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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

Best benzo for anxiety?

L

ldawg616

Bluelighter
Joined
Jan 25, 2012
Messages
261
Doctor prescribed me klonopin, but that just makes me sleepy an doesn't help with anxiety. What would you recomend?
 
What kind of anxiety?

Ativan (lorazepam) is much quicker acting, but also has a shorter half-life. I find it very effective at dealing with panic attacks, but not lasting all day (which I find clonazepam is excellent for). Xanax (alprazolam) also has a quick onset and short duration, but is more "pushy" and therefore abusable than Ativan is, so may not be the best option. Valium (diazepam) is another long-lasting benzo that is quite good for anxiety.

These are the most popular ones in the US, however there are many more options. Someone w/ better knowledge about the variety of benzos may have a better suggestion for you.

However, this is something you should take up with your doctor - tell him exactly what about the clonazepam doesn't meet your needs and (s)he should be able to efficiently determine what you should be using. If benzos in general just make you too tired, perhaps you're looking to the wrong class of drug. I find that when the side-effect profile dominates the primary purpose of the drug, it's not something that I actually need.
 
klonopin makes me feel NORMAL. i have to take other shit on top of it for sleep. if i were you i would look into vistaril or gabapentin, or maybe an ssri w/ buspar.
 
There have been tons and tons of threads on this topic. Everybody is different...we don't know what benzo will work best for you because we're not your doctor.

If your Klonopin (clonazepam) isn't doing the trick, speak with your doctor about switching you to another medication...
 
personally i liked xanax for anxiety....i was also prescribed valium as a muscle relaxant but noticed it kept me calm fairly well, just took about 30 min on me to reach full effect versus xanax only taking a few minutes
 
I stick to Diaz as due to its long half life and if I need to come off I'm already on the right one. The long half life leaves me with little issue with needing to redose all the time. I think Xanax would turn me into a zombie in no time due to my potential to continually redose
 
Klonipin is usually what I'd recommend for anxiety, but it does not sit well with some people for whatever reason. If it is making you sleepy, and not helping with the anxiety, Xanax might not be a bad option. Xanax is very good at relieving anxiety and panic, and it does so quickly, but only lasts for a relatively short period of time compared to other benzos like Klonipin. Ativan might work, because it does do good with anxiety, but is rather sedating, and can be a bit "disorienting" in higher doses. Ativan's effects last somewhere in between Klonipin's and Xanax's. Valium is not as potent a benzo, and is good with anxiety, but can be sedating as well. Basically, it is trial and error for everyone, benzos are so alike in some ways, so it is hard to say which would be best. I might give Xanax a shot though, if I were you.
 
Xanax is the best for anxiety, but it comes with a high risk of addiction. All benzo's are physically addicting, but the short acting ones are the hardest to maintain in my experience, as you grow a fast tolerance, and start to experience inter-dose withdrawal, which sucks. If you're doctor would go for it, I think clonazepam and a short acting benzo like Xanax or Ativan for break through anxiety (when the clonazepam just doesn't cut it) would work out good. But only if you really took the short acting ones as needed.
 
^yes. if it is take as needed and not for everyday use, i'd strongly recommend asking about ativan. IME, it is superior to xanax for breakthrough anxiety.
 
I find clonazepam to be the best for anxiety and the sleepiness does go away. But if you don't wanna bother with that i would recommend valium. It's fairly fast acting and builds up in your system so you can feel some anti-anxiety effects awile after you take it
 
didnt mention i got to the point where i'd go through a script of 60 2mg bars in 3 days.....do the math....i was blacked out for 3 days in a row once a month when i'd refill my script, then the rest of the month having anxiety with nothing to do about it since i abused the xannies so much
 
I have Gad and severe social anxiety

Well my aptt is in 2 weeks to see how things are going, but i wanna set up one sooner to try and get ativan, beause i dont think he would go for xanax, but u never know, he could

any suggestions?
 
We can't tell you how to get any particular drug prescribed, and we don't know what would suit you best as NT said - your best bet is to talk it through with your doctor.

If you have GAD (as opposed to panic disorder) then something longer acting would be better than Xanax or Ativan..

Overall though benzos reallty aren't a long-term solution, tolerance and addiction get in the way.. have you tried any other things, CBT, other forms of therapy etc?
 
Honestly, all benzos are good for anxiety. However:

If you want a fast onset,
Triazolam, clonazepam, alprazolam

Long duration,
Diazepam, clonazepam, chlorodiazepoxide

Intermediate duration,
Temazepam, lorazepam.

As you can see, there are many, many different benzos. Just ask your doc what might be the best for your symptoms.
 
Over here in the U.K the first line of treatment seems to be SSRI's/SNRI's even though these can take weeks/months to work and come with a complete range of side effects yet they are not considered as addictive as Benzos so i sort of understand the reason why G.P's go down this route.

Yet personally Diazepam seems to work the best for me (well it used to before tolerance)... Starts to work within 30 minutes and can last for a day or 2! Also i discovered Flunitrazepam which i know is considered strong and is also associated with date rape etc but is an amazing great anti- anxiolytic, jst last year i had a particular anxiety inducing event coming up that i may of even considered avoiding all together, yet with my limited knowledge of certain Benzos and there half lives and duration of action i dosed on the Flunitrazepam the day before the BIG event so on the day i was completely 'with it' yet my anxiety was kept under control. :)
 
xanax or ativan for anxiety that comes on quick and strong, like a sudden panic attack. Those two are very quick acting and not very long lasting so they work perfect for those situations.

If you instead have anxiety that is rather constant, some form of generalized anxiety disorder, perhaps clonazepam would be better suited as it has a much longer half life.

in the end I'd say xanax, ativan and clonazepam probably all work about the same for anxiety but its the difference between taking multiple small doses of xanax (0.35mg or 0.5mg) throughout the day or taking clonzepam less frequently but perhaps in a bit of a higher dose (0.5mg - 1mg)

If you are going to be taking the meds during the day you may also simply want ot go with the one that rids you of anxiety but also leaves you the most functioning cognitively and least drowsy.
 
Alprazolam is wonderful for anxiety, one of the best benzos for it IMO. I'm prescribed the ER formula so it literally lasts all day if not into the next morning. Alprazolam ER is definitely my recommendation for generalized anxiety, and alprazolam IR for panic attacks.
 
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