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For a great many people (myself included) benzodiazepines are lifesavers. I would really hate to see these kinds of articles prompt yet another moral panic whi

by tsotha 11y ago

For a great many people (myself included) benzodiazepines are lifesavers. I would really hate to see these kinds of articles prompt yet another moral panic which has doctors reluctant to prescribe drugs to people who need them.

ocfx 11y ago
Lots of fear mongering (I'm assuming in this article). I suffer from bad panic attacks, but I also have a history of drug abuse so benzo's are basically not an option for me except in extreme cases. I tried buspirone instead and it works great for panic attacks. However, I've never once had a doctor who didn't lecture me for at least 20 minutes on the dangers of benzos whenever I brought it up for anxiety. I think these people are going to "special" doctors. We have a lot of them in seedier nearby areas where you can get anything you want prescribed to you within reason. Maybe these are the places they are referring to? It just seems weird that any doctor would be downplaying the side effects and dangers of benzos.
- beat 11y ago
  There's the rub... people like to get high on this stuff. For whatever reason that I can't fathom, they like having their mind wrapped in gauze. :( Responsible doctors will strongly warn about the addictive nature. Irresponsible doctors will simply write a prescription, knowing that either their patient is an addict or they're creating an addict. Ambien is the latest version of this. Ambien is "perfectly safe", even if they warn about Xanax. Xanax used to be "perfectly safe" as an alternative to the obviously addictive Valium. Sigh.
DanBC 11y ago
It would be great if doctors prescribed benzos more carefully. Benzos probably shouldn't be used for sleep, and certainly shouldn't be the first thing that's tried. This article doesn't seem to be saying "stop prescribing benzos", but just "stop being so careless when prescribing benzos". This article mentions the Z drugs and suggests that they're less addictive, but it doesn't mention the rise in referals to Dublin drug and alcohol services for people struggling with zopiclone; or the fact that zopiclone is one of the meds most frequently obtained using stolen prescription pads in Paris. The z drugs probably have similar addiction potential as diazepam.
- tsotha 11y ago
  My fear is the same thing that happened with opiods will happen with benzodiazepines. There was a moral panic and the government started cracking down. The government can't do anything with finesse, though, so for awhile people who were in terrible pain had a lot of trouble finding doctors who were willing to risk prescribing them the drugs they needed.
  - DanBC 11y ago
    But people with long term pain mostly should not have opiods -- they should have rapid access to skilled pain management clinics (and if that clinic recommends opiods then fair enough). Many people in pain end up addicted to opiods, and don't have adaquate pain relief.
    - tsotha 11y ago
      I agree opiods should be a last resort for long term pain. But they should be available if needed. It wasn't just people in long term pain, though. It was people who'd just had operations. It was people in hospice, for Pete's sake. What's the point of worrying about addiction in someone who's gonna be dead in a month?
    - MichaelGG 11y ago
      Surely this is something each individual should decide for themselves. Why should you or anyone else decide that I cannot use morphine and friends?
      - x0x0 11y ago
        Because society has to clean up the mess, financially and in terms of dealing with addiction via medicine and/or incarceration. Particularly when opiates are bulk resold to addicts.
      - DanBC 11y ago
        If you want to manage your long term pain morphine and other opiates are probably the wrong choice. The patient will develop a tolerance to the meds; requiring higher and higher doses; and eventually they'll be taking dangerously high levels of those meds and their pain will not be controlled, and so now they have an opiate addiction and they still have the pain.
pc2g4d 11y ago
I'm curious what has led you to feel that benzos saved your life. Care to expand on that?
- tsotha 11y ago
  I'd rather not get that specific about my medical problems. Sorry.
  - pc2g4d 11y ago
    No worries
thrownaway124 11y ago
They have been for me as well. A few years ago when things got bad for me, my practical options were heroin, trust a doctor, or suicide. I might add buprenorphine/suboxone to the list now, but we'll see. I chose heroin initially as a guaranteed short term solution, it did literally save my life at the time. I was lucky to have the skills and resources to carefully purify and prepare it in isotonic sterile injection vials, ready for quick use. Moderate dosages worked perfectly, it instantly ended 4AM "episodes", I could function and think clearly again, and avoid missing work while I figured out what to do long term. More importantly, I'm lucky to either have massive self control or lack the propensity for addiction. I tapered off on my own and saw a doctor, worked with them trying a variety of medications until finally given a choice of several benzos, which worked reasonably well overall. I do recognize side effects with them, but without them I know I would be doing much much worse right now, at least I have a chance to keep going.

