# Xanax vs diazepam ???



## Mika (Apr 26, 2001)

I am a 60+ female, suffering from IBS all my life. It was called "nervous stomach", "spastic colon"... but whatever its called, it hasn't been fun. I have had a wonderful married life with children and grandchildren; but no one really knows why I had this excuse not to do something, or that excuse not to go somewhere. Now that I am retired, and with time to do things, enough is enough. I am currently on Bentyl which I take daily and is wonderful for everyday experiences. When I want to go someplace special, or especially take a long car ride, I have to "fortify" myself before I even wake up in the morning, taking 1/2 Lomotil, then later, .25mg diazepam. If that doesn't work, then I'll take another .25mg diazepam just to get myself relaxed. That will help. Last summer my primary care physician gave me a prescription for Oxazepam. I have been leery of taking it and have looked up information on the web, but it looks very addictive and I have not taken it.But now I am reading about all these other anti-anxiety drugs and I think perhaps something like Xanax might be better than the diazepam or this Oxazepam. I would only take this as needed; however, I would hope that it would "kick" in as quickly as the diazepam, but not sure if that is the case with Xanax. Can anyone give me ideas of what they have been on for 'nervous stomachs'... I so want to get on a plane and not have to feel myself shaking all over...or get in a car and drive for 5 hours without worrying that my stomach will "kick" in instead of my medicine. Thanks... and sorry this is so long... but it has been a long time for me and life is too, too short.


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## Tummy Trouble TB (Nov 10, 2001)

Well, for plane rides and vacations, my doctor gave me 5 mg pills of Valium (Diazepam). This was very helpful in calming me down and letting me enjoy the vacation. I could take up to 3 a day, I believe, and I was relaxed throughout the entire time.Xanax is good for fast-acting relief of nerves, I think. I don't find it lasts as long as Valium does, but it works more quickly. That's just my opinion. I could be different from other people, but that's the effect I've had.I hope you find something that will alleviate the nervous stomach. I've had those so many times and they're not fun.


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## sprucecircle (Oct 29, 2002)

Mika,Your post sounds like it could have been mine! Same age, retired with grandchildren, have a great life. I have been taking Xanax for travel for several years. I find 5 mg lasts about 4 hours. We recently took a trip to China and since it was such a long trip, I took quite a bit of it. When I stopped I became very shaky and nauseated - doc thinks it was withdrawal. I have never had this reaction before because I have never taken that much in such a short time. She now has me on 5 mg Xanax at night for sleep and 5 mg of Avitan during the day (I split one and take half mid-morning and half mid-afternoon) in an attempt to stop my constant headaches. They seem to be helping some. Even tho these two drugs are in the same family, I find the Xanax makes me sleepy (makes for very nice flights!) but the Avitan does not.


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## sprucecircle (Oct 29, 2002)

Yikes! I left out the decimal point in my last post - it should say .5 mg of Xanax and .5 of Avitan.


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## kittenst (Jan 27, 2003)

I take oxazepam when I'm in extreme pain and the anxiety goes way up. I'm not addicted to it at all. I only take when I really need it so there are no side effects. I use it to get some sleep but during the day I take valerian. It's herbal. Valerian has really helped with the anxiety from pain a lot during the day. Valerian takes a while to start working. It has to be in your system for about 2 weeks to start managing anxiety but it does work.


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