what you're looking for since I was asking all the same questions when I first got put on Rivotril myself. You were prescribed a pretty substantial dose, which honestly is a great thing because it really is an incredibly effective medication, and I think it shows a lot of strength that your doctor jumped straight to Rivotril to get things under control. 🙂Just give it a few days to settle in so you can see how it actually affects you.
Emotions... they hit you like a freaking tsunami sometimes, just completely overwhelming you and leaving you totally defenseless, especially if you've been battling mental health issues for a while, whereas some people seem to handle those emotional waves like it's nothing. Honestly, you need a ton of experience to deal with that, and unfortunately, most of that experience comes from the bad stuff; you have to mess up plenty of times to actually learn the lesson, but the real kicker is when you're already feeling broken and sick, and all those past setbacks just leave you feeling disappointed and vulnerable, making you feel like you aren't learning anything even though you absolutely are. Your first instinct when that emotional tidal wave hits is usually to just shut everything down—just go totally "off." It sounds tempting when you're desperate, but let’s be real, that doesn't work because humans aren't built to function without feelings. Apathy is this super weird, intense state I used to fall into during bouts of depression. Having zero emotions is actually way worse because suddenly you're getting all this input from the world around you but you can't find any way to react to it, and if you couldn't see the point of things before, now it feels completely impossible. An anxiolytic that your doctor likely prescribes will give you these little moments of relief. You don't have to worry about messing up too badly with an anxiolytic, nor do you necessarily have to swap them out as often as you might with an antidepressant; anxiolytics are fast-acting and they work right when you need them. They're bad for you in the long run because they can be addictive, but in the moment, they're great and I'm honestly grateful for them. So, don't stress about potentially having to switch anxiolytics; whether it's something like Xanax or another one in that group, it happens. I'm definitely not an expert here, but in my experience, you'll probably face fewer hurdles with the quick results of an anxiolytic compared to other meds, though everyone reacts differently and some people get side effects that just don't sit right. Just make sure you tell your doctor that while you want the anxiolytic, you also want consistent, long-term treatment, counseling, and therapy, because while you're essentially putting your emotions on standby, you still need to learn how to actually deal with them. Try to look at it like a "know your enemy" situation 🙂 study them a bit, borrow a book from the library, or just read up online about the psychology of emotions, talk to your doctor, and try to wrap your head around the mechanics of it all. We are all so much more than just our psychopathology.
Benjamin Robinson3 said:Which psychotropic med would you recommend for someone who just wants to become a blank slate? I know everyone else is out there trying to "feel better," get social, and all that nonsense... I just want to feel nothing at all. No emotions whatsoever.
Look, not everyone is chasing "improvement" or trying to be social; when I first started my treatment, I felt the exact same way, wanting nothing more than to be a complete blank slate—basically a living ghost who just wanted to sleep and take a break from existing altogether. That’s honestly just the first stage of the process. Besides, suggesting specific psychiatric meds on an online forum is totally reckless; you really need to sit down with a psychiatrist and lay everything out, explaining exactly how you reached this point where being a blank slate feels like the only option, and they will prescribe something to help you manage that initial phase. And don't even bother thinking that "getting better" means you have to undergo a total transformation into some bubbly social butterfly or anything like that. You don't actually *have* to be "better." It is perfectly okay to feel exactly the way you feel right now. You have every right to feel that way. There is absolutely no pressure to be faster, better, or stronger in the eyes of society or even in your own mind. This road is a long one, so my advice is to just start exactly where you are right now, with these feelings.
Yeah, my psychiatrist told me the exact same thing: apparently I’m gonna need more over time, and what’s next? In a few years, I’ll be popping half a bottle a day :P total joke. It isn't like the meds dull my emotions or turn me into some kind of zombie, though; honestly, when I take the Xanax and finally chill out, that's actually when I hit my creative stride, where I can handle my usual existential dread about eternity without spiraling and still function like a normal human being. I've been on Adderall for a year and a half too, but nothing touches the way the Xanax hits... it's addicting versus addicting. I'm not listening to my doctor and I've been bumping up my doses. I keep telling myself that once this stress dies down—and right now work is absolute chaos—I'll find a way to detox, but the real issue is that I don't actually want to quit... I just have a personality that's super prone to addiction... I don't know how to fix it, I really don't. Maybe if I spent a few months somewhere peaceful, away from all this massive professional and mental pressure I'm dealing with, like going to some rehab retreat out in the Rockies... 🙂
I’ve been dealing with an insane amount of stress over the last couple of weeks because of some personal stuff and work craziness, plus there’s been a full moon for the past few days, so my sleep has been absolutely non-existent. Honestly, taking Rivotril feels like I just swallowed a Tic Tac; it does zero for me. 😕 Normally, I should be switching to it in the evening instead of using Helex, but the timing always messes up—if I take the Rivotril at 8 PM, I’m wide awake until midnight worrying about how I can't sleep, and then I eventually take my usual dose of Helex, which finally lets my body relax and everything just settles into place. I don't know, Helex... I wouldn't call it a nasty addiction, because Helex actually keeps me steady and supports me, and I honestly don't know what I'd do without it. If anything, I’d say my best moments are when I'm on Helex, because I can finally just relax and give myself some freedom. The rest of the time is just pure suffering with frayed nerves, anxiety, insomnia, and mental pain. I know, I know... but what's so terrible about spending the rest of my life on Helex? 😢
Benzos hit me the same way, especially at first with that total head rush, though that's dialed back now; still, once I hit the sack, I can definitely feel my muscles just giving out and drifting off.
