Are Valium or Xanax the best for anxiety disorders?
Question posted by Todd Hanna on 19 June 2009
Last updated on 31 January 2013 by 36289406a
This question has also been asked and answered here: Valium vs Xanax: Which is better?
22 Answers
I have taken all kinds of meds for my Anxiety and my Depression. Some doctors think its the same disorder and like to treat with one med, not true.
Anxiety= After trying Valium, Xanax and klonopin here are my personal results.
I find Xanax to hit the fastest and the hardest but also does not last long so you will need more and more.Although the Xanax works fast and gets one high the fact that one needs more every day or the symptoms get worse. Xanax is out.
Valium is mellow comes on with a buzz but again come afternoon another dose is needed. I found that 1 mg of Klonopin is to weak for me but 2 mg is perfect. It does not get me high, there is no buzz. It starts to come on in 20 to 30 minutes. Unlike the other drugs the Klonopin lasts all day for me. No more Anxiety and panic attacks. I find this class of drug however good for anxiety is bad for depression it makes me more depresses because it acts as a down. Doctors like I said like to treat anxiety with just an anti depressant I went down this path trying all kinds of anti depressants to fix anxiety did not help for me. I can not recommend an antidepressant because everyone responds differently to them. I personally like the way Cymbalta works for me. Feel free to contact me and better to talk with someone that is going threw it. The docs can read all they want but without suffering from it really can not understand In my experience. rsilver1211@comcast.net
For me Xanax works better but everyone is different. If you have an addictive personality I would recommend you do not get Xanax. It is a very powerful drug. When I first got it years ago I quickly became addicted to it but since then I have learned the proper way to use it. Even though your bottle will tell you otherwise, Xanax should not be used every day. You shouldn't even use it once a week. It should only be used as the very last resort to save yourself.
I know this isn't part of the question but it goes for everyone who suffers from anxiety. Instead of taking pills there are different things you can do that will calm yourself. Just look them up on the internet. You may find that something as simple as a breathing exercise can help you. I've had very severe anxiety problems my entire life and I've learned that having to rely on a pill to get you out of that hole doesn't fix anything.
You actually make it worse. I truly recommend using any anxiety medication as a last resort. Try to fight it, sometimes you will win and sometimes you wont. If you can't win you have that last resort. But let me tell you, that first time you beat it all on your own feels amazing. It will never go away but you can make it manageable with just the power of your mind.
Hi guys
I am a recreational user of both Valium and Xanex, so I am no expert.
What I have found and been told is Xanex is way cleaner, stronger and longer acting then Valium, I could take a Full light blue Xanex at 12 pm tommorow afternoon, and the half life basically dies about 8 o clock the next night, compared to yellow Valium which dies out after about 6-8 hours in my experience, Valium has alot of crap in it whilst Xanex is the pure essence and is at the top of that particular drug family/tree.
Peace
ps: Xanex with green and or alcohol is great!
Not everybody has problems with withdrawal upon stopping xanax usage. I have mixed feelings about xanax to be for sure, but when I have the panic attacks that feel like a heart attack I'm glad I have it. If I were to generalize I would say its better for panic attacks not for daily usage and valium/klonopin are better if you need to take something every day because you have generalized anxiety.
A lot of people have both and are on both, the valium/klonopin for generalize anxiety and xanax for anxiety attacks. This does seem a bit much so be careful when you start down this road and make sure you are in therapy or taking other means to address anxiety.
However I have been on 4mg xanax per day for a couple of months and stop cold turkey without any withdrawal symptoms every couple of weeks now. I think the important thing to take away from everybody's experiences is that everybody is different, and to consider whether your panic attacks are daily or occasional. These medications are definitely weird, they can increase anxiety in many people. They can cause mental anxiety to manifest in the more physical heart attack like way. I recommend if you can keeping to dose low and I personally take breaks from the medication every few weeks although if one is addicted this could be medically dangerous. However it keeps my tolerance low and gives me a sense of how it is effecting my anxiety and my addiction level. You need to be really aware while you are on this medication.
Everybody's personality and brain chemistry is different so it is so hard to generalize. I can remember my first anxiety experiences at seven years old. Does that mean I need anxiety medication? Not necessarily, it means I have anxiety and I need to deal with it. While I am in therapy and meditating and exercising I have xanax available and take it as needed. My doctor will definitely not support me being on it for much longer and I hope to have more of a handle on my issues soon.
