Posted by 4WD on January 3, 2006, at 22:13:50
In reply to When are benzos justified?, posted by detroitpistons on January 3, 2006, at 15:21:05
> I've been thinking about starting Klonopin, but I just wanted some feedback from other benzo users. I take small amounts of Xanax and I can feel better by taking as little as .25mg. However, it can make me depressed and lethargic.
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> I'm on Effexor XR 225 mg, and it has not totally relieved me of anxiety, although it picked me up out of a depressive episode. I'm familiar with the pro-benzo vs anti-benzo debate. I guess what I'm trying to get at is this: How bad does anxiety have to be in order to justify taking a benzo? I realize this is a very difficult question to answer, but I just wanted to hear some other people's thoughts.
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> I can generally function without a benzo (or even an AD for that matter)...I can leave the house, go to work, be in social settings with people I don't know (although rarely comfortably). In short, I can get along with life, but I never feel quite right. I feel like everything is forced. I feel like I'm operating at 75%. I probably wouldn't regard my anxiety as severe (not agoraphobic, for example), but I do think it interferes with my life and prevents me from being all I can be.
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> Where is the line? When is taking a benzo justified? I've always been scared to overmedicate myself. In fact, it took me a good amount of pain and suffering before I broke down and tried an AD. I've never liked the idea of taking 1 psych drug, much less 2 or 3. Sometimes I feel like I'm "cheating," like the only people who should really be on meds are the ones who can't get out of bed in the morning, can't leave the house, can't go to work, etc.
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> Can anyone relate to this sort of "psych med reckoning" I'm going through?
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> And back to the original point, any thoughts from benzo/Klonopin users? The first and only psych med I took that worked was Effexor, and it seemed like a godsend at the time (for both anxiety and depression). Now I tried it again, and it just doesn't seem to be working as well on the anxiety. I think my condition(s) may have worsened over the past couple of years, and quite frankly, it feels like the meds may have contributed to that (e.g. caused a permanent change in brain chemistry--which I know sounds very paranoid).
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> Any thoughts?
I agree with what Glydin said in her post above.For over a year, I took the absolute minimum of Klonopin to allow me to be partially functional because I was so scared of it. (I was totally nonfunctional). Taking small amounts of Klonopin kept me from crawling in the floor crying and begging God to make the terror stop and allowed me to at least just sit on the couch and cry and fret.
Finally, I surrendered. I now take .5mg of klonopin 3 times a day. It still scares me but you know what? Even though I still have anxiety, I went to work today. I laughed and told jokes. I'm a bit scared right now and could take a bit more klonopin but I'm trying to figure out how much anxiety is tolerable (just like you). I'm even thinking that maybe I ought to go ahead and increase it a bit and NOT HAVE ANXIETY at all. I don't know. I'm still struggling with this same issue.
What I really want is not to take klonopin at all. But not at the price I paid for over a year.
I almost died because I was too stubborn to take the klonopin prescribed for me.Marsha
poster:4WD
thread:594786
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051231/msgs/594978.html