Posted by valene on January 30, 2007, at 20:45:58
In reply to Re: Valium, xanax, lunesta together at night for sleep, posted by Quintal on January 30, 2007, at 17:31:55
> Phillipa, I and some other people on here have been trying for a while to inform you that benzos and other CNS depressants can cause and exacerbate depression when taken long term. It's one of the reasons pdocs are so against benzos here in the UK and if you were to present with treatment resistant depression it would probably be one of their treatment goals to gradually taper them off them and see if your depression improved. I found myself that I no longer have such severe depressive episodes since I quit benzos and I'm more emotionally stable. It really is worth looking into withdrawing from them and substituting with another anxiolytic drug such as Lyrica and/or BuSpar (if necessary) if you're serious about beating the depression.
>
> I know benzos are the only meds you trust and they've worked well most of your life, but it is possible that now they're doing more harm than good.
>
> QI have a different opinion, Q. My own experience has been that xanax has definite antidepressant properties and I have been taking it for 25 years, and have gone down from 3mg. to 1.75mg. or less.
Phillipa has not gone up in her benzo dosage; in fact she has gone down if I am not mistaken. So as far as tolerance is concerned I don't think she has an issue.
I saw a famous psychopharmacologist in Boston because I was concerned about coming off the xanax, and he recommended that I stay on a small dose because a) it helps anxiety b) I do not increase dosage,
c) it is safe to take d) hardly drink alcohol.Val
poster:valene
thread:728097
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070125/msgs/728257.html