While everybody is different, everybody I know who has been on any benzo for many years who is not an in denial drug addict regrets their dependence on benzos, and that may be the best perspective I can pass on.
I know what I've posted may be strange and contradictory, but that is my feeling after experience with benzos and witnessing others struggle with it. There are many contradictory things. Know thyself and pay good attention. Definitely avoid doses that lead to memory loss, that is very scarry.
I have only tried Xanax and I feel that it really helps during panic attacks. I actually take a very small dose right now that still helps (1/4 tablet of 0.25mg). Crazy right? I just feel that if that amount helps me for now, why take the whole pill? The small dose that I take makes me just a little bit drowsy and dizzy for just a little bit but better than experiencing panic.
Ive been on alot of them for many years. If valium work for you, STAY with them. From my experiences, its milder and my mother took them for about 30 years. Believe me, xanax has the worse effects on a person and the with drawels are severe. Hope that helps ya.
Yes. Todd Hanna. They are. Everyone of the previous answers were very well said. points well presented. Between the two, having been on both, and xanax, went into detox, spent 5 weeks and a few days, getting cleaned out. Not going to go into the this, that and the other, details. The one that worked the best for me was the valium. No doubt. I actually could feel it working. The xanax I never felt it working, yet my body would demand it and what happened is that the dose was increased and increased to the point where it was a danger to me. Hence the hospitlization. They are both benzos, addictive as the dickens, the longer on them, the more difficult it is to stop. Same equation for both. very best to you.
i prefer valium always have, i dont like xananx, my doctor took me off suddenly from valium after many years and put me on xanax, i dont like it, the valium just makes me feel better with my anxiety and panic attacks, i read the xanax is better, i dont think so. i dont like it, and i think the dr should leave me be with what works for me.
When I first went to the Dr for anxiety disorder (complements of graves disease), I wanted xanax. She would not prescribe it and gave me klonopin instead. She said it is HELL to get off of xanax. I have taken both and although the klonopin hits you faster and makes you sleepier, once you get used to it, it is BETTER than xanax. NO ANXIETY!!! It is wonderful to feel normal, at least in that respect :-). I am GLAD she told me that, or I would have a really bad time getting off xanax. And it kind of helps with my PAIN as well. Don't know why, but maybe it just relaxes my bones.
OMG! I'm trying to come off of Klonopin & have been in the hospital 3 times because of the withdrawal symptom's I'm having. I would assure you that if you try coming off of it you will have some of the same symptoms I'm having: tremors, fast heart rate(causing chest pains), shaking, hard to concentrate, confusion and those are just some. Whatever you do please get off these medications! It has screwed up my life in general, married with 3 kids' and my husband probably think's I'm a big baby for the way I've been acting but seriously, this medication has made me feel like I was having a heart attack. When I was on it I felt comatose, almost like I was there but wasn't. It has broken me down to the point where I feel either I get off this medication or die! Being sedated all day every day has very serious consequences! I really felt like not doing anything, and it seemed as if I felt sickly a lot! Please look into the seriousness of these side effects. God Bless
Xanax and valium have both been found to be ineffectual for long term anxiety. Fine if its to get over a family death, a job loss or a messy divorce or breakup. But long term, both these types of benzos are a real non starter.
You build up a tolerance and addiction so quickly, they become innefectual totally, and if you dont take them..you're screwed. You end up either increasing the dose to ridiculous amounts to get the same effect, or you just stay on the same dose and you just need to take them to function normally
The cold turkey off benzos is seriously just as bad as heroin or crack in certain ways. I know a couple of housewives who are long term valium users and their doctor has been trying to reduce their dose to ween them off. But they are soooo panicked about losing even 1mg a day, they almost have a nervous breakdown. Also their eyes are sunken in, with the black "junkie" look. I can see these benzos are slowly eating away at their very life buzz. Its hard to think of anything else except getting their next prescription
I once got hooked for a while on 60mg a day of valium which I got half of my doc, and the other half off black market. I ended up totally pissed as i hardly felt anything with them, but if I didnt have them, I couldnt leave the house and became agorophobic. I owned up to my doc, told him the situ, and he agrred to ween me off over 8 weeks to get me down to 4x2mg a day. Then for another 4 weeks, bring this dose right down until i finally stopped. Physically it was easier than i expected, but mentally it created huge panic issues, GAD, dysphoria and finally mania when i stopped altogether
The drug companies love stuff you get hooked on. Even SSRI antidepressants have "discontinuation" effects. In other words, another turkey of sorts if you stop without weening off. I stopped taking Cipralex 20mg ..bang, no more. I felt nauseus, dizzy, slight hallucinations, perception difficulties as well as feeling extremely weird, moody, aggressive, sleep deprived and lethargic for almost 6 weeks!
