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The "Best" Anxiolytic?

Inds said:
All benzos are short-term relievers, it's not something you can take every day. This is useless for general anxiety. I get that the effects are not linear, 75mg of ecstasy did nothing for me yet 110 had me rolling balls but my problem with bromazepam is what the effects ultimately manifest themselves as; that is, they limit your cognitive function which kills anxiety as a side effect. May as well just cut off your head if you wanna truly be cured in that case. When I took 1mg lora, it neutralized most of my anxiety and *some* of my cognitive function, so it served well for temporary relief but this is useless for long-term use which ends in brain damage.
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Benzos don't give you brain damage...If you want to be worried about something I would be worried about the ecstacy you mentioned, since it is actually physically and mentally toxic.
 
devilsgospel said:
Benzos don't give you brain damage...If you want to be worried about something I would be worried about the ecstacy you mentioned, since it is actually physically and mentally toxic.
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Diazepam has been proven to shrink your brain after a year of use. This is fact. Yeah, ecstasy is bad for you, duh. The difference is you don't do ecstasy every day for a whole year.
 
^that's not a reliable marker for neurotoxicity. There was this cut back in the 90's, taken one time results in rapid progression of Parkinson's disease.
 
Your brain shrinking is not a reliable marker of any real damage, yeah, ok.
 
Inds said:
Diazepam has been proven to shrink your brain after a year of use. This is fact. Yeah, ecstasy is bad for you, duh. The difference is you don't do ecstasy every day for a whole year.
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This is far from "a fact."

Here is the full info:

In 1987, 17 high-dose inpatient abusers of benzodiazepines have anecdotally shown enlarged cerebrospinal fluid spaces with associated brain shrinkage. Brain shrinkage reportedly appeared to be dose dependent with low-dose users having less brain shrinkage than higher-dose users.


However, a CT study in 1987 found no evidence of brain shrinkage in prescribed benzodiazepine users.


A CT study in 1993 investigated brain damage in benzodiazepine users and found no overall differences to a healthy control group.


A study in 2000 found that long-term benzodiazepine therapy does not result in brain abnormalities.

So this "fact" of yours is based on one single study of only 17 high dose benzo abusers in 1987. A study in the same year and multiple studies thereafter showed that brain shrinkage does not occur in prescribed users who do not abuse their medication.

If you are worried about brain damage from benzodiazepines simply refrain from abusing them. Therapeutic benzodiazepine use has existed for many decades and is safe. The only real danger to concern yourself with is withdrawal, but with a medically supervised taper this too is merely an uncomfortable inconvenience.

I hope if you buy into this much scaremongering about benzos you are at least consistent with other substances. The effects of alcohol on the brain and body are far worse than benzos after all.
 
Inds said:
Your brain shrinking is not a reliable marker of any real damage, yeah, ok.
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The brain shrinks a lot from teenage years to early adulthood, however cognitive abilities and emotional regulation abilities only increase. Brain volume isn't all its chalked up to be. If amygdala volume shrunk in an anxiety/PTSD patient, that could actually correlate with beneficial effects as well

CY
 
bptubbs, Wilson and Cotcha, thanks for the info. Yes, the study I referred to was about daily use of diazepam if I remember right. I know you're not supposed to use benzos regularly but that is kind of the whole point. They are useless for consistent treatment of anxiety if you can only use them for special occassions. Preventing a panic attack is one thing, lysis of general anxiety is another. It's useless both for me and the OP if we can only use them once a week. This lorazepam I'm on actually makes my anxiety worse the next day and I am not abusing it.
And yes I am consistent with my skepticism of all drugs. I'm very cautious of doing more damage to my body than I have to and you should all be as well, it's a harm reduction site after all.
 
Inds I too find benzos useless and counterproductive for daily anxiety for the same reasons. I don't get panic attacks, I'm sure I would start to with a benzo script however.
 
I use a low dose of diazepam not daily but certainly fairly frequently and it's never caused any issue with rebound anxiety. All that's happened is I got a tolerance to the sedative effects which is a good thing for functional use anyway. It's not become less effective at easing general anxiety.

Potent short-acting benzos like alprazolam are a different animal though. I'd put lorazepam in this category too. I wouldn't say it's suitable for daily use since it's potent and short-to-mid-acting and will therefore hit hard and cause rebound anxiety once it's worn off.
 
Wilson, what is the dosage and how often do you take it? If you develop a tolerance to the sedation, don't you get insomnia later?
 
5-10mg diazepam as needed. I use it maximum three times a week but often I won't take any at all for weeks.

I've been doing this for years now with no problems. It keeps my GAD in check when I use it sensibly.

