using anti-anxiety medics to treat a bad trip

[smokie]

does anyone have any experience using anti-anxiety medicactions (valium xanax) to treat a bad trip? i took 2 xanax at the beginning of one shroom trip and at the beginning it was chill but i could feel the ole xanax wearing off and it eventually turned into a weird (kinda on the bad side) trip. why is this? if anyuone has experience with usinganti anxieties to prevent or treat a bad trip please share thanks. (i read this suggestion on a Q & A on erowid.)

 

[Jabberwocky]

I have used benzodiazapenes such as klonopin, xanax, valium, etc on many occasions to effectively take ther edge off of psychedelic trips - to be honest, I rarely ever trip without at least having them on hand... sometimes just knowing they are there is enough piece of mind to help you work through some of the most anxious moments of a trip.

I also feel that they might in fact offer a degree of protection against what is refered to as excitotoxicity or excitoneurotoxicity. This is a concept that has gained more attention as of late and was mentioned briefly by Dr. Carl Jansen in regards to ketamine.

So, I think that they are a great tool for the psychonaut even though I think that some purists might not necessarily agree with me. My advice is to use then in a minimalistic fashion, ie. use just enough to take the edges off the trip... not enough so that you are going as far as to damper or drag it down.

SG

 

[5-HT2]

There have been occasions where I aborted a bad trip with Xanax or Valium. I have also used it to help me sleep at the end of a trip.

smokie, you might have been on so much xanax at the beginning that it probably damped your trip. If you were tripping harder at the end than at the beginning, then this is probably what happened.

 

[Morninggloryseed]

Smoke your pubic hair!

In my humble opinion and personal experiences, there are no bad trips! There are none. Fear, and or terror, simply shows us we have issues that need to be worked on. And these issues should be worked on instead of being avoided and covered up (medicated). In fact, the most beneficial and life-changing psychedelic trips I've ever have tended to be the ones that were most terrifying. They were not bad trips because in the end I ended up benefiting enormously from them. How can something really be bad if you grow from it? I highly recommend you avoid any kind of benzo or tranquilizer when using psychedelics. If you feel fear, work through it. You may just end up benefiting from the experience!

 

[Spazz]

I've had people tell me that they have some anxiety problems when coming down off xanax.

 

[Crimethink]

Technically one dose does have withdrawal.

 

[Symmetrical Daze]

i never feel a comedown from xanax.

i recommend with every trip u have some benzos on hand. there can be BAD trips, ive seen them and have been involved in some, esp. with acid, sometimes with shrooms.

there are no bad trips!

i get some of what ur saying...but obviously u havent had experience with ppl going very far on acid where they can completely lose their minds and go berzerk, and want to harm other people or themselves. I would call these bad trips!!!

shrooms are somewhat more predictable than acid, but shrooms can suprise u too. they have the same basic insanity feel as acid.

 

[Morninggloryseed]

i get some of what ur saying...but obviously u havent had experience with ppl going very far on acid where they can completely lose their minds and go berzerk, and want to harm other people or themselves. I would call these bad trips!!!

Well the thing is, I truly believe that if said person was taking psychedelics in a therapuetic situation with a trained and experienced guide, and was given instruction and guidance before they took the psychedelic, such situations can and would be avoided. I'm not saying that freak-outs did not occur in such settings, but ideally the therapist would either be able to handle this person and help them to deal with the panic and fear and turn it into something meaningful. Or the therapist would recognize the person has issues that would not be conducive to a positive psychedelic experience and would have never dispended them. But yes, I'll concede that such a freak-out could turn into a bad trip if the person is not handled correctly and is not in a warm and supportive environment. And so yes, bad trips do exist. But they don't have to be bad trips. They wouldn't be if one was able to get help, to be around the right guide.

 

[twominds]

I've used anti-anxiety meds to help me through trips, Vals, Xanax, etc but dont find them benefical in stopping them. They just help your mental state by taking off the edginess. The major tranquillizers(anti-psychotics) such as Largactil or Thorazine are they only thing I find that can stop a trip. I once took 200mg of Largactil to stop a mushroom trip and it did the trick as I was asleep in 30-40 minutes. I was in a terrible state. As for the Xanax you do start to get anxiety as it wears off. I believe its due to how they kick in and act quickly but then subside just as fast. Leaving you needing more, Valuim or Serapax last alot longer and might be a better alternative to Xanax.

 

[Virty]

Originally posted by Sebastians_ghost
I also feel that they might in fact offer a degree of protection against what is refered to as excitotoxicity or excitoneurotoxicity. This is a concept that has gained more attention as of late and was mentioned briefly by Dr. Carl Jansen in regards to ketamine.

Could you (or someone else) pelase eleborate this? I've never heard of it and I'm kind of curious about what it is exactly.
Perhaps there's an article about it somewhere?

