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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by grammy on September 21, 2005, at 22:40:21
My pdoc just switched me from Xanax XR to Tranxene because the Xanax XR co-payment is too expensive for me. I haven't started the Tranxene yet. Is it a clean drug? Carole
Posted by med_empowered on September 21, 2005, at 22:51:58
In reply to Anyone take Tranxene?, posted by grammy on September 21, 2005, at 22:40:21
Tranxene for me was kind of like Klonopin except the doses are larger, there's more room for dosage adjustment, there's a one-a-day version of it (this is used after you're stabilized on a certain amount), and it didn't seem to "flatten" out my emotions as much as Klonopin did. Compared to Xanax (I've only taken the old-school version, not the XR)..the immediate anti-anxiety effect was less intense, but evenutally got up to around the same level; also, it affected my mood less than Xanax did, so I guess you could say it was "cleaner"--it operated more specifically on anxiety than on overall mood, which xanax kind of did for me. I didn't have any major problems with it--there was a *slight* problem with daytime drowsiness that was more pronounced than with Klonopin,Xanax, or Ativan; if you've ever taken Librium before, it was at about that level. Although it didn't lift or lower my mood, it can apparently cause *severe* depressions in certain individuals; if you have a history of intense depression your doc isn't aware of, you should probably share this (this doesn't happen to *everyone*, but it is a definite *issue*). Personally, I'd go for Klonopin, Ativan or Librium over Tranxene; for some reasons, most docs seem to ignore it while some docs adore it. Go figure. Good luck!
Posted by Declan on September 22, 2005, at 2:28:13
In reply to Re: Anyone take Tranxene?, posted by med_empowered on September 21, 2005, at 22:51:58
It wasn't my favourite benzo, but I found nothing to dislike in it either. It didn't make me too amnesic and it felt allright otherwise. It's quite long acting. An unproblematic drug, except for the addiction thing.
I found Ativan amnesic, but the doses I was using were much more than neccessary. Same with oxazepam. Maybe Librium was allright because it came in a small dose capsule and I couldn't take so much of it.
Declan
Posted by yxibow on September 22, 2005, at 15:14:33
In reply to Anyone take Tranxene?, posted by grammy on September 21, 2005, at 22:40:21
> My pdoc just switched me from Xanax XR to Tranxene because the Xanax XR co-payment is too expensive for me. I haven't started the Tranxene yet. Is it a clean drug? Carole
Most benzodiazepines are fairly "clean" agents and far safer than their predecessors, but they may target slightly different levels of the BZ subreceptor sites (anxiolytic, anticonvulsant, hypnotic).
My experience, while theoretically in vitro (lab) the metabolite half life may be long acting, the drug itself in vivo (person), is most definately not. Some years ago, I was started on Tranxene by an off campus doctor I was seeing and I was taking some combination of 7.5s 3x a day, and basically every dose was a new "hit" in a sense. It just didn't last that long in me. Eventually my medication management was moved to my university to keep all my psychiatric care in one place, but that's neither here nor there.
Unfortunately, and I don't say that this could happen, but I felt it was becoming impairing, and I initiated a self-taper off of it that was too fast. Something snapped in my head and for several weeks afterwards the muscles in my scalp moved around spasmodically. Something should have been done immediately but it was brushed aside... I did taper back up a bit but I had a benzo hating doctor (I really hated her.. she was the only psychiatrist in charge at my university student clinic and fairly unpleasant to visit) who took my initiative and started going down on the medication. 8, maybe 9 years down the line, I still have a slightly "frozen" head muscle area (it also releases occasionally and spasms under high anxiety) and if I stretch my neck or back a little my toes wriggle semi-controllable.
Now after all this diatribe (sorry, but I just had to get into it), I would say, if you wish to to take the medication, do so, but remember that the uptaper and downtaper should be fairly slow especially if you notice that you actually sense a need for multiple doses in a day. If your metabolism is completely different than mine, than its just another benzodiazepine.
Ultimately, take your personal feelings and your doctors advice in mind. If you don't feel comfortable with the new drug, I dont see why your doctor shouldnt just put you back on Xanax regular (which like most generic benzodiazepines is probably cheap as dirt), albeit the greater number of times a day you might have to take it. It many not be particularly different in terms of numbers a day as Tranxene (clorazepate dipotassium).
Hope that gives some perspective and not scare you off too much.
Tidings
Posted by Phillipa on September 22, 2005, at 21:47:54
In reply to Re: Anyone take Tranxene?, posted by yxibow on September 22, 2005, at 15:14:33
I was switched from ativan 5mg over the day to 3.75 of tranxene. Within 24 hours my anxiety was out of control and they had to switch me back to ativan. Later I found out this was a very low dose so don't know what it would have been like at a comparable dose. I wanted to try it as I knew a guy who love it. Fondly, Phillipa
Posted by krybrahaha78 on September 22, 2005, at 22:14:54
In reply to Re: Anyone take Tranxene?, posted by med_empowered on September 21, 2005, at 22:51:58
Tranxene is an awesome medication. I took it for a long time, but, unfortunately grew tolerant to it and my p-doc wouldnt raise the dose any more--i was already taking 15 mgs 3 times daily, the max is 60 i believe. I would recommend Tranxene over any benzo. I had to settle on Klonopin though because my new doc wont give me tranxene for some reason.
Posted by grammy on September 22, 2005, at 22:40:59
In reply to Re: Anyone take Tranxene?, posted by krybrahaha78 on September 22, 2005, at 22:14:54
I am so glad to read that you liked Tranxene. I was getting kind of worried after reading some of these posts. My p-doc won't give me regular Xanax for some reason. He asked me if I had ever taken Klonopin (I hadn't) but he wrote the prescription for Tranxene. Carole
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