Is Zanax More Effective than Klonopin for Treating SA?

[Flinx]

Hi Everyone,

I was wondering if anyone here finds Xanax more effective than Klonopin for helping treat social anxiety? If so, what is your effective dose? Is regular Xanax or Xanax XR better?

I feel the Klonopin that I'm taking is not working to well.

I appreciate your inputs.

[UltraShy]

Like many med questions, YMMV is the only true answer. You really have to try it yourself.

I personally don't find that any benzo does that much for me, but I'd rate Klonopin as the least effective in my case. I'd rate Xanax, Valium, and Ativan as equal at equivalent doses (I think the potency of Klonopin is overstated by most equivalency charts that allege it to be twice as strong as Xanax when I'd say it's more like 1 to 1.)

I've never tried XR, in part because it costs way too much at the dose I take -- it would be something like $400 a month vs the $33 I pay for immediate release. I take 10 mg of Xanax daily and that still doesn't even come close to fixing my anxiety.

[X33]

Originally Posted by UltraShy

Like many med questions, YMMV is the only true answer. You really have to try it yourself.

I personally don't find that any benzo does that much for me, but I'd rate Klonopin as the least effective in my case. I'd rate Xanax, Valium, and Ativan as equal at equivalent doses (I think the potency of Klonopin is overstated by most equivalency charts that allege it to be twice as strong as Xanax when I'd say it's more like 1 to 1.)

I've never tried XR, in part because it costs way too much at the dose I take -- it would be something like $400 a month vs the $33 I pay for immediate release. I take 10 mg of Xanax daily and that still doesn't even come close to fixing my anxiety.

Do you feel anything at all when on 10mg Xanax?
Any sedation? Any of the med's side-effects?

I took 0.5mg Ativan today and felt a little bit drowsy and also experienced other s.e. such double vision, less motivation, clouded mind.

[UltraShy]

Originally Posted by ag

Do you feel anything at all when on 10mg Xanax?
Any sedation? Any of the med's side-effects?

No sedation at all. Minor reduction of anxiety. As for side effects, it kills sex drive at this dose or maybe it's depression that does that too. I don't know. It definitely produces no sensation of being drugged for me.

[X33]

Originally Posted by UltraShy

No sedation at all. Minor reduction of anxiety. As for side effects, it kills sex drive at this dose or maybe it's depression that does that too. I don't know. It definitely produces no sensation of being drugged for me.

It is possible then that you are attacking anxiety from the wrong angle. SSRIs don't work for me how muchever big the dose is.
Have you exhausted all other options/drugs/therapies?

EDIT: For the SSRI, I am not being entirely honest but I used that just to illustrate my point better.

[scotthallkevinnash]

I like Klonopin better because of the longer half life. Xanax produces more of an alcohol-like high but then you come down fairly quick.

Klonopin will still give you a buzz the first time you take it but its much less intense. It seems to act more subtly and for longer.

Xanax is good for preventing panic attacks. It kicks in really quick. Klonopin takes about an hour to kick in.

As UltraShy said, taking benzo's everyday only offers little to moderate relief. You become tolerant and dependant usually in a matter of months or less. Try and take any benzo as little as possible becuase the less often you take it, the better it works.

As for which is better, my vote goes for Klonopin because it lasts longer.

[Polar]

Originally Posted by scotthallkevinnash

I like Klonopin better because of the longer half life.

Same here. I find Xanax and Klonopin to have very similar effects, the only difference is that Klonopin enters your system slow and steady, while Xanax sort of kicks in harder. One trick to make the K kick in faster is to let the pill dissolve under your tounge. It kind of tastes like mint, very different from that awful bitter taste of Xanax.

I can take a 2mg pill of Klonopin and it can last for up to 2 days.

[coolguy]

I take Xanax, but it is not a solution for SA. As the others mentioned, you may find yourself dependant on something that no longer provides much relief, basically you have a habit.

I still use Xanax occasionally, if I am having a really bad day or have to face something that is going to make me extremely nervous. I take just enough to partially mask my anxiety response, so that I am still being somewhat desensitized. It does have a sedative effect on me, which is a bonus, since if I cannot get to sleep the night before a big event, I can always pop a couple of Xanax's!

