Paradoxical anxiety from benzos , how common is it and can it be avoided?

[mazse]

Hi, I already made a post about this topic, but I need some reassurance.


I’d like to understand what paradoxical reactions to benzos can actually feel like and how to avoid them, because I’m considering having some with me in case I ever have a bad experience with different drugs that aren’t physically dangerous but can cause a lot of psychological stress or anxiety.


If the dose is fairly low, but not too low either, especially considering that I have very little experience with benzos, shouldn’t I be unlikely to experience increased anxiety? I’m asking because it almost sounds too good to be true: imagine I suddenly panic for whatever reason (particularly because of another drug), then I take a benzo and the anxiety basically disappears for several hours???


If it were really that simple to make all the anxiety disappear in the short term, wouldn’t people basically stop talking about drug-induced anxiety altogether???
I know that not everyone has access to benzos, and that many people simply prefer not to use them, even if it’s only for situations that don’t happen very often.


When I ask in other threads about paradoxical reactions, people tell me that they’re very rare and that a benzo should help a lot in the short term (while potentially being catastrophic in the long term). That’s reassuring, but I can also see that some people, although rare, actually experience panic from benzos, or have weird reactions when combining them with other substances, where the effects of the first drug can become much more intense.


How can I avoid this and make sure that a benzo won’t make a bad experience worse, but will actually calm me down effectively?

 

[lost weekend]

By using it very very sparingly, long term benzo use I found actually increases anxiety especially over minor things .
I never thought as benzos ever reducing my anxiety, what they did was heavily bolster my confidence giving an outward appearance of someone who is confident, and everyone likes and respects confident people
Think very hard about using benzos for anxiety, long term use and it is very easy to slide into that routine will have you rebuilding your life only a few years down the line
There is no magic pill for anxiety, our brains have to be constantly tested under duress to build up experiences ,good or bad

 

[CalicoCatLover]

Xanax gave me some anxiety because it kicks in and wears off too fast. I'd recommend Klonopin. It takes a while to kick in and a while to wear off

 

[TheFunkeeJunkee]

1% of people have paradoxical reactions to benzodiazepines and almost all of those people have pre-existing conditions or are young/old.

You should expect to not have a paradoxical reactions.

 

[Didgital]

How can I avoid this

By never taking a benzo.
You are already slipping into dangerous territory with these thoughts alone. You're strategizing how to counteract the negative effects of another drug by using more drugs.
It is too good to be true and that's the problem. They are very effective for vast majority of people and once you find a magic pill that removes all anxiety it can be a very difficult thing to use them with self control.

I'd be more worried about "rebound anxiety" though I'd never experienced it until I was well into benzo dependence. Basically after the drug wears off any anxiety you were feeling before taking the drug comes back 10x harder. Which leads to taking the drug again and turns into a terrible cycle that as @lost weekend pointed out, can lead to years of dependence, problems, lost relationships, lost memory...

Think very hard about using benzos for ANY reason. I spent years on them and years trying to get off. I even had a seizure the last time I stopped using them. Now.. I can't take them more than once without experiencing withdrawl symptoms, which if you've read much about them, they are probably worse than withdrawl from any other class of drugs, including opioids.

Not trying to preach too hard, I've just been down that road a couple of times and I'm never going back again.

As far as your main question, it's unlikely to have a paradoxical reaction. That's why they call it a paradoxical reaction. How can you take a benzo and make sure you don't have one? That's impossible to know until you take one.

 

[thurston]

I've had a prescription for benzos for 15 years. I only take klonipin now when I've had a days long headache so it's months between doses, but I used to take them regularly. I had to take one last week for a headache and had noticeable anxiety the next day.