Don't want to hijack the Trump-Biden thread, but I saw this from you:
I’m glad I finally got off benzos last year, because trying to quit this year would be impossible.
Since most of this forum is addicted to something, please give us a trip report on the journey. Had to have been rough, you mentioned the last time it damn near killed you getting clean.
Not that much of a story. I weaned down really slowly. I had never intended to go off until a few years ago when I just felt like they had kind of robbed me of my ambition or something. Could be just age, but was the impetus.
Got down to a little under .5 mg a day. Imprecise where I was under that as I had 1mg pills I’d cut, then cut a corner off from there. Got 14 day script of barbiturates for last push. Needed it extended for another week. Finally was off. Sleep still disturbed, but more like a normal person.
I was the up until 4Am guy and sleep until noon. Now I’m more sleep midnight to 530 Am guy. Would prefer it to be 7. If you looked at timestamps on my posts here I was often still up with druff. Now I’m waking up when he’s still doing radio for another two hours.
I haven’t returned to normal, but it was 20 years, so hopefully I will. It’s fortunate it’s not like other drugs where you can convince yourself to do them again and that you’ll step away. Benzodiazepines are a different beast, for me at least. Completely physically dependent fast. Strange as I could drink a hundred days in a row and then not for a year and never think about it. You’d think they’d be similar, as they are for most, but not for me. Benzos grabbed me.
Having experience with benzos for the last 2 years, I can safely say that your potential to be addicted to them is largely hereditary.
If you have the natural tendency to find appeal in frequent drinking or recreational drug use, then you're ripe for being a quick addict to benzos. If you are like me, and find no appeal in drinking or recreational drug use, benzos are unlikely to pull you in, unless you abuse them out of desperation to bring down anxiety.
I was terrified of the benzo stories. That was the one mistake I made with my self-treatment plan in 2018. Everything else I'm very proud of. I mostly escaped a horrendous and severe anxiety/depression combo, without any long term medication. But I could have beaten it even quicker, had I not feared the Xanax. The horror stories pushed me away from even wanting to try.
It was only when I was encouraged to try it by both my brother and a psychiatrist I started visiting, that I decided to give it a shot. Both insisted that my longtime resistance to recreational drinking and drugs, and my responsible use in the past of Vicodin (even when in constant pain for a month) were highly indicative that I wouldn't have a problem with benzos. I was told that it was likely I would naturally moderate myself with them.
That's exactly what happened. I was able to responsibly use the minimum necessary, and those benzos were incredibly helpful in training my mind to remember "normal". Between the once-every-5-days low dose Xanax, the return of caffeine when I wasn't on the Xanax, and the dry mouth rinse for my LPR, the depression rapidly vanished 100%, and the anxiety quickly fell by 75%, and then another 15% came off over time.
I just used 0.75mg Xanax a week ago for the root canal, yet I had zero desire to pop one again. And I haven't. Before that, I hadn't used it in months.
I realize that everyone isn't me, and I feel for guys like BCR who are more naturally drawn to them. Everyone has their natural strengths and weaknesses. I was lucky to be born with a natural lack of desire for stuff like this. The addiction stories I've heard are absolutely awful.
Yeah, I’m not anti-benzo. It was the only thing that that got me through when I was sick and they are the only thing that work quickly in certain situations.
I never spent a dollar more than a copay. I never ran out early. I usually had extras. I always took as directed. None of the shit you associate with addiction, except I was horribly physically addicted in the sense I needed them. Other things in life caused ramifications. Drugs, a dui young. I didn’t seek out benzos. They aren’t really my thing. I prefer uppers if I’m going to seek out something. Like I’m the guy who liked doing cocaine and working 15 hours in my 20s. Mental gymnastics where you say look how productive I am.
They just grabbed me physically and I never really had a problem until the past few years. Just felt unproductive. That’s about it. The biggest annoyance was I have a small pain script. I’m talking 7.5mg a day total. Insurance companies freak out at that combo as it’s the combo that kills everyone. So that means monthly visits, monthly urine screens even though I never flunked one in a decade, and once I started to feel unproductive, I just said let’s try life without them.
That said, it hasn’t improved my life as to yet. I’m not anxious, but I feel not sharp mentally still. Like I lost 15 points IQ. I’m sure I’ll adjust, I think it’s that I sleep 4-5 hours most nights, but it hasn’t really improved anything. I just assume it will eventually adjust.
Anxiety is the worst when getting rid of an addiction. Same with sleep. When I quit Vodka after nearly 20 years of abusing it, the self imposed anxiety was extreme. Nights were the worst, my mind would race, guilt would set in about my behavior when I was drunk, mostly centered around missed opportunities, gambling losses, etc.. I would add up at 3am in bed the $ impact my drinking cost me, well over a million dollars. That leads to temporary depression, but it goes away. You just come to grips you can't hit the rewind button.
Sleep on the other hand was a problem. I would go to bed at 11pm, and finally fall asleep at 3am, and wake up at 7am. Ironically I never felt tired during the day and the insomnia lasted for several months. I still dabble in wine, but I can only drink two glasses a night if that, right before bed. It helps get the edge off. A couple weeks ago I did slip and bought a bottle of Grey Goose, I had two drinks and poured the rest out as anxiety began setting in again. I literally began obsessing about the impact to my liver even though my tests have come back neutral for years. Literally when I poured my second drink I saw a special on James Gandolfini who died from heart disease largely because of alcohol and drug abuse and I began hyperventilating.
