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Jack - benzos effective for *almost* all anxiety

Posted by mattdds on May 14, 2003, at 21:46:46

In reply to Re: Benzo's best drug for anxiety? » mattdds, posted by Jack Smith on May 14, 2003, at 17:51:37

>>When you say "anxiety" what do you mean? Panic? Or non-panic with physical symptoms? Or just some sort of worry?

>>What is your dose of Klonopin and how often? Do you use brand or generic? If generic, do you know which drug maker?

This is a good point. I should have been more specific. I think the research indicates that benzos are best for panic, GAD and sometimes social phobia. Perhaps they are not so useful for OCD or PTSD, as indicated by research and anecdotal reports here.

I have a pretty bad case of panic disorder, and that is my main "diagnosis". I also have a moderate case of social anxiety, and of course GAD. But I've found Klonopin to be effective across that whole spectrum. It completely shuts down spontaneous panic, takes the edge off of social situations (but I believe this should be used in conjunction with behavioral techniques that are pro-social, in order to get the best effects, especially in the socially phobic). It also kills the GAD.

You asked if it worked on the "worry" aspect of anxiety or just the physical "spontaneous" anxiety. The answer is: both! I just don't really worry much anymore, and I definitely never get spontaneous anxiety spells (of the more physiological sense).

I believe the manufacturer is Purepac, or something like that. It is a 0.5 mg tablet, pink in color. I doubt the manufacturer matters that much, because I used to take the Roche brand name, but now my insurance only pays for generics, and it seems to work the same. This is 2 years after starting, I still get the same panic-blocking and anti-GAD-worry effect.

My dose was originally 0.5 mg / day, and that was enough to block panic and GAD. I did have some residual derealization / depersonalization and have titrated up to 1.5 - 2.0, (1 mg in the AM, 0.5 - 1.0 in the PM). I should emphasize that 0.5 works as well as it did 2 years ago, my pdoc just felt that it would get rid of depersonalization / derealization at a higher dose. I have not had any tolerance, almost 2 years into this. I have had tolerance to the side-effects. To me this is the beauty of benzos, differential tolerance. In other words, you get used to the sedation, clumsiness, and memory effects, but tolerance does not typically build to the panic-blocking and anxiolytic effects. I think this is pretty well documented in the literature, and has certainly been my experience.

Regards,

Matt


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poster:mattdds thread:226535
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030514/msgs/226725.html