Are the dangers of Benzodiazepines exaggerated in your opinion?

[S.J.B.]

The most common cause of drug "overdose" deaths are due to a combination of an opioid and a benzodiazepine. One could argue that benzodiazepines are not that dangerous because they only tend to kill in combination with another substance, but that's the case with opioids as well. Of course opioids are the dominant factor in these deaths, but benzodiazepines play a significant role.

 

[Fertile]

Oh, I forgot to mention that their was also a similar unmarked empty bag. Maybe their was insufficient analyte to perform GC-MS/NMR or such, or maybe their were circumstances that meant enforcement agencies didn't feel the need to prove what had been in the bags.

It's very sad.

No opiates were found, but it does seem like the victim just took EVERYTHING they had.

 

[plumbus-nine]

I had two longer-term experiences with benzodiazepines. The first was at the age of 17, where I was in the psych ward voluntarily to treat social anxiety and they gave me 1mg lorazepam/day and free access to up to two more, which I did make use from. Then after a good three months an incident happened where a freshly hospitalized alcoholic attacked me so I got moved to another part of the ward with an asshole doc who told me I was on the way to addiction and didn't give me any more lorazepam. What followed were months of almost daily panic attacks, panic to be in the dark before falling asleep, panic without reason, inner tension but mostly panic attacks. This sucked and I didn't realize that it was the lorazepam because nobody explained the dangers of that and symptoms of addiction to me. Needless to say, the therapy backfired and intensified my anxiety in the end instead of helping me. The panic attacks subsided eventually and were gone after 3 months or so.

More than 10 years later I was on methylphenidate for adult ADHD and while this helped me somewhat, it also worsened inner tension and the doc gave me Xanax XR 2mg, and some lorazepam for use as necessary. I did make use of them, and didn't seem to get any tolerance or addiction again during 3-4 months but I was concomitantly using deschloroketamine which might have protected against tolerance.

In the time in-between I was sometimes tempted to ask for a benzo, knowing how good they work against anxiety, stress/tension and panic (but also have sides like mind fog) and sometimes I did but never got some because of the doctor being wary even when I didn't tell them about substance use.

So yes and no, it depends on the doc, some seriously exaggerate the risks and would rather let you suffer of daily panic attacks than to prescribe some tranquilizer while other docs hand them out readily. I think the addiction risk is serious but not the end of the world if not used in excess. Very probably could my episode of panic have been avoided by some tapering and/or adjunct medicaments like pregabalin.

 

[emkee_reinvented]

an Ssri can be extremely helpful if you need it for something like ocd or germaphobia taking an Ssri changed my life when I had paralyzing germ phobia to the point where it was stopping my ability to live my life
I couldn’t grocery shop
i couldn’t socialize
my hands where cracked and bleeding
and Zoloft worked like magic

ssri’s are like antibiotics when they work they work in an almost magically fast and effective way

that study did a lot of people a big disservice because they have a place in treatment for psychological disorders and can be a real miracle drug for some people drs were just prescribing them for everything like situational depression and things that needed therapy talk therapy, emdr, cbt, dbt, etc which insurance companies are too cheap and lazy to invest the time and money into

 

[emkee_reinvented]

an Ssri can be extremely helpful if you need it for something like ocd or germaphobia taking an Ssri changed my life when I had paralyzing germ phobia to the point where it was stopping my ability to live my life
I couldn’t grocery shop
i couldn’t socialize
my hands where cracked and bleeding
and Zoloft worked like magic

ssri’s are like antibiotics when they work they work in an almost magically fast and effective way

Without having that conditions. Which indeed sound awful.

Is the SSRI vs Placebo theory debunkend?

 

[emkee_reinvented]

Without having that conditions. Which indeed sound awful.

Is the SSRI vs Placebo theory debunkend?

Still wondering, but if so its a totally fuck up.

 

[Fertile]

Experience shows that clobazam abuse is almost non-existance. Over 40mg/day (equals 20mg of diazepam a doesn't increase effect, only duration. It'd now being used to treat benzo dependence. I know MANY people being treated for benzo dependence ant it works The MOST one can get is about 20mg diazepam effects.

So there we go - like buprenorphine, we HAVE a treatment.

 

[plumbus-nine]

Without having that conditions. Which indeed sound awful.

Is the SSRI vs Placebo theory debunkend?

I'd say it depends on the subject and the timeframe. I definitely had beneficial effects of paroxetine and venlafaxine against social and generalized anxiety but only for a few weeks, mostly two months or so, after that I was just dependent on the agent and realize that now 10+ years later that I just had to taper with fluoxetine or kanna and am left with the same state and problems as before minus taking a pill every day. Still recovering after 2 months off the fluoxetine, sexual side effects like premature ejaculation just won't go away.

Think the study comparing SSRI to placebo is real, but I still need to read it.

 

[ChemicallyEnhanced]

I think that those ones aren't known for EPS, but some antipsychotics are.

They definitely are. They just aren't as bad as the older ones like Chlorpromazine (Thorazine) and Haloperidol (Haldol).

My psych has me on both Quetiapine and Thorazine, though....so, I guess....fuck MY neurons, right?

 

[plumbus-nine]

They definitely are. They just aren't as bad as the older ones like Chlorpromazine (Thorazine) and Haloperidol (Haldol).

My psych has me on both Quetiapine and Thorazine, though....so, I guess....fuck MY neurons, right?

It depends on the dose I guess. Quetiapine isn't that bad in low dosages (<100mg) but I never had thorazine. It might be relevant that any addition of a second or third agent will raise the possibility for tardive dyskinesia, specially if you (like me) get acute dyskinesia from low-medium dosages of antipsychotics.

Do these two help you?

 

[ChemicallyEnhanced]

It depends on the dose I guess. Quetiapine isn't that bad in low dosages (<100mg) but I never had thorazine. It might be relevant that any addition of a second or third agent will raise the possibility for tardive dyskinesia, specially if you (like me) get acute dyskinesia from low-medium dosages of antipsychotics.

Do these two help you?

I haven't. I get the twitches and involuntary jerks etc from my Gabapentin, but I think that's myoclonus, not EP.

I find the Thorazine VERY good at helping anxiety. The Quetiapine probably helps with mood instability, too.