Posted by Jasmine Neroli on September 18, 2003, at 0:55:24
In reply to Re: Prozac or a Benzo(Klonopin or Xanax) Please ad » Hanks, posted by Viridis on September 16, 2003, at 5:09:25
Hello: It is certainly a very personal decision to make, but I would add my vote to the Klonopin side. I've been treated for depression for 2 years even tho' my doc's acknowledge that my initial symptoms were anxieties. But the fear was that unresolved anxieties lead to depression or are co-morbid with it. And depression can be more dangerous to the individual (suicide etc.) and harder to treat in many cases. So, I too had SSRI/SARI treatments. They helped the anxiety, but after sustained use, left me flat, lethargic, worsened my insomnia, sexual dysfunction and caused some very despairing lows, that I didn't have BEFORE! Now I have been re-diagnosed with GAD, with no apparent depression! Klonopin has made me relaxed, calm, free of continual worry, social, and given me sleep again. I have no sign of depression! At first, it was sedating and energy zapping, but a month later, that has gone. So I agree with the previous posters, the sedating effect does wear off (which is why it can be "addictive" as a sleep medication, cuz tolerance builds to it), but the anxiolytic effect is still the same at the same dose I started. I believe that discontinuing AD's to be far more unpleasant than benzo's.
When you have to decide between two things that work for you, consider which has the least side-effects, which is the cheapest, which has the least discontinuation problems, which have been around the longest ( so more is known about them).
And is depression an issue at all, if so, is it secondary to anxiety????
Good luck with your decision.
Jas
p.s. I have recently been put on a trial of Buspar, with the idea of tapering off Klonopin in a few weeks, if it works. That might be another option for you ( however, I'm not optimistic about it for myself).
poster:Jasmine Neroli
thread:260131
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030917/msgs/261243.html