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Is Xanax Dangerous? What's Hype and What Are the Real Threats?

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Odd_nonposter

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Is Xanax Dangerous? What's Hype and What Are the Real Threats?
A lethal combination of benzos and booze may have killed Whitney Houston. Is one of the most overprescribed (and profitable) drugs in America really that dangerous?
AlterNet
Feb 15, 2012

“Killed by Prescription Drugs” was the soundbite that headlined much of the instant media coverage of Whitney Houston's sudden death on Saturday. Some reports even named Xanax, a benzodiazepine, as the culprit; others repeated rumors of a Xanax/Ativan/Valium triple-benzo cocktail. If by Monday, after 24 hours of nonstop Whitney news—or non-news—the benzos were set to become the new Rx drug we love to hate, today it appears that medical reality has been, to some extent, restored, with the media reporting that a combination of benzos and booze took her life. But a TMZ story sourced to a law-enforcement officer reported that Houston had what in the context of celebrity culture passes for a genuinely modest set of prescriptions: Xanax, Ibuprofin for pain, Midol for menstrual cramps, and the antibiotic amoxicillin for an upper respiratory infection. (A toxicology report will not be available for a month or more.)


The fact is that Xanax taken on its own is rarely lethal. Benzos in general are simply not very toxic, except when taken in huge amounts—as in a suicide attempt. The problem with the Death-by-Xanax headlines, then, is that not only are they misleading, but that they also confuse the public, simultaneously obscuring the benefits of this class of sedatives and their more serious dangers: their addictiveness. When prescribed to a chronic addict like Whitney Houston, Xanax and the other benzos are likely to become habit forming—and downright harrowing to kick.

Read More: http://www.alternet.org/drugs/15416...pe_and_what_are_the_real_threats/?page=entire
 
The most dangerous part about xanax is overdosing, blacking out/amnesia - inadvertently doing things you would regret (someone could die if perhaps you did something stupid while you were blacked out you know?) or fall asleep somewhere driving or in a bathtub like whitney houston.

And xanax can be pretty addictive I heard it causes seizures upon sudden withdrawl from longterm heavy use
 
Well its certainly hard, not impossible, but hard to OD on a benzodiazipine, ie. Xanax.
You would most likely just black out and have serious amnesia but not die. (Which is still bad!!)

However they become very dangerous when they are used in combination with other drugs, namely other sedatives such as alcohol or opiates. Non the less the combination of these drugs is common. So most deaths involving some from of Benzo are usually in combination with another drug.

There is serious risk of respiratory depression when you mix sedatives together. If you are not tolerant to benzos then drinking and taking them at the same time is a recipe for blackout at very least; but it could be much worse. You can seriously injure yourself in this combination and wake up the next morning with zero memory fo how it happened.

Xanax by itself is not a 'dangerous' substance rather the abuse/over use/ etc... of Xanax is a dangerous habit/mistake/whatever...

As mentioned above another big problem is that dependence on benzos can form quickly and they can be some of the worst drugs withdraw from. The Wd's are not pleasant. Essentially all the symptoms that the benzo was treating reappear as withdrawal symptoms - anxiety, irritability, insomnia, etc..
 
I find it amusing, many headlines I have seen from the Whitney Houston even declare in big bold letters "HOUSTON OVERDOSES ON XANAX". Then when you read the article, they admit that there was also liquor, valium, ativan, and other pills present in the hotel room. Also, she had been removed from the bathtub and placed in the room before authorities arrived. I wonder what other substances may have been removed from the room. Why don't the headlines read "WHITNEY OVERDOSES ON SMIRNOFF VODKA"? Why don't they read "WHITNEY OVERDOSES ON VALIUM" ? I smell an upcoming xanax witch hunt. Say goodbye to your xanax, folks - big brother is coming for it!
 
^^what else do they (leo) have to go for after cannabis, cocaine, rc's, and now oxycodone have been "eliminated"
 
Xanax caused my mother to lose her life. I don't want to get into details because they are quite personal but I detest this drug. I know various people who have developed a habit for it. The reason people like it so much is the reason I both enjoy sedatives but would have trouble getting a habit of them. I"ve tried Etizolam, Valium, and Klonopin. I enjoyed the lack of care but I just felt dumb-it felt difficult to care about things I knew I should care about, my memory was shot and I was less motivated than usual.

I suppose I have a biased opinion against Xanax but I think that most would agree that it certainly isn't safe unless you fully understand the risks of the compound and act responsibly with it.
 
LogicSoDeveloped said:
Xanax caused my mother to lose her life. I don't want to get into details because they are quite personal but I detest this drug. I know various people who have developed a habit for it. The reason people like it so much is the reason I both enjoy sedatives but would have trouble getting a habit of them. I"ve tried Etizolam, Valium, and Klonopin. I enjoyed the lack of care but I just felt dumb-it felt difficult to care about things I knew I should care about, my memory was shot and I was less motivated than usual.

I suppose I have a biased opinion against Xanax but I think that most would agree that it certainly isn't safe unless you fully understand the risks of the compound and act responsibly with it.
Click to expand...


As far as taking a drug to forget about your problems, which one would you recommend...........benzos or opiates?
 
I'd say neither in the sense that taking drugs to forget about your problems isn't the best idea, of course I know that I've done this before and will prob do so in the future along with many others.

A cousin of my mine has been an opiate addict for years and wrecked her life as a result.

I like psychedelics because they have helped me work through my problems.

