Posted by zeugma on August 20, 2004, at 18:58:04
In reply to Re: kp.-benzo least likely to cause cogn.--zeugma, posted by alesta on August 20, 2004, at 18:39:31
sorry amy, i don't know the answer to that question, as i myself have not gone off it (been on about eight mos.) but I really think that benzo-related impairments have been overblown. What I have read about are stories of people who take one, relatively high dose, and then have some amnesia... the classic story i've read about is of businessmen taking a benzo to fall asleep on a business trip then waking up and forgetting why they crossed the Atlantic. This could well go in that 'folk mythology' category though, as my sister takes lorazepam for business flights, and has never told me she messed up her project due to forgetting what she came for... i should add that she takes it only for this purpose (ie PRN).
I suspect that a lot of the stories, if not folk mythology, are results of the kind of demonizations of the kinds common to any kind of psychotropic medication. Consult the collected works of Peter Breggin if you want claims that TCA's are 'neuroleptics in disguise,' that Prozac is as neurotoxic as methamphetamine, and other colorful but absurd claims, all made by someone who puts 'M.D.' after his name.-z
poster:zeugma
thread:380009
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040817/msgs/380112.html