You're definitely taking more than I am, since I only pop half or a quarter of a Clonazepam at night—just a 0.5 mg pill. I've heard people talk about that mental fog where everything feels scrambled, but I don't really get that sensation myself... I think I'll check in with my doctor next time about the Clonazepam and see if I should just quit altogether, especially since I've only been on it for a few months.
It might just be the original issue that made getting off these things so damn hard in the first place, like something the Clonazepam is forced to regulate; if you're feeling it in your motor skills even without it, that's telling.
Hmm... yeah, that’s what I was prescribed too, mostly because I’ve straight-up become a Xanax junkie, and honestly, I can only take your word for it on tapering off the Klonopin—I’m definitely no expert here. It’s actually kind of hard to wrap my head around when I read this stuff because Klonopin feels pretty weak to me; I can always tell the difference between it and Xanax, which is the one I know I can rely on whenever I really need to chill out or pass out.
Back when I first started, I asked around about how Klonopin works, and everyone just chimed in saying it hits way lighter than Xanax or that it’s just weaker overall. But hey, that's just info, right? I trust my psychiatrist completely and I’m taking everything exactly as prescribed, so I’m really just sharing my own experience. For me, Klonopin definitely feels weaker; when I first started taking it, I barely felt a thing, and zero side effects. To be honest, I haven't had any major issues with any of the meds they've put me on.
How long were you on the Klonopin and what kind of doses are we talking? Since I built up a tolerance to Xanax, I actually started bumping up my doses on my own, so now I’ve got the Klonopin with instructions to slowly taper down the Xanax until I'm totally off it.
Also, how did the Klonopin stack up against xanax for you?
I’m currently on 15 mg of Lexapro, plus 0.5 mg of Ativan and 0.5 mg of Klonopin at night because I’m trying to wean myself off the Ativan. Honestly, I have to admit that these meds are basically my lifeline. I’ve been on Escitalopram for over a year now, and the biggest win has been the massive drop in my anxiety, phobias, and panic attacks—like, HUGE improvement there—whereas the depression hasn't budged as much. It's still definitely there, just with fewer suicidal thoughts hanging around. The meds pretty much keep me at some kind of semi-functional baseline so I can actually get through the day. My libido has definitely taken a hit, but if I really want to 😁 🤷 I seriously can, though I haven't felt genuinely "horny" in forever—I don't even remember when it was last. Not that I really care about my sex drive right now, since I'm mostly just focused on surviving day-to-day. (I mean, for someone dealing with major depression, a lower libido or putting on a little weight feels like the least of my worries.) I have gained some weight, sure, but my appetite is great and I sleep like a baby. I see my psychiatrist about once a month now because I can't really afford more than that, though twice a month would probably be the sweet spot for me. Psychotherapy is such a huge deal, and honestly, I don't think anyone should be relying on medication without consistent, ongoing therapy to back it up.
So, here’s my take on Rivotril—it’s been a total win for me because it doesn't leave me feeling totally zonked out the way Helex does, and honestly, I barely even notice it's there, though I definitely don't have to deal with that nasty dependency issue I had with Helex, so I can actually just drift off to sleep. I wouldn't say all the pieces of my brain have finally clicked into place like some people claim they have—because if that were true, it would be an absolute miracle for me. 😁The pieces are always scattered all over the place, and I'm constantly having to take a break from the meds just to cope.
Didn't get a reply a little while back, so I figured I’d give this another shot... My doctor wrote me a prescription for Valium to help me taper off the Helix. But honestly, I’m still sticking with the Helix because I’m pretty hooked—even though my doses aren't massive, maybe 1 mg at most, and sometimes just half a milligram keeps me asleep at night, which is what I've been doing for about a year now. I'm just terrified that Valium won't provide that same sense of "support" that Helix does, and since there’s never a perfect time when life isn't hitting me with stress or work craziness, I really don't want to risk going without my Helix.
So, how does Valium actually work? I've heard some people say you can't even feel it and that it's way weaker than Helix.
