Suggest Treatment For Depression And Sleeplessness Caused By Death Of A Loved One

Posted on Fri, 9 Jan 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 9 Jan 2015 Answered on

Fri, 6 Feb 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : I lost my father Dec 1 of last year. He was my best friend. We talked everyday, I saw him nearly 6 to 7 times a week for my entire life. I work for a city as a e!ergency vehicle technician. I am 37 years old and am married for 10 years and have 2 daughters that depend on me. I went and saw my family Dr who wrote me a script for diazapam 10mg to be taken 3 times a day. They didn't help so he tried me on lorazepam 1 mg to be taken 3 times a day, again no luck. I don't drink alcohol or take any other anti depressants. I have to try something else before so I can keep it together for me and my family. Any suggestions, I'm going back to talk to him tomorrow and would like a second opinion.

Answered by Dr. Shubham Mehta (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Dose of lorazepam can be increased safely to 6mg

Detailed Answer:
Hello
Welcome here.
Sorry to hear about your father.

I can understand that you have lots of responsibilities.
The loss of father can easily cause sadness and sleep disturbances in anyone. As I can read that you were very intimately attached to your father, his death must be really painful for you. I can understand your situation.

As i can make out from your description that you are having trouble sleeping and diazepam 30mg or lorazepam 3mg has not worked for you.

In my opinion, dose of lorazepam can be safely increased to 6mg progressively.

Also there are some antidepressants like trazodone, paroxetine, mirtazapine, which help in sleep as well. So these can be considered also.

Please discuss about these drugs with your doctor in your next meet.

Practice relaxation exercises like deep breathing and meditation to keep your mind calm and relaxed. This will help to improve mood as well as sleep.

Hope this helps.

Feel free to ask further.

Thanks.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Bhagyalaxmi Nalaparaju

Follow up: Dr. Shubham Mehta (1 hour later)

would xaxax 2mg in your opinion work better ?

Answered by Dr. Shubham Mehta (58 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
2mg xanax is equal to 4mg lorazepam.

Detailed Answer:
Thanks for the follow-up post.

Actually, these drugs belong to same class called 'benzodiazepines'. The dose equivalents for these drugs are:
10mg diazepam=1mg lorazepam=0.5mg clonazepam=0.5mg alprazolam.

Taking 2mg of xanax would be equal to 4mg of lorazepam.

So you can take either of them considering the equivalent doses.
Hope this helps.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Bhagyalaxmi Nalaparaju