Xanax is JUST as bad (or worse)...ALL benzodiazepines are EXTREMELY dangerous ...Re: klonipin vs. xanax!

starlight (and everyone)...

Please see this previous post of mine for invaluable information on benzodiazepines:

http://curezone.com/forums/fm.asp?i=805621


starlight, you will find incredible amounts of information at the
http://www.benzo.org.uk/
link on how to safely discontinue use of Xanax (whenever you are ready). Please PLEASE DO NOT "cold turkey" (no matter HOW "non addicted" you think you are)...and please educate yourself FULLY before attempting to withdraw. Some folks actually run into very few problems...for others, withdrawing off a very small occasional dosage can effectively destroy their life.

And I know this may be harsh to hear, but it's a truth that needs to be said: don't think for one second that "occasional use" isn't EXTREMELY harmful or addictive. This insidious class of drugs works by chemically overstimulating your body's natural calming cells/receptors and systems...think of it as a "high powered 'electro-chemical' shock". Each and everytime you brutally shock and overwork your gaba receptors & calming mechanisms into a 'state of calm' (that feels like it's really not so bad), you systematically "dull" and diminish your body's receptors and natural calming mechanisms from being able to naturally calm themselves. EVERYtime you take a Xanax, you are chemically forcing your bodies calming mechanism into a state that's TOTALLY unachievable naturally...the more you do that, the more you destroy your body's ability to calm itself.  This is known as "downregulation" of the GABA receptors.  Every time you take a Xanax, your body becomes LESS able to calm itself - until finally, the calming mechanisms have been SO overstimulated and exhausted by the chemical stimulation, that the ONLY thing that will cause a state of calmness is more chemical stimulation (more Xanax).  And once that has happened (in as little as 4-6 weeks use) it's "up for grabs" as to how prolonged and hellish the withdrawal will be. This class of drugs do NOT create a 'chemical calmess' - they overstimulate your own bodies calming mechanisms to create the calmness - leaving every gaba receptor & calming system throughout your body weaker and less effective with every tiny lil' pill you take. It's almost as though these drugs were intentionally designed to cause you need them forever (that wouldn't be so strange for a pharmaceutical drug, eh?).

Yes, it's great that you only "take it when you need it" (FAR better than taking it consistently, for sure!), but EVERY TIME you take it, you're causing your body to have more and more need for it (because everytime you take it, you ARE sytematically destroying your body's natural ability to calm itself)...and just like the tens of thousands of people that started exactly 'where you are', you can easily end up 'where they are'...and they don't call it "Benzo Hell" for nothing, you can trust me on that. I know this both from intensive research and from several people I have assisted (and also, one family member/cousin that won't listen, and assisting my mother...whom after 1 1/2 years off the drugs, is still brutally afflicted with extreme anxiety, tinnitus, hyper-sensitivity to sound, lack of emotion, depersonalization and pure hell every waking minute of her life. By the way, her situation was complicated by various psych-drugs and life-situations, but the real hell started with a scriipt for Xanax...as needed).

My cousin, who used to be a very healthy, vibrant woman (very interested in natural health and healing), got a scriipt for Xanax a few years back...for occasional use of occasional anxiety. She took it ONLY occasionally... and after a year or two, she went to stronger size pills (.25 to .50 mg)...still ONLY occasionally. After more time, her doctor added Buspar (longer acting than the Xanax, different class of drugs) and she started using the Xanax more frequently...and then there was the inpatient psych-ward admission for extreme anxiety. She's now taking 1 mg of Xanax daily (maybe more, she won't tell me), Buspar, Trazadone and Prozac...and still will not address the fact that it's a possibility that Xanax was the root cause OR it's addictive qualities.

Listen to yourself in the quote below (substitute the substance/Xanax/"it" with the word heroin, alcohol or cocaine, and pretend you were listening to someone else saying these words:

""Xanax, is just fine, thank you. It helps me much faster, and honestly, takes away all the anxiety, and any symptoms associated with it. He's just getting hung up on the "addictive" factor, but you see, i don't take it everyday, just "in case".....i only take it when needed.."" ....and you honestly don't think you have ANY type of a 'situation' already??? Perhaps you don't have a problem yet (it's certainly not for me to judge, nor am I accusing you), but your words certainly send up serious 'red flags' to me (or anyone that's used to dealing with the effects of addictive substances).