Roger Bennett62 said:Psych meds are a total trip, man. They’re legal and they look fine on paper, but honestly? Most of the time they just don't quite fill that void inside us. Sure, you can get pretty faded off some of these "helpers," but it's just not the same high... Everyone’s basically playing the same game—block this receptor, tweak that one, toss in a little bit of this...
My therapist says there’s no such thing as treating anxiety without benzos, or tackling depression without an antidepressant. Honestly, sometimes a benzo will pull a person out of a depressive funk way faster than an antidepressant ever could. If you actually look at the side effects for both—I mean, really look—it’s pretty obvious which one is easier to deal with.
I haven't met anyone who took Xanax, Clonazepam, or Lorazepam and ended up shaking uncontrollably or puking or being unable to, you know, function... But antidepressants? The side effects from those are absolutely insane. 😁
This is a super old thread, but while I was looking into this new Clonazepam my doctor just put me on, I stumbled across this and I have to agree;
- The SSRIs helped me loosen up socially and cut down on the crying spells and those massive breakdowns, plus I don't feel so fragile around people anymore, but that heavy emptiness is still sitting right there. It feels like trying to cure melancholy with more melancholy, just like Robert Burton argued way back when... Who knows. - I honestly feel like Helix has done way more for me during these months of treatment than the SSRIs did; it really lifted my spirits and gave me the confidence that I’d be able to unwind and actually fall asleep every night. But now, we have to start tapering off slowly. 🤷
* As for me, I didn't deal with any side effects from the SSRIs (Escitalopram), and my libido is totally fine even on a full dose of both the SSRIs and the benzos. 😁
Has anyone else tried switching from Helix/Xanax Clonazepam? I'm reading some pretty good stuff about it.
lonestag3 said:Oh, sure—I was such an "expert" at biting my nails back in the day that I didn't even need clippers or files. I could use my teeth so skillfully that I’d rip a perfect, smooth half-moon out of the nail almost every single time.
AS IF PICKING YOUR NOSE ISN'T A NATURAL THING WE INHERITED FROM OUR EVOLUTIONARY ANCESTORS (Homo habilis, Homo erectus, even Neanderthals)! It just goes to show that "good manners" are a complete fabrication—something unnatural and totally weird.
And by the way, why is it that on these forums, nobody actually listens to people with real-world experience? People who have actually lived through what the topic is about?
Instead, we get these psychologists or—even worse—those mindless sheep following "experts" who are just conservative, narrow-minded hacks. They think they know everything because they read a textbook, but they don't know a damn thing about human evolutionary history or the genetic instincts and drives we inherited from our ancestors.
If we were living 20,000 years ago, everyone would be biting their nails because there wouldn't be anything else to cut them with! The problem is that instinct and our hardwired subconscious don't care about modern technology or the fact that scissors exist—unless your conscious mind decides to override that primal urge and actually use a tool instead of following its natural predisposition.
When I'm alone in my room, I love biting and peeling my nails back with my teeth—sometimes ripping one off in one go gives me this weird sense of satisfaction, like a little fetish (not in a sexual way, obviously). Same goes for using sharp edges, tweezers, or toothpicks to dig under the nail or peel away bits of skin from my fingertips.
I finally kicked the habit three years ago when I got braces. Since I couldn't bite my nails then, I ended up trimming them to such an insane degree that the skin on my fingertips turned rough and calloused because I’d file them down halfway. Now I have about a three-week window before they grow back enough to mess with again.
All of this is stuff people do unconsciously and purely on instinct.
It has absolutely nothing to do with OCD or any of that other nonsense.
Do you people even know what Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder actually is???? Clearly not, if you're trying to link it to nail biting.🙄
LMAO
I bite my nails too, but I keep it somewhat tidy. Whenever I actually want to motivate myself to let them grow out and look decent, I'll put on some press-ons for a few days to give my natural nails a head start, then polish them up, and suddenly I feel too bad to bite them. So yeah, I’ve got a bit of control over it.
But the truth is, I always end up falling back into nail-biting whenever things get stressful. I'll just sit there, gnawing away and stressing out like crazy. And when I'm dealing with high-pressure situations at work or wherever, I'll end up absolutely wrecking the fingers on my other hand by picking at the skin around my nails until they actually bleed. It kind of provides this sense of release, like I'm achieving some sort of mental goal while doing it, even though outwardly I'm accomplishing nothing except making myself bleed. I know deep down it's tied to my anxiety, but I guess it's not the same for everyone.
Mind you, I don't bite my nails while I'm smoking. When the urge to bite gets totally out of hand, I'll just light up a cigarette to calm my nerves. Man, what a mess. xD
Patrick James5 said:Are you guys feeling any calmer since starting those pills? Like, do they actually work? And does anyone here just take them on their own without a script?
