Benzos Looking to get my anxiety under control, not looking to get high.

[mal3volent]

My issue is, I was on lorazepam 1mg 3 times a day as needed. For the longest time this was helping me. But recently I got to the point where i was needing to take more than my daily allowance to get any relief and it was no longer helping me sleep either. My doctor switched me to .5mg clonazepam 2 times a day as needed. She told me it was a more powerful drug and suggested I start out taking half of one pill to see how it affected me (.25mg)..... Absolutely nothing. I then tried the suggested dosage for a couple of days and noticed only very minor effects... A warm sensation in my upper nasal region, tingling sensations, etc, but as far as actual relief of my anxiety I was not satisfied. It does help with my sleep moderately better than the lorazepam, but it is actually worse at preventing my anxiety "episodes", even after increasing to .5mg 3 times per day.

I guess Im just confused because I always heard lorazepam was the weakest benzo out there, and was expecting the kpins to be more effective for me. If i had to choose right now I would go back to the lorazepam but to be honest I feel as though I need some other drug that is perhaps stronger and has a shorter duration than the kpins... But I realize it might be difficult to make this happen as something like xanex is hard to come by and tightly regulated for good reason.

I have also been through probably ten or twelve different anti deppressant meds plus buspar and have sworn them off because of all the side effects which were quite severe with me. I know these meds can help a lot of individuals but I dont feel as if I am happier on them than when Im not. I feel as though a purely anti anxiety med that is not also a ssri or something similaris the best course of action for me.

Again, Im not looking to abuse these medications as I have legitimate anxiety problems that I have been battling for years and years. Do any of you have any advice as to what I should do? Does anyone else have a stronger reaction to lorazepam than clonazepam even though it is technically a weaker drug?

Thank you for any help.

 

[budsnbars712]

Well, I can tell you that I am almost in the same situation with xanax. I am prescribed 2 mg's a day but take .5 (5 times a day). So I take an extra .5 because, like you said, tolerance is going up and more is needed. I am also thinking about changing to clonazepam.

Now refering to your question about the stronger reaction to the lorazepam than clonazepam, this is just because you have a tolerance already and are used to the lorazepam. You need a higher dose of clonazepam if the dosage is not working for your anxiety. I am not sure what the equivalency of both are but if it isn't doing its job, then you need a higher dose. You also might be also looking out for the same type of symptoms that the lorazepam gave you and just receive different effects from the clonazepam and are not accustomed to them yet...

I do not recommend xanax as I am on that now and after being on it for a couple years, I suffer from rebound anxiety as soon as it wears off. Xanax is the crack of the benzo's because you can feel it the most and has horrible side effects. Also, very addicting.

Personally, I do not feel a thing from lorazepam, but I was also looking to float the one time I took it, because I was withdrawing from xanax. Now clonazepam I felt. It is slightly weaker than xanax. I personally would stick to the clonazepam and simply tell your doctor that the dosage does not relieve the effects like the lorazepam did. Ask if it possible to try a slightly higher dosage to see if this fits your needs. If you put it this way to the doctor, they will see that you are there for legitimate reasons and most likely will not deny you. If you go back to lorazepam, u will need higher doses as your body is used to is and also, you will need to dose more frequently as it is short acting just like xanax.

The only other thing I can think of is try Valium (diazapam), but many doctors do not approve of that anymore as it was the original benzo and is looked at with an evil eye. It is long acting though...

 

[bunge]

I would agree with the above poster regarding maybe looking at diazepam your only issue might be your tolerance to lorazepam as 1mg lorazepam is equivalent to about 10mg diazepam and 30mg a day while not high dosage by recreational standards is high by therapeutic standards. However diazepam is fantastic at relieving anxiety and you may need less once you have started to acculmulate some. Where im from clonazepam is only licenced for use in epilepsy and alprazolam isnt generally availible so I cant give any personal experience with them. I would hazard a guess though that the reason the clonazepam isnt really helping is because its so long acting and your used to the much shorter acting lorazepam. Being shorter acting doesnt mean its effects arent as strong as long acting one, just look at alprazolam or even midazolam. I believe the route some doctors take is to give a long acting benzo like clonazepam to cover general anxiety with a short acting benzo like alprazolam as needed for anxiety/panic attacks. The diazepam might be the good middle ground though because its effective for panic attacks but also has 'legs'.
Temazepam might be useful to you. its moderate in length of action and is as effective at relieving anxiety as diazepam. It also is an effective hypnotic at slighty higer doses so should help with sleep. Beware though the temazepam is known to be one of the worst benzos to withdraw from and has resulted in nasty seizures and even death when discontinued too quickly.

