Benzos?

What's your opinion on long term benzo usage?

Long term benzo usage can lead to depression in a decent amount of people. See here: Is your medication making you depressed? - Harvard Health

Also, the longer you are on a benzo, the higher the risk for dependency. See here: Benzodiazepine dependence - Wikipedia

Obviously not *everyone* is going to get depressed or build up a dependency, but the risks are there and discussed in the medical literature.

I personally think it's a bad idea. They caused rebound anxiety that was worse than the original anxiety. I quit years ago.

How long after being on them do you think one should stop?

I’ve had a script for Valium for about a year but take it prn so very very rarely. Only when I’m very unwell do I even think about taking one.

Now while I was in ip recently he had me taking it scheduled 1mg three times a day for agitation but idk how much it helps.

I only took klonopin for a very short while. Personally, I'd rather do ECT than benzos long term. Fewer side effects with ECT.

I am very much against long-term benzo use. Very much against! I have been taking a small dose of Klonopin for about 10 years now, non-stop. When I was first put on it, I took about 2 mg per day. I hated it because at the time all it did was make me very tired. I was in a depression when it was first started. I convinced the psychiatrist to lower and lower the dose, but they would not take me off of it. And I just kept going and going on the 0.5 mg.

A couple years later, a psychiatrist added Ativan as a "prn" (on top of the small dose Klonopin). I must admit that Ativan worked significantly better on my anxiety than Klonopin ever did, and without all of the uncomfortable side effects. But somewhere along the lines, I kept upping and upping my Ativan dose, even beyond what was prescribed as the maximum for daily prn use. The strange thing, in my case, was that the higher I went on the Ativan the more anxious I was becoming. I was up to 6 mg per day when I told my psychiatrist that I was using too much. He got very angry at me and told me to start weaning off. I did, and it was OK, but he would not take me off of the Klonopin.

A few years later, after only using small doses of Ativan as a prn, but still on the daily Klonopin, I started using Ativan again daily for the sake of akathisia relief. No other akathisia relief medication worked, except Cogentin, which gave me severe constipation. So for about 2 years I was taking Ativan daily along with the daily Klonopin. I eventually changed antipsychotics, so the akathisia eased. It took a good 6 months to be weaned off of Ativan. The withdrawals were significant enough to require the slow decrease.

I have been off of Ativan for a while, save an occasional prn. Believe me that I have asked my psychiatrist to remove the Klonopin. He refuses because he fears all kinds of chaos. I am in "Klonopin Jail" as I call it. Jail with a medication I never even liked in the first place.

I would say generally its not a wise idea but I am conflicted. I have a benzo script but its for anxiety attacks only not daily use, yet I have had the script for a year. A long time ago like 15 years ago I was on a heavy cocktail of meds. It was before people really understood the dangers of benzos. I was on xanax. The issue I faced was xanax worked but wore off quickly so I felt like I always needed more. On top of that it affected my memory so I would forget I took it and take another and be really out of it. I dont know how many people are familiar with benzo addictions but when someone abuses benzos, if they keep redosing, go beyond the sleepy slurred speech part and enter into the combative irrational part. (this isnt me just My experience). My AA friends daughter was abusing benzos in a huge way and she had me come over a few years back as sort of support for any intervention. Predictably she got defensive combative, irrational and destructive. But combine all that with poor coordination and slurred speech and not making sense. There was no getting through. She took off to her room at one point and after the fact we were able to see she had blown through her klonopin script in a day and a half. So in instances of abuse potential I would say long term is tricky turf.

The standard of use for most countries that prescribe them is for short term use. There is a lot of documentation on the risks of long term use. I think they can be a helpful tool, but asking someone who is admittedly in an unbalanced state to take a med that makes them feel better and can be taken in higher and higher doses is incredibly risky in my opinion. If one has addictive tendencies prn anxiety meds seem like they might be a bad idea.

As with all meds I think we have to do all that we can to manage what we can in other therapeutic ways so that if we take meds like benzos we put the smallest amount possible in our bodies. Anxiety is incredibly impactful, and I am grateful these meds exist. However, I think the risks are downplayed by providers and they are given without proper encouragement to seek balance in other ways for people who are suffering from minor anxiety issues.

Here are some thoughts from Dr. Marks. She's not the perfect authority on this. I suggest researching the effects at length if you want to take benzos, but I find her perspective to be helpful.
YouTube

One of my best pals of all-time was unintentionally overdosed on Valium and Ativan while IP and died as a result. He was 46.

I believe they are much riskier than a lot of people recognize.

I have taken Xanax or Valium for over 10 years , expect a 6-7 month period..

My Pdoc and T feel for me that its fine, I have never needed a increase, I have never " lost" it.. Xanax has at times helps me sleep, It works okay on a panic attack out of nowhere, also.

It honestly works better in helping my pain levels because of Fibro and PsA .. If a person is in Chronic pain and its impossible to find a Doctor or Pain clinic for any kind of actual pain meds. what then ????

