Its Ok to Keep Taking Valium After for Weeks from Having a Facelift?

I had a facelift a month ago and since then I've been feeling very anxious. Can i still take the valium I was prescribed for the day prior to my surgery?

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6 Doctor Answers | Asked by Maria7500

Doctor Answers (6)
Community Comments (2)

Valium can be addictive

I would be careful with too much valium. Taking this for too long can inadvertently become an addiction problem. The anxiety you feel can certainly happen after surgery, and if this is a persisting problem, I recommend checking in with a therapist to discuss how you feel and some alternatives to valium.

1 Month Following Facelift and Taking Valium

Sometimes, anxiety and depression figure prominently in the postoperative course following a facelift. Your appearance always figures prominently in your self esteem and sometimes early facelift results are less than expected. I usually advise waiting 3 months before making any determinations about the result.

Taking Valium One Month After Facelift

It is normal to be prescribed Valium for pre and post surgery anxiety, but if you are still feeling anxious a month later, I would recommend seeing your general practitioner and/or psychiatrist to decide how to best manage your anxiety. Good luck with the rest of your recovery. “Dr. D”

Valium after facelift

Sorry to hear you are feeling anxious following your procedure. Regarding the treatment of anxiety, it would be necessary to speak with your physician before treating the issue with medication. For anxiety, I typically give patients one of the following prior to surgery: 1) Valium 2) Xanax I would not advise freely taking anti-anxiety medications without a prescription. Thank you, and best of luck with the rest of your recovery!

Taking valium a month after facelift

Sometimes plastic surgeons prescribe valium for preop anxiety. It is not what I would use for postop pain management, however. If you are still feeling anxious a month postop, I think you will need to see a psychiatrist who can evaluate you and make a recommendation as to whether you can stop taking this medication "cold turkey" or need something else instead.

Valium for Post Facelift Anxiety

It is totally normal to have anxiety around the time of your facelift surgery and many surgeons judiciously use anti-anxiety medications such as Valium, or the shorter acting drug Versed, during and shortly after surgery. During the first week postop when there are sutures and swelling to deal with Valium is commonly prescribed. It is uncommon to need these medications a month after surgery and it is usually recommended NOT to keep taking the Valium. At this point in surgical recovery a... more

Paul S. Howard, MD

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Birmingham Plastic Surgeon

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Comments (2)

Patient5555 17 Dec 2012

How has your anxiety been? I see you posted this a month ago. I have a similar issue. I am having a lot of anxiety after my facelift. My GP has me on a very low dose xanax regimen that I am tapering off now. I was doing quite well until today where some anxiety has come back. I also had this issue 10 years ago after another surgery. Strangely enough no issue after a knee surgery 4 years ago. I wonder if we react weirdly to being under certain anesthesia.

Maria7500 18 Dec 2012

I'm sorry to know you are having anxiety after your facelift. I'm still having this anxiety problems, my PS told me it was ok to keep taking valium. One thing I'm sure of is that my anxiety problem has nothing to do with the anesthesia but with the fact that he did not do a good job on my facelift. Its been over two momths already and I still see my jawls hanging and my chin sagged and wrinkle and the PS says this is normal. I don't think so, but yet I have no other choice but to wait a few more months to go and get a second opinion. I you believe that your anxiety is due to anesthesia, this means your facelift came out as you expected, if this is the case, congratulations! I hope your issues with your anxiety gets better soon. Thank you for your comment God bless you

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