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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 15 of 15. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by linkadge on May 28, 2009, at 20:51:06
Hey, I wanted to know if anybody else has had longer term improvement in their condition after taking a single benzodiazapine. This week for me has not been good - mood & anxiety. I took a single temazepam a few nights ago and got a good rest. The next day I felt much better. The night after that I slept fine without a benzo.
Has anyone had this happen to them - where a single benzodiazapine produced benefit that exceeded the duration of the drug's action?
Linkadge
Posted by garnet71 on May 28, 2009, at 21:06:54
In reply to long term benefit from single benzo, posted by linkadge on May 28, 2009, at 20:51:06
That happened to me a lot over the years. I think they all do that for me, or maybe it was Ativan that worked better, i forget, but often taking a dose of benzo right when the anxiety starts, as soon as you feel it--getting it before it progresses--will keep it away for a few days.
It just depends. During different long-term phases of my anxiety, sometimes that happens and other times it doesn't.
Posted by garnet71 on May 28, 2009, at 21:13:01
In reply to long term benefit from single benzo, posted by linkadge on May 28, 2009, at 20:51:06
I, too, have thought about why this happens in the past. Just intutively, for me anyway, I think when your body starts to feel anxiety, when it starts physically and not mentally, the benzo somehow prevents the overactiveness in your mind that will escalate the physical part of it--like when you get mental anxiety from physical anxiety. When you get anxiety from having the anxiety itself, this works. When my anxiety is more mental rather than physical, this might not work as well, when the mental part already started. But for long time periods, my anxiety always seemed to start physically; like I'd be feeling fine, then that nervous feeling would emerge from my the center of my upper chest. Benzos seemed to prevent anxiety for days in such cases, now that I think about it.
I'm really not making sense, am I? I'm tired.
Posted by linkadge on May 28, 2009, at 22:27:48
In reply to Re: long term benefit from single benzo, posted by garnet71 on May 28, 2009, at 21:13:01
The only reason I ask is because sometimes I take a benzo and have zero withdrawl, and then at other times I take the same dose and go through hellish withdrawl.
I was reading a little bit about this brain chemical (isatin) that your body releases during stress. Apparently the chemical acts as a benzodiazapine receptor antagonist.
I am thinking that if you take the benzo at the right time, you counteract the effects of isatin and thus relieve anxiety. If the dose is right and the benzo and isatin leave your body at about the same rate you might not get withdrawl.
Linkadge
Posted by Phillipa on May 28, 2009, at 23:57:00
In reply to Re: long term benefit from single benzo, posted by linkadge on May 28, 2009, at 22:27:48
Mine started as panic so always continuous. Phillipa
Posted by desolationrower on May 29, 2009, at 1:14:38
In reply to Re: long term benefit from single benzo, posted by garnet71 on May 28, 2009, at 21:13:01
i think there is a lot of path dependecne/canalization to mentil disordres
-d//r
Posted by Neal on May 29, 2009, at 1:22:33
In reply to long term benefit from single benzo, posted by linkadge on May 28, 2009, at 20:51:06
From what I read - temezepam has a half-life of 8-20 hours. It doesn't help you fall asleep, but it helps you stay asleep, interesting. It's contra-indicated for severe depression with suicidal thoughts though.
Posted by manic666 on May 31, 2009, at 10:36:48
In reply to Re: long term benefit from single benzo, posted by Neal on May 29, 2009, at 1:22:33
my body tells me my addiction to 4 mg ativan a day .about 7pm it reminds me to take 2mg . an about 9pm i relax to some extent an at 12 pm or around i go to bed an sleep.an at about 7am it tells me to take the second 2mg or face the wrath.people who are new or take when needed some feel nothing, an others sleep all day an night on one mg
Posted by Elanor Roosevelt on May 31, 2009, at 22:25:18
In reply to long term benefit from single benzo, posted by linkadge on May 28, 2009, at 20:51:06
i have taken meds that only worked a very short time but the possibility of "feeling okay" was enough to keep me going a while
what i mean is maybe just a glimpse of better stays a while
Posted by Komet on June 1, 2009, at 8:45:03
In reply to long term benefit from single benzo, posted by linkadge on May 28, 2009, at 20:51:06
Sure. Entirely possible. Back in my early twenties I had my first series of panic attacks. I had no idea what was going on, but night after night I was awake, listening to the sound of my heart pounding, almost certain that I was about to die. I finally managed to go see a doctor thinking I was about to have a heart attack. The doctor properly diagnosed the problem as a panic attack and gave me a perscription for xanax.
