Posted by Glydin on April 30, 2006, at 9:50:31
In reply to Re: Benzo tolerance withdrawal or not? And what to do?, posted by Tiina on April 30, 2006, at 3:22:52
In three years of using only a benzo, I had no tolerance. I did titrate my dosing according to status and had a dose range I maintained without any problem.
Dependence is different from addiction.
Signs of addiction are:1) Psychosocial disruption - quality of life is lessened by your use.
2)Tolerance - doses keeps increasing and increasing over a fairly short period of time and goes beyond what is normally considered therapeudic
3) Drug seeking behavior - doctor hopping and ER visits to obtain more than prescribed or going "street retail" to get med
4) Inapproiate use - seeking to obtain a "high" or euphoria as opposed to treating an anxiety disorder
Dependence can happen when an agent is used to treat a disorder and withdrawal symptoms or discontinuation symptoms can occur but the presence of withdrawal symptoms does not necessarrily mean one is addicted. There are physical and psychological dependence issues with benzo's.
I think this is a time you should speak with your doc and between the two of you figure out what is really going on - addiction versus dependence - and how to proceed.
Benzo's have a good use. Not everyone falls into a horror with them but some folks do.
poster:Glydin
thread:638315
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060429/msgs/638367.html