Posted by Fred23 on July 14, 2004, at 21:29:10
In reply to Alcohol - an equivalent?, posted by CindyLou on July 14, 2004, at 14:31:45
> All this to say, the ONLY "med" that really gives me true relief is ALCOHOL.
> SO my big question is ... what is the alternative? Is there any med out there that mirrors alcohol
> Looking forward to some insight on this sticky issue!
This is a theme I have raised many times in my posts in the few months I have been here, which have since scrolled off into the archives.
In January, research was publised that established a genetic pattern that alcoholics have that results in faulty GABA processing. Therefore we need something to quiet our overactive brains.
While investigating that, I found this forum, with a comment by "Elizabeth" how alcohol is a poor and toxic substitute for benzos, esp. Xanax. I tried a friend's Xanax, and found that it worked better than alcohol, and finally got a prescription from my GP for Ativan, though not directly for that reason.
Is the Xanax you are taking name brand or generic? I found that the generic Ativan I took at first had more of a sedative effect than anxiolytic. On the first refill I opted for name brand, and found them far more effective.
Ativan is not like alcohol in the way that Xanax is, but seems to have a "purer" anxiolytic effect, which if hopefully will be "enough."
Some links about that research are:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-01/ace-rfa010704.php
http://www.nattc.org/asme/details.asp?ID=0402dMy idea is that they would practically support the idea of giving people with the alcoholic genetics Xanax to take instead of alcohol.
poster:Fred23
thread:366129
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040714/msgs/366320.html