Posted by Chairman_MAO on October 11, 2011, at 12:07:08
In reply to Re: what meds are just as effective as benzo's » Chairman_MAO, posted by Phillipa on October 10, 2011, at 18:27:24
"Stronger" is too broad a term to use. Benzodiazepines are probably equally or _more_ effective for anxiety than meprobamate. To put it simply, benzodiazepines potentiate the action of GABA (and Cl- opening), while meprobamate and the barbiturates will open the
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloride_channel
without GABA. This makes benzodiazepines extremely safe drugs with regard to overdose; generally healthy people will not die even if they ingest many hundreds of times (or more) of the therapeutic dose of a benzodiazepine--it takes another respiratory depressant administered along with the benzo to be fatal.
In the real world, though, the withdrawal syndrome after high-dose benzodiazepine use can be more protracted and ultimately more debilitating than even that of the barbiturates, meprobamate, etc. because of long-term changes that happen after chronic administration of the drugs.
Withdrawal from any a high enough dose of any of these drugs can be fatal.
poster:Chairman_MAO
thread:999108
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20111006/msgs/999453.html