just wandering what is so addicting about benzos

[Jabberwocky]

i always hear how about the withdrawls are. i typically just save my benzos for a comedown on a stim or something. what leads people to using them more and more and eventually becoming addicted?

 

[TheLostBoys]

i always hear how about the withdrawls are. i typically just save my benzos for a comedown on a stim or something. what leads people to using them more and more and eventually becoming addicted?

I have always wondered the same because I never liked benzos as much as other people.

 

[Jabberwocky]

I have always wondered the same because I never liked benzos as much as other people.

yeah i like xanax if im just lounging around..but i wouldnt waste them on that. i save them for a comedown.

 

[Crankinit]

It's generally people prescribed them, or those prone to anxiety, who end up as daily users.

 

[Jabberwocky]

It's generally people prescribed them, or those prone to anxiety, who end up as daily users.

ahhh i see. but is it like a heroin type 'need' for the drug?

 

[Lolie]

ahhh i see. but is it like a heroin type 'need' for the drug?

People develop a physical tolerance for benzos and suffer withdrawals upon discontinuation - that happens to people for whom the effects have been merely functional, not just to those who benzos have made feel good.

 

[homeydontplaythat]

People who actually have anxiety and use them recreationally or as prescribed end up addicted since it actually helps

 

[unsettled]

they're addicting because they take away anxiety, when you have anxiety in general and panic attacks on a daily basis and get put on benzos it's a profound feeling of relief, this feeling of relief is what makes them addictive for me. I don't find them very recreational at all.

when you've been on them for years you need them every bit as much as a heroin addict needs heroin to function, even more actually since you can die from benzo withdrawal. benzo withdrawal is hell, had I known what I was getting myself into I would have tried to not take them daily even though they were prescribed to me daily from the beginning.

benzos are what taught me what it really means to be dependent on a drug, and it was prescribed to me by a doctor. I had smoked pot daily for years pre benzos and had no withdrawals when I quit, I used cocaine, opiates but not daily, LSD, Shrooms..etc.. Benzos were what really caused me trouble, but they did help me at the time and still do but being addicted sucks!

 

[MgmtBlue]

I also do not prefer benzos for a recreational high. I will take a Xanax if I am anxious about a certain event, such as flying, but otherwise they stay on the shelf.

I do have GAD, but Effexor helps keep it under control along with Hydroxyzine. Hydroxyzine is non-addictive and helps take the edge off if I'm having one of those days. I actually learned about it thanks to BL. Love this place.

 

[debaser]

Don't forget some benzos are prescribed for sleep, not only anxiety. Same pattern though.

 

[Mr_Fluffykins]

well physical addiction is what make benzo's so addicticing not the mental effects

but like any drug, they have some euphoria, there good at blocking out anxiety, and helping with sleep

so of course they are going to be addictive psychlogically aswell, but really anything can be

 

[pally pete]

i always hear how about the withdrawls are. i typically just save my benzos for a comedown on a stim or something. what leads people to using them more and more and eventually becoming addicted?

i found benzos addictive because they just made me feel how i should.

not anxious,not nervous and not thinking at a thousand miles per hour.

 

[slowpoke1967]

Yes being on benzos for around 15 year now i can speak from experience.
They do there job for people like me with chronic anxiety and chronic insomnia .
So haveing to take them everyday to make you just feel "normal" is a dependancy in itself.
But you are also very physically dependant on them .
I can feel my body start its course about the same time everydays and cant wait to get them in me to slow my heart rate down abit and make me feel more "normal" without them i become a baskit case,
You can actually feel the WDs start to come on everyday when your on high doses as i am and it almost becomes more of a beet the Wds thing rather than waiting to see if your gonna have an attack then take them ..
They are very physically dependant,if i were to go 2 days without them i go threw hell and thats only 2 days .I try to never let my doses get low enough to feel WDs and never will i run out for more than 1 day as i know what will happen if i do because stupidly i have done it before and never wanna feel that way again.
I actually just took 6mg of clonazepams at my reg. time of around 3
I can feel the anxiety building from around noon till about 230 when my body starts to feel symptoms I then wait till 3 then take them and its now 322 and im starting to get the reliefe feelings.
I am perscribed 8mg daily but ussualy take a few extras when i get them to feel more comfortable.
I still find it very interessting that people actually get a buzz from k pins i never have in all these years.they just do there job and do it very well.
Before getting on clonazepams and temazepams with seroquels for sleep i used to go out and buy 100 lots of 10mg valiums that fought off my stress and anxiety.
But never had any WDs from valiums even on very high doses ,,not like the k pins.
once yer dependant on them its almost impossible to stop,esspecialy if you need them like i do ...
But realy if you dont need to use benzos DONT!! use whatever else you can find first.
I needed them and will be on them for life and i accept that, and at 43 i dont realy care as long as they keep doing there job..
Honestly if i didnt have my meds i wouold never be able to handle the attacks like i used to before i got on benzos..
And those old suicidal thoughts would come back not to mention the WDs.
All i can say is ive gone 2 days without and its hell and i never wanna be there again....
So anyone thinking about getting on benzos at least try something mild if possible like low mg valiums say 5 mg when needed.
I am still astonished people get a buzz off these k pins i get more outta say 5 10mg valiums.
But i think what ive found is valium helps more in stressfull situations thann anxiety though they will work for anxiety ,,its just that the k pins work great for anxiety and i get absolutely no buzz whatsoever i just get to feel better...
hope this helps someone..

