• BASIC DRUG
    DISCUSSION
    Welcome to Bluelight!
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    Benzo Chart Opioids Chart
    Drug Terms Need Help??
    Drugs 101 Brain & Addiction
    Tired of your habit? Struggling to cope?
    Want to regain control or get sober?
    Visit our Recovery Support Forums
  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards

Effexor and anxiety question

Zombartie

Zombartie

Bluelighter
Joined
Jul 29, 2010
Messages
135
Location
Silicon Valley
First of all, whats up everybody.
As you might of noticed I just joined the forum because I have a great deal
of insight about drugs (recreational and regular). Also I have many unanswered
questions myself.

I have had horrible anxiety and social phobia ever since I came to America from Russia. Just stress of new language, school, etc.

I finally decided to get help and talk to a real doctor. Sadly she was not the best one and put me on Prozac for my anxiety when I was not depressed in any way. Yes, I researched and found its also anxiolitic however it is nothing for my social phobia. She then Switched me to Effexor (worst drug in my opinion). Made my anxiety 10 times worth. I did not want to go college because all I thought about was how to prevent my self to not get red in the face and stop my heart rate. It was awful so I stopped taking it even after trying it for the 2 weeks.

I cannot believe doctors here in America cannot actually prescribe Benzo's just because they are themselves pressured my the board.

Anyways, sorry for long post but my real question is should I start myself on a regimen of Xanax (I could get it from a friend for a decent price). I m not trying to abuse it...this anxiety is just ruining my life. I, in fact tryed every other option such as Kava, Valerian Root, even ridiculous yoga (lol) with no luck.
Also what is the best Benzo in your opinion for social anxiety?

Thank you very much. Any input is appreciated
 
My girlfriend and I suffer from anxiety problems. Non-drug methods we use to deal with it include breathing techniques, distracting ourselves, getting into our creative areas (music, art, etc...), exercise is really good for reducing overall anxiety levels as well.

You've tried kava and valerian with no luck... mulungu I have found can help with social anxiety but don't dose too much or you will be knocked out.

Seeing a therapist has really helped me to challenge my anxiety and deal with it better.

As for the best benzo for social anxiety, I prefer a short acting one, so something like xanax helps. I don't believe benzos are a good long term solution though, and other methods should be tried to deal with the anxiety as a long-term solution.
 
When I took Xanax I took 2 mg a day as needed usually at .5 doses.. Then I changed it to 1.5 in the morning and .5 in the afternoon. I took klonopin at bedtime which is a long acting to take the edge off in between Xanax doses. The combo worked great for me. I stopped having panic attacks so I switched my Xanax for Valium. Now I take Valium and klonopin to keep my anxiety at bay. If you want to talk about it feel free to pm me. I know how bad untreated anxiety can fuck your life up! I wish you the best of luck.

One word of advice... If you are not getting the Xanax scripted to you try to avoid addiction in case your friend runs out.. Benzo wds suck and I would hate for you to suffer that... Also go to another dr tell him what you tried and say you don't want anti depressants but only medication to take "as needed" then you will be more likely to get what you need!
 
Thanks for the helpful reply Violenza.

I hate to medicate myself without a doctors supervision but hey sometimes you gotta do it
otherwise I feel miserable. I am currently looking for a good psychiatrist because maybe I just
need to talk to someone that knows their shit.

In the past Xanies def helped but so short acting. Never experienced WD symptoms and afraid of them so i m gona take it easy for now
 
I know how it feels to have to self medicate I have been there!!! You might need klonopin and Xanax to get the job done... Nobody should suffer from untreated anxiety!!! Get some of your friends Xanax for now but definatly seek out another dr. Like I said pm me if you need some help or need to talk!
 
the media has done a very good job at scaring docs away from benzos. this is why everyone you know and their mother is on a reuptake inhibitor of some sort. however, there is evidence that adding a benzo for the first 6 weeks of SSRI treatment to get thorough the initial anxiety increase, insomnia and general crappy feeling. its also supposed to speed up response to the SSRI. this assumes an SSRI is best for you. sadly, you might beginning what many people call the med merry-go-round, where you will try everything under the sun except benzos and if you respond to nothing, then maybe benzos will be used. good luck and i hope you find help soon. be safe.