Yeah, addiction sucks huge. I will say this, I did attend AA meetings, and I can say they are fucking ridiculous. People muse about the Trump cult, let me tell you if you want to see a real cult, go to an AA meeting. I had a sponsor for like two weeks, and the fucking guy asked me for a loan and I bailed on the group, LOL.
Originally Posted by Dan Druff
If you didn’t eat like shit, and got daily exercise, you most likely would have not gone through lpr etc.......
Trying to get you to wake up for Ben’s sake.
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.
Ronald Reagan
Few posters here might have been spending some time into prodding you in the right direction at the time as well.
Now I have to google benzos.
Assume it’s some sort of anti anxiety drug....my daughter started taking some anti depression stuff last week...
This thread makes me want to flush them down the toilet and put her on a healthy juice cleanse...thanks split this...you weirdo.
Don’t worry no one really abusing anti depressants. She’s more likely to abuse cold medication honestly. Most medications that take awhile to build up in your system aren’t the preferred ones for abuse. Fast acting meds for sleep, pain, adhd stimulants, or anxiety (like benzodiazepines) are the ones that get abused. Also to be clear not all anti anxiety meds can be abused.
I'll give you credit for that one.Few posters here might have been spending some time into prodding you in the right direction at the time as well.
You also correctly stated that there will probably be some permanent damage and that I'll never be 100% back, but I can get close. That's exactly what happened.
Do you have formal training in this subject?
No. I'm just decent at gathering information on any subject that interests me.I'll give you credit for that one.
You also correctly stated that there will probably be some permanent damage and that I'll never be 100% back, but I can get close. That's exactly what happened.
Do you have formal training in this subject?
My mother worked with youth with substance abuse issues and other mental health problems.
Mostly trained psychiatrists aren't allowed to give any opinions/advice outside their practice.
I think most SSRIs are almost impossible to abuse. Same is fairly true with SNRIs. SNDRIs not so much. Most common of those is Wellbutrin/Bupropion. It has mild abuse potential. Namely because it's cheap, easy to get and wasn't really controlled in prison settings.Don’t worry no one really abusing anti depressants. She’s more likely to abuse cold medication honestly. Most medications that take awhile to build up in your system aren’t the preferred ones for abuse. Fast acting meds for sleep, pain, adhd stimulants, or anxiety (like benzodiazepines) are the ones that get abused. Also to be clear not all anti anxiety meds can be abused.
Make sure she eats healthy food and has at least 22 mins cardio daily, she needs natural endorphins and clean food, not meds that mask a problem and add additional ones. Join something with her.
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.
Ronald Reagan
Standard antidepressants cause sugar cravings and weight gain, this country is so fucked up on meds it’s unreal.
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.
Ronald Reagan
Not only that, but young people can have a paradoxical reaction with higher incidence of suicide.
It’s insane.
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.
Ronald Reagan
not unusual, especially if one thinks about one's life while laying in bed.
did you try keeping your mind distracted from your concerns?
try listening to something to distract; here at PFA there are plenty of dull podcasts available that will bore you to sleep
(long before there was a PFA i had my Grenade & Crossbones avatar at DD)
I think most SSRIs are almost impossible to abuse. Same is fairly true with SNRIs. SNDRIs not so much. Most common of those is Wellbutrin/Bupropion. It has mild abuse potential. Namely because it's cheap, easy to get and wasn't really controlled in prison settings.
bupe got a good friend off a heroin habit she had been unable to kick for her entire adult life.
like within a couple of days of starting bupe, she knew her whole life had changed.
it was fucking intense to see.
"Birds born in a cage think flying is an illness." - Alejandro Jodorowsky
"America is not so much a nightmare as a non-dream. The American non-dream is precisely a move to wipe the dream out of existence. The dream is a spontaneous happening and therefore dangerous to a control system set up by the non-dreamers." -- William S. Burroughs
Like BCB said don't worry about it. Benefits have good chance to trump all possible side-effects. Doesn't mean the first drug is the best one in the long run, but it's the starting point where her doctor can work from.
Biggest risk with SSRI's is serotonin syndrome. Most common with interaction with MDMA (ecstacy). Just a thing to know and let your daughter know no matter how much you would have her just say no.
Depending on her age she might very well prescribed Bupropion over some other drugs at some point in her life. It's dodges some side-effects that are common with SSRIs especially with women.
Buprobion is only iffy because it's a very mild stimulant. Junkies used it in prison because it was easy script to get. And outside of prison at times of droughts it's sometimes used intravenously. The issue is that most ER pills had additives that fucked up your veins.
But anyways to not scare you too much just look up...
https://www.erowid.org/
...put what ever drug she was prescribed in the search bar to get a better view.
It's not a bad drug at all. Bupropion works for alcohol. It doesn't do anything to the first 2 drinks phase, but it keeps you there no matter how much you drink. Same thing that most stimulants do, but it does barely anything else when you just eat a pill or two.
bupe got a good friend off a heroin habit she had been unable to kick for her entire adult life.
like within a couple of days of starting bupe, she knew her whole life had changed.
it was fucking intense to see.
Caveat is that you could basically drink enough to kill yourself without noticing. Just drink way less than a handle of vodka.
Likely though it was Buprenorphine. Different thing. In EU it was sold with the brand name Subutex.
bupe got a good friend off a heroin habit she had been unable to kick for her entire adult life.
like within a couple of days of starting bupe, she knew her whole life had changed.
it was fucking intense to see.
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