 

[K'd-OUT-in-AZ]

ahhh i see. but is it like a heroin type 'need' for the drug?

Once you become dependent it is very much like a "need" for heroin except worse. Some people become dependent upon opiates because they suffer pain, for benzodiazepines people who suffer anxiety can easily become dependent. The relief is incredible. It becomes so much easier to function, just like heroin addicts use to feel normal and be able to function. The problem is that eventually you become addicted and need higher and higher doses just to feel normal. Your GABA receptors get so messed up which makes it so hard to try and get off without suffering withdrawals related to a decrease in GABA receptor firing.

 

[TheLostBoys]

Is being addicted to opiates or benzos worse when you are doing them just to get high or when you need them for pain/anxiety or they both about the same. Like, there are people that start off with 1 Vicodin to get high & within a month, they need 10 Vicodins at a time to get high because they are doing them every day but a person that takes them for pain & takes them as prescribed shouldnt have the same addictiveness as the person that does it to get high.

 

[thanksbutnotranx]

Benzos should be outlawed. Well, maybe not but they definately shouldnt be prescribed for longer than 2 weeks. I was on diazepam for 2 years and did a few cold turkeys, the first 2 withdrawals lasting about 9 days. I kept reinstating because i was always preapered to go through the cluck cause although being horrible it was over in 9 days. Boy was i wrong after reinstating the 3rd time!!!!! the symptoms just didnt stop, i lasted 5 weeks and ended up in a psych ward. None of them had a clue that i was still in withdrawal and diagnosed me with an anxiety disorder and reinstated me back on the diazepam for the 4th time.. Thats when the shit really hit the fan.. they stopped working completely and i was in withdrawal no matter how many i took, nothing would stop it and the benzos were killing me basically. If its 1 drug you dont want turning on you its a benzo!. I ended up in hospital very near to death as my body shut down a few weeks after that but still couldnt stop swallowing the benzos even though they were killing me. It was like taking a bad trip and not having any choice in the matter!. Anyways because i had cold turkeyed so many times it was impossible to do any kind of slow taper so i had to go into rehab. Ok long story short, the detox nearly killed me and it was so barbaric i suffered a post traumatic stress disorder, i had people coming off heroin feeling sorry for me cause as they were getting better i was getting sicker. The maddest part about it all is that after a few weeks everyone thought i was just mentally ill and it couldnt have possably been a sleeping pill that had done this to me for this amount of time after! My withdrawal actually peaked at 9 months free of benzos, it was like having the constant dts from alcohol..this was pretty much the storyy for the first 20 months clean and i had to have constant reassurance that i was going to make it out of this alive. Im 4 years free of benzos now and still suffer some symptoms,, my nervous system still feels very raw especially if i over exercise but on the whole i am 80 percent better. I wouldnt wish this stuff on anybody,,, it has been a living hell.. So if anybody is thinking of starting on benzos,,, dont!

I also wanted to add that although i went through a protracted withdrawal it is still quite rare. Peace.

 

[StaySedated]

benzos are relaxing, intoxicating(at higher doses), provide relief of anxiety and stress, and can be euphoric(depends on benzo and individual reaction).

these effects make them addictive.

 

[Lolie]

i found benzos addictive because they just made me feel how i should.

not anxious,not nervous and not thinking at a thousand miles per hour.

The fact that benzos can eliminate anxiety and nervousness entirely is one of the biggest problems - once people becoming used to not experiencing those emotions, even "normal" amounts of anxiety seem intolerable.

Many people don't bother adopting other strategies to minimise their anxiety and reduce the stress in their lives once they find medication which works, so the underlying issues creating the anxiety are never addressed. There's no real reason why doctors couldn't make prescribing benzos part of a comprehensive treatment plan which includes their patients learning anxiety management techniques and where coming off benzos is planned from the outset - such plans are extremely common for physical ailments - but not many do.

 

[LonE1]

Benzos are perscribed for anxiety so alot of people get addicted because W/Ds are bad over time.

Im like you, I always save my benzos for when im coming down off stimulants.....xanax and some weed will make me a happy man after coming down.

Also: I dont like taking benzos alone. I get way too tired and not worth it too me. Strictly comedown drugs.

 

[Dunno]

IME Xanax is easy to stay awake on if your up & doing things but sitting down or lying down nope