Posted by glenn on March 5, 2004, at 8:28:49
In reply to Re: BENZO.ORG » Viridis, posted by NotAddicted on March 5, 2004, at 7:51:45
As someone for whom Xanax was the first ever med that did anything for me after 21 others I have to admit to having great regard for it.
No other class of medication seems however to cause such splitting ( that is the psychotherapeutic sense of seeing things as either all good or bad)
I admit that after Dr Jensen took some xanax out of his desk and said " I think this will sort you out!" I actually carried one in my pocket for a year before daring to take one, thank god I did , it was the beginning of a slow but sure recovery and I now only take it occasionally and at ever lower doses it seems.
As far as benzo.org goes Heather Ashton worked primarily with those who do experience problems so clearly the site is dominated by those considerations, but even she freely admits that 50% of those who take benzos long term can stop dead with no problems, I myself know 2 people who seem to be able to do this.
So why the difference !!!
That said tolerance seems to be similar, benzos have many effects ie sedation, anxiolysis, anti panic, muscle relaxation ect, some people appear to develop rapid tolerance ( Dr Shipko calls them fast metabolisers) others none at all and others initially but then stabilise.
Again why !!!
I do feel that initially drug companies and doctors used these medications far too often in far too high doses and gave people no guidelines whatsoever about tapering - after all they weren't addictive were they! ( well probably not for 50%, but that doesn't help the other 50% does it!)
Even with that taken care of however there would probably be a few who would experience problems. name me a drug that doesn't give someone hell.
Sadly as there is little money to be made from them and the medical professions guilt is projected onto the medications thus making them the " evil ones" it seems that little sense will ever prevail and the human tendency to split will continue. ( oh I do love to use my psychotherapy training sometimes, it's just a pity it never helped me when I was at my worst!!)
How sad !Glenn
poster:glenn
thread:319551
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040304/msgs/320559.html