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Blood pressure is my problem


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Hello, Benzo Buddies,

 

I've taken xanax since 2004 after a series of tragedies occurred in my life. I was in extremely tense distress. I was amazed at how fast xanax eased my terrible "bottled up" grief and actually allowed me to have a good, long cry and then sleep deeply. Later on, I realized that the quality of my sleep was much improved and I had much more energy during the day. However, I was at only 0.5 xanax a night then.

 

I realized that I was probably feeling "normal" for the first time in decades. I was later diagnosed with G.A.D. (possibly PTSD - I was emotionally abused as a child) - I had had innumerable episodes of severe anxiety over inconsequential things for years, occasional panic attacks and agoraphobia, and awful bouts of insomnia worrying about worst case scenarios that never happened. During the next 5 years, I had settled into about 2 mg of xanax a day: .5 in the morning, .5 in the afternoon after a stressful day at work - I'm a teacher :sick: - and 1 mg at night for a good sleep.

 

My psychiatrist said that from my family history, I had a recognized genetic disorder and that a benzodiazepine "repairs" the constant anxiety and insomnia like insulin remedies diabetes. My MD agreed. (I figured it was better than medicating myself to death with alcohol like my uncle, two aunts, my mother and my brother.) She tried to switch me to klonopin, because of its longer half-life to get a smoother, uninterrupted effect, but klonopin made me feel unreal, empty, anhedonic - I hated the feeling. Then she tried valium, but it left me with such a "hangover" all day; it made me feel so drowsy all the time that all I wanted to do was sleep. Then she prescribed extended-release xanax, but it sort of did the same as valium. There were times when I wanted to be fully alert, but the ER xanax was constantly dragging me down. Also, whenever I had an anxiety attack, the ER xanax took forever to work - I ended up chewing them when I was in a panic.

 

Subsequently, an unbelievable series of crises in the past few years, including an accident to my spine that caused the most extreme pain I have ever felt in my entire life (now okay), led me to carelessly "knock back" xanax in desperation. I now find myself at 6+ mg a day - 2.5 in the morning and 3.5 at night (I sometimes wake up and have to take more). But my blood pressure goes down to 120/80 or lower after my evening dose. It stays in the high 130s/mid 80s during the day (with xanax).

 

Meanwhile, I've discovered that 500 mg of niacinamide stops my anxiety as well as xanax! A vitamin! But I have also discovered much to my dismay that my body is physically addicted. Even when I feel NO anxiety, if I haven't taken my xanax, my blood pressure soars to 160/100 and higher. Now I'm trapped. I have to take 6 mg a day or risk a stroke. (Strokes have been common causes of death in both sides of my family.)

 

I've been on a number of blood pressure meds - beta blockers, ACE inhibitors, ARBs (cozaar, etc.), Bystolic - but NOTHING has any substantial effect on my blood pressure, but they have caused many bad side effects. The only other thing besides benzos that kept my BP normal was oxycodone, and I'm NEVER going there again!

 

I guess I'm looking for those who have had a similar problem with blood pressure and benzos, and if they have any advice. I really want to get my dosage down, now that I've discovered niacinamide eases my anxiety so much.

 

Thanks!

 

Colibri

 

PS: I also take 12.5 mg of atenolol every night. I don't care what they say, but it's physically addictive too. I can skip a night, but the second night w/o atenolol, I'll inevitably wake up with my heart pounding out of my chest and feeling like I just ran a marathon in my sleep. Atenolol controls my heart rate, but has NO effect on my blood pressure.

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Hello Collibri :hug:

 

Welcome to benzobuddies, so sorry you really have had a rough time of it, glad you found us you will get plenty of support here

Benzos  can affect the blood pressure but its always best to check these things out with your doctor first

 

Feel free to check out the forum and post if you want to, others will be along shortly to welcome you.

Make yourself comfortable you'll find a great community of people who are here to support and encourage you

 

This link will take you to a Xanax Support Blog you will get a lot of support from some knowledgable members here

 

Let us know If you have any questions and we will do our best to answer them

 

This will take you to The General Taper Board  Click Here

 

If you wish to add a signature (history of meds, dose etc) this link will show you how Click Here

 

Welcome Aboard

 

Magrita

 

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Hi Collibri,

 

There is the diuretic approach to blood pressure.  Lasix and/or Thiazide work by eliminating water through action in the kidney.  On another note I am especially interested in Nicatinamide.  I read about it on the internet in another spot but hearing your account makes me want to try it.  Does it act quickly?  I am 21 days off Klonopin and I am taking vitamins and Valerian.

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[40...]

Hi Tiny,

 

The diuretic approach has been pretty much eliminated from my treatment as I have a tendency to dehydrate easily. Have to remind myself to drink lots of water or my fingertips start wrinkling.

