Posted by metric on April 17, 2009, at 15:38:30
In reply to Re: how to get rivotril off label on the NHS » magnox, posted by sowhysosad on April 16, 2009, at 19:57:02
> But in terms of getting a benzo (particularly an off-label one) prescribed long-term for anxiety, it'll almost certainly be a non-starter. The NHS is VERY paranoid about the risk of dependency from benzos.
I've never understood why such a fuss is made over benzodiazepine dependency. Almost any drug is capable of inducing some form of physical dependency if taken for long enough; benzos are hardly unique in that respect.
Withdrawal can be completely avoided by either remaining on the drug or tapering slowly. There won't be any withdrawal if the taper is done slowly enough.
Also, benzodiazepines are the only anxiolytics that are prescribed. SSRIs are not useful as anxiolytics, not least because they increase anxiety (not exactly characteristic of an anxiolytic), but because they have so many other side-effects. Benzodiazepines are the safest drugs used in psychiatry, if not all of medicine.
poster:metric
thread:891097
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090416/msgs/891247.html