by tsotha 11y ago

ocfx 11y ago

Lots of fear mongering (I'm assuming in this article). I suffer from bad panic attacks, but I also have a history of drug abuse so benzo's are basically not an option for me except in extreme cases. I tried buspirone instead and it works great for panic attacks. However, I've never once had a doctor who didn't lecture me for at least 20 minutes on the dangers of benzos whenever I brought it up for anxiety. I think these people are going to "special" doctors. We have a lot of them in seedier nearby areas where you can get anything you want prescribed to you within reason. Maybe these are the places they are referring to? It just seems weird that any doctor would be downplaying the side effects and dangers of benzos.

beat 11y ago
There's the rub... people like to get high on this stuff. For whatever reason that I can't fathom, they like having their mind wrapped in gauze. :( Responsible doctors will strongly warn about the addictive nature. Irresponsible doctors will simply write a prescription, knowing that either their patient is an addict or they're creating an addict. Ambien is the latest version of this. Ambien is "perfectly safe", even if they warn about Xanax. Xanax used to be "perfectly safe" as an alternative to the obviously addictive Valium. Sigh.

DanBC 11y ago

It would be great if doctors prescribed benzos more carefully. Benzos probably shouldn't be used for sleep, and certainly shouldn't be the first thing that's tried. This article doesn't seem to be saying "stop prescribing benzos", but just "stop being so careless when prescribing benzos". This article mentions the Z drugs and suggests that they're less addictive, but it doesn't mention the rise in referals to Dublin drug and alcohol services for people struggling with zopiclone; or the fact that zopiclone is one of the meds most frequently obtained using stolen prescription pads in Paris. The z drugs probably have similar addiction potential as diazepam.

tsotha 11y ago
My fear is the same thing that happened with opiods will happen with benzodiazepines. There was a moral panic and the government started cracking down. The government can't do anything with finesse, though, so for awhile people who were in terrible pain had a lot of trouble finding doctors who were willing to risk prescribing them the drugs they needed.
- DanBC 11y ago
  But people with long term pain mostly should not have opiods -- they should have rapid access to skilled pain management clinics (and if that clinic recommends opiods then fair enough). Many people in pain end up addicted to opiods, and don't have adaquate pain relief.
  - tsotha 11y ago
    I agree opiods should be a last resort for long term pain. But they should be available if needed. It wasn't just people in long term pain, though. It was people who'd just had operations. It was people in hospice, for Pete's sake. What's the point of worrying about addiction in someone who's gonna be dead in a month?
  - MichaelGG 11y ago
    Surely this is something each individual should decide for themselves. Why should you or anyone else decide that I cannot use morphine and friends?
    - x0x0 11y ago
      Because society has to clean up the mess, financially and in terms of dealing with addiction via medicine and/or incarceration. Particularly when opiates are bulk resold to addicts.
    - DanBC 11y ago
      If you want to manage your long term pain morphine and other opiates are probably the wrong choice. The patient will develop a tolerance to the meds; requiring higher and higher doses; and eventually they'll be taking dangerously high levels of those meds and their pain will not be controlled, and so now they have an opiate addiction and they still have the pain.

pc2g4d 11y ago

I'm curious what has led you to feel that benzos saved your life. Care to expand on that?

tsotha 11y ago
I'd rather not get that specific about my medical problems. Sorry.
- pc2g4d 11y ago
  No worries

thrownaway124 11y ago

They have been for me as well. A few years ago when things got bad for me, my practical options were heroin, trust a doctor, or suicide. I might add buprenorphine/suboxone to the list now, but we'll see. I chose heroin initially as a guaranteed short term solution, it did literally save my life at the time. I was lucky to have the skills and resources to carefully purify and prepare it in isotonic sterile injection vials, ready for quick use. Moderate dosages worked perfectly, it instantly ended 4AM "episodes", I could function and think clearly again, and avoid missing work while I figured out what to do long term. More importantly, I'm lucky to either have massive self control or lack the propensity for addiction. I tapered off on my own and saw a doctor, worked with them trying a variety of medications until finally given a choice of several benzos, which worked reasonably well overall. I do recognize side effects with them, but without them I know I would be doing much much worse right now, at least I have a chance to keep going.