Valium - How much do you get?

[Onyx]

I'm not sure if my dentist gives me enough. My fear is so strong I hardly feel the effects. When it does peak it only last 10 - 20 mins for me.

My dentist gives 5mg and only 4-6 pills to bring to the visit.

My last dentist gave me 10mg and about 5 pills to bring to the visit. Now that worked for me. But 5mg isn't doing much.

What should I do? Could I take more and get the same effect the 10mg Valium gives?

I wish he would just give me 10mg but I really don't think he realizes how bad my phobia is just yet.

Any suggestions or stories are appreciated.

 

[Stress Doc]

Hello:

Valium is not the best choice for dealing with anxiety. It is primarily a muscle relaxant with tranquilizing properties. The maximum dose of Valium per day is 40 milligrams. With Valium, more is not better. This medication has a very long half-life, 100 hours. This means it take 100 hours for 50% of the medication to be gone from your blood plasma.

I would ask your dentist for a different medication, like Ativan. This is targeted specifically for anxiety and has a half life of 8 hours. It does not cause the "hangover" effect of valium. This is the one we use exclusively for working with anxiety. Typical dose is 0.5-1 mg every 8 hours.

Ideally it is preferable to combine relaxation and self soothing techniques to lower your anxiety level. Medications are not designed to relieve anxiety or cure it. They are used to open the door so to speak to in order to learn to manage the feelings and reactions. If you would like I can send some of the techniques I use with my patients, just PM me.

Hope this helps.

 

[MajorPhobia]

Self-soothing techniques sound potentially very helpful. Could they be shared on the forum, for everyone?

 

[Stress Doc]

I can do that. I will work on a suitable post and figure ou the best place to post it.