Benzos which doesnt cause tolerance for anxiety?

[clinic]

I seem to be only responding to benzos for anxiety.

I’m taking clobazam 10mg daily for anxiety, and was wondering is there any other benzos for anxiety which doesnt cause tolerance ?

[gb84]

23 minutes ago, clinic said:

I seem to be only responding to benzos for anxiety.

I’m taking clobazam 10mg daily for anxiety, and was wondering is there any other benzos for anxiety which doesnt cause tolerance ?

I've been on clonazepam .5mg x2 a day for 12 years.  Always works.  Never had any tolerance issues. 

[CrazyRedhead]

4 hours ago, clinic said:

I’m taking clobazam 10mg daily for anxiety, and was wondering is there any other benzos for anxiety which doesnt cause tolerance ?

As far as I know, all benzos can potentially carry the risk of tolerance.....Although, I have been taking clonazepam (Klonopin) daily, for close to 6 years, and I haven't had any issues.

I don't know a lot about clobazam, but from what I have read about it, it is a low potency benzo.

Edited April 2, 2019 by CrazyRedhead

[notloki]

Benzos have many properties for which tolerance is an issue. Sedation, muscle relaxation, nausea, panic, anticonvulsive, hypnotic, and antianxiety are some of these properties. I find I build tolerance to sedation and the hypnotic effects. I haven't built tolerance to the antianxiety effects in several decades. I am on less benzo now than I was years ago, if I was building tolerance to the antianxiety effects my dose would have to be increased steadily. It has not. I find some confuse sedation with the antianxiety effects. Tolerance definitely builds to the euphoria, I don't experience it anymore when I take a reasonable dose of Klonopin or Ativan, the 2 benzos I take the most. I'm on my 3d decade of taking benzos and 1 mg Klonopin works the same for anxiety as it did years ago. 

[mcjimjam]

My pdoc said clonazepam has less of an issue with tolerance than other benzodiazepines.

[l'appel du vide]

On 4/2/2019 at 3:37 AM, gb84 said:

I've been on clonazepam .5mg x2 a day for 12 years.  Always works.  Never had any tolerance issues. 

I am seconding this. I have been on a daily Clonazepam regimen for going on 6 years now, and have actually reduced the dose from 1mg 3x a day to 0.25mg twice a day over time. It still works just as good as day one, and I've been panic attack free for these 6 years. I've only taken Alprazolam and Lorazepam as needed, but have heard of tolerance and redosing issues with those since they have short half-lives. Though, keep in mind tolerance to the carefree, loopy, sedating feeling that benzos can cause WILL happen no matter which medication you take. I have noticed only the anti-anxiety and anti-panic effects stay the same.

[Blahblah]

Agree with @l'appel du vide  I developed a very quick tolerance to Ativan and Xanax (it basically left me more panicked and anxiety-ridden than I had ever been before) The benzos with longer half lives (maybe Valium) in lowest dose might be less of an issue?

There are also anti-anxiety meds that fall into the anti-histamine family that my pdoc prescribes instead (because I am very sensitive to benzo tolerace & withdrawal) but those don't work for everyone.

[DammitJanet]

2 hours ago, Blahblah said:

Agree with @l'appel du vide  I developed a very quick tolerance to Ativan and Xanax (it basically left me more panicked and anxiety-ridden than I had ever been before) The benzos with longer half lives (maybe Valium) in lowest dose might be less of an issue?

There are also anti-anxiety meds that fall into the anti-histamine family that my pdoc prescribes instead (because I am very sensitive to benzo tolerace & withdrawal) but those don't work for everyone.

Though I’m very sensitive to AH’s which tend to make me very moody/irritable, I’d like to try a couple more to avoid continuing Seroquel and its side effects. 

So...which ones have you used?

ive just realized klonopin is depressing me again, and Xanax...I just don’t want to have to deal with the tolerance/withdrawals that will eventually happen. 

Edited May 24, 2019 by DammitJanet

[mikl_pls]

There is a medicine called "etizolam." I don't know where all it's available, but it's definitely not available in the US. It's technically not a benzo, but a thienodiazepine derivative which is a benzodiazepine analog. (It's a thienotriazolodiazepine.) Brand names include Etilaam, Etizest, Pasaden, and Depas. I believe it's actually a research chemical, but it's not controlled in some countries.