 

[Jabberwocky]

I think that diazepam would be a viable option for you. Considering you're not abusing the benzos and are taking them correctly, it would be more suited. The main reason for this is that it is a fast onset benzo - taking under an hour to reach its peak. I think this is the difficulty you're facing with the clonazepam in that it takes a long time for it to take effect. Lorazepam is also a short onset benzo which is why it probably helped you out in a more efficient way too.

You've said that you want a benzo with a shorter durations hich is perfectly understandable so maybe diazepam would not be a great option. Have you considered taking bromazepam? Is it availiable in your country? Personally, I found that for anxiety purposes this is by far the best benzo to be taking. I too suffer from anxiety problems, and used to take a variety of benzos. I also found to tackle anxiety during the day wih little cloud fog if bromazepam is not availiable is oxazepam. It's onset is relatively fast and won't impair your thinking too much. These you could give a try and see how you like them. If you're really unsatisfied with them, perhaps you should just go back to lorazepam. If you use bromazepam or oxazepam, they aren't very powerful sleep inducers so may want to ask for a hypnotic benzo too such as temazepam or nitrazepam. The combination of the two may be very helpful - personally when I had bromazepam and temazepam, it was the best for reducsng my anxiety and letting me sleep.

I think the combination of two benzos is frowned upon however it is the most effective at treating anxiety disorders and sleep disorders. You can't have one benzo to fix all in my opinion as anxiety and insomnia are different. Too powerful a benzo and you'll be a walking zombie all day, too weak and you can't sleep. Perhaps look into that method - ask for a more hypnotic benzo at night time. Many payciatrists prescribe two at the same time, hell I was even given three.

I know you've tried buspar and had no luck - it worked wonders for me and I instead switched off to that.

I would suggest lyrica, but honestly, if you ever wanted to come off these drugs that one is an absolute nightmare.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

Exercise works better than benzos IME.

 

[bunge]

^
Happy that my advice was on the right track.lol i didnt think of oxazepam though but its a metabolite of d iu azeoam so I guess that covers it (in a minor way.lol). Bromazepam is an interesting one, ive never ran into it before, only heard rumors. Thats hardly surprising though since im based in uk anti-benzo capitol of the world.lol OP have you tried any of the z-drugs before for sleep? Zopiclone is quite effective and has a good anxiolytic profile. Its fiendisly addictive though (at least for me.lol) and tolerance rises quickly so not so often is best for it to remain effective.

 

[Lady Codone]

Unfortunately, benzos can have major cross-tolerance. Tolerance rises quickly whether you're using them for legit medical reasons or to get high. The only thing I'm aware of that helps is taking a few days off ever so often so your tolerance can go down.

Valerian root and kava are very helpful anxiety/sleep aids with benzo-like effects. Not saying you should try them, but maybe you could use them on your days off if your anxiety got bad. (Do NOT combine with benzos).

 

[mal3volent]

I think that diazepam would be a viable option for you. Considering you're not abusing the benzos and are taking them correctly, it would be more suited. The main reason for this is that it is a fast onset benzo - taking under an hour to reach its peak. I think this is the difficulty you're facing with the clonazepam in that it takes a long time for it to take effect. Lorazepam is also a short onset benzo which is why it probably helped you out in a more efficient way too.

You've said that you want a benzo with a shorter durations hich is perfectly understandable so maybe diazepam would not be a great option. Have you considered taking bromazepam? Is it availiable in your country? Personally, I found that for anxiety purposes this is by far the best benzo to be taking. I too suffer from anxiety problems, and used to take a variety of benzos. I also found to tackle anxiety during the day wih little cloud fog if bromazepam is not availiable is oxazepam. It's onset is relatively fast and won't impair your thinking too much. These you could give a try and see how you like them. If you're really unsatisfied with them, perhaps you should just go back to lorazepam. If you use bromazepam or oxazepam, they aren't very powerful sleep inducers so may want to ask for a hypnotic benzo too such as temazepam or nitrazepam. The combination of the two may be very helpful - personally when I had bromazepam and temazepam, it was the best for reducsng my anxiety and letting me sleep.

