Posted by med_empowered on October 19, 2005, at 20:12:40
In reply to Re: benzos and the brain: xanax vs klonopin? » chess, posted by Phillipa on October 19, 2005, at 19:34:52
Xanax **is** a good benzo--the problem would be if the person also had generalized anxiety; in those cases, multiple doses are required per day, so tolerance develops and there's anxiety in between doses. For generalized anxiety disorder that sometimes features panic attacks, a longer-acting benzo is probably a good idea...Klonopin is the "it" benzo right now, but I think most people would do better on Valium or Librium. Klonopin has "mood-stabilizing" properties (basically, it can help with (hypo)mania while you're waiting for the mood-stabilizer to kick in, and it can defuse potential mood episodes), so its a good call if you're bipolar, schizoaffective or whatever. Ideally, though, Klonopin would be the **last** of the benzos to try for anxiety; it can induce/worsen depression and has weird effects on other drugs and weird side effects (funny colored urine, hair growth/loss, etc.).
poster:med_empowered
thread:568919
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