The trending of benzo posts
I just wanted to see if others here see the same pattern I do.
People post that they are mixing benzos and booze, or that they beat booze and are now trying to tackle the benzo beast.
And this is what happens: they post that the anxiety they had from alcohol withdrawal is roaring off the charts when they stop benzos. They say they have the shakes, that they haven't slept for three days, that their heart is pounding like a rabbit's, that they are having auditory hallucinations.
And then they disappear.
And a few weeks later -- heck, sometimes it's a month -- they tell the same story: They ended up gong into full-blown psychosis, they had a series of seizures, they woke up surrounded by cop cars. Sometimes they don't come back at all.
I don't see opiate eaters, crack heads, smack jacks or coke pokes complaining about that kind of crap.
Alcohol withdrawal can kill you. Benzo withdrawal makes you want to kill yourself. I hereby nominate benzos as the worst drug to detox from known to humans. Booze? It takes a week to 10 days to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Opiates? a couple of weeks. Crack or meth? A month? I don't know.
Benzos? The crap hits the fan a couple of weeks after cessation, and deteriorates from there. It's when the drug has clearly detoxed from your body that the withdrawal begins, and then it takes months, and in some cases a year or more, for the brain and body to begin functioning somewhere near normal.
Wicked stuff. Yo, doctor, feeling anxious here, could I get some Valium or Klonopin or Xanax for a few months? I'm kicking the booze here, and ain't feeling so hot? Sure, son...just take it as prescribed, no problems. And good job on the booze.
Benzos for alcohol detox? It's the best way to go, the only sure-fire means to prevent seizures that I know of. FOR A WEEK, that is. But prescribing benzos for any period longer than a week or two is setting people up for a hellish time. I just don't get it.
And rehab facilities don't get it, either. Benzos are not a drug to cold turkey from. They must be tapered slowly over a long period of time to avoid protracted withdrawal symptoms. And that raises the real problem: How do you get an addict to wean themselves from a drug -- which is a very trying, difficult process -- when just a little bit more will ease the pain?
Can I get an Amen?