Mindful hit the nail on the head..
I think it was back in 06, or 07, i was addicted to oxy, klonopin, ambien and booze all at the same time.
I remember being able to go back and forth between the 4 quite comfortably because they all felt very similar to me. Ever try to stay up on Ambien? It feels very much like a benzo.
Getting out of the hospital, i took effexor for about 6 months. It curbed the ptsd and allowed my thoughts to slow down but i remember thinking "this is nothing like the others" it didn't have anywhere near the same effect. Tranqs are immediate...the effexor took weeks to work well.
In the end i stopped taking it because it gave me some less than desirable side effects but it got me to see the differences in the classes of drugs.
In the end...nothing worked particularly well for me. I decided at the advise of my doctor to go the therapy route and i go to AA a lot now.
However, I'm a big advocate in listening to your doctors. If my GP and psych tell me that I need to take something, i don't argue anymore.
I need to remember, they went to med school. I went to the University of I don't know jack s#it.