benzos
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: novato, ca
Posts: 181
benzos
I haven't thought a lot about it because valium and xanax seem like such an improvement over alcohol, especially because I only know of people who've taken them with no problems. But, I have to ask, does anyone know if there's more of an issue regarding benzos for alcoholics? I know he takes a lot, more than he could get from a doctor, pain medication as well, codiene I think. I know some doctors will give benzos to alcoholics in rehab and I have no desire for something else to fight about but I was just wondering if the benzos are interfering with AH's sobriety.
If anyone can tell me about medical, psychological and/or neurological issues related to benzos and recovering alcoholics, I'd like to know.
If anyone can tell me about medical, psychological and/or neurological issues related to benzos and recovering alcoholics, I'd like to know.
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Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 126
my XAH is prescribed Clonozapam (a benzo), along with his antidepressant. His doctor gave it to him for his anxiety primarily, but also to help him sleep and he has RLS (restless leg syndrom) so its suppost to relax muscles too...
I also read about Benzos in general.....sometimes used for alcohol withdraw.
Well my AH takes both the Benzo and the anti-depressant, and it doesnt do him any good, b/c he still drinks everyday anyways.....now, he's just anxiety free when he does it! (i guess?)
BUT when he doesnt take it though, it is BAD.....but this may be from the combination of antideps & benzos. I hear benzos are highly addictive and very hard to come off of....but I dont know a ton about it.
Well, I'm sure there is some info online about it-- maybe even in the substance abuse forum here on SR. I actually read a thread there the other day about many people's different expereinces with Benzos, here:
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...ghlight=benzos
Hope this helps a little!
Much love & support to you!
~Stephanie
I also read about Benzos in general.....sometimes used for alcohol withdraw.
Well my AH takes both the Benzo and the anti-depressant, and it doesnt do him any good, b/c he still drinks everyday anyways.....now, he's just anxiety free when he does it! (i guess?)
BUT when he doesnt take it though, it is BAD.....but this may be from the combination of antideps & benzos. I hear benzos are highly addictive and very hard to come off of....but I dont know a ton about it.
Well, I'm sure there is some info online about it-- maybe even in the substance abuse forum here on SR. I actually read a thread there the other day about many people's different expereinces with Benzos, here:
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...ghlight=benzos
Hope this helps a little!
Much love & support to you!
~Stephanie
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: novato, ca
Posts: 181
Thanks for the link.
Wow! Really different opinions from many different people on that link. Obviously, different people are having very different experiences. I still wonder about effects when it comes to alcoholics. Whatever the answer, I know it's his responsibility to deal with it. I just like having all the facts. I know I'm more likely to get voices of experience here than from a doctor.
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Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: OKC
Posts: 44
As an alcoholic, my experience with benzos if you get addicted to them is that they are harder to get off of than alcohol. There are plenty of people on SR who concur.
I was not a daily drinker, but a 1 to 4 times per week binge drinker. I took Xanax on a daily basis for a little over a year. I quit 16 days ago and have been going through some serious Xanax detox symptoms. I am just now starting to feel better physically, though I feel very clear and resolute mentally and emotionally.
People who take benzos for longer or a stronger dose than I have even more problems with the detox and often need medical supervision because they could have seizures, go into a coma, and even die.
Benzos are serious and according to many should not be taken for longer than three to four weeks and only as directed.
I was not a daily drinker, but a 1 to 4 times per week binge drinker. I took Xanax on a daily basis for a little over a year. I quit 16 days ago and have been going through some serious Xanax detox symptoms. I am just now starting to feel better physically, though I feel very clear and resolute mentally and emotionally.
People who take benzos for longer or a stronger dose than I have even more problems with the detox and often need medical supervision because they could have seizures, go into a coma, and even die.
Benzos are serious and according to many should not be taken for longer than three to four weeks and only as directed.
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Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Texas
Posts: 4,469
Hang on . I have been off of benzos for a little over 8 months now. And the detox off of them did nearly kill me. I was in ICU and on a respirator for a week. Now my life is soooo much better. I just wanted yall to know that there is life after benzos.