I took one pill, and slept like a baby. It had broken the cycle. The next day, I got up, went back to work, everything was OK again. Part of the problem was I was in a terrible freightening cycle and had no idea what was going on. The peace that came with that one pill was enough to get me back to an even keel. At the time, that was all that I needed to get back to a reasonably calm place. After that, as long as I was careful about getting exercise, avoiding stimulants such as caffeine, avoiding stress and getting enough sleep, I was generally OK. Every once in a while when those things weren't possible, a single xanax would usually do the trick. Even just knowing that I had xanax in case I needed it was enough to keep the full blown panic at bay.
Of course, when I got into my mid-thirties and life began to pile heap loads of stress onto me, I began to take a daily dose of Klonopin, but that is an entirely different story. . .
Posted by Komet on June 1, 2009, at 8:52:01
In reply to Re: long term benefit from single benzo, posted by linkadge on May 28, 2009, at 22:27:48
"The only reason I ask is because sometimes I take a benzo and have zero withdrawl, and then at other times I take the same dose and go through hellish withdrawl."
It seems to me unlikely that you would experience hellish withdawal from a single does. Do you think it's possible that what you have is the underlying anxiety is still there coupled with perhpas some rebound anxiety
Posted by Cherry Carver on June 2, 2009, at 15:00:39
In reply to long term benefit from single benzo, posted by linkadge on May 28, 2009, at 20:51:06
> Hey, I wanted to know if anybody else has had longer term improvement in their condition after taking a single benzodiazapine. This week for me has not been good - mood & anxiety. I took a single temazepam a few nights ago and got a good rest. The next day I felt much better. The night after that I slept fine without a benzo.
>
> Has anyone had this happen to them - where a single benzodiazapine produced benefit that exceeded the duration of the drug's action?
>
> Linkadge
>
>
I have two stories about that, one as a consequence of the other.In 1994 I suffered a massive panic attack that had been slowly creeping up on me for literally months. My husband has a similar disorder for which he takes lorezepam (Ativan). After three days of agony, during which I couldn't eat, sleep, read, or watch TV without becoming even more terrified than I was, he gave me one dose of his lorazepam (two mgs). Twenty minutes later, I was sound asleep.
My doctor subsequently prescribed me my own lorazepam, two mgs/daily. Though the panic stayed away, I became increasingly depressed until I attempted suicide in 1995. After leaving the hospital I went off lorazepam cold-turkey, which sent me into terrible withdrawal and worse panic than before.
My shrink sent me to an addictionologist who told me that I was dying of the withdrawal from lorazepam. He immediately put me on Klonopin. Unlike lorazepam, the Klonopin made me feel completely normal again within an hour of taking it. It was given to me strictly as a take-down drug, but because it worked so well, I asked my doctor to put me on it permanently because the panic came back immediately after I discontinued the take-down dosage.
For me, Klonopin works. Thank God for it. I never want to feel that sickness again.
Posted by Meltingpot on June 3, 2009, at 13:40:22
In reply to Re: long term benefit from single benzo, posted by Cherry Carver on June 2, 2009, at 15:00:39
Hi Cherry,
So unlike the Ativan, the klonopin has not caused any depression for you???
Also, how long have you been taking Klonopin?
Denise
Posted by manic666 on June 24, 2009, at 3:21:55
In reply to Re: long term benefit from single benzo To Cherry, posted by Meltingpot on June 3, 2009, at 13:40:22
ativan can cause depression , i am that man , i need the ativan , but if you find a good a.d then they can an do work together, an cancel depression
Posted by Cherry Carver on January 20, 2010, at 18:59:35
In reply to Re: long term benefit from single benzo To Cherry, posted by Meltingpot on June 3, 2009, at 13:40:22
Dear Denise,
I am so sorry it took me this long to get back to you. I haven't checked in here in awhile, as you can see. No, the Klonopin didn't cause me any depression at all. I feel absolutely normal on it. That is why I continue to take it, and I've been on it now since 1996, with only a few interruptions for the sake of doctors who wanted to try other medications that didn't work.
That being said, chemicals affect us all differently, which most people here know (but which people who don't need medication to stay sane don't seem to realize). Klonopin can produce terrible reactions in some people, or no beneficial reaction at all. I was lucky to be one of the people it helps.
I hope this gets to you, and that it answers your question! Again, I am very sorry it took so long! I hope you are well, and take care.
Cherry
> Hi Cherry,
>
> So unlike the Ativan, the klonopin has not caused any depression for you???
>
> Also, how long have you been taking Klonopin?
>
> Denise
This is the end of the thread.
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