[littlemissfancypants]

okay, so. i have bi-polar disorder (primarily depressive), along with severe anxiety and panic attacks. super fun. im on a bunch of really good meds for the mania and depression (cymbalta, lamictal, LOVE 'em, no side effects at all), but the anxiety and panic... eh. so ive now been prescribed xanax, which i dont really like, kinda helps the panic attack, but doesnt help general anxiety; my doc has now taken me off that and put me on klonapin, which seems to work better for the general anxiety, so we'll see, and then trazodone for sleeping at night (probably just for a few weeks). so my question (finally!) is: um, how can i, shall we say, lift myself up a few levels above where im supposed to be pharmaceutically speaking, on occasion, and still have my medication work when i need it to? any tricks or ideas? pot and alcohol are completely out of the question.

thanks so much for any advice (and for slogging through my first post)!

[mpvt]

I can tell you that you're headed for trouble with that kind of thinking.Benzodiazepines are extremely addicting and if you abuse or take enough they can slow your respitory system down enough that you die in your sleep.
Benzodiazepines were not developed to be taken as a chronic drug.If you haven't gotten over your anxiety within 2 weeks then benzo's likely aren't going to help much other then turn you into a zombie because you will build a tolerance and start taking handfuls just to feel normal.
You don't want to get addicted to klonopin and then withdrawl off it as it can literally kill you.So be careful with your meds and take them as prescribed.I didn't and have now been an opiate addict for 28 years with the last 5 years under control with methadone.Good luck.....Dave