Posted by HIBA on December 16, 2002, at 8:03:21
In reply to Re: Benzo Monotherapy or Antidepressants ?, posted by utopizen on December 15, 2002, at 9:27:53
Hello Utopizen,
ABRUPT discontinuation of any benzo after long-term use may cause troubles and sometimes lead a way to detox centers. You are right.But the discontinuation of paxil or effexor will often lead patients not to detox centers but to psychiatric clinics. That is why my trial to discontinue prozac ended up in psychiatric admission. (Remember prozac is the easiest in this class to withdraw.
The side effect prfiles of benzos are totally benign in most cases and if there is any they soon disappear after continuous use. But the story is never the same with antidepressants. Apart from a few, most of their downsides continue their dominance as long as a person taking them, and the worst of all, even after the discontinuance, some side effects persist and last unusually long if not for a lifetime. Problems with benzos only arise when one tries to discontinue them abruptly, but the evils of antidepressants start revealing during the use to persist there for a long time. Unusually long even after the discontinuance.
This is not to defame antidepressants and to underestimate their potential in treating major hellish depression. But antidepressants are hard drugs and should be reserved in cases of severe depression. An antidepressant should never used in treating anxiety disorders, because there are much safer benzos available for that purpose.
poster:HIBA
thread:131769
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021210/msgs/131975.html