Posted by Squiggles on August 22, 2002, at 21:05:16
In reply to Re: To...Addiction vs. Medical dependence » Squiggles, posted by alan on August 22, 2002, at 20:43:50
>------------------------------------
Hi Alan,I better be more careful in my response - i apologize
for being so short - i was distracted with some
other work and thought i could nevertheless be
clear.
> Huh? Scientology?I mention Scientology, because the group
has a notorious reputation for anti-psychiatric
stances, including the nature of benzos, with
a tendency to be overzealous and enthusiastic
in encouraging complete cessation of psychiatric
drugs, sometimes when this is unwise and dangerous.I must have missed something.
>That is what i meant.
> Your statement that xanax "became" "addicting" and you hit "tolerance" makes no sense - especially after having asked what dose you were up to along with a whole host of other questions that may be illustrative as to how all of the variables you mentioned played into your particular case (Valium, diagnosis, lithium, synthroid, xanax dosage, etc.)
Oy vey - it's a long story - perhaps i should hunt my letter to
the Health Minister of Canada where things are described in detail;
for the present moment, i will give you a brief rundown;- i was on Xanax from 0.25 to 1.0 and not ever higher
than 3.0 over a great many years - maybe 12; the panic
attacks increased as time went on, and i felt the need
to take the "as needed" dosages more and more often to
stop the panic attacks; but as soon as the panic attack
went away, very soon i would have to take another Xanax as
a more severe panic attack would come after a couple of hours;
as you many know the half-life of Xanax is not long and the
panic attacks were very much associated with this short
interval between taking them.As for the Valium, that is a story that began everything;
Valium came before lithium, before my marriage, before
my thesis defence; Valium was taken erratically and without
supersion really (then being a popular drug); when i was
studying for my Ph.D. and a year or so before when
i was taking the Valium erratically, for the first time
in my life i experienced anxiety and panic.... eventually
i had a crash (a week of not eating, constantly crying,
terrible anxiety, nervousness - just inexplicable breakdown)This may have been concurrent with stress of graduate
studies, but it was like nothing i had ever experienced
before - it led to mania and deep suicidal depression,
as well as something like personality breakdown.That was when I was given lithium. The $64 million
dollar question is - did the Valium cause withdrawal
mimicking manic depression. I don't know.
> Bzd's, or other drugs that build up tolerance and have withdrawl don't "become" addicting, they simply always have had the tolerance/withdrawl phenomenon as part of the body's reaction to them.
In that case the dose on X should have been raised, just
as it was with clonazepam.
Hitting a "tolerance" or tolerance point implies some sort of arbitrary limit.Perhaps i needed more and had become adjusted to that dose, and it
no longer worked, as in the case of alcohol for example.
>
> Xanax does not cause panic attacks per se, but if one doesn't keep a steady state blood level, withdrawl will begin to occur which if too fast, will increase anxiety and lead to panic.
I don't think that we are disagreeing substantially here.
Yes, that is probably what happened.
If your need for more xanax because of fluctuating anxiety levels was not being met, it could be misinterpreted as the xanax causing panic rather than properly, the lack of it.
I am afraid that your fluctuating theory does not hold water.
The cycles of the anxiety were so dead on with the dose
of X and its diminuition of half-life that you would really
have to stretch this scenario to blame fluctuating anxiety.
> I'm sorry, but I am clueless about your point regarding old books and especially the book mentioned. Does this have anything to do with relying on older texts for the understanding of how these medications work and should or shouldn't be prescribed? Just curious.I think that there is information that is ignored in
modern statistical studies, which may be more explanatory
from a pharmaceutical point of view. And i will be glad to
quote from them, if you will allow me some time.I hope my message clarifies some earlier vagueness.
cheers,
Squiggles
poster:Squiggles
thread:116708
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020821/msgs/117441.html