Preferred Benzo for Dependence

[Levi517]

Valium sounds so 1960s. eg Stones’ “Mother’s Little Helper” while Xanax seems much cooler :-) But diazepam/Valium is by far the safest Benzo.

[Chris5555]

Agreed with the xanax theory, and have seen the evidence first hand. The shorter acting benzos cause rapid slowing down and speeding up of our gaba transmitters and wore out synapses. In my opinion its hard on the body, the rapid suppression and rapid speeding up while its wearing off and this is what causes the seizures in people. The long acting ones are much more gentle on us.

[Wannabenormal18]

Their is nothing special about Xanax and I know for sure that Valium is so much easier to come off and the withdrawals are so much less severe but their is a difference between these meds and it’s more than just the half life. When you take Valium, you feel it kick in, it helps calm things down but along with it comes a heavy feeling. A feeling like I want to sleep but cannot. Xanax targets the anxiety cleanly. It just wipes the anxiety out. Of course this is short lived and quickly the med leaves your system which leaves you so anxious. Xanax simply targets the anxiety without any dirty feeling. Once that Xanax wears off, you will quickly need another one. At least that’s been my experience.

[Chinchillin777]

Benzodiazepines have been to have linked to a bunch of not-so-good long term effects, the most pronounced/problematic being in the motor cognitive department. That being said I have severe anxiety and I take them daily, I prefer Clonazepam during the day and lorazepam at night, the former seems to have a less “impairing” effect, not that either do in the slightest with the development of tolerance. The reason I prefer these longer acting medications over alprazolam (as you were discussing) and other short-acting benzodiazepines is the associated “rebound anxiety” that is commonly experienced when a potent anxiolytic is wearing off at a rapid pace, potentially inducing the very kind of panic they are meant to quell, and being potentially counterproductive in my mind. That being said, with benzodiazepines everyone reacts VERY differently, and no one person or opinion is “right”, it’s all just brain chemistry after all and we don’t understand it very well. Oh well, that’s my 2 Cents

[seeker47]

Their is nothing special about Xanax and I know for sure that Valium is so much easier to come off and the withdrawals are so much less severe but their is a difference between these meds and it’s more than just the half life. When you take Valium, you feel it kick in, it helps calm things down but along with it comes a heavy feeling. A feeling like I want to sleep but cannot. Xanax targets the anxiety cleanly. It just wipes the anxiety out. Of course this is short lived and quickly the med leaves your system which leaves you so anxious. Xanax simply targets the anxiety without any dirty feeling. Once that Xanax wears off, you will quickly need another one. At least that’s been my experience.

Completely agree on all points. Valium gets me to the right level of calm and stays long enough that I’m not on edge knowing it’ll wear off real soon and have to redose like Xanax. Plus if you do decide to quit obviously Valium is king of tapering off.

[aforgeu]

Their is nothing special about Xanax and I know for sure that Valium is so much easier to come off and the withdrawals are so much less severe but their is a difference between these meds and it’s more than just the half life. When you take Valium, you feel it kick in, it helps calm things down but along with it comes a heavy feeling. A feeling like I want to sleep but cannot. Xanax targets the anxiety cleanly. It just wipes the anxiety out. Of course this is short lived and quickly the med leaves your system which leaves you so anxious. Xanax simply targets the anxiety without any dirty feeling. Once that Xanax wears off, you will quickly need another one. At least that’s been my experience.

Completely agree on all points. Valium gets me to the right level of calm and stays long enough that I’m not on edge knowing it’ll wear off real soon and have to redose like Xanax. Plus if you do decide to quit obviously Valium is king of tapering off.

I can relate to that 100% seeker, the need to redose made me decide to quit cold Turkey at one point. Tired of the lightning FAST tolerance increase. With that being said, that is why it is perfect for panic/anxiety attacks not everyday use for anxiety

[mr-nobody]

Once upon a time Librium hands down now too hard to find and somewhat restricted currently.

Valium is now 1 first choice.
Ativan is 2
Clonaz is 3

Xanax in my opinion absolute last for dependence still fine for acute panic but not what you asked.

Consult professional re tapering and dependence issues-i just offer a point of view.

[Nameless]

I would say anything with a long half life which would be meds such as @tiv@n, v@lium, and clonaz. I messed up my receptors and gained a huge tolerance because of x@n@x, it sucks cause of its shorter half life and is way stronger. It's interesting because when I was taking v@lium every day 20 mg at least for two years straight, and when I cold turkeyed off methadone I had run out of them and didn't even feel the benz0 withdrawal.

[BeReel1010]

I was originally prescribed Wellbutr1n way back when I first met with my doctor - def was not a benzo but he claimed would help w/my anxiety. A month later I had bad side effects - it did not help whatsoever.
Went back and he put me on .5 x@ns... I stayed at a low dose for a long long time and after years it wasn’t even touching me. I was taking it in order to not withdraw if anything.

Finally brought it up with him and he was shocked I hadn’t spoken up sooner. He immediately increased me to 1mg x@ns... again few years go by and tolerance up again. About 2 years ago he switched me to Kl0nz 1mg and WOW - it made a HUGE diff. I actually felt normal, I wasn’t freaking out and having panic attacks daily. It even helped w/my concentration. I had a year worth of refills. My mental health was so much better and my family/friends could tell what a big difference it was..

Well after that year went by I thought I’d get my normal refill but nope. He said he never meant to put me on Kl0nz 3x day - and refused to give them. He would give 2 but not 3. I had to chose between something I knew worked well for me or 3x day x@ns. Since x@ns don’t stay in system as long he said 3 of those no problem. I was very upset when I left his office that day. See my days are VERY long- up at 4am work till 4pm then don’t get to bed until 1030/11pm. I reluctantly went with the x@ns. Still not sure if that was a mistake.

For month or so I was miserable. They didn’t work for me, I was so high strung. If I had the option I would go for the Kl0nz all day but the need for 3/day not 2 is what stopped me. I always took as needed but I truly believe between my lifestyle and weight 3x day def has an effect on how long they actually stay in my system- but that’s just my opinion. He’s offered my other types but I’m afraid to stray away and try something like L0raz or Di@z.... does anyone know if they do in fact work better than what I’ve been taking? Even thinking about switching gives me anxiety

[Tigertail58]

If I lived in a perfect world and could have whatever benz@s on hand that I needed I would have a hefty supply of Alpr@zol@m, Clon@zep@m, Di@zep@m, Lor@zep@m, and Flunitr@zep@m. They all bring me different degrees of relief as well as enjoyment.  If I had to pick only one it would be a tough decision. I would probably go with Cloz@zepam but it would be very close with alpr@zol@m.  My tolerance with alpr@zol@m just skyrockets after a short period of daily use and it's such a struggle for me to use in moderation.

Sounds like a lot of experience but I am sure there was a lot of anxiety, frustration and pain. I hope you have found contentment.