Effexor is another dodgy one. These new style anti depessants MRSIs mess with your brain's chemicals so bad, you can get suicidal tendencies. Trust me. My girlfriend dug a pair of sharp scissors about 2 inches into her wrist and thrust all the way to her elbow
Dont take benzos for more than 4 weeks unless as i said before for short term emotional stress. Funeral, seperation chronic panic disorder in sporadic episodes. New school SSRI or Msri meds are being found only effective for a honeymoon period of 6-10weeks into treatment. After that, you're worse without them than you were in the first place. Thanks for listening. I'd ratther have medical marijuana or even an extract that doesnt get you stoned, but gives the analgesic and anti depressive elements which are more and more being rediscovered in studies all over the world.
Au Natural is the way forward. Especially for this phony pharma anxiety and depression scam that wants the masses stuck on these wonder drugs for life
After reading everybody elses answers, i have to agree they all work differently for each individual. I am on xanax and mirtazapine for anxiety, panic attacks and depression. Without xanax I cant leave the house or live normally and function each day. Despite the numerous negatives about xanax it works for me, i dont abuse it, have a great GP who prescribes it and monitors how much i take, it has helped me enormously. In saying that yes it can be hard to come off, but so can most medication so get to a good GP and see what they suggest.
eerybody is defferent but i think xanax works best ( for me atleast)
I have been on Xanax for 25 years. AT 5 years switched to generic. Started at 16-20 a day just to function at home. At end of 3 months down to 8-10 and felt well enough to leave home. At 6 months was at 5-6 a day and as independent as possible! It was a life saver! this is at .5 mg. In 1998 down to 3 or 4 average. Some days can get by with just 1/2 to 1. Other days need 3 or 4. I guard them with my life and count them daily since last few years I have been made to fel like an addict or that I sell them on side! At time of diagnois tried several other medications and they absolutely did not work! For me, Xanax has no side effects that I know. They allow me to appear "normal" 99% of time and to work etc.! What more can one ask for?
i have been taking xanax off and on for years. ive been taking them regularly for about 5 months now (5mg once or twice a day). this is the best thing ive ever taken. i feel like a normal, functioning member of society. ive been without for the past 4 days, and feel like im gonna die. die from the anxiety, not the withdrawl. im gonna take a valium, and i hope it works until i can go back to the dr. i have to say, that xanax is THE BEST medication ive ever taken for my anxiety.
Xanax has a quicker acting half-life as for medicines like Valium,and Klonopin tend to take longer to get rid of the anxiety and also will make you extremely tired.I would recommend Xanax or something like Restoril at night or even during the day.IDK ask your doctor and let him know how you are feeling about it.Best of luck!!!
yes, when I was on xanax and cLONAZEPAM (another name for valium), they were the best years of my life. Unfortunately, I had to turn the last card down, because I was on for seven years where they are not meant to be taken that long. In my case, I had to be because they were the only thing keeping me off of the suicide path but my BF was stealing them and giving them away which left me hostpitalized of course where the shrink thought I was abusing them and took me off of them so now I am screwed up. But, that doesn't mean I can't live to tell the tale. Don't let this happen to you. these meds can change the world. Don't let Micheal Jackson write the fade out or some shrink who looks at you for five minutes and decides he can write the fade out!
hardfi, not to nitpick but clonazepam is generic for Klonipin. Fall Queen
You're right, I'm sorry. i guess i was in a hurry, wrting this. Valium is diazepam, and Klonopin is Clonazepam. Trust me, my doctor thought it was funny that I called klonopin by the generic clonazepam, and alprazolam, I would call xanax. sometimes I get a dyslecsic and F up the names. i know my benzo's and somewhere on this thing, i posted a list of the generic and real names.
Xanax is by far the best prescribing medication for aniexty. It is the withdrawl symptoms that are horrific. And, can take your body months to years to get back to normal depending on how long you are on Xanax.
How does horrible side effects make it the best? This makes no sense.
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valium, xanax, anxiety, panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder
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