Honestly, I’m still such a wreck... some days are just brutal. It's the anxiety, the constant dread—mostly the fears, though. And the panic attacks? They hit me out of nowhere, whether I'm flying solo or hanging out with people... sometimes it feels impossible to handle. I try to just push it all away and refocus, you know? But I haven't started any meds yet. To everyone else I talk to, I seem totally fine—like I don't even need help. But inside? I’m constantly dreaming about just packing up and moving far away from everything and everyone... just a complete fresh start. Maybe then I'd finally feel okay. Right now, I'm going through a breakup, and it honestly feels as heavy as a divorce. My ex and I were so similar... and sometimes I can't tell if we just weren't a good match or if I'm just, you know, a little bit mentally unwell. I'm trying my best to stand on my own two feet. By the way, has anyone ever tried one of those family constellation workshops? I just signed up for one..
Yeah. But don't go playing doctor with yourself. Just go see a private Psychiatric specialist.
northerncyclist2 said:I guess we all deal with difficulties at some point—the real question is just how much they bother us and how we handle them. Since I was young, I've always been prone to overanalyzing things. If I take it too far (like, you feel a bump and immediately convince yourself it's cancer, but in a psychological sense), it leads to all these beliefs about different ailments.
The doctor I saw isn't a psychotherapist, so it was just an initial consultation. She deals with heavy cases every single day, so I guess I showed up feeling like a minor burn compared to a trauma specialist. She believed me, but she wasn't entirely convinced 😉. And honestly, even today, I feel a little silly about the money I spent, but I suppose if I hadn't tried, I wouldn't have known if she was any good.
After thinking about it for years, I sort of get the impression that I don't actually have one specific, long-term problem. It's more that I'm generally way too sensitive, impatient, and I tend to blow things out of proportion. And I definitely overanalyze instead of just experimenting with life. But since I feel like I've grown quite a bit in the last year or two, I'd say I haven't totally moved past puberty yet (I'm only 21). 😁
Oh yeah, people stay in puberty forever these days. Some schools even argue that men might stay there indefinitely. 😁 I personally think I'm still hovering around that stage and dealing with some "childish growing pains," even though I'm a bit older. I read somewhere that this is a hallmark of our generation—we stay in that adolescent phase longer because we're more dependent on our parents, we get more support, and there's this underlying insecurity that makes us run away from facing reality instead of confronting it...
My bad experience with the psychiatrist was basically a trip to the trauma ward! Our session actually got cut short because the police brought in some woman who had tried to set a house on fire. 😁 So, she wasn't exactly focused on my minor issues, even though she did diagnose me with depression and warned me that I need to keep up with treatment. It was all through my insurance, so she actually suggested I see a private doctor because she said no psychiatrist would really listen to me or dive deep without being paid out of pocket—those were her words, not mine.
To stay on topic—YES, experimentation over analysis! 👋
Elizabeth Robinson3 said:Personally, I've never gone because I tend to view seeking professional help as a personal failure. It feels like an admission that I can't manage my own emotions or actions, which just ends up hitting my self-esteem even harder.
That said, I recognize that when emotions take over for a long stretch, it's hard to find any sense of peace through logic alone.
It sounds like you just landed with the wrong person.🤷
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Definitely hitting up a shrink. 😁
northerncyclist2, I actually saw one psychiatrist once who was totally cold and didn't give a damn, but even she helped me out a bit since she was the only one—unlike everyone else in my life—who actually realized I had a real issue that needed serious attention. I'm super lucky now though, because this current psychiatrist is everything you described: she's fully engaged but stays neutral, and I can tell she keeps her distance just to protect herself (God knows how many people she talks to daily, probably a ton...), yet we have such a great rapport that I'd actually love to grab coffee with her sometime. 🙂
And look, if this psychiatrist failed to figure out you have social anxiety—even though you clearly feel like you're struggling (I mean, you didn't shell out all that cash to a psychiatrist for no reason! Something has to drive a person to seek help)—then yeah, she’s probably just not that good at her job.
northerncyclist2 said:I mean, why would a therapist actually be able to analyze my psyche any better than I can? I guess they probably have a much deeper grasp of how everything works, especially since they’re looking at things from a sort of... neutral standpoint, if you want to call it that. But then again, their entire insight is limited to just what the patient chooses to tell them, which is really only a tiny fraction of the whole picture we carry around in our heads. Plus, everything gets filtered through our own words, so if there are some built-in glitches in our own self-reflection, those are bound to mess with the therapist's assessment too.
Honestly, I was pretty blown away by how much more insight my psychiatrist gained just from talking to me. She isn't just listening to my words; she’s reading between the lines of my tone, my body language, and even the specific things I choose to mention—or leave out. She doesn't fall into my own self-perception traps because she's an outsider using actual clinical methods to process what I'm saying. A psychiatrist isn't a magic fix for achieving total Socratic self-knowledge, but they definitely help you bypass your own mental blind spots to get you to a place where you can see where you went off track and finally heal those wounds.