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Join Date: May 2007
Location: Midwest
Posts: 112
Benzos are super-controversial, esp. for alcoholics. I take a very small amount of klonopin for anxiety, but I'm not an alcoholic. My bf also takes a very small amount for mania as needed and he is a recovering alcoholic. (His pdoc prescribed it, but his sponsor does not approve).
They are given in rehab all the time, esp. at first, for detox. A lot of pdocs won't prescribe them to As after that.
My rule of thumb is the same as with any other potentially addictive medication (adderral, etc.)--take it as prescribed, EXACTLY as prescribed. And if you go over, if you hoard and then binge, if you get it from more than one doctor, then YES, there's a problem.
They are given in rehab all the time, esp. at first, for detox. A lot of pdocs won't prescribe them to As after that.
My rule of thumb is the same as with any other potentially addictive medication (adderral, etc.)--take it as prescribed, EXACTLY as prescribed. And if you go over, if you hoard and then binge, if you get it from more than one doctor, then YES, there's a problem.
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meercat-
Hate to sound so selfish but, which do you think is be worse for the people living around the addict. I've tried doing a bit of internet research. The going off them sounds terrilble but there's not a lot of info on why people go off them to begin with. There seem to be people who take them daily, long term, without escalting use. Others, (like myself) who use them on a very infrequent bases for occassional overwhelming anxiety. Others, (like my AH) who take an awful lot but I'm not sure if we'd be better off if he decided to quit.
Perhaps some differences depend on whether people are using them to deal with occassional issues, daily maitanance or to get high. I had doctors start prescribing valium for me when I was 16. I have unpredictable reactions to drugs and after a little experimentation, I am not comfortable trying anything else, perscribed or otherwise. I've gone years, weeks and months without even thinking about taking anything at all. I guess that's why I hadn't put much thought into AH taking them. I thought it was helping him. But, like his alcohol use, it's only come out over time just how much he's using. I'm still not sure how much really. I know there's valium and xanax and I just discovered the ativan his dotor gives him is another one.
Still, my life was worse when he was drinking himself unconscious every night. His behavior was unquestionably dangerous back the. It made it easy to leave. There wasn't any choice to make. Just pack up the truck and go.
Today, he seems to be doing better. Asks me reasonable questions. I give him reasonable answers. I'm not ready to give him any more than that right now. The boys and I are going away for the weekend. Funny about stress, you'd think this week would've be a time I'd want to take benzos myself but all I've wanted is Excederine for migraines. Have to admit, I like knowing the valium's on the shelf if I need it. Modern medicine isn't completely useless.
Hate to sound so selfish but, which do you think is be worse for the people living around the addict. I've tried doing a bit of internet research. The going off them sounds terrilble but there's not a lot of info on why people go off them to begin with. There seem to be people who take them daily, long term, without escalting use. Others, (like myself) who use them on a very infrequent bases for occassional overwhelming anxiety. Others, (like my AH) who take an awful lot but I'm not sure if we'd be better off if he decided to quit.
Perhaps some differences depend on whether people are using them to deal with occassional issues, daily maitanance or to get high. I had doctors start prescribing valium for me when I was 16. I have unpredictable reactions to drugs and after a little experimentation, I am not comfortable trying anything else, perscribed or otherwise. I've gone years, weeks and months without even thinking about taking anything at all. I guess that's why I hadn't put much thought into AH taking them. I thought it was helping him. But, like his alcohol use, it's only come out over time just how much he's using. I'm still not sure how much really. I know there's valium and xanax and I just discovered the ativan his dotor gives him is another one.
Still, my life was worse when he was drinking himself unconscious every night. His behavior was unquestionably dangerous back the. It made it easy to leave. There wasn't any choice to make. Just pack up the truck and go.
Today, he seems to be doing better. Asks me reasonable questions. I give him reasonable answers. I'm not ready to give him any more than that right now. The boys and I are going away for the weekend. Funny about stress, you'd think this week would've be a time I'd want to take benzos myself but all I've wanted is Excederine for migraines. Have to admit, I like knowing the valium's on the shelf if I need it. Modern medicine isn't completely useless.