I think the combination of two benzos is frowned upon however it is the most effective at treating anxiety disorders and sleep disorders. You can't have one benzo to fix all in my opinion as anxiety and insomnia are different. Too powerful a benzo and you'll be a walking zombie all day, too weak and you can't sleep. Perhaps look into that method - ask for a more hypnotic benzo at night time. Many payciatrists prescribe two at the same time, hell I was even given three.

I know you've tried buspar and had no luck - it worked wonders for me and I instead switched off to that.

I would suggest lyrica, but honestly, if you ever wanted to come off these drugs that one is an absolute nightmare.

I am going to check out diazepam. My anxiety comes and goes in short intense spurts, so the clonazepam which takes a while to feel and then last the entire day isnt cutting it. When I was on the lorazepam I could feel relief within minutes, which is what I needed. I havent heard of the other benzos you mentioned, but I will definitely look into them. and like I said Im a little apprehensive about bringing up specific drugs to my doc bc im afraid shell think I want them for the wrong reasons.

Does anyone know how to handle that exactly? Telling your doc youve done some research and you think this might be the right course? Idk... I usually just gi with what she suggests.

 

[CinnamonGirl]

Here a PAM there a PAM everywhere a PAM. PAM. Why don't you people just use the name brand? It's very confusing reading, IMO.8(

Anywho...IME with benzos, Valium has worked best for me. Coming in 2nd would be Ativan. Last place-Xanax. Bad bad bad.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Jabberwocky]

well - with my psychiatrist for anxiety i regularly told him that i researched the medication he was giving me and others that may help my condition. as such he obliged with my requests as they were not too unreasonable (i wasn't asking for obscene things, but rather drugs from the same family that i was already taking).

with my current psychiatrist its much the same. i was first put on ritalin for adhd, and researched more drugs that could help people with ADHD as it was not working well at all - and came to the conclusion of adderall and strattera. he quickly told me that it wasn't availiable in the UK however dexamphetamine was, and if i wanted i could try strattera as it was also available. i then agreed to try dexamphetamine and voila he prescribed it for me. with regards to a tablet to helping me sleep, i had said that i tried many different benzos which were ineffective (at first he was going to give me zopiclone and i told him i'd taken it in the past and had horrible metal mouth the next day) and told him i had taken zolpidem in the past which really helped, again i was prescribed it. i don't think they really have problems with you doing your research on medications unless they are really farfetched and not applicable to your problem. thats just my personal experience anyway.

 

[Engage]

From experiencing this and reading dozens and dozens of reports and forum discussions, I think benzos are very much overused and overprescribed. They never last, can exacerbate problems and have a dodgy, unreliable record of whether or not they cause permanent brain damage. All that, leads me to steer clear.

'Steer clear! Steeeeer Cleeeear!"
What movie was that on? Hmm....

 

[michael]

you haven't mentioned if you've tried therapy or not. taking benzos is going to fuck you in the long run. they are (or should be) for short term use. daily use is no bueno.

 

[bunge]

@CinnamonGirl the reason I think of of us use the actual chemical name rather then the brand is because brand names change from country to country while the chemical name is a universal constant, thereby causing less confusion and less mistaken indentity.

 

[t6apb]

surely benzos are just a very short term solution, i have slight anxiety and do enjoy benzos for there intended use and help me through situations i would otherwise find uncomfortable.

but i would never use daily and form a habit of being on them all the time (as nice as that sounds) just not worth it in the long run.

you have to face your anxiety head on, fight it, get used to it, anything other than daily benzo use. easier said than done of course iknow :/

why do we have the horrible burden of anxiety? i envy anxiety free people so much, are their lives like being on benzos all the time? minus the sedation of course

 

[crazycatman]

Short term benzos work to reduce anxiety. Nobody can really dispute that, but..

Long term your resistance slowly (faster if you abuse them for fun) increases, eventually your usual dose just keeps the wds at by while doing nothing else that would be considered usefull.

In the end you end up taking huge amounts to feel ok. Now that wouldn't be that bad, but they also reduce cognitive capacity with long term use, there are possible links with cancer (as far as I know there's no real proof so far). Oh and if you run out and can't get any more you're in shit and may even die.

Long term benzo use should only be considered as a last alternative if everything else fails.

If I were you, I'd try slowly tapering down my use, eventually saving them for 1 or 2 per week when your problems are the worse (1 or 2 per week should avoid most of the bad sides).

ps
And yeah, it sucks that there aren't any gaba drugs you could take indefinitely without bad sides and no addiction. Maybe some day...

 

[t6apb]

see i never even knew i had anxiety till i tried a benzo for the first time... weird eh

wish i never discovered them