Posted on 07/19/2018 10:55:43 AM PDT by Mariner
The growing use of anti-anxiety pills reminds some doctors of the early days of the opioid crisis.
Considered relatively safe and non-addictive by the general public and many doctors, Xanax, Valium, Ativan and Klonopin have been prescribed to millions of Americans for decades to calm jittery nerves and promote a good night’s sleep.
But the number of people taking the sedatives and the average length of time they’re taking them have shot up since the 1990s, when doctors also started liberally prescribing opioid painkillers.
As a result, some state and federal officials are now warning that excessive prescribing of a class of drugs known as benzodiazepines or “benzos” is putting more people at risk of dependence on the pills and is exacerbating the fatal overdose toll of painkillers and heroin. Some local governments are beginning to restrict benzo prescriptions.
When taken in combination with painkillers or illicit narcotics, benzodiazepines can increase the likelihood of a fatal overdose as much as tenfold, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. On their own, the medications can cause debilitating withdrawal symptoms that last for months or years.
Public health officials also warn that people who abruptly stop taking benzodiazepines risk seizures or even death.
(Excerpt) Read more at pewtrusts.org ...
Drugs are bad mmmkay.
This is ridiculous. I’m tired of these controlling morons.
I had an ex girlfriend who had taken xanax and some point and said it didn’t make her less depressed, just made her not care that she was depressed. She got off of them, got her life back. That was before I met her.
I met her a few years later, we hit it off. She was good as gold for 5 years. And then she went crazy on me.
I don’t think it was the xanax. I think women are either crazy when you meet them, or they are apt to going crazy for no discernible reason. Now I’m just looking for a level of crazy that I can have fun with.
This really pisses me off because doctors no longer want to or won’t prescribe you xanax or kolonopin or others because of these buttheads who are abusing it. They want to give you buspar which requires you to take several pills every day. I take my meds as needed and have never had my dose increased. I have never taken a xanax bar nor would I want to, however these idiots get to the point where they are eating bars like candy. Not to mention all the buttheads selling it on the streets. It seems every time there is a drug bust locally xanax or kolonopin are in possession no matter if the bust is for meth,heroin,weed or what not.
In the 1970s it was known that Valium was highly addicting. What is this article trying to say?
LOL! There are times that I agree with you.
No mention of Quaaludes in this thread. Hmm......
Xanax is a common side dish for the methadone junkies in my city.
No mention of Quaaludes in this thread. Hmm....
I only take .5 mg when needed.
The addictiveness is overstated, I am probably mentally and physically addicted to lorazepam, that’s okay with me since I take them to quell panic attacks due to heart arrhythmia, and I’ve been taking them 10 years.
I’ll add this. Don’t take these pills in any combination of with an opioid and scopolamine. When you wake up you won’t remember a thing but you will feel brain raped. I seriously wanted to sue the hospital that allowed this to be administered to me accept it ended up I agreed to it in writing after even feeling like I was lied to about it’s effects.
“benzos”
for many people benzos are more addicting than heroin ... and it can happen REALLY quick and with “normal” doses ... and once addicted, trying to quit cold turkey can easily lead to fatal seizures ... can also lead to long term damage to the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis
ativan is the worst of the bunch because it’s very short-acting ... but really, these drugs should never be used except in a medical setting ...
Take it every day for 7 days in a row and get back to us.
“No mention of Quaaludes in this thread.”
because the legal manufacture of methaqualone ended in the U.S. in 1982 ... it’s now just one more of hundreds of illegal street drugs ...
“lorazepam”
It’s the MOST addictive of all the benzodiazepines. This due to the fact it is short acting...3 hours or so.
People have died by going cold turkey from lorazepam.
I took it every day for 2+ years.
Just reading your comment paints a bit of a picture that the patient “wants” to become addicted and seeks medical care to do so.
I have a very close friend who was brought into this loop by “doctors” who seem ignorant or uncaring of the side and continual effects of playing in the chemistry set
Becoming addicted is not at all what she wanted, and she is a strong advocate for burning this house of cards down now
Just sayin
I always thought that song was about LSD.
Millions of people spend their lives Sleep deprived, and they label Xanax dangerous. F-—ing stupidity on a Universal scale. These Drug Cartel Companies just want to sell their New EXPENSIVE DRUGS. Liars
That is so not true.
I have a friend who is epileptic and uses it to control anxiety, which can lead to a seizure...
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