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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards

HELP. I have GAD & im torn between whether i should turn to Xanax.

A

Anon54

Ex-Bluelighter
Joined
Jun 11, 2010
Messages
861
Ive been diagnosed with general anxiety disorder.
no medication ive tried has made me anxiety free enough to feel well enough to wanna go out get a job.

im prescribed currently Seroquel off-label for anxiety & insomnia. Ive been offered xanax. maybe 0.5-1mg a day which isnt alot really.

I have an addictive personality. I get benzos sometimes from ppl i know. & i take on average 75mg of valium. or 150mg of temazepam if i wanna take them recreationally. So keep in mind there is some occasions where i will be tempted to dose be dose 4mg. but only for emergencies. like come-downs or hangovers.

I only plan to use the xanax every few days. maybe 2mg a dose but am i making a big mistake here?
i know it will work great for the short term but do u think it will eventually make my anxiety worse?

on another note. im curious as to how much xanax, valium or temazepam a dr is aloud to prescribe to take daily?

anyways...

this is a really though one to answer.

if I DO use them responsibility. could it be a good idea.
i mean the worst thing that would happen if i go through them to quick & have to detox for a while for my next script. im thinking that i wouldnt get prescribed enough to get seriously addicted anyway. I just wouldnt have the supply.

hypothetically if I DO use them responsibility when I have really important things to do & my anxiety has got me strung out to the point where i fuck things up cuz im so anxious. Hypothetically could it be beneficial or is xanax simply the worst thing i could get on to treat anxiety.

I know how controversial this is & I cant make up my mind whether im going to get the first script.
i might add ive been using benzos occasionally for quite a while without ever building a physical dependence & ive never had w/ds.

I might also add if i ever do feel rebound anxiety which i find hard to cope with i'd like the believe Id stop them straight away. But I dont know if it would be that easy.

so id like to hear opinions of ppl who have been scripted benzos for anxiety & whether is has been a good decision or something u regret ever starting!

edit: i might like to add that i do have a "mild" addictive personality. Ive been addicted to codeine cwe. & use oxy twice a month which ive never felt addicted too. It wouldnt bother me if i never had it again unless im in pain ofcourse of which i want atleast 80mg but I have had the will power to quit smoking & i dont drink anymore or take stimulants.
 
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Xanax will indeed work wonders for anxiety. Xanax also is easily abused and mismanaged. I would suggest trying clonazepam instead, because when taken as directed you arent going to get the "high" that you may feel from xanax, thus making it less attractive to abuse. Clonazepam also is longer acting and will keep you more stable than xanax.
Tell your doctor your concerns and address them in that way, with a professional.
This has been my experience, everyone is different.
 
I have self medicated with Valium (and abused many other substances) for GAD and Depression and ended up with a nasty habit, which I'm having to deal with now.

In the UK they just don't prescribe Benzos anymore for anything more than a few weeks at most at low doses in all but the rarest of circumstances, ADs in the SSRI ans SNRI class are the first line of treatment and this probably has just a much controversy but for different reasons.

I have addiction issues so Benzo's really aren't a good idea for me, and I'm currently on an SNRI as well as tapering off my illicit Valium:\.

IMO experience, and I've tried Xanax as well Benzos are a sticking plaster fix, for me and I believe many people, I would never say all. There are likely to be underlying reasons for your GAD which need to be addressed by some kind of Therapy, I have been through CBT which has had a much greater effect then any chemical could have.

In the short term I'm sure Benzos will lower your anxiety and the fact that you have used Benzos in the past and not ended up with a daily habit suggest that you have a lower chance of getting one in the future although having them around all the time, especially a short acting on like Xanax is increasing that risk.

I am not going to condemn the use of Benzos as a treatment for anxiety any more than I am going to condemn the use of ADs what I do urge people to do is to use the breathing space they provide to seek therapy to try and resolve at least some of the underlying issues that are making you ill in the first place.

I am far from cured of my mental health issues but I feel a great deal better than I did before the therapy and have made changes in the way I live my life and have some mechanisms for coping that have really helped, I will always be me and always have problems, everyone does I'm sure of that.

