Posted by nathan_arizona on June 28, 2007, at 14:22:20
In reply to Re: problems after quitting SSRI's » chiron, posted by jessers11581 on June 28, 2007, at 13:47:41
Well, the benzodiazepines are a class of drugs typically used as sedatives. Valium (mom's little helper) is probably the most famous (notorious) of the bunch.
Other benzos include ativan, klonopin and xanax.
They are usually prescribed as anxiolytics (reduce anxiety) or sleep aids.
They ARE addictive and the body can and often will go through withdrawal after stopping the drug. Tolerance can also be a problem that leads to increased dosing to achive the same effect.
They are, in my opinion, NOT to be prescribed or taken lightly.
However, when used properly, they can be lifesavers.
The benzo that I personally prefer is klonopin. It has relatively slow onset of action and slow decay in the body. It's not particularly long acting, but there isn't this jarring anxienty "rebound" when the drug wears off.
However, a lot of people prefer xanax as it can work pretty quickly and provide a lot of relief for acute anxiety.
Neither xanax nor klonopin at low doses were particularly sedating for me.
Some people can just glide on and off the benzos with no problems, whereas others experience a lot of problmes coming off the drug.
Don't know, talk it over with your doc.
poster:nathan_arizona
thread:766128
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070622/msgs/766456.html