 

My problem is definitely CNS, i.e., my emotional state and nervous system have a strong connection with my blood pressure. Medical experiments have proven that xanax lowers blood pressure dramatically in this kind of hypertension. But somehow, after all these years, my nervous system has come to depend too much on xanax for vasodilation, independent of my emotional state.

 

Other hypertension types are not so closely tied to the nervous system, but are due to hardening of the arteries, cholesterol buildup, renal failure, obesity, etc. I feel pretty fortunate that I don't seem to have those kinds of physical problems.

 

Niacinamide has been a great help in controlling anxiety. Just be sure not to confuse it with regular niacin (nicotinic acid, which causes the skin to get a hot flush) or with inositol hexaniacinate, another "flushless" type of niacin. They do not have the anti-anxiety qualities of niacinamide. If you take it on an empty stomach, and then eat, you may feel the calming effect in just a few minutes. The higher doses may make you so relaxed you'll want to take a nap. However, there's no "hangover" (like benadryl) when you wake up, just a nice calm. At least that's been my experience.

 

If you've read a few of the internet articles on using niacinamide for anxiety, you notice the dosage is pretty high, from 500 mg to 3,000 mg. I'm trying 500 mg in the AM and 1,000 mg at night, and I'm happy to say that with a higher dosage of BP med (approved by my doctor), I've been able to cut my xanax from 6 mg to 4.5 mg in a week, without anxiety or insomnia, and my blood pressure is staying down! :) <knocking on wood>

 

If you try niacinamide, I hope it turns out to be a good antidote for anxiety for you. I also take a full array of vitamins and minerals, but never tried this one in megadoses before - first time a vitamin noticeably decreased my anxiety!

 

Congratulations on being off Klonopin for three weeks!!! :thumbsup:

 

Colibri

 

 

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[40...]

Just wanted to add that I'm finding that a large dose of niacinamide (like 1000+ mgs) does NOT promote a better night's sleep for me despite a brief period of drowsiness. It seems that 500 mg niacinamide, once or twice a day, is enough to keep my anxiety (and need for xanax) way down. Then I find that a lower dose of xanax, OTC chlorpheniramine (1 to 2) or diphenhydramine (only 25 mg to avoid a "hangover"), B-complex plus the RDA of calcium/w D and magnesium, are the best for sleep in my case. Hopefully I can keep lowering that bedtime xanax dose.

 

Colibri

 

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I am going to try Nicainamide today.  Sounds like you have been down all the BP drug roads.  I wish I could give you a good alternative.  Diet, exercise and meditation are other avenues to explore and I'll bet you are doing this too.  I hope not taking Klonopin will help me in the long run and I hope Niacinamide will help in the short run.
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I've been on a number of blood pressure meds - beta blockers, ACE inhibitors, ARBs (cozaar, etc.), Bystolic - but NOTHING has any substantial effect on my blood pressure, but they have caused many bad side effects. The only other thing besides benzos that kept my BP normal was oxycodone, and I'm NEVER going there again!

 

Hello Tiny. You have tried many blood pressure meds but do not mention the calcium channel blockers.

 

I was on various BP meds and at first we suspected they were causing my symptoms (which I later found out were due to benzos).  I switched meds and found that a CCB, in my case amlodipine, seemed to actually help reduce my benzo symptoms.  Without lots of testing I can't say for certain if this was co-incidence or not but I seemed to get a worsening of my benzo symptoms as I lowered my dose of CCB which somewhat supports the idea of a correlation.

 

I also found the CCBs to be effective meds at reducing BP although everyone is different when it comes to BP meds.  However they may be worth a try for you if you haven't taken them before.

 

-Zoner

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[40...]
Hello Tiny. You have tried many blood pressure meds but do not mention the calcium channel blockers.
Hello, Zoner. You're addressing Tiny, but I'm actually the one with hypertension whom you're quoting. Thanks for the suggestion about channel blockers. That's an option to consider. I dread adding any more meds when I'd love to stop them all!

 

Fortunately, at this time, a bigger dose of my ACE inhibitor benazepril, as recommended by my doctor, is helping keep the BP down while I reduce the xanax dosage. Benazepril is cheap, has been around for a long time, and has the fewest side effects on me of the other BP meds I've tried - it's mostly mild achiness.

 

I guess I'm adjusting to much less xanax okay - I finally slept 8 full hours last night! It seems I'm definitely benefiting from the niacinamide.

 

Colibri

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Hi Colibri,

 

You didn't mention clonidine which is an alpha adrenal receptor antagonist with low side effect profile for most. I have been on clonidine through the later stages of withdrawal & find it very effective to prevent adrenal surges. I do have some increased thirst but that's about it for side effects & it's very manageable.

 

Best wishes.

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