Best Wishes
 
Cannabis helps some people with anxiety. For others, cannabis makes anxiety a lot worse. It also depends on the strain and potency of the cannabis in question....

I agree with nsauce and atm, Xanax is a wonder drug for anxiety (along with other benzos) but there are other options. I started out with Xanax (I have anxiety issues as well, been both self-medicating with alcohol, opiates and cannabis for years, legally medicating with benzos on top of that) and it really does help but its also really easy to take it too far and turn your minor GAD into full-blown panic disorder.

Longer-acting benzos are better for general anxiety (Valium, Klonopin, etc), whereas shorter to medium-acting benzos (Xanax, Ativan, etc) are better for panic/anxiety. There are other anti-anxiety drugs that are not benzos that work very well for some people. Lyrica, hydroxyzine, there are many others. And, as weekend addiction said, cannabis can help too. In all fairness, I would say that a nice sedating cannabis high is just as effective as popping an Ativan for my anxiety issues.
 
^^
For me I had a 15 year hash habit, more then an once a week and that bearing in mind I was working 5 days a week 8-9 hours a day with little opportunity to smoke.

Looking back now I can see I was to some extent self medicating, but I had to give up tobacco and the 2 things were so interlinked they both had to go, that was 11 years ago. I have tried the odd bit of weed since but it just gives me anxiety now as does the JWH's .

I strongly believe that the mix of nicotine and THC has a different effect than the THC on its own and this is rarely even considered.

It is the one thing a truly, even after all these years, the whole thing of building my J's all had to be done a certain way I'd even keep cigarettes in the fridge at home to ensure the tobacco didn't dry out, always 3 small rizla in the classic T shape with the extra bit ripped off, definitely a ritual to the point of obsession, but I'm glad to be free of the nicotine addiction.
 
I would not really recommend Xanax to anyone for the treatment of GAD. Longer-acting benzos are much superior for GAD as they last longer (subjectively), and have a longer half-life, which means inter-dose wd's would not be an issue if you kept to your prescribed dose. However, if you suffer acute anxiety attacks, which are substantially more troublesome than your generalized anxiety, Xanax could be quite helpful with those attacks. Frankly, I would look into Klonipin first if you are after a benzo for GAD. It is just as addictive as Xanax, or very close, but is not as fiendish due to a very long half-life and long subjective effect. These days in psychiatry, at least in the US, it is the first benzo usually rx'd for GAD, and even becoming popular in patients with panic disorder, however, that is another story. Whether or not you need benzos is up to you, only you can know that. There are other drugs like Lyrica and Neurontin, which are GABAergic and can help very much with GAD. Also, a number of anti-depressants can help to an extent, as can neuroleptics, although I would not advise daily use of a neuroleptic unless the anxiety does not respond to a benzo, and is truly crippling in nature.
 
How about neurontin, lyrica or perhaps phenibut..one of two former for long term and the phenibut for break thru episodes?
Neurontin worked great for me, but lyrics works for others better..ymmv..
Also, stablon is another option to seriously consider..a non ssri antidepressant, it helps release serotonin without being too habit forming..
 
neurontin, lyrica or perhaps phenibut I wont be able to get prescribed. & ive got a feeling these arnt gunna be as clean or as strong as benzos. or are they? i'll look em up now on wikipedia
pregabaline ive never heard of. I'll have a look on wikipedia but i dont think i can get prescribed all this. Ive looked at the half-lifes & stuff & k-pins seem good. they come in high potency pills too. but unfortunately in australia its not prescribed for anxiety unless its off label which is stupid. its only there for epilepsy. but i can ask the dr. i WOULD prefer k-pins over xanax.
ive only had temazepam, diazepam, alprezolam, & lorazepam. never klonopin but it sounds like the perfect benzo for me.
well valium would be but they only come in 5mg which would have zero effect.
what about melatonin. Is it otc in australia?
my dr is naive & thinks xanax is less addictive than valium. because im a BLer ive never found a dr that i dont know more about treatment for mental illness it seems.

