Posted by laima on August 25, 2006, at 16:03:21
In reply to What does taking a benzo actually feel like?, posted by Meri-Tuuli on August 25, 2006, at 9:13:32
My experience with the different ones is that there are some subtle, and some substancial differences between them.When I took low dose xanax- I felt calm, still quite clear, and while worries were still worries, they didn't seem desperately unmanageable at all. I felt, "I can handle it"! Higher dose=getting groggier.
Ativan sort of worked for me for sleep- but each dose wore off very quickly. As a benzo wears off, I can detect a heightened anxiety as "withdrawal" effect. I didn't use it during the day- no reason other than I wasn't prescribed to use it during day.
Klonopin- stronger, and more likely to make me feel "drug is in my body". Fuzzier-but not bad on lower dose. This one is a mild muscle relaxant, too. Very high doses- as I tend to gulp too many of these on plane trips-leave me stumbley, clumsy, fading in and out, with trouble keeping my eyes open. Then that wears off into "drained and mellow."
Restoril (for sleep, and it is either part hypnotic or related to hypnotics) was like a knock out. I even read that militaries have used it to put fighters to sleep during their brief "breaks" (sorry- I got no references to prove or disprove- but it wouldn't surprise me. The idea was that it can "knock one out" that effectively and quickly.) To me it felt like a depressing bludgeon.
They all feel different from ambien, too- ambien for me=weird, bizarre behavior as I still resist going to bed, and while it can groggify me, oddly it never calmed anxiety whatsoever, in my experience.
Benedryl for me=plain dullness.
With the possible exeption of excessive klonopin stumbliness, none of them felt "drunk" at all to me- "drunk" to me has more giddiness, disinhibition, extroversion, goofiness, loudness, and fuzziness, and losing awareness, losing memory....
Also, "drunk" can turn into emotionality, crying, hysterics, drama, whatever- note people stumbling out of bars totally trashed at closing time. Never got any of that sort of an effect with a benzo.And "high" isn't even in the same ballpark, in my opinion- utterly different.
poster:laima
thread:679936
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060825/msgs/680062.html