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Can I Get Off Hydrochlorothiazide, Ativan And Go For Prazosin ?
My wife takes hydrochlorothiazide for her blood pressure and practically just started that. She also takes zoloft for depression. Her phychiatrist wants to put her on prazosin for her anxiety instead of ativan. She also has ptsd depression severe panic attacks restless leg syndrome. From what I have been reading about this miracle drug it could relieve her of all these problems. Could it be a good idea to get off the blood pressure medicine and ativan and just take the prazosin. I already have the script but im just scared to take new mediciations.
Wed, 17 Jul 2013
Hi Adam, welcome to healthcare magic.
Zoloft is a antidepressant medication and ativan is a sedative. prazosin is mainly used for hypertension, however prazosin might not be helpful to control her depression and if she had sleep problems this tablet might not be helpful for her. better is to discuss this issue with your psychiatrist in person.
thank you
Zoloft is a antidepressant medication and ativan is a sedative. prazosin is mainly used for hypertension, however prazosin might not be helpful to control her depression and if she had sleep problems this tablet might not be helpful for her. better is to discuss this issue with your psychiatrist in person.
thank you
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User's Response
Dr. Balaji Bharadwaj,
Psychiatrist's Response
Psychiatrist's Response
You have mentioned PTSD, depression, panic attacks and restless legs syndrome apart from hypertension. A person having multiple comorbid conditions is less likely to respond well to treatment.
Prazosin as a drug may show some promise for certain symptoms of PTSD - those caused by adrenergic response of the body. It is of course useful as an antihypertensive drug also. While the proposition of a single drug curing all maladies is indeed attractive, its efficacy in conditions like depression is not proven with conviction.
The problem however is prazosin is not a primary drug for PTSD or depression. It does not help with depression and may in fact worsen certain symptoms of depression like fatigue. Moreover, it is not usually a common first-line drug for hypertension.
It will not help to deal with the problems of lorazepam (Ativan) discontinuation either. You have to taper and stop the lorazepam.
You may consult your doctor and try it as per his advice, but as a thumb rule, tried and tested medications are a safer bet than drugs which have more recent evidence.
Hope it helps.
Prazosin as a drug may show some promise for certain symptoms of PTSD - those caused by adrenergic response of the body. It is of course useful as an antihypertensive drug also. While the proposition of a single drug curing all maladies is indeed attractive, its efficacy in conditions like depression is not proven with conviction.
The problem however is prazosin is not a primary drug for PTSD or depression. It does not help with depression and may in fact worsen certain symptoms of depression like fatigue. Moreover, it is not usually a common first-line drug for hypertension.
It will not help to deal with the problems of lorazepam (Ativan) discontinuation either. You have to taper and stop the lorazepam.
You may consult your doctor and try it as per his advice, but as a thumb rule, tried and tested medications are a safer bet than drugs which have more recent evidence.
Hope it helps.
I find this answer helpful
1 Doctor agrees with this answer
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