Fletchacet
 
 
Last edited:
Seriously, try all alternatives before benzos.. they are soooooooo addictive...

ask your doctor for hydroxyzine (Atarax) 100mg morning mid-day and evening... its an anti-histamine which is also an anxiolytic, weaker than benzos, yes, but its not addictive at all, and any doc will prescribe it...

SNRI's for anxiety are a bit like russian roullette, it might work, it might not, but every time you have to wait a month for it to start working, or not working in some cases...

I'm detoxing off benzos, and muscle relaxers and neuroleptics, and i'm going to try to replace all these meds with "Maprotiline" (Ludiomil) an SNRI that "apparantly" according to my doc and wikipedia, helps with anxiety, insomnia, and depression... so i'm hoping to instead of takin all these different addictive meds, to just take this one SNRI, but i've been on it for over a month, and i havn't noticed any diffference, i still get depresssed, insomnia, and sometimes anxiety, allthough the anxiety is often when i've done too much drugs lol...
 
Yea I don't think anti-depressants are for me at all...even tho there are so many out there is no
way possible to try em all. Prozac made me talkative and just weird. Effexor worsened my anxiety by 10 fold, i slept only 5 hours max and my eyes felt like they were exploding if i looked at the sun. I tried my friends Lexapro...no effect on anxiety. Seroquel (antipsychopic) actually made me really sedated which really helped with night anxiety, but overwise did nothing for social phobia.

There are other prescribed ones that I tried but nothing helped until I try a high dose of Gabapentin. I felt alive, colors were enxansed and I could actually give a 5 min speech in front of college audience without shitting my pants. However most people know Gaba does not treat long term anxiety problems, its more of a muscle relaxer. Next step was to try Vicodin and I hated it because it gave me a headache at first, however after I tried it a couple more times it made me feel euphoric, brought my heart rate down and I was loving it.

Due to toxicity of tylenol in it and addiction potential I discontinued using it.

Now I am stuck with only one valuable friend which is Xanax. I just tried it recently and it is the only stuff that really works. Def made me lethargic and sleepy at some point but I would rather be a lil sleepy than jittery with never-ending negative thoughts, anxiety and worry about what others think about.

Still thinking if I should get clonazepam instead 2morrow since its longer half-life. Zanies only seem to work for a bit and then gotta redose.
Also does anybody know if smoking cigs actually affects absorbtion of xanax in a neg way?

Thank you guys
 
phatass said:
Seriously, try all alternatives before benzos.. they are soooooooo addictive...

ask your doctor for hydroxyzine (Atarax) 100mg morning mid-day and evening... its an anti-histamine which is also an anxiolytic, weaker than benzos, yes, but its not addictive at all, and any doc will prescribe it...

SNRI's for anxiety are a bit like russian roullette, it might work, it might not, but every time you have to wait a month for it to start working, or not working in some cases...

I'm detoxing off benzos, and muscle relaxers and neuroleptics, and i'm going to try to replace all these meds with "Maprotiline" (Ludiomil) an SNRI that "apparantly" according to my doc and wikipedia, helps with anxiety, insomnia, and depression... so i'm hoping to instead of takin all these different addictive meds, to just take this one SNRI, but i've been on it for over a month, and i havn't noticed any diffference, i still get depresssed, insomnia, and sometimes anxiety, allthough the anxiety is often when i've done too much drugs lol...
Click to expand...

^ Excellent post. You totally have the right idea, and that is REALLY good advice. Hydroxyzine (Atarax) works wonders for anxiety, and I was only on 10mg qhs for after my benzodiazepine withdrawal.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top