Posted by Elizabeth on June 8, 2001, at 15:37:36
In reply to Re: Happen to be lurking around, Cam? » grapebubblegum, posted by Cam W. on June 8, 2001, at 9:22:03
> I guess it comes down to whether one can tell if a person that one is writing that prescription for will use it for anxiety, or if that person will begin to abuse the drug. I know that I cannot tell the diffrence beforehand.
Hi Cam. I like your post, very thoughtful (as always) even though I don't agree 100%.
You never know for sure, but there are clues. Doctors tend to want to err on the side of caution. Personally I think that the risk that a patient will abuse the meds is outweighed by the risk that the patient will get inadequate treatment.
> This is probably one reason why SSRIs are preferred over benzos. Also, SSRIs are safer in overdose, especially in polydrug overdoses; I believe SSRIs attack the "biochemical cause" of the anxiety more directly; and SSRI prescriptions are not monitored as closely as benzo prescriptions.
This is a good point. Benzos are pretty safe in overdose by themselves, but when you add alcohol or other CNS depressants to the picture, all bets are off. (On the other hand, polydrug overdoses involving SSRIs can induce the serotonin syndrome, which is very hard to treat.)
I don't agree with the "biological cause" hypothesis (especially since there are so many varieties of anxiety), but many doctors do and that is one reason that they can be stingy about benzos.
-elizabeth
poster:Elizabeth
thread:65576
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010605/msgs/65802.html