Benzos Benzodiazepine prescription

[TheAbandoned]

Why do people try to get me to quit my prescribed twice a week benzos? If I’m not addicted to them physically, then I don’t see a problem. How do I get people to respect my boundaries?

 

[Painful One]

Why do people try to get me to quit my prescribed twice a week benzos? If I’m not addicted to them physically, then I don’t see a problem. How do I get people to respect my boundaries?

Keep your privacy private.

It doesn’t sound like you have a problem.

On the other hand....be glad you have people who care for you.
Benzo’s can become hell.
Keep yourself from physical dependence on them.

 

[Snafu in the Void]

You're prescribed benzos 2 days per week?

Who is trying to get you to stop?

But hey, in reality benzos are never a long term solution for almost everyone. This is what the medical literature says.... it's not 1980 anymore. They rarely script benzos these days for a pretty good reason (even if I don't agree with that reason myself).

 

[paranoid android]

tell people to mind their own goddamn buisness is my advice

 

[TheAbandoned]

You're prescribed benzos 2 days per week?

Who is trying to get you to stop?

But hey, in reality benzos are never a long term solution for almost everyone. This is what the medical literature says.... it's not 1980 anymore. They rarely script benzos these days for a pretty good reason (even if I don't agree with that reason myself).

Yes I am. I get 15 pills that last 2 months. It says “take every day as needed for anxiety” but the psychiatrist instructed me to take it up to twice a week so I don’t get addicted.

 

[BourbonMac]

What benzo is it? They're all different in terms of addictive tendencies. I've been on Valium for awhile and never have I felt addicted or crave the feeling. It just calms me down. Xanax has a really short half life but more intense high so that is one people tend to get hooked on the most.

 

[Boku_]

Interesting question

My GP reckons it's possible to get addicted to valium if you take it more than once a week long term.

On a unrelated note see my thread

Benzos - Addicted to benzo's and too far gone to taper down and attempt to stop

Addicted to benzo's and too far gone to taper down and attempt to stop What do you call a middle aged person who has been using Valium non-stop long-term every night to sleep for years if not decades unchecked and despite having seizures when they don't take their nightly dose of Valium the...

bluelight.org

 

[TheAbandoned]

What benzo is it? They're all different in terms of addictive tendencies. I've been on Valium for awhile and never have I felt addicted or crave the feeling. It just calms me down. Xanax has a really short half life but more intense high so that is one people tend to get hooked on the most.

Xanax

 

[Pissed_and_messed]

therefore you probably have zero stuff in blood serum every now and then, cessation for full week makes it certain.
it might be enough to offer minor rebounds in that state but I don't think your use could be deemed as particularly problematic or harmful. Maybe the people are just hysteric. You don't behave badly while you are xanaxed, do you?

 

[TheAbandoned]

N

therefore you probably have zero stuff in blood serum every now and then, cessation for full week makes it certain.
it might be enough to offer minor rebounds in that state but I don't think your use could be deemed as particularly problematic or harmful. Maybe the people are just hysteric. You don't behave badly while you are xanaxed, do you

I get a relaxed, calm euphoria, so no.

 

[Nurse Ratched]

What " people " are you referring to?

 

[Señor Moreno]

What " people " are you referring to?

Exactly.
If some people are telling you it is bad for you, you can get them to respect your choice, but if they are the kind of people that DEA has under siege to prevent them from prescribing benzos, you may have a hard time getting them to respect shit.
They are the kind of people that are cutting cold pain patients from their meds, leaving them in agony without a second thought.

 

[Painful One]

Exactly.
If some people are telling you it is bad for you, you can get them to respect your choice, but if they are the kind of people that DEA has under siege to prevent them from prescribing benzos, you may have a hard time getting them to respect shit.
They are the kind of people that are cutting cold pain patients from their meds, leaving them in agony without a second thought.

Yup.
All kinds of that kind of thing going on now.

It seems we are not allowed any compassion or quality of life now.

I am seeing very bad things happening in the medical field now and at the pharmacy’s.
As in, no prescriptions and any that you do get- The pharmacy may not have them anymore at all.

Very bad things are happening in ALL countries now!

 

[lecroute]

Yes I am. I get 15 pills that last 2 months. It says “take every day as needed for anxiety” but the psychiatrist instructed me to take it up to twice a week so I don’t get addicted.

Ok... Was wondering about the "twice a week" part, but it makes sense after reading this.
I get prescriptions for 90 x 2mgs clonazepam every three months, to be taken as needed. I could practically overdose with the stuff, if that's possible!?
I don't NEED nearly that much, but it gives me some sense of "I have them just in case". I've learned how to manage them. And I also learned not to tell people that I'm taking benzos, unless it's people who know the why and how. That includes the oasional therapist I talk to about about someone else's problem (and who's totally against benzos but very pro SSRIs)
If you're just beginning to take them, do as your doc say. And if possible, stay on the low-dose side of it (think twice if it's really "needed")

 

[Keif' Richards]

As I know a lot of other people are probably thinking the same thing, I think terminology is an important thing to define and redefine as time goes on. Language changes its meaning constantly and especially in clandestine communities like ours, the usage of slang and the misuse of words is commonplace.

When I joined up a decade ago, the nomenclature was like this:

Addiction: addiction is a desire to do something despite real consequence and disadvantage to the do-er. You can become addicted to something spontaneously, over a long period of time or somewhere in between. Addiction is a term less-defined by science or medicine than terms like dependence. People can theoretically become addicted to any behavior. Addiction is importantly, an idea, whereas dependence can be observed and charted.