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Join Date: Nov 2006
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In my experience with my exah, if someone is addicted to one substance and stops that one but starts something else, it is just a different drug of choice. My ex cycled from pot to alcohol to coke to opiates to benzos to opiates/benzos combined.
And I can tell you that an addict on benzos can be just as nasty as a drunk; maybe some of the more disgusting physical symptoms aren't there, but it is really only a different poison.
Valium, Xanax, and Ativan are just different flavors of the same chemical; if he is using them all there is a problem.
You really can't compare his use to your own because you are not an addict.
As for whether or not it is 'easier' for the persons that live with the addict on benzos vs alcohol, I would vote no on both. I guess it all comes down to what you can live with.
Take care of you and those kids!
And I can tell you that an addict on benzos can be just as nasty as a drunk; maybe some of the more disgusting physical symptoms aren't there, but it is really only a different poison.
Valium, Xanax, and Ativan are just different flavors of the same chemical; if he is using them all there is a problem.
You really can't compare his use to your own because you are not an addict.
As for whether or not it is 'easier' for the persons that live with the addict on benzos vs alcohol, I would vote no on both. I guess it all comes down to what you can live with.
Take care of you and those kids!
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Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Pasadena,Ca
Posts: 147
I am a recovering alcoholic. My doctor wanted to prescribe a benzo for my anxiety until I told her I was a recovering alcoholic. We are in the process of trying different things that are non addictive and don't have the potential for abuse. While I have no intention of jeopardizing my sobriety or abusing my meds, why tempt fate. I am an addict, I always will be, there are some things I just can't take. That's ok.
-K
I have heard that Benzo withdrawals are horrible. Alcohol was bad enough for me.
-K
I have heard that Benzo withdrawals are horrible. Alcohol was bad enough for me.
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Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Murrieta, Ca
Posts: 2,683
Not only do they act on the same area in the brain as alcohol, I seem to remember that your liver processes them in much the same way (gives them priority over anything else). For all intensive purposes, they are solid alcohol.
Most recovering alcoholic stay far away from them, self included. Taking them in those quantities is not sobriety.
Most recovering alcoholic stay far away from them, self included. Taking them in those quantities is not sobriety.
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Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: southern indiana
Posts: 2,145
i'm not an alcoholic, but was prescribed xanax along with a heart medication for stress induced heart arrythmia during the time i was living with an alcoholic.
it leveled out everything very nicely, along with removing the alcoholic from my life. but then menapause hit. anxiety attacks like crazy. i was on low dosage of xanax, and they switched me to klonipin. i had no weird things happen when i quit taking the xanax and i had been on them for two years. i quit taking them on my own, because my heart arrythmia was under control. i just had to take my heart meds.
so then i started the klonapin about 6 months later. i take it exactly as prescribed, and if i wasn't taking it, going through menapause and all, i would be ramming carts into peoples arses in wal-mart for standing in the aisle yakkety-yaking......i became very short tempered during this time.
they make me much nicer.
i reckon it all just depends on the reason one is taking them, if they abuse them, and if they have an inclincation to be addictive to alcohol or other drugs.
just my experience. i have never felt mean taking them, or strange acting....they just make me able to cope with irritations that accompany menapause.
it leveled out everything very nicely, along with removing the alcoholic from my life. but then menapause hit. anxiety attacks like crazy. i was on low dosage of xanax, and they switched me to klonipin. i had no weird things happen when i quit taking the xanax and i had been on them for two years. i quit taking them on my own, because my heart arrythmia was under control. i just had to take my heart meds.
so then i started the klonapin about 6 months later. i take it exactly as prescribed, and if i wasn't taking it, going through menapause and all, i would be ramming carts into peoples arses in wal-mart for standing in the aisle yakkety-yaking......i became very short tempered during this time.
they make me much nicer.
i reckon it all just depends on the reason one is taking them, if they abuse them, and if they have an inclincation to be addictive to alcohol or other drugs.
just my experience. i have never felt mean taking them, or strange acting....they just make me able to cope with irritations that accompany menapause.
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