Experience with benzodiazepines?

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I currently take an antipsychotic for anxiety/obsession but I feel that sometimes it's not enough. Has anyone been prescribed or used benzos to cope with this issue?

I'm sure many people on here have used them from time to time, or up to all the time. I am on a fixed schedule so that I'm more or less on one 24/7, with the anti-psychotic, too. This isn't ideal. They are generally only recommended for as-needed use, and, yes, they work well for anxiety. Some are quicker acting than others. Some are longer acting than others. I haven't heard of them being used for obsessive behaviors, but if your obsession causes the anxiety, or the anxiety causes you to obsess on things, that might be a reason. Others will know better than I. The drawbacks of benzodiazapenes are risk of addiction/dependence, and advanced risk of dementia.

The most vicious getting off of a medication was Xanax. I was on the smallest dose, which was almost pediatric. It took me 6 GD months of water tapering with a Prozac cross over, and I can't remember how long it took me to jump off the Prozac.

The problem with benzos you don't know if you are the person who can dump them with no problems or the person who will get a physical dependency. I was getting inter dose related withdrawals. Xanax has a very short half life, so around hour 3, I'd feel like total s**t. I wasn't using them to get high. I took them less than prescribed. A 30 day supply would last me almost three 3 months.

Also remember, doctors hand out benzos like plutonium. You may get 3 months worth, when they start cutting you off.

Benzos have a place, like people who have a terminal illness. Who gives a s**t if you have to up dose a cancer patient's Ativan. No one will fight that.

The worse withdrawals where from Xanax, Paxil, Effexor, and Cymbalta. Damn near lost my mind trying to taper off of them. Xanax was hand down the worse.

I did a whole boat load of CBT in place of the benzo. I was having huge panic attacks which would trigger an asthma attack.

I have to be dying to take a benzo again.

Benzos can be terrible getting off, yes. But on every forum I go to lately, there is this talk about dementia. Why? Is there some kind of mass spreading rumors about how benzo users get dementia? Where does this come from?

Where I live, they often use an old type antihistamine and/or an old old type neuroleptic to handle anxiety and insomnia. Those meds are sold as being harmless. But in fact they score MUCH HIGHER than benzos on the anticholinergic drug list. More anticholinergic effect, higher chance of dementia. Several of the so called safe meds are on that list and docs prescrible them as being harmless.

So I don't get this demonizing benzos for dementia when other meds are much much worse in that aspect.

If it wasn't for the risk of dependence, benzos would be almost the best med we have. They are quite low on the anticholinergic list, they are hard to overdose, they work more often than other meds, they are potent, they can be taken as needed. I am totally hooked on Xanax so yes I do know the back side.

But also... IF someone takes a benzo say every third day, you do not get dependent. In that way it is a good crisis med. These days antipsychotics are often used as crisis meds, but with some they just make the person APPEAR calm. Sure, they help some, can't deny that. But for some, they are a mental medical straight jacket only.

I would not recommend anyone to start on benzos because the way we are going, they will be taken away from everyone within the next decade. It is actually better you haven't learned to feel good then, because you would miss it. And then you'd have to withdraw as well.

I only drop one or two 5mg benzos to help me sleep on the odd occasion.

Ive never been prescribed them, but they've always worked incredibly well for me when taken before a stressful event. I can cope with social situations as though I'm a natural. Eye contact, smiles, all of it.

I get addicted to anything that feels good however, so once I found that out I started to abuse it. Good thing I never had a script or I'd be hooked for sure. My best friend (before everyone was getting cut off-- there was a time 4-5 years ago where they gave out xanax like f*****g tic-tacs) used to have a bunch as would sell me some.

It's real easy to overdose on them if you drink. A lot of people like mixing xanax and liquor. Which I know why. Because it feels incredible. But, then you almost kill yourself like I did. Or kill yourself. So... It's not good.

Even still, I do wish I had some and a trusted person to dispense them to me as needed one at a time. Because ti really helps for it's legitimate purpose. I just cant handle using anything for it's legitimate purpose...

Not sure what obsessiveness means, but I take a low dosage Luvox for this with amazing results. It is the number one med for OCD. All people cannot tolerate SSRIs though.

I take an occasional 0.5mg Clonazepam when I'm going somewhere really anxiety provoking or if I am stressed out at night and need help winding down.

I have been addicted to benzos for years and am currently weening off.

The important thing to remember is that benzos are only training wheels to how to handle anxiety/stress/autism. Eventually you will have to get off benzos to enjoy life more.

Marijuana is a little bit better for stress (indica) just be careful you dont take a lot and flip out. weed>all pills

I was prescribed Valerian for anxiety for a while, but I just gradually stopped needing it so now I don't take it anymore if If my anxiety gets worse again then I would certainly try to get another prescription for that. I tried Klonopin (Clonazepam) before that...and that just kind of turned into a problem, kind of embarrassing but I ended up abusing it like I started taking it as recommended and then I just couldn't stop. So yeah after one particularly bad night after getting drunk and taking more klonopin I had myself admitted to a psych ward.

So after that doctors where rather reluctant to prescribe me any more benzos, So I tried an anti-psychotic, a couple anti-histimines, a drug I can't remember the name of that they also prescribe to some people trying to quit smoking cigarettes a couple other things and nothing worked or just made it worse.

Until eventually one psychiatrist I went to had the idea maybe because valium takes longer to leave your system than other benzos, due to a longer half life or something they figured maybe that would have less potential for the addiction issue and wrote me a prescription. I found it worked really well and I didn't get any urges to take it more often than prescribed.

I was on benzos for several years. The Withdrawals were one of the worst experiences of my life.

i take 2.5mg lorazepam before sleep, and 10mg tranxene if needed. its a magic pill though i might be addcited to it.

They take the fear away like magic. One pediatric dose of Xanax and I'm almost neurotypical for the next few hours. Eye contact, small-talk with strangers, take my kids to the mall, sit at a birthday party where I don't know anyone and make chit-chat for 3 hours, listen to a catalog of my failings as a wife, a mother, and a human being for six hours and not get upset-- Man, I can do EVERYTHING!!

Xanax was a miracle drug for my grandfather. He took it 3 times a day for 17 years; I don't remember him too much before that but according to his wife and daughters he was a new man.

Good luck finding someone that will let you take them for more than a few weeks, though.

They're addictive as f**k and rebound anxiety is a total b***h. Thank God I never took them long enough to have actual withdrawals. I sincerely hope I never have to; I don't want to find out what that's like. I'm anxious enough just getting out of bed every day, without having that experience.