Could someone rate the antianxiety of neurontin, lyrica, phenibut & pregabaline compared with xanax.
lets say xanax has an antianxiety effect of 50% what % would u rate these other drugs?
 
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Take it from someone who has been up and down that road..... It is very long, very lonely.

I learned more about how to deal with life and anxiety in the past year I've been off regular dosing than in TEN YEARS of benzodiazepine therapy.

The best treatment for anxiety is going to be working with a therapist and/or actually dealing with the situations life throws at you. Unless you have absolutely debilitating anxiety, where you would be committed to a psych ward otherwise, you should not be taking benzodiazepines for chronic anxiety. They are great for acute anxiety, that's their indication. But most doctors fail to mention this, no one ever told me that I would spend ten years of my life addicted to my anxiety medication.

In the long term, they cause more harm then good. You will end up with more problems than you ever had before (addiction/dependency, rebound anxiety, and insomnia, to name a few, not even going to mention all the things you will do on benzodiazepines and end up regretting), you are literally taking two steps back in managing your anxiety, and here I am ten years later, I was already two steps behind which made quitting them even harder. They are NOT supposed to be used for chronic anxiety like GAD, and IMO it is criminal that doctors prescribe benzodiazepines so liberally as they do here in the USA.

Towards the end of my addiction, daily triple digit dosing, I couldn't taper with anything besides SLOWLY with Alprazolam, and upon discontinuation I developed (now mild, but then severe) schizophrenia.

Do. Not. Proceed. Try diet and exercise, it's worked more for me than any medication ever has, not just for anxiety for all my psych issues. It is dismissed almost immediately by most people, because they just want to take a pill, because it's easy. You are actually going to have to dedicate time and effort into treating your anxiety if you actually want it improve.
 
^^^

If the truth can be told so as to be understood, it will be believed

Terence McKenna RIP
 
I was diagnosed with anxiety. Took venlafaxine, Cymbalta, diazepam, lorazepam, clonazepam and alprazolam. Then, recently, I was diagnosed with ADD. Dexedrine is doing more for my anxiety than any antidepressant or benzo ever did. Point being, make sure you understand your illness and the cause before you start on a medicinal path.

Now, to your question, no, Xanax is a terrible choice. In my opinion it should be reserved for management of panic attack, but even then lorazepam seems to be just as effective with a lower abuse profile. And that is key. If you know you have an addictive personality, try to steer clear of the more abusable drugs. I personally like clonazepam best of the benzos, but if you can't get it, I'd suggest Valium (diazepam) as the next best option. You can get 10mg pills (well, they exist, not sure if YOU specifically can get them) but even so, if your psych is willing to scrip 1mg Xanax, they shouldn't have a problem with 2 x 5mg Valium. It's equipotent, but the Valium will have a half life 10-15 times that of the Xanax, so you get way more mileage.
 
tricomb said:
Do. Not. Proceed. Try diet and exercise, it's worked more for me than any medication ever has, not just for anxiety for all my psych issues. It is dismissed almost immediately by most people, because they just want to take a pill, because it's easy. You are actually going to have to dedicate time and effort into treating your anxiety if you actually want it improve.
Click to expand...

I would offer one word of advice here. In my case I exercised and ate right, and it absolutely helped me in every regard. Shopping for shirts is a lot more fun when you are ripping out of them, heh. Unfortunately I was in a car accident, followed by a motorcycle accident, followed by another car accident... Well anyhow, given the extent of my injuries I am lucky to be alive. However the few areas of chronic pain that remain make exercise virtually impossible for me.

My point is simply this: There are many here who have similar issues. Exercise is not always an option, and in fact the inability to exercise (ie dealing with chronic pain) can lead to many psychological problems such as anxiety and depression. So when I read someone suggesting exercise as the best treatment for depression or anxiety, it's like salt in a wound. If it weren't for my injuries, I never would have come across bluelight to begin with. I'd still be opiate naive.
 
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