 

[Jabberwocky]

I dont have time to type up a lengthy dissertation, but here is some reading that might help you understand - it is in reference to ALS, but the fundamental theories are the same:

http://www.alscenter.org/about_als/excite.cfm

SG

 

[Jabberwocky]

***Note - The above info specifically applies to damage done by glutamine... this is most applicable to NMDA antagonists such as PCP, Ketamine, Tiletamine, etc. not necessarily the traditional psychedelics.

SG

 

[frizzantik]

Re: Smoke your pubic hair!

Fear, and or terror, simply shows us we have issues that need to be worked on. And these issues should be worked on instead of being avoided and covered up (medicated). In fact, the most beneficial and life-changing psychedelic trips I've ever have tended to be the ones that were most terrifying. They were not bad trips because in the end I ended up benefiting enormously from them. How can something really be bad if you grow from it? I highly recommend you avoid any kind of benzo or tranquilizer when using psychedelics. If you feel fear, work through it. You may just end up benefiting from the experience!

Do you feel people who are prescribed anti-anxiety meds for dealing with anxiety in thier real life should also work out thier issues? In some ways it's the same thing.. you're taking a benzo to make your current situation less stressful and anxious.

I tend to agree with you that there are no 'bad trips,' though ive never had such a bad time as to try and hurt myself or others. I have had one so called 'bad trip' where about three hours into an LSD experience I was ready for it to be done and had another 9 hours to go or so.

Although during the trip I wasnt having a good time, afterward I felt i was a stronger person for having dealt with a difficult experience and not totally falling apart. In some senses I'm glad I did experience the bad time, as it has helped me deal with the same issues during other trips and in real life.

that being said I'd probably have taken a benzo if i had access to them during that bad trip.

can anyone recommend which benzo is best at releiving anxiety without coloring the trip too much?

 

[hawkeye]

I've had people tell me that they have some anxiety problems when coming down off xanax.

Of course, that's xanax telling you you need some more. I've been on it a few years. It works, but it's nasty addictive stuff. I need to get off it but I don't know how

 

[Jabberwocky]

can anyone recommend which benzo is best at releiving anxiety without coloring the trip too much?

I would say going with klonopin at a low dose, starting before the trip begins to take off is preferable (imo). Clonazepam is long acting and will offer a nice sustained buffer as opposed to the shorter acting benzos. That would be the prophylactic approach. Alternatively, you could choose to keep Xanax (Alprazolam) on hand and take that when and if you feel the need as has a much quicker onset of action. The key to not 'coloring' the trip too much is in keeping the dose as low.

SG

 

[Violator]

5 to 10mg of ambien (zolpidem) always seemed to smooth out any bad trips for me. releases muscle tension and anxiety and also helps you to feel happy/sleepy.

 

[Morninggloryseed]

Re: Re: Smoke your pubic hair!

Do you feel people who are prescribed anti-anxiety meds for dealing with anxiety in thier real life should also work out thier issues?

Yes and no. If the person's anxiety is causing them to not be able to function, then obviously that person should recieve medication. But I feel medication (especially addictive tranquilizers like benzodiazapines) should be an absolute last resort, given only after all other measures fail. Unfortunatley, many doctors simply hand out these pills without a second thought and the patient never really gets the right treatment. Their problems are simply medicated away. But that is discussion for another thread in another forum.

 

[silverfucked]

Psychedelics tend to give me pretty bad anxiety at any dosage level... I love the insights, messages, and hallucinations, but there seems to be a paralell paranoia and generalised anxiety that is quite uncomfortable that just seems to co with the experience, even though im not having a "bad trip"

HIgh doses of marijuana are hallucinogenic to me, but also have some high anxiety.. As an experiment, i took 1.5mg xanax, waited for it to come fully on, and then smoked a high dose of marijuana.. The high(mental euphoria, thought and feeling expansion) where all present at full strenth and there was no anxiety(normally there is alot)! The only thing I found dimished were the actual OEVs(yes I get good OEVs with weed) by prob 50%.

Heres what Im driving at..

The reason why I use hallucinogens skeptically is because I do not like the simultaneous anxiety they give me.. I love everything else they do.. I was wondering if a small or medium(1-1.5mg for me) dose of xanax before dosing psychedelics would severley inhibit major parts of a mushroom or LSD trip?? Would the xanax give me the same anxiety relieving effects as it did with the marijuana??

I would like to explore my conciousness more with these substances, but in the past feel it has been impeded by the anxiety attacks that tryptamines(and THC) seem to give me.. Its not really that Im afraid of oppening up.. If anything MDMA has cleared that up, plus the fact that ive tripped enough to be familiar.. The anxiety just seems to be an unfortunate side effect that occurs with all the trips, even the good ones.

 

[frizzantik]

^^ that is my basic situation right now.. i've not had problems with anxiety i the past but it seems that lately it has become a part of my everyday life. Taking psychedelics usually intensifies this feeling. Luckily dealing with it in daily life helps when I have to deal with it in psychedelic life.

I too gain benefits from tripping but fear "The Fear" that often comes with trips these days hehe.

 

[Negro-kitty]

Clozapine, I believe, will halt most of an LSD trip.