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Harm Reduction Brain demage?

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xannyhead

Bluelighter
Joined
Jul 31, 2017
Messages
118
I have taken 15mg of xanax in the last 2 months (I weight 130lbs, if that matters). Is there any possibility that is has caused me permanent brain demage/ I.Q decrease? (Im 16)
 
I shouldn't think so, can you be more specific with your symptoms etc? Any other drugs you're using?
 
DoctorMolecule said:
I shouldn't think so, can you be more specific with your symptoms etc? Any other drugs you're using?
Click to expand...

I dont use no other drugs. I am just really anxious about everything and sometimes this makes me not function, and I feel like alprazolam helps me. I was just afraid that it would lead to brain demage and make me stupid.
 
2 months of use definitely no... 20 years, maybe then. I feel you on the anxiety issues. Problem with benzos is they become less effective over time even with just occasional use
 
^Not for everyone though. I have been a daily user of clonazepam for 4 years and they still work for me. Of course everyone is different, and I never abuse them either. I'm lucky I guess.

xannyhead: You will be just fine. 15mg over a 2 month period is hardly anything...
 
xannyhead said:
I have taken 15mg of xanax in the last 2 months (I weight 130lbs, if that matters). Is there any possibility that is has caused me permanent brain demage/ I.Q decrease? (Im 16)
Click to expand...

No, I don't think so. The side effects of any benzodiazepines will include symptoms that may affect your memory, movements, etc. Brain damage would be a result of a OD when you breath too slowly (unconscious) provoking a lack of oxygen which can harm your brain. That doesn't seem to be the case. I suggest that you take this for more than 12 weeks as it can cause addiction. And this is something you don't want. Or at least try to give it a break so that you can get back to being you again.

Take care!
 
^ erik knows his stuff
as someone with a hypoxic brain injury, trust me, you would know.
but still, at 16 you might be hampering your brain's development, particularly with stuff like benzos, why do you take them? prescribed or recreation?
 
keeping said:
^ erik knows his stuff
as someone with a hypoxic brain injury, trust me, you would know.
but still, at 16 you might be hampering your brain's development, particularly with stuff like benzos, why do you take them? prescribed or recreation?
Click to expand...

recreation and to when Im too nervous or anxious.
 
xannyhead said:
recreation and to when Im too nervous or anxious.
Click to expand...

yeah, that's not the best.
chronic benzodiazepine use has been shown to shrink the brain's mass and seriously effect its function, and to be using xanax at such a young age whilst your brain is still very much developing, you don't have brain damage now (of that i'm sure), but 5 - 10 years from now if you keep this up i'm certain you could end up with a brain injury.
leave the benzos alone, at least until your 20's when your brains fully developed? i mean ideally don't touch them ever, but at least give yourself a chance mate?
 
benzos cause a ton of brain damage but you wont have any permanent damage after only taking such a little amount. just stop taking benzo and youll be fine. if you need replacement drug for benzo that causes less brain damage i recommend the following:

kava
valerian
mulungu bark
skullcap
ghb
phenibut

the first four are herbs, very effective and safe. ghb and phenibut are more dangerous so be extremely careful if you try those.
 
xannyhead said:
I have taken 15mg of xanax in the last 2 months (I weight 130lbs, if that matters). Is there any possibility that is has caused me permanent brain demage/ I.Q decrease? (Im 16)
Click to expand...

If you haven't stopped breathing/hit your head really bad etc you most likely didn't cause any brain damage.
But abusing benzos while you're still pretty young is a bad idea (been there, done that), your brain is still in development and GABA is the most important inhibiting neurotransmitter and you can do damage abusing GABAergics. Imo the best thing to do if you suffer from anxiety is therapy (i.e. CBT) and use drugs like alprazolam etc as sparingly as possible. If you use drugs for anxiety too often you'll start to think that you need those drugs to function and you'll feel anxious without them, this way you'll be dependent in no time.
 
I havnt researched this myself. But I'm finding it hard to believe ppl saying benzos cause brain damage. They wouldn't be FDA approved if they did.

Any sources or studies?... Very surprised to hear
 
'Problems and Pitfalls in the Use of Benzodiazepines in the Elderly'
By Kruse is a good starting point
Also
Yaffe K, Boustani M, Fairbanks RM. Benzodiazepines and risk of Alzheimer’s disease. BMJ 2014;349:g5312.
 
Last edited:
LucidSDreamr said:
I havnt researched this myself. But I'm finding it hard to believe ppl saying benzos cause brain damage. They wouldn't be FDA approved if they did.

Any sources or studies?... Very surprised to hear
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LOL are you kidding me? What about all the other drugs that got FDA approved that caused terrible side effects or even killed people? FDA approval means nothing in terms of brain damage.
 
What makes you believe it's brain damage? Do you feel different? I think it may be possible that your anxiety symptoms are causing you to think you are giving yourself brain damage.
 
burn out said:
LOL are you kidding me? What about all the other drugs that got FDA approved that caused terrible side effects or even killed people? FDA approval means nothing in terms of brain damage.
Click to expand...

It does mean quite a bit. Not every drug that the evil money grabbing drug companies want can become legal...otherwise every single drug they pour billions into researching would make it to the public, but most of them don't make it all the way through trials. There have been instances where bad data was hidden, and thosse companies were fined billions.

to say that FDA approval means nothing its total hyperbole
 
I said it means nothing in terms of whether the drug causes brain damage. Well established drugs like amphetamine almost certainly cause brain damage and yet are still prescribed regularly. Proving that a drug "does not cause brain damage" is not a requirement for FDA approval. A drug can cause brain damage and still be a useful as medicine, assuming it is prescribed in an intelligent way. Benzodiazepines are unique in the amount of brain damage they cause (have a look at http://www.benzo.org.uk/index.htm) but I'm not even saying that means they should not be FDA approved even in my own personal opinion. Despite the fact that they tend to wreck your brain with long term use, benzodiazepines have a number of properties that make them useful medicines when used wisely. In the short term, they can be extremely useful in cases of stimulant overdose, seizures, or to calm down extremely agitated patients. They are generally well tolerated and have a very low risk of over dose. The problem with benzos is the long term/over prescribing which is symptomatic of our medical system which does not understand how to treat underlying causes and instead thinks continually taking drugs is the answer (or at least, a great way to make $ off the suffering of others).
 
Being as how many of the underlying causes are biochemical in nature....there really are not many options for lots of these disorder other than cheimcals
 
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