Dependence: as in physical dependence is different. It's very important to know that addiction and dependence are often substituted mutually by both addicts, doctors and others. Physical dependence is the cause and effect reaction of the body adjusting to the presence of a drug over a chronic basis. The experience of withdrawal is best understood, although it's probably simplistic, an "eye for an eye" reaction to the drug being used by the individual. Higher dosages, longer periods of usage often correlate directly to the severity of the withdrawal syndrome.

People commonly refer to addiction as a dependence on a drug. This is an apt description, but it doesn't necessarily mean physical dependence, which has a more finite definition as described above.

So, when a prescriber says "a person can become addicted to Diazepam (Valium) taking it only once per week" this is totally within reason. The prescriber is not referring to a danger of becoming physically dependent, but to the possibility of the continued experience causing addiction is always possible.

So, where I stand on all of this is that, it's probably okay to take say, 1mg Clonazepam (Clonazepam) twice a week chronically, but is it a "good" thing? I could see that going either way. I think Benzodiazepines are great for the guy who has a panic attack every other month. I think when used in this manner, they can be effective, therapeutic and beneficial to the life of the person taking them. When that becomes twice a week, I start to feel a little bit less confident. My biggest concern is simply that you will no be taking it only twice a week forever.

That being said, if you feel in control and this is what you want to do, it's nobody's business but your own. If it's not causing problems in your life or relationships, then nobody has any reason to be upset.

 

[watermellon]

Yes I am. I get 15 pills that last 2 months. It says “take every day as needed for anxiety” but the psychiatrist instructed me to take it up to twice a week so I don’t get addicted.

I do the same thing as you. Been getting roughly 15mg of Klonopin a month from a friend that always has extras. To be extra careful you should try and take a full week-10 days off every month. That's what I do. I originally thought I'd like to be on a low 0.5-.75mg dose a day but it works much better this way as needed, I definitely don't need benzos daily even though I have anxiety. I would just be worse off in the long run

 

[Bleaney]

Ok... Was wondering about the "twice a week" part, but it makes sense after reading this.
I get prescriptions for 90 x 2mgs clonazepam every three months, to be taken as needed. I could practically overdose with the stuff, if that's possible!?
I don't NEED nearly that much, but it gives me some sense of "I have them just in case". I've learned how to manage them. And I also learned not to tell people that I'm taking benzos, unless it's people who know the why and how. That includes the oasional therapist I talk to about about someone else's problem (and who's totally against benzos but very pro SSRIs)
If you're just beginning to take them, do as your doc say. And if possible, stay on the low-dose side of it (think twice if it's really "needed")

What country are you in, if you don't mind me asking?

And is this via a private doctor, or standard GP?

It seems to be impossible to get more than a one off benzo prescription from an NHS GP in the UK, and you would only get that if you were very lucky, and had what they consider to be a very good reason. You'd also have to have succeeded in getting your point across in a manner that did not seem to be blatant 'drug seeking behaviour' to them, otherwise you'd be leaving with nothing in such a case.

No wonder so many people are forced onto the internet to obtain their benzos. The hard line 'no benzo' poilcy just drives the problem under-ground, and forces people who need or could greatly benefit from benzos to use potentially dodgy sources. None of this is anything new to be saying, but every time I think about the situation I have the same thought. And I don't think this will ever change. Except perhaps to become even worse, with even private Drs and psychiatrists potentially becoming more reluctant to issue benzo prescriptions. Which is something I have heard mentioned recently, and is a pretty concerning situation.

 

[lecroute]

What country are you in, if you don't mind me asking?

And is this via a private doctor, or standard GP?

It seems to be impossible to get more than a one off benzo prescription from an NHS GP in the UK, and you would only get that if you were very lucky, and had what they consider to be a very good reason. You'd also have to have succeeded in getting your point across in a manner that did not seem to be blatant 'drug seeking behaviour' to them, otherwise you'd be leaving with nothing in such a case.

No wonder so many people are forced onto the internet to obtain their benzos. The hard line 'no benzo' poilcy just drives the problem under-ground, and forces people who need or could greatly benefit from benzos to use potentially dodgy sources. None of this is anything new to be saying, but every time I think about the situation I have the same thought. And I don't think this will ever change. Except perhaps to become even worse, with even private Drs and psychiatrists potentially becoming more reluctant to issue benzo prescriptions. Which is something I have heard mentioned recently, and is a pretty concerning situation.

I live in Chile, and it's a private doctor.
It's hard to get that kind of prescription here, too. And only reason I get that much at once is because I become catatonic when under too much stress, sometimes unable to function for days after certain situations. Covid made the situation even harder, so the one-month prescription became a three-month thing.
Originally I was prescribed Lorazepam because of the catatonia, but it was harder to get where I live (out in the sticks). And clona seems to work better on a long term basis.

 

[Señor Moreno]

Out of topic but, does "out in the sticks" mean the woods, the forest? Do you live in the Bosque Valdiviano or in one of these insanely beautiful places you have?

 

[Jabberwocky]

Xanax

That's why you only get a few per week. They don't want you to develop tolerance to the Xanax because then you'll get withdrawal.

And since Xanax is such a short acting benzodiazepine (8-12 hour half life), you can actually develop tolerance in as little as a week and suffer withdrawal symptoms, that's if you're taking it three times a day.

If you have a chronic long-term issue that you use, benzodiazepines for, xanax is probably the worst fucking benzo you could use. It doesn't last very long and you constantly have to keep taking it.

Low dose Valium or Librium would definitely help with a minor anxiety issue and low dose Librium is completely safe. I have a friend who's been taking it for 20 years because it's part of the medication for his irritable bowel syndrome.
I asked him if he had any issues when he misses a dose and he's like. Nope!

The best part is both valium and librium have half lives of up to a week. Yes, 200 hours.

That means it acts very well, and when you have to get off of it, the taper is very easy because it stays in your body at a low level for a really long time.