Benzodiazepines - Good or bad?

What's your opinion of benzodiazepines as a medication?

  • Great!

    Votes: 1 7.1%
  • OK

    Votes: 8 57.1%
  • Not good

    Votes: 2 14.3%
  • Horrible

    Votes: 3 21.4%

  • Total voters
    14

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daz

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To all 'yall who have tried taking benzodiazepines, what's your overall experience?

Some people seem to have horrible side-effects or withdrawals from them, others seem to do just fine taking small doses now and then.

Please explain below!!
 
Hey Daz,

I would say it's ok, i take Ativan as an emergency pill, when i feel a seizure coming on. I don't take it on a regular basis, thank God. I knew a girlfriend who took Benzo and got very addicted, to the point where she needed medical help to help her break her addiction. And the only reason she started was for anxiety problems.

It's not meant to be taken long term, here is an insert from Wikieopidea, which says a lot.

"In general, benzodiazepines are safe and effective in the short term, although cognitive impairments and paradoxical effects such as aggression or behavioral disinhibition occasionally occur. A minority react reverse and contrary to what would normally be expected. For example, a state of panic may worsen considerably following intake of a benzodiazepine.[5] Long-term use is controversial due to concerns about adverse psychological and physical effects, increased questioning of effectiveness, and, because benzodiazepines are prone to cause tolerance, physical dependence, and, upon cessation of use after long-term use, a withdrawal syndrome."

Zolt


:piano: :pop:
 
Agree with Zolt--I use them them to interrupt a series of seizures only, but not long-term use. Not only are they addictive but they lose effectiveness over time.
 
They work with me up to a point but I can't handle the side effects.

They make me suicidal:twocents::e:
 
My husband works in a treatment center & was addicted to Xanax at one point. He says they are very dangerous. I take a very low dose of Xanax for panic attacks/anxiety. They can actually cause seizures if you take them regularly & try to come off it. I worry about it lately because I just had my 2nd seizure & stress is a trigger, so I've been taking it more regularly. My doctor says I need to take it right now until we figure out what's causing my seizures.
 
I only take as needed, lowest dose, average once a week.
 
Ok only for emergency in my case.but can become addicting very easy. The only thing I take if I feel seizures coming. Used to feel seizures come then just have to deal with it. but I have grandmal seizures that make me chew tongue. So I like benzos for that reason only
 
OK

I have a tiny dose of clonazepam dissolvable for rescue and it seems to work well. If I'm having weird feelings and am concerned, they take them away. I also took two while waiting to have a tooth pulled. (I took one and then got extra worried and took another. When I started to drive home I realized I was too stoned for a 30 minute drive so slept it off at a friend's house!) I'd had a bad experience having something intense done the time before so....
I wouldn't use them regularly.
 
So...after a talk with my neurologist about trying to find an anti-depressant that wouldn't increase risk of seizure, he sent an rx for clonazepam 1 mg to take 0.5 as needed. I wrote to him asking what he means by "as needed." I definitely take it if I haven't slept well the night before. The first couple of times I took it I felt fantastic - it really lessened the anxiety. But, otherwise, how do I know if it's "needed." As a prescriber I am v e r y cautious about prescribing the benzos. I wrote a prescription for them today for someone and it takes it out of me to do so. I told him no refills. The last thing I want to do is get dependent on them or, even worse, get someone else dependent.
 
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