[UltraShy]

Originally Posted by scotthallkevinnash

As UltraShy said, taking benzo's everyday only offers little to moderate relief. You become tolerant and dependant usually in a matter of months or less.

I don't think it's an issue of tolerance in my case. I ended up on such a high benzo dose because smaller doses didn't work, so more & more was tried. It's not like a little worked at first and then I had to keep going higher to get the same effect. I never got much effect from day one.

The first time I ever took a benzo was August 2000 when I tried Valium & I might as well have taken a sugar pill -- it was the ultimate in anti-climactic events. Take a legendary drug and feel basically zip, despite having never taken benzos nor any other sedative/hypnotic drug in my then 27 years of life. At that point I didn't even drink at all. I make a point of my drug history (or rather lack of) to emphasize that I certainly couldn't have built a tolerance to sedative/hypnotics at that point in my life.

[jaayhou]

Surely though...you would have had some effect had you taken your current daily dose at that time, right? I couldn't imagine taking 10mg daily.

[scotthallkevinnash]

No.

Our bodies grow tolerant to doses. This is why we must increase the dosage with daily use.

Id bet dollars to donuts that Mr. Karl doesnt even hardly feel a buzz off of 10mg.

[UltraShy]

Originally Posted by scotthallkevinnash

Id bet dollars to donuts that Mr. Karl doesnt even hardly feel a buzz off of 10mg.

I've never felt any buzz, high, euphoria, rush or anything of the sort from any benzo at any time in any amount. I didn't get such feelings even when I first tried benzos 8 years ago, despite the fact that at the time I had zero experience with any type of sedative/hypnotic drug, not even alcohol. Growing tolerant certainly can't explain why I never felt any buzz even at the start since I couldn't have had a tolerance then due to use of benzos or any related drugs as I hadn't previously used any.

[jaayhou]

Some drugs like rifampin, carbamazepine, phenobarbital, or St. John's Wort can induce the enzyme that clears Xanax. If you take any of those drugs, it could explain the lack of effect. That, or you may genetically be an ultra-metabolizer for Xanax and other drugs.

Originally Posted by scotthallkevinnash

No.

Our bodies grow tolerant to doses. This is why we must increase the dosage with daily use.

Id bet dollars to donuts that Mr. Karl doesnt even hardly feel a buzz off of 10mg.

That was like half a year ago, but I think I was referring to the fact that he felt no effect at a large dosage even before any exposure to the drug. Of course, there would be no possibility for tolerance at that point. Strange, but this stuff can be pretty unpredictable.

[UltraShy]

Originally Posted by jaayhou

Some drugs like rifampin, carbamazepine, phenobarbital, or St. John's Wort can induce the enzyme that clears Xanax. If you take any of those drugs, it could explain the lack of effect. That, or you may genetically be an ultra-metabolizer for Xanax and other drugs.

I'm guessing ultra-metabolizer would be likely.

I've never taken any of the 3 drugs you mention. In fact, I can only identify one of them -- I know what phenobarbital is; don't know what the others are for. I tried a bottle of St. John's Wort in early 2000 several months before I ever tried my first benzo.

Of course, if one took phenobarbital would they even notice that lowered effect of Xanax given that barbs are anti-anxiety drugs and this is one of the drugs that would have been used prior to benzo introduction in the 1960s.

Smoking also induces an enzyme that reduces levels of Xanax, but I've never smoked and I'm never around smokers.

The only other drugs I take on a regular basis would be nasal sprays (Atrovent & Flonase), but I think we can rule them out as having any effect on Xanax, given that only a tiny trace is actually absorbed into the bloodstream.

[dns]

Originally Posted by Flinx

Hi Everyone,

I was wondering if anyone here finds Xanax more effective than Klonopin for helping treat social anxiety? If so, what is your effective dose? Is regular Xanax or Xanax XR better?

I feel the Klonopin that I'm taking is not working to well.

I appreciate your inputs.

xanax works faster (if this is important for you), it works stronger (that's how it is felt at least) and it leaves your organism much faster than the klon which is sometimes an advantage e.g. your return home ok, not benzo-buzzed. For me this is important

and besides there are people for whom klon doesn't work at all (me) while xanax does. In this case the decision is much easier