# What's the difference between benzos and SSRIs?



## mitch22 (Jul 7, 2011)

Never really heard of xanax and stuff like that for anxiety. Can someone explain kinda? My doctor never brought up benzos before.

I had a counselor once tell me he was against tranquilizers, was he talkin about xanax and stuff? I've tried Effexor and Celexa and they really didn't help.

Thanks.


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## bben (Oct 24, 2009)

Ill let someone else explain in depth, but yes benzos like xanax and klonopin and valium are sedatives and tranquilizers. They are highly addicting and their effectiveness tends to wane with time in most people as tolerance and dependence builds. The withdrawl from these drugs can be very painful and can last a very long time, in some cases it is permanent.

SSRIS will also form dependence, but they are not nearly as addictive mentally or psychologically as benzodiazepines. For most people ssris can work for longer and with less side effects, but not in all people. In some people only benzodiazepines will work. However, this is not a good long term solution.

Benzos also impair cognition much much more than ssris do.


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## DK3 (Sep 21, 2011)

mitch22 said:


> Never really heard of xanax and stuff like that for anxiety. Can someone explain kinda? My doctor never brought up benzos before.
> 
> I had a counselor once tell me he was against tranquilizers, was he talkin about xanax and stuff? I've tried Effexor and Celexa and they really didn't help.
> 
> Thanks.


Ok in laymans terms...

Benzo's are a specific class of drugs that work by lowering anxiety and relaxing you. They do this by increasing the level of a chemical called GABA in the brain which is responsible for creating feelings of mental/physical relaxation and disinhibition. At higher doses they can be sedating and cause sleep. They are sometimes called tranquilizers for that reason.

SSRI's are a different type of drug altogether. They generally work by increasing the level of a chemical called serotonin in the brain. Serotonin is the chemical responsible for a lot of thought processes in the brain, such as mood and feelings. The basic premise is that depression and a lot of anxiety-related disorders are if not caused by low serotonin levels, can be treated by raising the level of serotonin so the person feels better.

So that is basically the difference between the two types of drugs in simple pharmacological terms.

In practical terms, benzos work instantly at lowering anxiety but often have more serious side effects (rebound-anxiety) and addiction/tolerance risks associated with them. For that reason, they're normally only considered for very short term anxiety treatment, or occasional use. There are shorter-acting and longer-acting benzos, meaning some will wear off more quickly while longer acting ones stay in your system and work longer. Xanax is a shorter acting benzo and Valium is one of the longest acting.

SSRI's (known as "anti-depressant" drugs) are considered a lot safer and can be taken daily for long periods over many years. Although SSRI's can have many side effects, most are usually tolerated well and the side effects go away after a while. One of the drawbacks of SSRI's is that they take longer to start working, usually a month or so and sometimes they can stop working after a while. There's a great many SSRI drugs available with different profiles and actions, some are more suited to anxiety conditions than others.


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## Himi Jendrix (Mar 24, 2010)

The above post is correct but to simplify; SSRI act on serotonin. Wheras benzos act at GABAa receptors. So two completely different set of neurotransmitters. 

SSRI takes weeks to works wheras benzos work right away by potentiating the effect of GABA allready in the brain. GABA is simply an inhibitory transmitter. It basically slows the brain down. 

Benzos are good and many people use them. Doctors are afraid because of dependence issues. Many people can benefit from their use however. Especially if used only as needed.


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## Bacon (Jul 4, 2010)

SSRI's act on serotonin and allow more Reuptake of the chemical.

Take 6-8 weeks to take effect.



Benzos hit your GABA and immediately provide relief. But tollerance and addiction because of how good they feel is a concern. The SSRI Zombie effect will hit you at 1st untill it can balance in your system possibly. Benzos more effective imo. been taking xanax PRN for over a year and been fine and works great and low .5 MG dose still.....


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

bben said:


> They [benzos] are *highly* addicting...


Even the DEA doesn't believe that, seeing how benzos are all classified as Schedule IV controlled substances, the lowest level of controlled drug there is. Drugs that they deem highly addictive (e.g. morphine, amphetamines) are put in the vastly more tightly controlled category of Schedule II.


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

mitch22 said:


> I had a counselor once tell me he was against tranquilizers, was he talkin about xanax and stuff?


