Posted by Alan on June 22, 2002, at 0:48:41
In reply to Klonopin or Xanax for Social Anxiety??, posted by BobS. on June 19, 2002, at 19:41:30
> I have two teenage sons and may be presented shortly with a decision on treatment for them. I will not give them SSRIs, so please don't advise me on their role in this disorder.
>
> Which do you consider better and why? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
> Regards,
> BobS.
============================================There is no way of knowing without clinical trials. Try one and then the other and see what their reaction is. It could be different for either of them. Short trials are practical with these types of meds. Of course at least a couple of weeks on each for the initial sedation to wear off to see if the anxiolytic effect is sufficient....that's when one knows if to keep or increase the dosage. It's hard to distinguish between the sedating effects and the anxiolytic effects at first. That's why some over react when an initial arbitrary dose needs to be escallated a bit over the first few weeks of therapy. The incidence of wanting to acheive a "high" is rare and you'll have to be on the level with them on how to distinguish between that and just feeling normal enough to just feel "themselves". It involves a lot of trust.
I personally tried all of them and after the ssri "good", BZD "bad" corporate line I got from 2 psychiatrists, I fired them and went to a 3rd that actually listened to what I was telling them.....that BZD's are much more effective. I had the same "discontinuation syndrome" with Paxil as you did by the way and many "ahlf assed" responses to all the other AD's. They are not for pure anxiety disorders IMO. No matter what the drug co's say. It's one of the biggest frauds perpetrated on the doctors and patients in medicine today. Especially with the cover up or downright misleading of Paxil and others being "non habit forming (implying BZD's hold that distinction exclusively).
But back to the BZD's...there is no one size fits the disorder for ANY BZD. Individual responses vary to a much greater degree than statistical (or anecdotal) evidence for any disorder. That's the bottom line.
I've ended up taking Klonopin as maintainence and ativan PRN for breakthrough. More stable that way.
Length of half life of a BZD has absolutely nothing to do with it's "potential" for addiction. That comes from the individuals reaction themselves - their personal reaction to the med.
Alan
poster:Alan
thread:110299
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020617/msgs/110455.html