Time for a little update again. Hope you are all doing well.
I've decided not to quit using benzos, even though I went through detox last year. There just isn't a class of drugs that are so perfectly suitable for my anxiety and nervousness. I just have to not keep taking them more than a few weeks in a row (which I usually don't do anyway, I take them mostly for anxiety, occasionally recreationally). It feels like I've gone through the whole spectrum of SSRI's, SNRI's, NaSSA's, Tricyclics, Antipsychotics (e.g. quetiapine, olanzapine), beta blockers (e.g. propranolol, bisoprolol), Lyrica (which indeed was effective for 2 weeks), Hydroxyzine (Atarax). And Whatnot.
The thing that - to put it mildly - infuriates me is the attitude among psychiatrists that SSRI's etc can be prescribed to just about anyone for any reason, since they are supposedly "not addictive" and have only "minor discontiuation symptoms" (if even that). But benzos are noo noo since they are so "terribly addictive", "abusable", "will en up being sold in the street", and generally just seem to be frowned upon more and more by doctors. I understand that there are real concerns with benzos - I should know, going through detox after an almost 15 years long addiction. Detox was pure hell.
But that said, things here (have gone so far that people who have legitimate needs for benzos (short term treatment of insomnia, anxiety, panic attacks etc) are having problems finding a doctor willing to prescribe them. When used for short-term, or occasionally, they are a wonderfully effective class of drugs with a high degree of tolerability and high safety-marginal (when not mixed with other CNS depressants). I find them to have a considerably worse reputation than they deserve.
Take escitalopram for example. I've had horrible WD's from it the last few months; brain zaps, vertigo, vomiting, depression, extreme anxiety, insomnia etc. And these are the kind of meds prescriped to anyone just having a bad day. IMO, SSRI's have a better reputation than they deserve, or at least the myriad of side effects the produce plus the horrible WD symptoms
I'm now in the situation where psychiatrists won't prescribe me benzos because of my history, so I decided to swtich to RC benzos. I really like Etizolam. I find it to be a potent anxiolytic with moderate hypnotive and sedative properties. Pyrazolam mainly works for anxiolysis, but there's nothing remotely "fun" in it (I'm aware neither Etizolam nor Pyrazolam are "pure" benzos, but the mode of action is the same). It seems Flubromazepam will be in stock for some vendors soon, it will be interesting to try it out. I've always preferred the longer acting ones. A legal alternative which seems to share some of the properties with Diazepam would be more than welcome.
What a rant. Not much psychedelic talk...Unfortunately I've just been too mentaly unstable to exeriment with psychedelics for a year. Ketamine, on the other hand, is a totally different story
