Posted on 10/04/2017 1:38:26 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Since the guy apparently got one prescription a year I would say that was probably what it was for.
Benzos are a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation if one truly needs them.
I suffer from severe panic disorder and have frequent anxiety and panic attacks. So severe that, simply taking medication that most people would have no problems with, will send me into a panic attack.
A couple of years ago, I was prescribed Xanax. I was prescribed .25, which is the smallest dose. After a while, I needed more pills because my tolerance was growing. I was ignorant of benzos and tolerance.
One month, I ran out of my supply early. I thought that I could make it through the next several days cold turkey. WRONG.
About a week later, I was lying in my bed one night shaking and crying. I started hearing voices and hallucinating. I even thought that I was seeing demons in my room. I was so hysterical and desperate for it to stop that I had thoughts of getting the gun in the next room and ending my misery. I seriously thought I was going insane.
Luckily, I have a relative who also takes Xanax and she gave me enough pills to last until my refill.
Not long after that ordeal, my Dr. upped my dose to 0.5 twice a day. So far, everything has been fine.
I have to take at least one Xanax daily or my body will become “shaky”. I know that I am addicted to them but I need them because of my panic disorder.
I agree, Rebound and withdrawals are hell on earth. I would compare them to the Serotonin Syndrome that I suffered a couple of years ago. Serotonin Syndrome is also an experience that I wouldn’t wish on anyone.
Getting back to the original topic: I agree, the Valium wouldn’t have caused him to become violent. On the contrary, Benzos sedate you and make you lethargic. I often take a Xanax at night, so I can sleep.
FALSE LEAD: not only do I take 20 mg of Valium daily for Fibromyalgia and Peripheral Neuropathy and more when a Meniere’s attack hits for going on 10 yrs, I own guns and am a CCW Permit holder. And the mother of a murdered child. FENCE POST was the weapon.
Just another attack by the FAKE NEWS on A FAKE OPIOID CRISIS!
NEVER GET HIGH just clears the mind of the Fibro Fog and makes your muscles less stiff. It is more a seizure muscle relaxer med today than it was a anxiety drug. Nor do you crave it.
It takes surprisingly little Xanax to trigger that dependency.
When I went through my ordeal with Xanax, I was a drug addict. I abused the crap out of Xanax and a number of other drugs. But Xanax is the one that got me real damn good.
I was doing 4-6 mg a day, every day, for a year+. And then I ran out. BOOM! I really do not know how I survived. God still wants me here for something.
My friend in New Olreans who I started doing this with has been doing 4-6 mg a day for around 15 years now. He cannot quit. It’s going to take him out. Learned the hard way what it means to be a total slave to a chemical. Before you get your oxygen for the day, you had best have your Xanax, or you will be in Hell. That is a terrible existence. I wouldn’t even wish it on Lindsey graham and John McCain. Maybe.
Wow. If I took that much Xanax, I would be in a coma. I have heart issues, so I would be terrified to take an excessive amount.
I have flirted with drug issues myself. Mostly with pain meds and alcohol but, luckily, didn’t fall into full-blown addiction. Of course, since being prescribed Xanax, I drink very little alcohol because of the Central Nervous System depression danger. Also, I’ve found that alcohol can trigger my anxiety.
You are VERY lucky to be alive after being that seriously addicted and going cold turkey. God was definitely on your side. Proud that you kicked your addictions. I honestly don’t know how you tolerated it.
Sorry to hear about your friend. I agree, he is in serious trouble. I will keep him in my thoughts and prayers. Even if he agreed to enter rehab, it would not be pretty and he might not survive.
What is so insidious about Xanax is the ridiculously short half-life. That is what gets people hooked so quickly.
I have experimented with Klonopin, to see how it would help my panic disorder. It was great for normal, everyday anxiety because of the longer half-life. But, I found out that they are not as good as Xanax for full blown panic attacks because they take much longer to work. Unfortunately, for the attacks that I suffer, Xanax is the best option.
Congrats on being clean and I am rooting for a miracle for your friend.
Yes, it pretty much made me comatose. Though fairly quickly you build up a tolerance to it even at that high of a dosage, and you really don’t even feel anything.
But then it starts having unusual effects on you, like make you stutter while speaking when you never stuttered before, absolute blank spots in memory, forgetting what you are saying while in the midst of saying it. For my friend, whose name is Rocky, his addiction is so severe that he experiences withdrawal symptoms while he is on the drug, it basically stops working shortly after taking it and fails to keep his CNS depressed, so it becomes harder and harder to avoid CNS rebound.
The only reason I survived that period of my life is because Jesus gave me the Strength to do so when I asked Him. That’s it. I should be dead, be He has some other purpose for me.
I also came down with serious health problems after my bout with drug addiction. I became diabetic and suffered two heart attacks. The first heart attack caused me to have panic attacks, basically sudden uncontrollable fear of imminent death. Legit, powerful panic attacks. They are real.
My doctor prescribed me valium, but I did not want to take them considering my past with such drugs.
The way I found to control the panic attacks was simply to exercise every day. Getting control over my body and improving my physical shape substantially eventually convinced my mind that I was not about to drop dead.
And even when I had my second heart attack last year, which almost killed me and was caused by a blood clot blocking my stent from the first heart attack, the panic attacks did not return. I thought they would, but they did not.
Confidence defeats panic, and love creates happiness, which defeats sadness.
That is how I live now. No more drugs.
Sorry to hear about your heart attacks. Hope you are doing better.
I have congenital heart issues, although I haven’t suffered any heart attacks ( Although I have come close to one when I was in my twenties). I did have heart surgery when I was Thirty years old.
I can understand why you lived in fear after your first heart attack. When I was eight years old, my father died in his sleep from a massive heart attack. He was 48 when he died. My cousin, from my dad’s side of the family, died in his sleep around the same age as my dad. Many of my paternal relatives have died the same way.
I will be 47 in December & I wonder if, subconsciously, I have that on my mind because, most nights, I need a Xanax to sleep. I used to not have any problems sleeping, but lately I develop major anxiety at night, especially at bedtime.
I can understand about the stuttering and memory loss. Even though I take a much smaller dose of Xanax than you did, I catch myself stuttering and my memory is absolutely terrible. Like you, I’ll forget what I’m saying in the middle of a sentence.
I have a good clue about why I ended up with such crippling anxiety and panic attacks but I don’t want to say, since we aren’t corresponding privately. I’ll just say “childhood trauma” and leave it at that.
People who have never suffered panic attacks have no idea how insidious and hellish they can be.
I hope your health is improving and, as I stated before, will pray for you and Rocky.
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