I'm just saying that if you can avoid using drugs to deal with problems, you might find a more permanent way of dealing with them. I don't want to come across as condescending or anything, I just know a lot of people who have made their lives worse by using drugs as a constant escape. I do think it is possible to use addictive drugs responsibly though, it is just tough if you don't have the willpower to not slip into poor habits.
 
Benzos and alcohol have a very synergistic effect on the CNS, and many people who use benzos recreationally either don't know this or they don't care. Its very easy to over-do it when someone combines the two, and its quite possible for someone to end up with their CNS depressed enough that they overdose but are too CNS-depressed to vomit, or they do vomit and then aspirate it.

On its own, though, Xanax isn't particularly acutely dangerous.
 
TheLostBoys said:
As far as taking a drug to forget about your problems, which one would you recommend...........benzos or opiates?
Click to expand...

Both of them together. Worst combo to get in the habit of though. I wish I still craved psych's like I used to instead of getting so obsessed with downers.

K is also wonderful for escaping/forgetting problems.... until you come down and want more.
 
scureto1 said:
and its quite possible for someone to end up with their CNS depressed enough that they overdose but are too CNS-depressed to vomit, or they do vomit and then aspirate it.
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this gave me chills. My first near-fatal OD was on rum and a shitload of meclizine, which is an anti-emetic and anti-histamine. I had 4 fingers all the way down my throat and there was zero gag reflex. Nothing was coming up. I passed out trying to tell my girlfriend to call 911 but being unable to produce any speech, like in those nightmare where you try to scream yourself awake but can't produce any sound. I had forgotten about the not being able to throw up until I read your post.
 
235360287471352662 said:
this gave me chills. My first near-fatal OD was on rum and a shitload of meclizine, which is an anti-emetic and anti-histamine. I had 4 fingers all the way down my throat and there was zero gag reflex. Nothing was coming up. I passed out trying to tell my girlfriend to call 911 but being unable to produce any speech, like in those nightmare where you try to scream yourself awake but can't produce any sound. I had forgotten about the not being able to throw up until I read your post.
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:( That's scary! I'm glad you didn't OD.

I never took any benzos recreationally and while I'd sometimes smoke herb when I drank booze when I drank a lot of booze daily while in my early 20s I never took any sort of downers or even stimulants with alcohol.

In highschool a friend of mine who used a variety of drugs but didn't know that much about them or didn't do research about them, and who later got addicted to both heroin/opiates and coke very quickly drank a lot of vodka and took a fair amount of valium and puked it all up and he's lucky that happened.

Another friend of mine told me how in the 70s the first and last time he took a Quaalude was after he'd been out drinking with friends and someone gave him one at a bar or disco, and then they went to a party at someone's house and he had more drinks and the lude had kicked in strong by this point and his friends left him there and the owner of the house let him stay overnight and he woke up the next morning in a guest bedroom at the house and had no memory of what happened after they went to the party at the stranger's house, and he told me how he's lucky he didn't vomit and choke on it and die.
 
235360287471352662 said:
this gave me chills. My first near-fatal OD was on rum and a shitload of meclizine, which is an anti-emetic and anti-histamine. I had 4 fingers all the way down my throat and there was zero gag reflex. Nothing was coming up. I passed out trying to tell my girlfriend to call 911 but being unable to produce any speech, like in those nightmare where you try to scream yourself awake but can't produce any sound. I had forgotten about the not being able to throw up until I read your post.
Click to expand...

Just curious, what - if anything - would ER treatment give you to induce emesis after ingestion of an antiemetic - Ipecac? That's a disturbing thought (not being able to vomit even after deepthroat fingering yourself).

I'm glad you recovered btw.
 
ro4eva said:
Just curious, what - if anything - would ER treatment give you to induce emesis after ingestion of an antiemetic - Ipecac? That's a disturbing thought (not being able to vomit even after deepthroat fingering yourself).
Click to expand...

I have no idea, but have you ever seen ipecac in action? It is intense and probably disturbing. You will upchuck the crayons you ate in kindergarten. You will resemble Linda Blair.
 
Yeah round 1 is activated charcoal to adsorb all anything in your stomach so that you don't digest it, followed by the ipecac to get it out of you. Round 2 is stomach pumping if that ends up being necessary.

This part is just speculation, but I would imagine that careful, steady administration of stimulant drugs by the ER people could help someone get through a benzo/alcohol-type overdose.
 
scureto1 said:
This part is just speculation, but I would imagine that careful, steady administration of stimulant drugs by the ER people could help someone get through a benzo/alcohol-type overdose.
Click to expand...

There's a benzodiazepine antagonist (Flumazenil) which is used to reverse a benzo OD via IV (same idea like Naloxone for opioid OD). Unfortunately, it can cause a nasty seizure if the patient is tolerant.
 
This really annoys the piss out of me. BLAME THE DOCTORS NOT THE DRUGS!! I had no idea this was why Whitney Died. I hate to sound mean but any celebrity that has money and a doctor , they tend to get a cocktail of Whatever it is they want. None of those benzos are deadly and now theres more fucking reason for some doctors to be scared when in fact if Whitney was prescribed all of those benzos her Doctor should be blamed. Enough with hyping up benzos as deadly because some richy rich drank alcohol even though it says on every bottle to not do so. Xanax is NOT fucking deadly nor is Ativan nor is Valium. Even combined its not that deadly. The alcohol and the doctors are to blame. This is so obvious. I dont know where peoples heads are anymore but they need to start looking at other factors and quit blaming drugs like Xanax for the death of some rich lady. SERIOUSLY!
 
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