Saw my doc a few days ago and he’d had the report back from when I saw my neuro a month or so back. The neuro described me as a junkie. !! I take 125 mg lamactal twice daily for avm, which thanks to gamma knife has almost gone.And .5mg clonezapam twice daily for what I believe is seizure management and anxiety which I suffer mildly from. ( the effects of the lamactal I’m guessing cause me mild anxiety especially when I don’t quite feel right… ). Anyway he wants me off the clonny. And doc recommends drop a quarter tab each fortnight till I’m off… then take Prozac!!
I an not really depressed so don’t think I need this. I also read it can give you issues with bleeding especially when combined with ibrufen. Great for an avm! Any thoughts on this please. Thank you 
Grant.
I don’t have any experience with those medications Grant, sorry. I do get frustrated when I hear things like junkie. Certainly worth the research and questions to the dr, or maybe a second opinion. Take Care, John.
Thanks for the reply John. Lamactal is the generic name. It’s lamotrigine I’m on. They are both used as seizure control and I’m on the same dose of clonezapam I was on a year ago. I haven’t increased it. I was horrified with the term junkie. I don’t touch drugs other than these.
Sorry to hear this, can’t really say what I want to here but, I guess that would make the prescriber a drug dealer ?? I am forced to use pain meds, either be in unbearable pain or be able to function, but I refuse to use any mind altering meds, they tried to pull same thing on me,
It’s a bit rich for them to be labelling you a junkie for using medications to manage epilepsy, but then some medicos are great at labelling people from my experience. Personally I’d say a little stress from neurosurgery would be pretty damn normal, It was for me. They had me on high dose opiates and they were nothing short of awful, if I’d continued taking them long term I think the junkie label could well have been appropriate. But in saying that if you are using them appropriately for the control of symptoms then how can that be considered abuse?? I know that some dr’s are cautious about over use of benzos ( the drugs ending in -pam or -lam) but when you consider an AVM, ibrufen and Prozac I would suggest you need to consult your dr regarding to ALL of your meds. They should be aware of the interactions, but it may be an idea to also have a discussion with your pharmacist prior, they may know of alternatives to discuss with the medicos.
Merl from Moderator Support
I have cut back a quarter of a tablet and i can tell you it’s not nice. I know it’s going to be a tough road cutting back and even getting off them. I plan on cutting back a quarter of one tablet every two weeks or so depending on how I feel. I find listening to meditation
on youtube helps immensely. I can go from feeling like my head will explode to calm within 30 mins of listening with my headphones on…
Or not listening as you tend to "zone out " Most are along the same lines but one in particular is really good. Wish me luck. I’d like to see how I feel off this completely. I think meditation… And willpower may be the road to this. I know some doctors will substitute diazapam when weaning off clonezapam as it has a longer half life? . My doc is I think a bit naieve about the withdrawls of benzos. To add to my situation I have recently had a marriage break up and selling of the family home.
Grant,
If you’ve got a meditation video that works for you, do share the link with the rest of us!
All the best,
Richard
Hi grunts, sounds like a good game plan, we are all different so do what you think is best for you, be positive and stay strong , I know easier said then done especially with all the personal challenges added to it, just want you to know your not alone and we are all here for you, we don’t judge or assume anything, just open mined understanding with caring compassion and love, wish you all the best, hang in there my friend,
Grunta…I’m not quite sure he was talking about your Lamictal med…But what I do now is that doctors are very careful when prescribing Clonazepam these days…
Hi Richard, the most helpful meditation video (audio) is on YouTube by Alicia Fairclough. She has quite a few. I find them very good. Apart from a couple of small anxiety issues which I manage to deal with the tapering is going well though I’ve only tapered a small amount and it’s early days Regards Grant.
These, I assume (click on the Ξ top left, not the 
️ icon in the middle)
Yes but the one… Deep sleep hypnosis.