Yes, in the modern world tranquilizer = benzodiazepines, with the most common ones being Xanax, Ativan, Klonopin, and Valium.

-What do you use to treat pain? Uh, pain meds.

-What do you use to treat bacterial infections? Antibiotics, of course.

-What do you use to treat allergies? Antihistamines obviously.

-What do you use to treat psychotic patients? I'm thinking antipsychotics would be a good choice.

-What do you use to treat anxiety? Perhaps anti-anxiety meds. This is a trick question. For most doctors the answer is "Anything but a tranquilizer!" We live in a world where using anti-anxiety meds to treat anxiety is treated by many as some wild & crazy concept.:roll


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

DK3 said:


> Although SSRI's can have many side effects, most are usually tolerated well and the side effects go away after a while.


Sexual side effects are quite common with SSRIs and that side effect rarely goes away. After a decade on SSRIs for OCD my brother found a way to make anorgasmia go away -- he stopped taking SSRIs. He found that worked really well at ending SSRI side effects.


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## DK3 (Sep 21, 2011)

UltraShy said:


> Even the DEA doesn't believe that, seeing how benzos are all classified as Schedule IV controlled substances, the lowest level of controlled drug there is. Drugs that they deem highly addictive (e.g. morphine, amphetamines) are put in the vastly more tightly controlled category of Schedule II.


Yes but benzos are still scheduled drugs and for good reason. If they weren't so addictive and problematic they would just be regular prescription medications. The fact is people do abuse them and/or get physically addicted to them. It's also a dangerous drug for people to be addicted to as far as society concerned, because it can severely impair judgment which has many social implications. I think the reason they are lower down the scheduling is because they have far less recreational abuse potential than drugs which make you high like narcotics, but nevertheless benzos are a common feature on the blackmarket as a street drug. Drug addicts or people who abuse drugs with a hard come down often use benzos to cope with the come down.


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## DK3 (Sep 21, 2011)

UltraShy said:


> Sexual side effects are quite common with SSRIs and that side effect rarely goes away. After a decade on SSRIs for OCD my brother found a way to make anorgasmia go away -- he stopped taking SSRIs. He found that worked really well at ending SSRI side effects.


Yeah I know what you mean about the sexual side effects I had my experience of them. Sometimes they can be beneficial though, like the reduced sensitivity and delayed orgasm is actually a benefit to some men. But the erection dysfunction side effect with many can be very problematic. The best thing to do is either to reduce dose, switch med or find something you can take concurrently to alleviate the problem, something like Viagra or perhaps a natural substance like Yohimbine.


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## broflovski (Feb 1, 2011)

Some pharmacology-nazi notes: 


DK3 said:


> Benzo's are a specific class of drugs that work by lowering anxiety and relaxing you. They do this by increasing the level of a chemical called GABA in the brain which is responsible for creating feelings of mental/physical relaxation and disinhibition.


Benzos don't actually increase GABA-levels as I remember, they potentiate its action in GABA-A receptors, by binding to this receptor's another subsite (this is called positive allosteric modulation). 


Bacon said:


> SSRI's act on serotonin and allow more Reuptake of the chemical.


SSRIs not allow but block (inhibit) reuptake of serotonin. It is _SSRE_ drug tianeptine (Stablon), that 'allows more reuptake of the chemical'.


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## Bacon (Jul 4, 2010)

broflovski said:


> Some pharmacology-nazi notes:
> 
> Benzos don't actually increase GABA-levels as I remember, they potentiate its action in GABA-A receptors, by binding to this receptor's another subsite (this is called positive allosteric modulation).
> 
> SSRIs not allow but block (inhibit) reuptake of serotonin. It is _SSRE_ drug tianeptine (Stablon), that 'allows more reuptake of the chemical'.


Ahh gotcha. Thanks for that correction. Yes my psych actually wanted to try me on the SSRE med but he said it may make my anxiety worse. But benzos bashers i mean Benzos are highly effective medications if use PRN For panic. The Key is PRN.............3-5 times a week. Iv been using them and they work wonders.....if your responsible benzos are great. SSRIs are more evil in my opinion..............if you have any sexual life SSRIs are gonna royally screw you with the side effects.


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