Posted by Iago Camboa on April 5, 2002, at 11:27:06
This is my first post and I'm seizing the opportunity to tell you about my own experience
with 'interferences' between two types of medicines, namely 2 'good old' TCAs (clomipramine/Anafranil and maprotiline/Ludiomil)and two well-known benzodiazepines (diazepam/Valium and alprazolam/Xanax).
Some three months ago I was taking not less than 75mg/d of Anafranil/clomipramine plus 150mg/d of
Ludiomil/maprotiline plus 20mg/d of diazepam, when I was suggested by my family doc
to replace Valium by Xanax; I truly welcame
the change because I was unhappy with the large
daily dose I was taking and most of all its negative reflexes in my sexual function!
So 20mg/d Valium vs. 1mg/d Xanax!
Within 2 weeks I began to experiment what (I supposed) were privation symptoms of Valium withdrawal, namely tremors and muscular troubles (I must add here that I had been taking Valium during some 5 years or more).
About 2 weeks after the beginning of the said 'withdrawal symptoms', which were worsening with time I decided to attack those 'semi-convulsions' (if I may put it that way) with 3 measures: 1st. I increased Xanax from 1mg/d to 2mg/d); 2nd. I made a drastic reduction in the daily intake of the antidepressants (75mg/d Anafranil I maintained but drastically reduced 150mg/d Ludiomil to a quarter, i.e. 37.5mg/d); 3rd. I reduced my daily intake of coffee from 5 to 4 cups a day and less liquid each time. The 'withdrawal symptoms' vanished...
But the unexpected thing in this process comes
next: in stead of experimenting a diminished
effect from the antidepressant medicines (all in all reduced to 1/2 of the former dosis), I gradually experimented a most welcome mood improvement, I would almost say euphoria!...
I think it is impossible to escape drawing the following conclusion: either old Valium was reducing drastically the antidepressants effects
or new Xanax is acting in the sense of their reinforcement instead... Or else both the two things...
It is now about 3 months after my Valium/Xanax
replacement and the results seem to endure as I
just told you.
I thought my experience could be useful for others in similar circumstances or even for
medical science in general.
And as I was writing this it came to my mind one sole doubt: must the aforementioned 'withdrawal
symptoms' be attributed to the actual withdrawal
of Valium, or rather be reckoned with the remarkable 'potenciation' of the antidepressant
effects of the other drugs induced by Xanax?...
Thank you for your attention.Yours,
Iago
poster:Iago Camboa
thread:101976
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020402/msgs/101976.html