If you only have time to 'scan through' one link today (from the link above), make sure you scan through several pages of this one: 

It's a petition (signed by thousands) attempting to get the docs & Big Pharma to disclose the incredibly high risk of addiction and life-destroying withdrawal syndromes to patients. The short signatures/stories of thousands basically say it all.


(click the "view current signatures" link, then scroll down to the numbered pages that currently looks like this:

View Signatures : 2032 1982 1932 1882 1832 1782 1732 1682 1632 1582 1532 1482 1432 1382 1332 1282 1232 1182 1132 1082 1032 982 932 882 832 782 732 682 632 582 532 482 432 382 332 282 232 182 132 82 32

...you can click on any of the numbers to scan through fifty brief signatures & stories. And you read the stories of those that used regularly for a long time (NOT like yourself), remember that virtually ALL of them started on low doses, occasionally.

If you're interested in weaning off now (and/or substituting a safe, effective, natural herbal anti-anxiety/sedative), I suggest you check out The Road Back program & protocol here:

http://www.theroadback.org/


If you ARE able to stop taking Xanax now without experiencing ANY withdrawal effects, you might want to start using a high-quality natural (non health destroying) herbal product to assist you with your current anxiety issues (until you can identify the root cause of anxiety and truly heal yourself). But FIRST, you must be absolutely sure you have absolutely ZERO signs of physical addiction --

--it takes a couple-three days for Xanax to completely be broken down and eliminated from your body...so it can sometimes take several days of "not taking" Xanax before one experiences anything they could "identify" as a 'withdrawal effect'...and many times the worst symptoms don't occur for 2-3 weeks. Please familiarize yourself with the vast array of various psychological and physiological side effects
http://www.benzo.org.uk/
using the various symptom lists from the main symptom list on the left hand side, so you'll know how to recognize the signals...many physical symptoms don't seem like they'd be 'withdrawal symptoms' at all, and the psychological symptoms COMMONLY SEEM LIKE A RETURN OR REPEAT OF THE ORIGINAL ANXIETY.

If you do decide to use an "herbal bandaid" rather than the "chemical bandaid" you're using now, it's important to know the following.

There are zillions of worthless herbs & tinctures on the market today; most likely if you tried herbal products in the past, they didn't give you the relief you needed. Please read the following to understand why this is true:
http://curezone.com/schulze/herbal_news_herbal_formulas.asp


90-95% of ALL products on the market ARE TOTAL CRAP - they are NOT like the herbal products the great healers made & used (before they were systematically 'squished out' by Rockefeller & the Pharmaceutical Cartel)... and most all herbal products are laden with herbicides, pesticides, irradiated, gassed, overdried, picked at the wrong time, made with the wrong parts of the plant and NOT created for anything but a profit. Also note that herbs in capsule form are a totally 'new thing'...dried up herbs in capsules have to be rehydrated and then broken down and digested (going through the entire digestive process) before they get to the body for use. A properly made alcohol-based tincture is jam-packed with the 'herbal goodies' (that have been extracted into the alcohol during the tincturing period...a MINIMUM of two weeks) and then the herb and will absorb into your bloodstream IMMEDIATELY through your mouth or lining of the stomach.

I know of at least two high-quality herbal anti-anxiety/sedatives you might want to consider - the following are tinctures (same organic, pure, effective, hi-caliber quality ingredients...I prefer the first one a bit over the second for immediate, short-term relief):


http://www.herbdoc.com/p53.asp



http://healthfree.com/shop/index.php?action=item&id=143&prevaction=se...


And either the Kava capsules or tincture here:
http://www.herb-pharm.com/

(the tincture is FAR more effective and takes effect within 10-15 minutes or less. I've used them both for myself AND with others I've coached). btw. the FDA and Powers That Be are "all over" Kava Kava. I have INTENSELY researched the reports of liver damage...and ALL of them that I was able to locate (I found all but two) were because of three reasons 1) the Kava supplement was made with the toxic parts of plant 2) the person was an alcoholic 3) the person was abusing to the point of taking 10-40 times the recommended dosages for VERY long periods.

Also, do an internet search on the homeopathic remedy called Bach's Flower Remedy. It's not something that 'hits you like a ton of bricks' as far as effectiveness, but it's a time-honored product that has given tens of thousands relief from typical anxiety. It's inexpensive and easy to find/order...and certainly worth a try.

I hope this all has given you the information & knowledge you need to both heal yourself AND prevent you from ever experiencing any complications or finding yourself one day Benzo Hell (assuming it's not too late already).

Healthiest of blessings -

Unyquity