Ocassional benzo use?

[wooger]

Just wondering for the people who have benzo scripts, are there many people who havent developed a physical dependence upon them?

I was having a discussion earlier with someone who wants nothing to do with anti-depressants and loves the idea of having a benzo prescription and become quite aggressive/defensive when I tried to reason with them.... this person has even asked me to send them some...

could someone like this use them responsibly or does it just scream to you an addiction waiting to happen?

 

[Tosh.Suku]

I have a boatload of xanax, enough that if I used them regularly I would have quite a dependence. I get some hard to handle nightmares when I take xanax, either the same night or a couple days later. That's been enough to keep me at bay with this drug. In general, if the side effects are worse than the reason I'm taking the drug in the first place, I try to put it down.

Some rules I carry are never use more than 1mg, never dose on consecutive days, and max dose twice a week or 7 times in a month. I haven't suffered W/D from xanax. Atleast I don't remember any W/D. Maybe my nightmares WERE the W/D? I don't get them much now but when I do the first question I ask is, when was the last time I took some xanax?

 

[verso]

I think this discussion would be better suited for the other drugs forum where we discuss the possibility of using substances responsibly, so I'm going to move it there...

But as for my two cents... you will become physically dependent upon a substance, be it benzos or whatever else, so long as you take that substance regularly. It's difficult if not impossible to avoid, but that doesn't mean the symptoms will be ridiculously obvious; consider this: a heavy coffee drinker who quits drinking coffee abruptly may notice only slight discomfort, a headache, maybe, from no longer having the caffeine in their system. A heroin addict, on the other hand, well... the symptoms are none to pretty (sweating, diarrhea, restless legs, etc.)

In my own experience, I noticed no real discomfort from kicking xanax (alprazolam) cold turkey, but uh, I did suffer a seizure. I was physically dependent upon the substance, and I had no idea really because I experienced no obvious symptoms.

But also, keep in mind that physical dependence upon a substance and mental addiction are two different things and that one can become physically dependent upon a substance without becoming mentally addicted. I suffered a seizure, and so I was, of course, physically dependent upon xanax. But I never, ever crave xanax and I never even think about taking xanax. I'm not addicted to xanax...

I hope this helps you.

 

[heavyriffer]

anyone can use anything occassional and not get addicted 'but' that is up to the user. heroin, crack and benzos. Me i got physically dependent on them becuase i repeatedly used them for my anxiety attacks.