Posted by med_empowered on October 21, 2005, at 5:48:20
In reply to Re: benzos and the brain: xanax vs klonopi {{glenn, posted by glenn on October 21, 2005, at 5:37:52
hey glenn. benzos are interesting b/c although they're regarded as being strictly anti-anxiety, they have lots of other effects, too. There are some studies showing that benzos help people with schizophrenia (one study I read from the 70s used valium as MONOTHERAPY for schizophrenia; the doses got up into the 100s of mgs/day, but there was a much greater reduction in tension and improvement in overall quality of life than you'd see with neuroleptics), schizoaffective, bipolar, and severe depression. Xanax has anti-depressant effects that can be comparable to antidepressants...in addition, it can reduce the anxiety and tension associated with schizophrenia, while Klonopin is preferred for schizoaffective and bipolar disorder, and Ativan is best used for psychosis and mania. So...it could be that you're dealing with a form of anxiety that really has a mood-based component thats mild enough for the xanax to help with. Or maybe you just don't fit into the DSM-IV (I don't either; all my various DX's are NOS--Mood Disorder NOS, Bipolar NOS, etc.).
poster:med_empowered
thread:568919
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051017/msgs/569725.html