There are many good drugs for anxiety. Your doctor will probably try different ones til you find what works best for you. I have been given Ativan and xanax, but you might need something stronger.

hi, I use clonepin twice a day since journey commenced . I mg. my reasoning is rather relax and calm down the better to fight the big C .

I had my rx of Ativan, which I used "as needed". Not often, but I was glad to have it available.

You definitely need your sleep. Although it is common to have anxiety before tests and appointments, it's no fun. Turning off our brain to sleep can be quite the trick, sometimes. I hope you find some solutions that work for you. I sometimes do guided meditations to fall asleep. They focus you on something pleasant and can be very relaxing. The Honest Guys have a Youtube channel with dozens of them. If you like British accents, go for it! Best to you.

Last fall, I was having some real issues with sleep. I had lost one friend to cancer, and my best friend's cancer returned. So I had all these issues and was not sleeping much. So I went to see a counselor. She had been hearing a lot of women complain about not being able to sleep. So she told me to go to my general doctor and ask for Trazadone. My doc gave them to me and within two nights I was sleeping again! I think getting off my chest my concerns with people in my life, and then the medication, helped me get the sleep I needed. Trazadone is an older drug and it works wonders.
I still take it and it just shuts off my brain so that I can sleep. Nothing is worse than not being able to get a good night's rest. I hope you can find a doctor that will give you the medication you need. And maybe seeing a counselor that you trust would be a good thing too. Hospitals have counselors and chaplains that you can talk to and they generally don't charge for their services. Good luck to you.

Hi, the trazodone didn't work for me, so they switched to remeron. I also got depression & they said the remeron in low doses would help for that also. I also take celexa for the depression. I was good for about 6 months & was considered to just be on "maintenance", but recently the anxiety started to come back. I started something called lorazepam yesterday which is for the anxiety. I can't speak for other drugs myself. I was just told there are many & if one doesn't work, we will try another.

Thank you for all of your suggestions! I will ask my oncologist on Friday for something. I like the idea of using Ativan on an as needed basis also guided meditations. I think I'll check out youtube or purchase something off of Amazon. Thank you all!

I had a horrible reaction (emergency room level) reaction to Ativan. So my Dr. suggested hypnotism. The medical center had on staff a psychological social worker who was a certified medical hypnotist. I had several hypnotism sessions with her and it worked wonders.

There are so many reasons for being anxious. One phenomenon I have observed is people being irritable and angry in medical settings. Some get hypervigilent. This can be PTSD and I have it with regard to my cancer treatment. I take effexor XR 75 mg daily because it also treats hot flashes well. I also take gabapentin 300 mg at bedtime, which also helps with the nerve pain from the eye removal and the cutting of the facial nerve (thanks Dr. G*****). I don't have much problem with going to sleep; I also learned to 4, 7 , 8 breathing that Weil talks about. Breathe in for 4 seconds, hold for 7 seconds, and release the breath for 8 seconds; repeat for 4 total times. Try it. It is an excellent way to calm down when all you have is yourself and the feelings.

If you are into meditation there are a lot of different ones on YouTube.

Nursesknow I learned that breathing exercise when I was recovering from a much more traumatic situation than cancer. I never was able to do it correctly. I thought that it might be impossible to do and that was how it was supposed to keep ones mind off the traumatic event. I still have flashbacks and nightmares about that event. Even had one while in the hospital for cancer surgery.

I can't do the breathing exercise correctly either. I can't inhale or exhale that long.

Lorezepam worked for me nicely. I also added some magical baked goods. I don't smoke so my wife made some nice treats chocked full of marijauna goodness.

Hey Barbara maybe no one can do that right. That might be the point of the exercise we get so frustrated over doing the exercise that we forget to be anxious :)

Hey Crazy Harry, I think I need a gift basket of your wife's baked goodies!! ;)

Meditation has helped me let go of things at night. I have a busy mind too. I listen to CDs every night to calm my mind and help me sleep. They talk about relaxation techniques, positive, visualization, and methods to calm your mind. I buy them at Amazon. Good luck!!

Meditation, exercise, brownies made with special butter, and over the counter med called 5HTP (very mild, only good as the last thing you've taken before bed ... in truth, I was not so anxious as much as I simply hurt during the medical attentions.

I take .5mg clonazepam an hour before I intend to go to bed and it makes me sleepy and then I do sleep for about 6 hours. When I first found out I have Stage IV metastatic colon cancer, I was a wreck. Sometimes in the day time I take a half of a tablet "as needed."

Hi, I started Zoloft not long after my diagnosis. It really seems to help. I also have some Ativan that I use as needed. Usually on scan days.