Posted by yxibow on October 28, 2006, at 22:08:24
In reply to Lou's response to aspects of ronaldo's post, posted by Lou Pilder on October 28, 2006, at 20:58:55
> Friends,
> It is written here,[...take the full 30 days...doc wouldn't have prescribed it if ..was dangerous...Benzo addiction is over exaggerated...].
> This brings up several questions:
> A. Are all drugs not dangerous because doctors prescribe them?
> B. Do all doctors prescribe BZDs?
> C. Should addiction to BZDs be discounted?
> D. Are the accounts of the withdrawal symptoms of people that say that they were addicted to BZDs over exaggerated?
> E. What is the safe amount of days that a BZD can be taken?
> Lou
A. No. Chemotherapy medication is quite dangerous. Does that mean that one still wants to stick around in this world to see their extended family for as long as possible even if it hurts their bodily organs ? Everything has or should have an informed consent and there are always tradeoffs.
B. No. Some have been or even espouse the concept of addiction, which has been discussed here since the cows come home (we have, I still hear the moo-ing... [humour]). Its really habituation, which is escalation of dose, even under the care of a doctor because original dose A doesnt work as well any more.Addiction as a medical term, which is not semantics purely, is the use of medications not prescribed by a doctor or taking medications indiscriminately at a dose not authorized by a doctor, and some people are more genetically susceptible (e.g. alcoholism.)
C. No. You can have addiction and habituation at the same time. However this is not as common as habituation to benzodiazepines.
D. This is an individual variable. In part, I believe yes. This is with a disclaimer that I have some wierd back/head spasm occasionally from cold turkey discontinuation of Tranxene and mismanagement by medical professionals to give me the whole dose back, nine years later.But in general the idea that one is habituated to a benzodiazepine for as long as one has taken it (if you take X benzodiazepine for 5 years, you must be off of it for 5 years is in my belief not a medically valid proof concept.)
E. Depends on what doctor you ask and what country you're in. England seems to be especially benzophobic. Some doctors in the US will say until dose escalation or habituation occurs, while others will say only a certain number of days or weeks. This is also true for pseudobenzodiazepines such as Lunesta, zopiclone, Ambien, etc. They can be taken longterm though your GP may follow rigidly the 7 day rule on them.
There are people on Librium (chlordiazepoxide) since it came out in 1960, and Valium (diazepam), respectively in 1963, without any sequelae. Benzodiazepines are safe replacements for barbiturates which have a near 50 year in the lab history.
In general, for long term use, long half life is a fair correlation -- e.g. Klonopin, Valium, Librium, and least immediate gratification, which typically occurs with short half lives (Xanax, a particular culprit, and Ativan.)
poster:yxibow
thread:698142
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20061028/msgs/698602.html