Brief Answer:
clonazepam, diazepam and oxazepam all are benzodiazepine

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

Thanks for writing to us.

Clonazepam and serax (oxazepam) both are benzodiazepine. Clonazepam is more potent and that is why causes more sedation. If you do not want sedation, serax will be slightly better than clonazepam.

Diazepam is also benzo and simultaneously two benzos recommended only when one is not sufficient. Diazepam can be taken at night for sleep if you will be shifted to serax.

Cymbalta is an anti depressant drug from SNRI group and we cannot compare it with diazepam. So it should be continued if you have depressive symptoms without consideration that diazepam is there or not.

Let me know,

- Why does your doctor want to stop diazepam?

- Why do you want to stop clonazepam?

Hope I have answered your query, I will be happy to help further.
Regards,
Dr.Chintan Solanki.

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Brief Answer:
diazepam is more sedative

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

Thanks for information.

Your psychiatrist is probably right that diazepam makes you fall. However cymbalta can be stopped if you are not better in depression and anxiety with 90 mg dose.
In that case cymbalta should be stopped gradually by tapering and zoloft can be added after you reach 50 mg cymbalta. Ultimately you can reach on 200 mg zoloft and no cymbalta.
I am also agree with serax 30 mg for anxiety.
Diazepam should be continued only if you are not able to get sleep. It should be tapered gradually and taken in night dose only.

You can discuss this with your treating doctor and modify the treatment.

Feel free to discuss further.

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Brief Answer:
zoloft is better than imipramine from side effect point of view

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

Thanks for follow up.

I think you have mistakenly wrote clonazepam instead of serax.If I were your treating doctor I would like to start serax with 15 mg twice a day and after 1 week it can be increased up to 45 mg and then 60 mg per day in divided dosage.

Imipramine is really a good old anti depressant medicine. However it has more side effects like dry mouth, constipation, postural hypo tension and so on. It is required in dose range of 75 to 300 mg. Zoloft was effective in your case so I recommend first zoloft and if it does not work then only imipramine.

I understand that you want to live without medication. At present I suggest continuing medicines and after complete improvement you can taper of very slowly with psychotherapy, relaxation exercise and healthy lifestyle.

For a while to improve health you need to maintain healthy lifestyle. This includes regular daily exercise (walking or running), hygienic food habits (no junk food, no fatty food, preferably only home-made food with law salt and fat with more fruits and vegetables) and timely scheduled sleep. Yoga- meditation can also help.

For relaxation you can do deep breathing exercise. Take deep slow breathing. Inhale for 3 seconds, keep breath in for 3 seconds and exhale for 3 seconds. Do it for 10-15 minutes. You will feel relax. Try it for few days and see the results.

Take care and all the best.

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