Posted by Racer on October 9, 2004, at 10:12:19
In reply to I no longer respond to benzos. Need some insight., posted by jerrympls on October 9, 2004, at 1:03:42
I don't have any real insight into why this happened with me, but I have a similar story to tell, which might shed some light.
I was taking Xanax for sleep for about six months or so, and it worked a charm -- except for leaving me more depressed the next day, which I didn't really realize until later, since my depression was not even close to being controlled at the time. Then I had a reaction to another medication, and the Xanax stopped working entirely. I was up most of every night, racing thoughts, jerking muscles, really miserable. I tried taking more Xanax, but it didn't help, so I stopped all meds.
A while later, the Xanax worked again, but the next time something happened that left me overstressed, I took some Xanax -- and, again, nothing. So, I took more. Well, something happened then: it was like an alcoholic blackout. My mind was just gone, but I was up and about and hysterical. It was terrible! (Because I was so out of it in a marriage counseling session, our counselor called the police who took me to the psych ward, where they nearly put me in restraints. I had gone from "out of it" to yelling and swearing by the time they got me there -- I think because of being grabbed and handcuffed by the police.) At any rate, I don't remember much of any of this, because I had taken so much Xanax.
I was told that the Xanax was working -- thus the blackout -- but that it was not calming me down. Xanax is apparently a very clean drug, in that it hits one receptor in the brain, and that's it. So, in my case, it hit that receptor, did it's little bit there, shut down my brain. The problem is, that part of my brain wasn't part of the whole upset in my system from the stress. My adrenaline was up so high, hitting a receptor in the brain to reduce anxiety wasn't going to make much difference.
If you, like me, have a more physical -- and less psychological -- reaction to anxiety, and experience insomnia as a result, then benzos may not be the best way to go. After that incident, I was prescribed propranalol for anxiety, and it's been a great choice for me. It reduces the physical symptoms enough that I can function much better. Doesn't do a thing about sleep, although the reduction in anxiety helps a bit.
As for sleep, I can't tell you what might help. I haven't really found anything yet myself, although I also haven't asked about it yet. One option, by the way, is Benadryl. It will make you drowsy. In the past, I've taken cyproheptidine for SSRI induced anorgasmia, and that worked well for sleep, too. (Just meant no morning or afternoon sex unless I could nap...)
I hope that helped some. Best luck.
poster:Racer
thread:400640
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041007/msgs/400688.html