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I'm genuinely surprised. Maybe it's just for psych ailments (e.g. anxiety) that use has declined. > the biggest rise in prescriptions during this time period w

I'm genuinely surprised. Maybe it's just for psych ailments (e.g. anxiety) that use has declined. > the biggest rise in prescriptions during this time period was for back pain and other types of chronic pain. Now I'm doubly surprised. Some benzos have muscle relaxant properties but I've never heard of them prescribed for pain. (I've never experienced benzo withdrawal but I've heard it claimed to be as bad as opiate withdrawal.)

Alex3917 7y ago
> Some benzos have muscle relaxant properties but I've never heard of them prescribed for pain. Back pain is thought to be mostly psychological, so it makes sense. Also, if you have minor tears or congenital defects in tissue around your spinal cord then anxiety can cause inflammation, which can then cause your spinal fluid to push against your actual spinal cord and cause all sorts of problems. (Or something like this, I'm not a doctor but that's the basic idea.)
- misterman0 7y ago
  >> Back pain is thought to be mostly psychological Do you have a credibility source to back that up?
  - Cougher 7y ago
    I'm very skeptical of this. A common claim that's long been floated around the medical community, most recently in the "evidence-based" medical community, is that if there isn't a hard test for a condition, then it's psychosomatic. It's an arrogant and abusive conclusion that's also ironic: we don't have a diagnostic test to prove it, so the cause is something that also doesn't have a diagnostic test.
    - TeMPOraL 7y ago
      It does sound a bit like archaeology and ascribing religious purpose to any structure or artifact we cannot identify as something else.
      - TremendousJudge 7y ago
        You can also call it "Mysterious Answers to Mysterious Questions"[0] -- if the matter seems a mystery, well, then the answer surely must be a mystery as well! I cannot be something simple and comprehensible [0] https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/6i3zToomS86oj9bS6/mysterious-answers-to-mysterious-questions https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/6i3zToomS86oj9bS6/mysterious...
wmf 7y ago
I took Valium for a back muscle spasm and it worked perfectly, although it may have been mostly psychological.
TheSpiceIsLife 7y ago
> claimed to be as bad as opiate withdrawal. Benzo withdrawal can be much much worse than opiate withdrawal. Opioid withdrawal is comparatively benign. Compare: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opioid_use_disorder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opioid_use_disorder and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzodiazepine_withdrawal_syndrome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzodiazepine_withdrawal_synd...
Broken_Hippo 7y ago
I've had valium for a spinal tap (2nd attempt). Alongside a numbing agent, I didn't care what they did. Which is a key for using such medicines for pain: You might be in pain, but you don't care. My understanding is that for folks allergic to anesthesia, they can literally relax them enough that the person doesn't care if they are doing surgery on them. They don't feel the pain either, but it isn't generally as convenient as folks being put under.

Alex3917 7y ago

> Some benzos have muscle relaxant properties but I've never heard of them prescribed for pain. Back pain is thought to be mostly psychological, so it makes sense. Also, if you have minor tears or congenital defects in tissue around your spinal cord then anxiety can cause inflammation, which can then cause your spinal fluid to push against your actual spinal cord and cause all sorts of problems. (Or something like this, I'm not a doctor but that's the basic idea.)

misterman0 7y ago
>> Back pain is thought to be mostly psychological Do you have a credibility source to back that up?
- Cougher 7y ago
  I'm very skeptical of this. A common claim that's long been floated around the medical community, most recently in the "evidence-based" medical community, is that if there isn't a hard test for a condition, then it's psychosomatic. It's an arrogant and abusive conclusion that's also ironic: we don't have a diagnostic test to prove it, so the cause is something that also doesn't have a diagnostic test.
  - TeMPOraL 7y ago
    It does sound a bit like archaeology and ascribing religious purpose to any structure or artifact we cannot identify as something else.
    - TremendousJudge 7y ago
      You can also call it "Mysterious Answers to Mysterious Questions"[0] -- if the matter seems a mystery, well, then the answer surely must be a mystery as well! I cannot be something simple and comprehensible [0] https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/6i3zToomS86oj9bS6/mysterious-answers-to-mysterious-questions https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/6i3zToomS86oj9bS6/mysterious...

wmf 7y ago

I took Valium for a back muscle spasm and it worked perfectly, although it may have been mostly psychological.

TheSpiceIsLife 7y ago

> claimed to be as bad as opiate withdrawal. Benzo withdrawal can be much much worse than opiate withdrawal. Opioid withdrawal is comparatively benign. Compare: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opioid_use_disorder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opioid_use_disorder and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzodiazepine_withdrawal_syndrome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzodiazepine_withdrawal_synd...

Broken_Hippo 7y ago

I've had valium for a spinal tap (2nd attempt). Alongside a numbing agent, I didn't care what they did. Which is a key for using such medicines for pain: You might be in pain, but you don't care. My understanding is that for folks allergic to anesthesia, they can literally relax them enough that the person doesn't care if they are doing surgery on them. They don't feel the pain either, but it isn't generally as convenient as folks being put under.