Posted by Viridis on June 17, 2003, at 20:06:21
In reply to Re: Anyone sick from their anxiety?, posted by pseudonym on June 17, 2003, at 11:58:15
There's no question that benzos can induce dependency, but so do all sorts of other drugs, especially many of the newer antidepressants. It's not at all clear that the anxiety after discontinuing a benzo is any worse than that before; my pdoc says he suspects that people just forget how awful they felt before going on benzos, so if they discontinue, the return to anxiety seems terrible.
Benzos have an excellent track record for safety and effectiveness, and taper schedules for discontinuation are well established, even if tedious. I wouldn't dismiss them (especially Klonopin) out of hand, because they can be life-changing meds, in my experience and that of many others.
Pregabalin looks very promising but frankly, any drug that offers major anxiety relief seems likely to me to have a "withdrawal syndrome" associated with it -- if you have major anxiety, get relief, and then go off the med, it's bound to have an effect. It took years before the withdrawal associated with widely-prescribed ADs was recognized, and now these rank as the hardest of all prescription drugs to get off of.
poster:Viridis
thread:233668
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030614/msgs/234637.html