I get no insomnia or rebound anxiety. I sleep like a baby even when I've not used the diazepam for a week or more. Other benzos especially alprazolam caused those problems but not diazepam. Due to its low potency and long half-life it's very forgiving if you don't abuse it.

Other factors are at play too, I had cognitive behavioural therapy for my anxiety which helped me reduce my reliance on benzos and stop my thoughts spiralling out of control so often in the first place, but it's still nice to have diazepam there when I need it. I no longer look at it as the first solution for anxiety but the mere fact I know it's there if it's needed is comforting.
 
^ Interesting, I had the opposite experience.

Since diazepam has a very long half life and a few active metabolites it will keep stacking up in your body even if you don't take it everyday, alprazolam doesn't really have that problem.
As an anecdote, I used to take a low dose of diazepam a couple of times a week (max) and I suffered from rebound anxiety for about a week or two after I stopped taking them, the symptoms started about 3 to 5 days after my last dose (I do have a fast metabolism though).
We're all different but I've done the same thing with alprazolam with no issues whatsoever, as long as I don't take them everyday
 
It definitely depends on individual brain chemistry.

I find even using alprazolam once will usually give me rebound anxiety afterwards, and using it a few times a week is going to make that worse and cause mild insomnia even if it's not used daily. Alprazolam is essentially the crack of benzos. It's something I'd only use for a panic attack where the fast onset and potency are really needed.

I found with diazepam that even though it has all those metabolites, because it leaves my body slowly I have no such issues with it.
 
Benzodiazepines, hands down. Nasty stuff to get into, but if your someone like me who has had crippling anxiety literally half their life just stepping outside, it's a godsend. 2 mg Xanax completely murders my anxiety. I actually become aggressively uninhibited. 1 mg of my prescribed Klonopin almost completely neutralizes my social anxiety, even after 3 years tolerance. Aside from this class of drugs, I would say GHB, Pregabalin, and Phenibut are runner-ups.
 
Ho-Chi-Minh said:
-you've tried many benzos

-you've tried the barbs

-you've tried atypical GABAergics

-you've tried xyrem

-you refuse to be sated, and need to stabilize on something that will work as a therapy, and not for recreation

-you don't seem to understand that there is no real "magic bullet" of the like you're used to
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Tried the bromazepam, 6mg. Ineffective. No side effects, but ineffective. I think Lyrica might be the best bet at the moment since there quite clearly is no magic bullet. Urgh. Honestly I could get off the anti anxiety drugs, the stimulants, maybe even cut down my cigarette/coffee consumption if I had a decent opiate---I feel like this all stems from pain and stress, and Transtec patches and Sublimaze patches are worth shit. Morphine makes me itch. I want my hydromorphone back. I probably WILL be getting it back.
 
Wilson Wilson said:
I didn't know they still prescribed those for outpatient use!

I've never used any heroin pharmaceutical or otherwise but the opiates I have used - codeine, DHC, tramadol, morphine, oxy - all did absolute wonders for my anxiety. When I need to take a break from benzos I will use codeine or DHC for a bit instead because they help the benzo withdrawal and treat the underlying anxiety very well until tolerance develops. Always the bugger with opiates that is, certainly no long-term solution for anxiety but when they work they work well.
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THIS. If I had my opiate dose raised or changed (I'm temporarily on Transtec which is bloody murder), I could throw the benzos down the loo without a second thought. That applies to my barbs and my Lyrica and even half my cigarettes. I want Morphacetin or Palladone - and I'm positive I'll get it.

Bromazepam was promising but petered out fast. It had no side effects... WONDERFUL!... it didn't have the intended effect... TERRIBLE!

It's funny - opiates are truly the best anxiolytic for a pain patient who needs them anyway. I'd be happy to switch back to twice a day Palladone. Except for the fact that it causes... lower-body issues when giving someone the ultimate reward. The fire button on my joystick doesn't work, if you catch my drift.
 
JK25 said:
Fuck whatever anyone says, Midazolam will always top any other Benzo, yes Diazepam included (urg too long half life, too many active metabolites what what)

Because of Midazolam's water solubility, it is the FASTEST acting, HARDEST hitting Benzo out there. Also with a half-life of 2.5 to 6 hours ma. You can fuck out on dat 7 on crystal, drink 30mg of Midazolam and within 15-20 mins taken P.O. on an empty stomach and bam!!
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Versed?
 
Changed my mind. Will try tofisopam, which is a non-addictive atypical benzodiazepine, then if that doesn't work it'll be Klonopin. What I want is a benzo "sample pack" so I can try a bit of everything and see what works best.
 
Thanks for keeping us updated. Stay in touch.
From a quick lookup, tofisopam seems to be a benzo without retard-inducing effects. It sounds promising. Definitely adding it to my list and scratching off bromazepam.
 
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