Posted by darkhorse on November 8, 2004, at 7:11:50
In reply to Re: anxiety Benzo talk, posted by ed_uk on November 5, 2004, at 11:57:28
> Wow, that's amazing! Why have you taken so many different benzos? I've taken a few but not nearly as many as you. (I have never taken a benzo long term, just on an 'as required' basis)
Sorry for my dely and here is what I think :
After trying so many ADs I ended with benzos,because they are the cleanest and do not cause weight gain...I guess u might say that I wanted to try all benzos to see the best ones for me,and what helped is that I lived in many countries (Peru,Egypt,Sudan,Austria..etc)and found all those benzos..
>
> Here are my opinions....
>
> Diazepam (Valium). 15mg when needed.... very effective muscle relaxant. Can be mildly euphoric. Maximum effect about an hour after taking a dose. Anxiolytic effect lasts about 3 hours followed by mild residual drowsiness and depressive ideas.I can not agree more..I had the exact same effect from diazepam,and I guess I might add that taking diazepam long term gives lots of daytime sedation and difficulty in concentration.The only nice thing you get is this nice little buzz you get in the 1st 1-3 hours,but again it does not provide sustained mood without the cost of sedation.
>
> Lorazepam (Ativan). 3mg prn..... Very effective with little drowsiness, max effect after about 2 hours. Lasts about 6 hours for me. Small doses didn't work at all. Overall, my favourite benzo.I also agree that its effect is more sustained and for me it lasts for 12 hours and 1-2 mg twice a day is all that I need.I can not agree more that it is one of the best.Only drawback is the strong amnestic effect..when I stop it long term,I feel that I can not recall many things,so I always use Bromazepam to withdraw from lorazepam,which makes it very smooth.
>
> Clobazam (Frisium). 20mg......Rubbish, didn't reduce my anxiety at all, infact it seemed to make it worse!Again,I have the exact opinion.Even though it has no sedative effect at all,it was very bad,it made me more anxious and edgy and artifical..it is the worst BZ,maybe bec it is also chemically differen : 1,5 benzo.
>
> Alprazolam (Xanax)... 1mg prn...... brain felt foggy, wasn't very relaxed. Was very aware of the cognitive impairment it causedYes, this is a main difference I got if you compare Ativan with Xanax..with X I "felt" more impaired...however,the advantage of Xanax is that it gives more of a "happy" feeling (euphoria),while lorazepam is more stable...so I sometimes use X when I'm mor to the depressed side,and within 3 days I'm sociable,happy and talkative,but I take the bromazepam road when withdrawing from X.
>
> Clonazepam (Klonopin/Rivotril)... 2mg prn........strangely, Rivotril doesn't seem to make me drowsy, but dose cause me to fall asleep unexpectedly.Clonazepam : I tried to love this medication because of its reputation for social phobia,mbut unfortunatly,even though it did not make me drowsy, I still felt very tired and what is worse it made me so antisocial and very depressed.. I tried different dose (0.5,1,1.5,2) but nothing..and actually I found alprazolam and bromazepam very pro-social when taken for a few days-weeks (lorazepam does not but gives you this feeling of being content inside yourself with no depressive symptoms!).
>
> BTW, What was you experience with Frisium??So,for me, I think the worst three were Frisium,Rivotril and Tranxene,while the best are Lexotanil(bromazepam ) : mood-elevating proporties,less sedation and amnesia,pro-social,and easy to withdraw from.Xanax (Alprazolam) : euphoric/happy effects and last but not least Ativan/Temesta(Lorazepam ) : stable mood and anxiety-killer without disinhibition .
> Ed
poster:darkhorse
thread:410990
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041108/msgs/413181.html