Posted by ed_uk on January 4, 2005, at 16:24:34
In reply to Will barbiturates ever have a comeback?, posted by mmcconathy on January 4, 2005, at 12:42:15
Hi Matt,
I don't think that the barbiturates will ever make a big comeback. There are several reasons for this.........
1) Barbs are considerably more dangerous in overdose than benzos.
2) Although both barbs and benzos have been studied in insomnia, barbs haven't been studied as much as the benzos for the treatment of anxiety.
3) Barbs were aggressively 'bashed' when the benzos came on to the market. In the UK, the benzos were almost as aggressively 'bashed' when the SSRIs (such as Paxil) were approved for anxiety.
4) Barbs produce more drug interactions than the benzos.
5) Barb withdrawal seems to be more likely than benzo withdrawal to be associated with seizures.
6) Barbs may have a higher abuse potential than the benzos.
Overall, there are several important differences between the benzos and the barbs- some, but not all, of these differences seem to have been overexaggerated.
Ed.
poster:ed_uk
thread:437651
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050103/msgs/437736.html