Diazepam, Lorazepam, Midazolam, Alprazolam, Oxazepam, Bromazepam, which works best against anxiety?

[Kasumi]

I'm with my anxiety for years now and while some things do help when it's not that bad, when it's worse I can't do anything but just suffer through it and it sucks.
So I'm now thinking about starting self-medication since I'm not getting appropriate help from doctors.

So my general question is, does it matter which one I go with or are they all fine?
I can look up dosage myself but some more advice will definitely not hurt, so if you have experience with any of these specifically to treat anxiety, I'd like to head about it.

Medications I consider:
I don't want to take AD's cause of their many side effects, the requirement to take them for weeks or months before I see if they work, and also the fact that it's generally a gamble if they even work at all.
Benzodiazepines seem to be generally less of a hassle, usually reliable without the kind of uncomfortable side effects as you'd get from AD's.
The only real issue is that they can lead to dependence when taken regularly over extended time, which I'd like to avoid by taking them as needed instead of on a regular basis.
Of course, if you know of any other reliable anxiolytic, please let me know, but other than off-label AD's and Benzos I can't think of anything.

Frequency and dosage:
I'm not planning to take them on a daily basis, but as needed.
Depending on what's currently happening in my life and other factors such as sleep, exhaustion, stress, my anxiety can just be sort of there, and surely it's not great, but it's not horrible either - or it can also be so troubling that I can't do anything at all because the fear is overtaking everything in my head.
The more extreme (to either end) the rarer, so I would want to take meds "as needed" which would probably come out to ranging from ~once every two weeks to ~4 times a week.
And I mean if I know I shouldnt take a certain medication more than twice a week, then I will stick to it, even when it's really bad, 2 days that I'm better are 2 days I'm better, I'll take what I can get.

If you have any experiences or knowledge on those medications I'd be grateful if you could share them with me :)

 

[AllFoxedOut]

Diazepam is fast acting and long lasting. I've been prescribed diazepam for anxiety, as have members of my family.

I'm obviously not a doctor, just sharing my experience... don't mix them with alcohol either. that puts you on the express train to the psych ward.

 

[Kobusu]

I can second the Diazepam recommendation, as well as the warning to stay off the bottle when taking it. Diazepam worked for me before I changed medications for other reasons, and I highly recommend it.

 

[Kasumi]

Thank you for your recommendations.
Preferrably I'd take something that's a bit shorter lasting than diazepam, as far as I know Diazepam stays in your system basically the entire day if not more.
Also I don't drink.

@AllFoxedOut @Kobusu How much would you typically take and how often?

 

[Kobusu]

Thank you for your recommendations.
Preferrably I'd take something that's a bit shorter lasting than diazepam, as far as I know Diazepam stays in your system basically the entire day if not more.
Also I don't drink.

@AllFoxedOut @Kobusu How much would you typically take and how often?

For me, I was prescribed 5mg twice a day, but I know it depends on the severity of your symptoms!

 

[saddestbunny]

I wouldnt recommend alprazolam at all, I've seen that destroy people and it makes your memory really spotty

it's a really fast acting anxiety med but it feels like it wears off after no time

gabapentin and Lorazepam worked much better in my experiences

good luck

 

[AllFoxedOut]

Thank you for your recommendations.
Preferrably I'd take something that's a bit shorter lasting than diazepam, as far as I know Diazepam stays in your system basically the entire day if not more.
Also I don't drink.

@AllFoxedOut @Kobusu How much would you typically take and how often?

I've only had it prescribed for anxiety twice. once as an inpatient at a psychiatric facility, and I took it twice daily for my 2 week stay there. so not long enough to build a dependence but a doctor would never let me do that as an outpatient.

the other time I was an outpatient and I was prescribed 15 5mg tablets to take "as needed". but he said no more than one a day. it also wasn't a repeat prescription, I doubt if I did get a repeat prescription he'd prescribe one a day. I ended up trying to CTB with these and alcohol.

alprazolam (xanax) might be your best choice then. it has a much shorter half life than diazepam but is also fast acting. I have no personal experience with this drug though.

 

[Kasumi]

I wouldnt recommend alprazolam at all, I've seen that destroy people and it makes your memory really spotty

it's a really fast acting anxiety med but it feels like it wears off after no time

gabapentin and Lorazepam worked much better in my experiences

good luck

Thank you, I had make a note next to Alprazolam, that it wasn't desirable, but of course I didn't note the reason..

For me, I was prescribed 5mg twice a day, but I know it depends on the severity of your symptoms!

Thank you, sounds to me like diazepam is more meant for continous treatment and less for acute treatment, tbf, if it's fine to use on a daily basis then I have no problem with that, it's just cause doctors here tend to really make a fuss about how "dangerously addicting" it is.

