Barbituates and anxiety

[Jay1]

I've had a box of phenobartial in the cupboard for some time... My neuro let me try it out in an attempt to see if it had any affect on my hppd. At the time, I associated improvement with visuals as the only benchmark for a pill´s worth. They did nothing for my visuals, so I put them in the cupboard and forgot about them.

This week, I am into week 2 of a 3 week break from benzos, to keep my body away from tolerance. Today, I had a massive anxiety attack, one that very nearly had me reaching for the benzos... But I remembered the barbs and took 200mg,,, within 20 mins or so, I felt fine again, good even.

Now, these things are even more addictive and FAR more dangerous then benzos... So I am certainly not recomending them as any kind of long term treatment.... But if you are doing a similiar sort of benzo regieme as I do, or maybe suffer from anxiety attacks but have withdrawn from benzos, it might be worth trying to get a box for any times you get an anxiety attack.

If you suffer from anxiety attacks and want a med, just go for a benzo though. This is purely for the above situations.

[cs1234]

im jealous! So did it have any affect on visuals?

[Jay1]

Nothing at all... only anxiety, specifically panic attacks

[2muchmandy]

What exactly are barbs? Tamazepam etc? Cos my doc offered me them the first day i went to her but i told her id rather wait. Also congrats on the benzo break man,

[Jay1]

They are an old school anti-anxiety med, alot more danger of overdose than benzos, so don't get used much

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbiturate

[StateOfRegret]

Why would having barbiturates around be useful for benzodiazepine "breaks"? There is cross-tolerance between barbiturates and benzodiazepines [1].

 

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzodiazepine_dependence#Cross_tolerance

[Jay1]

I will trust my nuero over wiki.... He said there is suitable difference in the way they work to not cause any problems in terms of tolerance, at the dosage and regularity i take such meds.

 

Not all cross tolerances are the same, both drugs affect GABAa, but where they bind is often very different... Which is what makes Wiki problematic, as people think it is a bible.

[StateOfRegret]

It's not about blindly trusting any one source (Doctors are frequently wrong as well). If you don't believe Wikipedia, then locate some primary literature on the topic :-)

The benzodiazepine receptor does indeed occupy a different site on the GABA_A receptors from the one targeted by barbiturates, but that is not to say that there is no cross tolerance. If the mechanism of tolerance is a reduction in GABA_A receptor density, then it seems reasonable, at least, that there would be cross tolerance.

[Jay1]

Sure, if i were to take Benzos everyday for 1 month, then Barbs every day for 1 month... It could be problematic..... but for my personal "system", it seems to be fine