Posted by shy_gal on July 14, 2007, at 1:02:04
In reply to Re: feeling hopeless due to benzo taper » shy_gal, posted by Phillipa on July 13, 2007, at 22:33:38
> Amy I thought if you were tolerant it just meant that they didn't relieve anxiety anymore but kept you out of withdrawal. I wonder if this is why I've wondered if the valium was giving me a paradoxical effect. Can you please answer this if you or anyone knows. Thanks Phillipa
That's what I thought also until I started getting the paradoxical symptoms with klonopin, I even increased my dose to 12 mg's on one partical day and had absolutely no anxiety relief.
I went out to appointments on 2 occasions and had full blown panic attacks right in front of perfect strangers!! I NEVER EVER do that! normally i can hide them amazingly well, i learnt to do that when i was a kid.I went scouting for information about benzo addiction on the net I found numerous articles on drugs losing their effectiveness and the initial anxiety coming back but I don't remember my anxiety being as bad before I started on the benzos. I read the ashton manual and found this information plus a whole lot more that fit with all my particular symptoms.
" Many patients find that anxiety symptoms gradually increase over the years despite continuous benzodiazepine use, and panic attacks and agoraphobia may appear for the first time after years of chronic use. Such worsening of symptoms during long-term benzodiazepine use is probably due to the development of tolerance to the anxiolytic effects, so that "withdrawal" symptoms emerge even in the continued presence of the drugs. However, tolerance may not be complete and chronic users sometimes report continued efficancy, which may be partly due to suppression of withdrawal effects."I don't want to start anything because I know the word Ashton tends to get people going. I don't agree or disagree with the woman but I have to say that in my case that her information fits with what was happening with me precisely Otherwise I can't really make any sense of why i was getting panic attacks after I took my benzos. It seems common sense to me that the body should start going into withdrawl once you develop a physical tolerance and the withdrawal effects for myself are heightened anxiety. A lot of people can stay on them forever never getting any bad reactions or paradoxical effects I think I'm just not one of them :S
Maybe a neurological psychiatrist can shed some light on it?
Take careAmy
poster:shy_gal
thread:769323
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070710/msgs/769495.html