 

[saddestbunny]

Thank you, I had make a note next to Alprazolam, that it wasn't desirable, but of course I didn't note the reason..

to add to it, it will make thinking extremely difficult as well, it slows brain activity in a much worse way from other anxiety meds from what I've seen, one of my exes had really bad anxiety and they tried many different medications. Xanax was the only one I was scared for their mental health on as it was deteriorating (ppl actually have a name for those that get addicted to Xanax "bar tards" not trying to be offensive but shed light on how damaging it can be)


I wish u the best in your search

 

[befree]

I'm now thinking about starting self-medication

Better don't do that. You can quickly become addicted to it.

 

[AllFoxedOut]

to add to it, it will make thinking extremely difficult as well, it slows brain activity in a much worse way from other anxiety meds from what I've seen, one of my exes had really bad anxiety and they tried many different medications. Xanax was the only one I was scared for their mental health on as it was deteriorating (ppl actually have a name for those that get addicted to Xanax "bar tards" not trying to be offensive but shed light on how damaging it can be)


I wish u the best in your search

the benzodiazepine class of drug is a central nervous system depressant like alcohol is. they're also addictive for the same reason

so unfortunately spotty memory, slow reflexes, fatigue, etc. are gonna be potential side effects of all of them.

Better don't do that. You can quickly become addicted to it.

benzo withdrawal is hell on earth as well

 

[saddestbunny]

the benzodiazepine class of drug is a central nervous system depressant like alcohol is. they're also addictive for the same reason

so unfortunately spotty memory, slow reflexes, fatigue, etc. are gonna be potential side effects of all of them.

benzo withdrawal is hell on earth as well

I'm aware.

Xanax was the worst

 

[Kasumi]

I'm aware of that, that's why I'm asking for advice here, cause the ones who should be giving the advice and making sure I know how to take them responsibly (doctors) don't want the responsibility and instead just wanna put me on AD's that do nothing

 

[enough of this]

I'm with my anxiety for years now and while some things do help when it's not that bad, when it's worse I can't do anything but just suffer through it and it sucks.
So I'm now thinking about starting self-medication since I'm not getting appropriate help from doctors.

So my general question is, does it matter which one I go with or are they all fine?
I can look up dosage myself but some more advice will definitely not hurt, so if you have experience with any of these specifically to treat anxiety, I'd like to head about it.

Medications I consider:
I don't want to take AD's cause of their many side effects, the requirement to take them for weeks or months before I see if they work, and also the fact that it's generally a gamble if they even work at all.
Benzodiazepines seem to be generally less of a hassle, usually reliable without the kind of uncomfortable side effects as you'd get from AD's.
The only real issue is that they can lead to dependence when taken regularly over extended time, which I'd like to avoid by taking them as needed instead of on a regular basis.
Of course, if you know of any other reliable anxiolytic, please let me know, but other than off-label AD's and Benzos I can't think of anything.

Frequency and dosage:
I'm not planning to take them on a daily basis, but as needed.
Depending on what's currently happening in my life and other factors such as sleep, exhaustion, stress, my anxiety can just be sort of there, and surely it's not great, but it's not horrible either - or it can also be so troubling that I can't do anything at all because the fear is overtaking everything in my head.
The more extreme (to either end) the rarer, so I would want to take meds "as needed" which would probably come out to ranging from ~once every two weeks to ~4 times a week.
And I mean if I know I shouldnt take a certain medication more than twice a week, then I will stick to it, even when it's really bad, 2 days that I'm better are 2 days I'm better, I'll take what I can get.

If you have any experiences or knowledge on those medications I'd be grateful if you could share them with me :)

I've been taking Benzodiazepines for my anxiety issues for years. Any of them seem to work well. I've been on Lorazepam, Diazepam and Clonazepam. I've also had some Xanax. I've never taken any of them on a regular basis, only as needed, which may be anywhere from a couple of days to several weeks. I'm careful to not get addicted to them.

I've found a fairly good supplement for calming. It's a Life Extension product called Enhanced Stress Relief. It doesn't offer the relief of the benzos, but it's not bad, especially if you take a double dose. It's nothing but lemon balm and L-Theanine, a natural amino acid. You can find it on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=enhanced+stress+relief+life+extension&crid=14WN7FLDEJBUI&sprefix=enhanced+stress+relief%2Caps%2C102&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_2_22

 

[liljeep]

For as needed use, Alprazolam all the way. Diazepam is more for physical relaxation. Bromazepam and Lorazepam are very weak. 0.5-1mg of Alprazolam and your anxiety will be gone, promise. It wears off after 4-6 hours.

 

[schrei_nach_liebe]

Clonazepam is long-acting, but most people don't understand what long-acting actually means. It does not mean it makes you less anxious for longer, not exactly at least. The benefit for a lot of people for clonazepam is that it metabolizes differently to other benzos and because of the way the piss test is designed, it does not usually show up positive for benzos. There is a special test for clonazepam that exists if a lab decides they have a reason to use it or is asked to.