Benzos - how do you stay functioning on them?

[belfort]

i know anxiety is miserable and benzos do a great job at eliminating the anxiety but from all my experience, benzos come with a few shitty side effects...

1-tiredness...ive tried4-5 different benzos and the end result is always just tiredness..anxiety is less but so is my energy level..makes me wonder how you guys function at work, maintain an active lifestyle while taking benzos?

2-kills sex drive, induces apathy-benzos make me apathetic towards most things, including sex ...does this go away in time or no?if i were to take benzos daily for years on end, i think i would become a recluse that just watched tv and went to work ..how do you guys deal with this problem?on benzos i see no point in talking to women lol..

3-decreased brain functioning-it may clear the racing thoughts but it comes at the cost of decreased cognitive functioning, at least for me..my thinking is much slower and it seems to really dull out my imagination..

so for you daily benzo users, do you just get used to these side effects or have u found ways around them?

 

[Worth]

I think the tiredness would go away with tolerance

2. I think there would be ways around that

3. I also think there is ways around this

Just guessing

 

[Cane2theLeft]

I get the unfortunate side effects you describe on large doses of benzodiazepines (as well as the thienodiazepine etizolam), but not at all in smaller doses. If anything, an anxiolytic dose provides me with more energy because stress/anxiety can really wear you out quickly and effective-stress management with these types of drugs gives me more energy (not amphetamine-like stimulation, but normal energy levels).

Have you been prescribed benzodiazepines and either way, what dose(s) of particular drugs are you taking?

 

[RedRum OG]

lower your dose! if youre getting really tired youre dosing too high. and seriously, benzo tolerance builds fast and the addiction is often claimed to be the worst thing to be addicted to, worse than heroin.

or switch benzos.

you gave us absolutely no information so its hard to say. we dont know what benzo youre on, what dose, how long youve been on it, or how often you take it. so all we can do is speculate

 

[sekio]

Other drugs -> Basic Drug Discussion

 

[Toz]

1. goes away with time/tolerance or reduce your dose.

2. Sex drive remained as crappy as before taking benzos so I don't know. Apathy never went away during the 2 years I used them. But then again I was apathetic before I took benzos so I can't really put the blame on them.

3. Price you pay for using benzos. I felt the same. You will feel more clearheaded in time though, the "fog" does go away, though maybe not completely but at least it lessens alot.

 

[ThaDudeAbides]

Depends what benz you are taking too. Xanax IMHO is best saved for the evening when you are winding down and need to "turn off". Day time I consume Klonopin and it truly gives me energy and makes me a very pleasant person at work to deal with. Infact I've been coming in early to create sick days to use in the future and a nice amount of Kpins keeps me going. I also drink about 1-2 cups of coffee and a Rockstar Recovery drink daily (sometimes two). If you can move around. I find sitting too long tires you out. Especially if your job includes starring at a screen all day (like me). What are the 4-5 benz you have tried and what do you still use/have access to? I've had most of them and I find Kpins are great for work. Everything else is better suited for after work. Although .25mg-.50mg of Xanax works. Anything more is too much.

Also if you are NOT using opiates that will make a huge difference too. It's not a wise combo and by the end of the day you will be faded.

Lastly, many of use "last" simply because of our tolerance and addiction to the pills. I've found some 2-FMA works well.

Good luck. Anxiety/Social Anxiety is very hard to live with and many of us use pills to blanket the issue and get through the day. If you can stick with ONE benzo I think that would be wise. Start low and slowly increase AS NEEDED. There is a huge difference in managing stress and abusing pills.

Pyrazolam or Klonopin IMO are great day time meds to keep calm but not let work get you behind.

 

[MartinFn]

It seems that maybe benzo doesn't suit you, it happens to some people...I don't know if you allready have searched other meds and options, like gabapentin/pregabalin, 5HTP (i think), valerian root, etc.
And well, if benzos are the only thing that help you, maybe you should try to take the least dose you can..
I wish you all the good luck


MartinFn

 

[sonicwhite]

Ummmm, well I look at it this way....If your anxiety is enough that you cannot function without them then you have to chalk it up and just deal with the side effects......Your right if you take them for years you start to just become recluse and that's never good. I would highly be against taking them daily just to see if you can handle the side effects. I no longer get really drowsy but I do. I do have apathy but that can because of all the other psych meds I'm on.....Other then that....anxiety is my worst symptom by far so I don't mind the side effects but I have really been trying to take as less as possible.

 

[Intenselife]

Hmm i've been on 1mg klonopin twice a day for 4 months now without much side effects at all. You didn't write your dosage, and which benzo maybe your doing too much or your dose is to high?

1) I don't really ever feel to tired from the benzos. I feel a lot more calm than before being on them but i never feel overly tired, or even tired on them. Even in the past when i occassionally took a xanax bar or two with no tolerance i would feel more tired but still be able to function. But currently my dose and benzo does not make me feel tired at all or hard to function.

2) I wouldn't really say it's killed sex drive for me, i still have a decent sex life but don't have to have sex as often as before. For me i feel less apathetic than before, the less anxious i am the more i am able to bring out my outgoing side, the more anxious i am the more apathetic i feel (like before being on benzos for awhile).

3) It doesn't impair my coginition and hopefully won't. I respond real quick to things, and my thinking process is just as good as it was before, but a good thing is that my mind doesn't race or worry as much as before.

 

[pasha]

If they're interfering with productivity and cognition, your best bet is to take a short-acting benzodiazepine before sleep only.

If you need to be anxiety free during the day, take a long-acting benzodiazepine before you sleep. This way some of the other properties may fade away leaving you only with anxiolysis. I personally found that this works since for me, anxiolysis is the last property to fade away.

 

[opiatekrzy]

im on methadone maintenance, and when I was taking benzos I wuld be so tired and be in bed by 5pm, my dad had to wake me up everyhour to make sure I woke up in the morning and didn't die, I know I was real tired, I imagine a lot of benzos a day will make u tired and lazy