hey y’all! So I’m on my 6th go of trying new meds for my panic disorder. Tried a lot of things in the past and right now my Dr is thinking of adding either klonopin or xanax to my twice daily buspirone, but I told her I wanted to ask around first. I know everyone experiences things differently but I’d be interested to know anyone’s experience adding either of these to their roster.
And if I should lean towards one over the other?
a little bit of my back story is I’m 30 and I’ve been diagnosed with panic disorder, health anxiety and agoraphobia and have been living with this for about 5 years. I’ve been off and on stuff in the past and have hated most things I’ve been on. So far buspirone has been the least terrible but makes me super nauseous and uncoordinated. I also do a lot of meditation and endurance running as some other methods of medicine but totally interested in trying others! Any advice is appreciated ☺️
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No one can tell you more than their personal experience. One person may react badly to a drug, and another be fine.
One more thing: If you've never taken a benzo, you should know there are tolerance issues that can lead to dependency. The more you take it, the less it works. And it's hell cutting back.
You'll probably get more answers if you lock your post for privacy.
Thank you 😊 and exactly, I am looking for peoples personal experiences. And I know that those could be different from mine. But I could find comfort later if I start to experience something that someone else did and I can reflect on it here and feel less scared and less alone.
Coming off the meds is for sure one of my worries, but I think living in my current situation any longer is more worrying. I’m being told the plan would be to take it while I go through more intense CBT and then pull back. So hopefully not long enough to have long lasting issues.
Thank you for sharing That’s for sure something I’m trying to be cautious of. But I am nervous of letting my attacks get worse too. So I’m still weighing out my pros and cons
Thank you for sharing that ☺️ of course I have some time left to decide and hearing everyone else’s experiences helps try to decide what will work for me. And My migraines have been thru the roof lately, I’d do most things for a quick break lol
Klonopin was the only med that directly helped reduce my anxiety and I didn't have trouble getting off of it, I just did a slow taper. I've never tried xanax so I can't tell you the difference between the two from my experience. i did a psychopharmacological test a number of years ago that used my dna to determine which meds were best suited for me genetically and my test showed that either Klonopin or Xanax would work for me.
My dr has told me that I’d most like have an easier time stopping klonopin so that’s nice to hear that that was the case for you, since I’m worried about coming off them most.
Just taper off slowly and slower even than what most doctors recommend, it took me about 3 months to taper off. I even used an xacto knife and cut the pills into smaller pieces although a pill cutter from your pharmacy will work well also. The other thing is to taper off when you feel good emotionally and balanced and not overly stressed to make it easier for yourself and also know that you will probably have some anxiousness about quitting but that is normal.
I’m a biggger guy 6’3 275 who’s been taking Klonopin for 20 year at .5 mg per day. I was at 5mg for 6-7 years on Buspar and my anxiety was horrible. Year ago they upped my Buspar to 30 mg a day and it helped immensely. I’m not a 60 a day. 80-90% reduction in symptoms, so for me I was pretty under medicated and suffered from it for many years. That’s on me.
It’s so hard to know how each person will react but I will say this. I wasn’t aggressive enough and suffered too long from it.
Oh no I’m so sorry to hear that, that must be horrible. They want me to change from buspirone to lexapro (then add Xanax or klonopin) and I’ve been reluctant to make the switch.
Any benzos should only be used in the very short term, otherwise very high risk of severe dependence and crippling withdrawal symptoms. Basically it just pushes the problem down the road but there is a heavy price to pay. If you can you would be well advised to avoid them!
I've never tried klonapin but I've been on xanax for many years and it works for me BUT... it has the be the correct manufacturer. Last year I refilled at Walgreens and started taking it and nothing was happening. I was still in panic mode. Come to find out they changed to sandoz brand and it wasn't working for me. I found out from my therapist that these generic manufacturers are only required to put 51% of the active ingredient and they can cut it/buffer it with anything else. I had to get my dr to write a new prescription for a different manufacturer of xanax and it started working again. I hope you find something that works for you.
Try letting your panic disorder pass through, mustering as much acceptance as you can throughout. In other words relaxing your mind as much you can instead of tensing up and thinking "oh no, here it comes again 😱"
Allowing yourself to feel the waves of panic wash over you with a relaxed attitude, will eventually draw its sting and those panic attacks [they are just an adrenalin rush designed to protect you from perceived danger] will gradually disappear.
It is our fear or intense dislike of these uncomfortable feelings that continually fuels the anxiety fire.
For more information about overcoming panic disorder or any other fear based disorder [e.g. GAD, agoraphobia, health & social anxiety, OCD, PTSD etc etc...they are all the same thing with fear being the common denominator] look up Dr Claire Weekes and practice her teachings in full.
Learn to cope with the sumptoms the right way and recovery will follow.
Acceptance is the best tranquilliser. It's free and you can carry it round with you for ever. ❤️
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
do not take Xanax for whatever you do. Xanax is highly addicting not that addiction matters when you have an incurable disease but it’s a situation where if you run out do withdrawals are so bad you will wind up in the hospital and some have actually died. I experienced this myself. Not death obviously or I wouldn’t be posting but I suffered withdrawals that sent me to the hospital. Klonopin is night and day different. Where is Xanax is powerful for the first four hours and then wins itself off. Klonopin slowly goes into your system and last longer . In addition, it is much less addicting. I’ll take it right now as I have anxiety bad probably due to the MS. Hope this was helpful.
Hi Mark, I'm sorry you had that awful reaction to Xanax. It's good you found a med that does help you.
As lite mentioned above, telling people they need to do what you advise is against policy here. As everyone has different reactions to meds, it isn't something we're qualified to do.
I understand policy and I will respect it from now on. I am disappointed. I was in Baptist Hospital where a 15 year clinical psychiatrist told me that he had 2 patients that had died from Xanax withdrawal! If sharing an experience that could save someone’s life makes me not welcomed on this forum I will unsubscribe from this cite !
Hi mark, I know your frustration. sharing experiences is what this site is about so you shouldn’t feel the urge to unsubscribe to this site, support and experience and compassionate understanding and some encouragement, even sharing bad experiences and possible doubts, these are all okay and necessary here.
”do not take Xanax whatever you do” is what nothing_but_books is referring to. that is where the difference is. we can’t give that sort of advice and really shouldn’t. I understand your passion regarding your experience, we just need to take care and use caution when responding to someone’s plight.
Thank you for doing that research. I also noted these replies on other posts one I felt was actually making a diagnosis which we most definitely not qualified to do and is against policy
seems like the publication of the study results prompted many articles in may 2016.
“John Hopkins researchers have been working to study the relationship between yeast and mental illness. They could not prove that Candida infections cause mental disorders.”
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That’s for sure something I’m trying to be cautious of. But I am nervous of letting my attacks get worse too. So I’m still weighing out my pros and cons 
Herbal supplements? Xanax? Esketamine?
Racing thoughts vs. obsessive thoughts 
I’m not ok
Klonopin withdrawal
Anxiety 