Its shown it can cause possible early Dementia, Some Doctor say its over used . My Pdoc ,T and I feel if my pain is so awful that I am always on high alert fight or flight mode which is what happens with people who have Fibro and Id rather die than live another day,Chronic non stop pain is going to kill me sooner than taking a med that might cause long term probems..... so taking a benzo daily ? I will keep taking it.. AP's and Atypicals are shown to cause brain shrinkage. I dont see anyone storming the gate talking about those studies. So its really about choice.. Each person and providers decide what is best for them,

And for me why would I what to live in constant anxiety and extreme Pain 24/7 ??? No thanks.

Maybe we should be storming the gates about all these atypicals, dropping from the sky like water with their billions upon billions in drug mfr. profits... But then, for people who really need them, what other options do we have? Just be psychotic all the time? I, myself, do not have any alternatives, at least, not that I am aware of.

Yes,, we all have to do a proc/con list, Risk assessment and our providers and ourselves need to follow our "gut feeling"

Its all about deciding what side effects a person will tolerate and the short comings of meds..

Ive been Med free of psych meds for a year now, Its not been easy, lots of white knucking but......

I went from 14 meds a day down to 5 meds...

One day I am going to need get back on a psych med or 2 and that will be okay...

I always say if giving the chance to be rid of Bipolar or chronic pain ... Id get rid of chronic pain in a heartbeat..

Now if Big Pharma would get there shyt together and start making better meds with less side effects that would be really swell

When I was prescribed Klonopin it was thought to be a wonder drug with no side effects. All you had to do when you wanted to stop taking it was to... stop taking it.

It was a miracle med for me for about 5 years. Decreed anxiety, helped me sleep, dropped derealization. Then I built up a tolerance to it. What has happened is that the Klonopin no longer helps me, but if I try to stop taking it I become extremely sick - mind and (worse) body.

I was prescribed Klonopin over 30 years ago.

I'm taking Tranxene (clorazapate). It's less known drug, but dose varies and you can take up to 60mg per day as pdoc prescribed. Currently I'm taking 15mg, as i built up tolerance for 5 mg. Or maybe because my anxiety is through the roof. Anyways, I won't be long on this med because me and my pdoc agreed to use it, until I find right medication. When my anxiety is less severe, I can easily do cbt techniques to relieve my anxiety. When is severe, however, i rely on medication. And by the way, it's easier to stop taking Tranxene, there are various doses, 5mg, 10mg and as mentioned before, you can take up to 60 mg per day.

I think it is fair to storm the gates and ask for more research to go into finding root causes of mental illness. I find it insane that the best we can do after all these years is tone down symptoms. It is really hard to solve a problem when you don't understand what causes it. In my own way I did storm the gates a bit when I found out how APs work. My doctor and I had several length conversations about the realities of them. Several others have done the same and they get the same 'this is the best we have' at the moment speech I did.

Science continues to focus on the physical. It is much more complicated than that and I feel we will be fumbling in the dark until the pieces come together holistically. We have everything we need to do a better job for patients with mental conditions, but money and profit are driving the value and production chains.

Well there are ways to get off Klonopin but its a long process, Most doctors flip people onto Valium and its a very slow taper, Months and Months... Or you can go IP and do a rapid Detox and they use Phenobarbital, Its very unpleasant. but it will get you off them... But you have to work ahead of time to find coping skills to help when your anxiety is a problem or you have a panic attack...

I think of coming off benzos like I do a crock pot ... Low and slowwwww

Quote:

Originally Posted by fern46 I think it is fair to storm the gates and ask for more research to go into finding root causes of mental illness. I find it insane that the best we can do after all these years is tone down symptoms. It is really hard to solve a problem when you don't understand what causes it. In my own way I did storm the gates a bit when I found out how APs work. My doctor and I had several length conversations about the realities of them. Several others have done the same and they get the same 'this is the best we have' at the moment speech I did. Science continues to focus on the physical. It is much more complicated than that and I feel we will be fumbling in the dark until the pieces come together holistically. We have everything we need to do a better job for patients with mental conditions, but money and profit are driving the value and production chains.

I agree!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by ~Christina Well there are ways to get off Klonopin but its a long process, Most doctors flip people onto Valium and its a very slow taper, Months and Months... Or you can go IP and do a rapid Detox and they use Phenobarbital, Its very unpleasant. but it will get you off them... But you have to work ahead of time to find coping skills to help when your anxiety is a problem or you have a panic attack... I think of coming off benzos like I do a crock pot ... Low and slowwwww

Definitely very long and extremely slow.

The first time I went off in a month. I was so sick that I literally could not get my legs to walk from my bedroom to my car. Of course, I went back on the K-pin and was okay in a day.

The second time I took 2 years to come off. Shaved minuscule bits off of each pill. Physically, I was okay at the end of the 2 years. Mentally, my anxiety was beyond the beyonds. My pdoc at the time re-started the Klonopin.

The only drug known that is harder to come off than heroin is Klonopin - and it's physically more dangerous.

It scares me. But I will try again.

Yeah it is hard for sure.. Ask your Pdoc about switching to Valium.. Most people seem to have better luck