It has a sort of "reverse tolerance," wherein it becomes more effective the longer it is taken. It tends not to cause cognitive disturbance.

Quote

When multiple doses of etizolam and lorazepam were administered to rat neurons, lorazepam caused downregulation of alpha-1 benzodiazepine binding sites (tolerance/dependence), while etizolam caused an increase in alpha-2 benzodiazepine binding sites (reverse tolerance to anti-anxiety effects).

Basically it has a reduced liability to induce tolerance and dependence compared to the classical benzodiazepines.

[DammitJanet]

1 hour ago, mikl_pls said:

There is a medicine called "etizolam." I don't know where all it's available, but it's definitely not available in the US. It's technically not a benzo, but a thienodiazepine derivative which is a benzodiazepine analog. (It's a thienotriazolodiazepine.) Brand names include Etilaam, Etizest, Pasaden, and Depas. I believe it's actually a research chemical, but it's not controlled in some countries.

It has a sort of "reverse tolerance," wherein it becomes more effective the longer it is taken. It tends not to cause cognitive disturbance.

Basically it has a reduced liability to induce tolerance and dependence compared to the classical benzodiazepines.

Ofc they don’t have it in the USA!

[Blahblah]

3 hours ago, DammitJanet said:

Though I’m very sensitive to AH’s which tend to make me very moody/irritable, I’d like to try a couple more to avoid continuing Seroquel and its side effects. 

So...which ones have you used?

ive just realized klonopin is depressing me again, and Xanax...I just don’t want to have to deal with the tolerance/withdrawals that will eventually happen. 

Antihistamines: Vistaril, Atarax, Alamemazine, there is another but I forgot the name. Maybe something like Gabapentin could be useful for anxiety? Or even an SSRI like Celexa can be calming (if you can tolerate them)

[mikl_pls]

2 hours ago, DammitJanet said:

Ofc they don’t have it in the USA!

Yeah, because it works, and it isn't bad for you! lol...

1 hour ago, Blahblah said:

Antihistamines: Vistaril, Atarax, Alamemazine, there is another but I forgot the name. Maybe something like Gabapentin could be useful for anxiety? Or even an SSRI like Celexa can be calming (if you can tolerate them)

I believe OP is already on Paxil CR, but perhaps increasing the dose might help @clinic? Do you think you could handle a dose greater than 37.5 mg? Like 50 mg? The max is 75 mg/day for panic disorder and 62.5 mg for MDD.

[DammitJanet]

Ps nm about anxiety meds or antihistamines for me. Back to Xanax, thank goodness. Just hoping I don’t get complete tolerance. 

1 hour ago, Blahblah said:

Antihistamines: Vistaril, Atarax, Alamemazine, there is another but I forgot the name. Maybe something like Gabapentin could be useful for anxiety? Or even an SSRI like Celexa can be calming (if you can tolerate them)

I got put back on Xanax instead of klonopin. Phew. But I’ll have to check side effects on these for possible sleep help. They often make me moody and too drowsy though. Thanks for giving me the names. 

[clinic]

20 hours ago, mikl_pls said:

Yeah, because it works, and it isn't bad for you! lol...

I believe OP is already on Paxil CR, but perhaps increasing the dose might help @clinic? Do you think you could handle a dose greater than 37.5 mg? Like 50 mg? The max is 75 mg/day for panic disorder and 62.5 mg for MDD.

after increasing my benzo to 20mg has helped the anxiety. I can't take more paxil, it causes worsening anxiety and restlessness. I will try venlafaxine or sertraline in future.

[HydroCat]

4 hours ago, clinic said:

after increasing my benzo to 20mg has helped the anxiety. I can't take more paxil, it causes worsening anxiety and restlessness. I will try venlafaxine or sertraline in future.

FWIW,

Trying most SSRIs and all SNRIs, I'm back on Sertraline and I would choose that over Venlafaxine if anxiety is the main issue. It is more on the calming end.

Edited May 25, 2019 by HydroCat