Kerri, You're right he does have a right to talk about this. I just didn't like the statement he made about how Xanax helps him deal with the world. Some people might take that the wrong way. Like I posted above that would be like me posting oxys helped me deal with the world. Shantel
I know what you mean Shantel...however he is RX'd it for a "panic disorder" he lives with one. I know some people that this medicine has given them a shot at living again. I am NOT endorsing it at all. I am just saying. It is a dangerous dangerous drug. As are most. He dosen't abuse it...like we did oxy's.
Maybe he should speak for himself anyway. I was merely pointing out that alot of people take it to live.
When he said that, I believe he meant it literally.
Maybe he should speak for himself anyway. I was merely pointing out that alot of people take it to live.
When he said that, I believe he meant it literally.
Kee- He said he was prescribed it for mild anxiety. Speaking from the experience of a 7 year addiction, that is like prescribing morphine for a headache.
It is most typically prescribed for severe anxiety disorder (by severe, I mean disabling) or when starting SSRI's as they can cause profound anxiety when first initiated.
I also never abused it, never increased my dose nor took more than prescribed. I never thought of it as a DOC (because it honestly wasn't). I felt very normal. I was able to deal with customers easier. I opened up to people. I never once freaked when I was getting low. I never counted a single pill.
Sound familiar?
I never knew I was addicted to it. Until I stopped taking it. I would of laughed in your face if you said I was.
Xanax (and this is a warning from the manufacturer) should never be prescribed if the individual has a history of drug or alcohol abuse/dependence. Never. Period.
The decision to use Xanax for panic attacks this so severe must be carefully made by a specialized psychiatrist, taking into account the individual's suffering, quality of life, loss of social performance and risk of dependence.
I know this is a PP board. No one is here is talking about benzo's alone, but rather used in conjunction and or immediately after stopping opiate use and therefore it figures prominately into this forum.
No, this is not a meeting. However, the name of this board is Addiciton Recovery Guide and I dont see a lot of addiction recovery guiding going on regarding this subject.
Xanax was not developed to mitigate anxiety or panic induced by opiate withdrawal. It was developed to treat profound or severe mental illnesses. If someone needs occasional relief from anxiety (such as the death of a loved one or public speaking or sudden job loss), there are numerous benzodiazepines on the market of a much lower strength and longer half life and even those should not be taken for longer than a couple of weeks. And even those are supposed to be used as a last resort.
I see people here recommending the usage. One person mentioned they had just quit opiates and had some tremors. Another quickly advised seeing a psychyatrist because they were on Xanax and it might help. Wrong. The tremors are part of the detox process. Unfortnately.
Do you understand the CDC has listed drug interactions as the second leading cause of accidental death in the United States? That is after automobile accidents. Over 11,000 people a year die from it. A couple of Hollywood personalities this year alone have.
We Anyone on this board recommend a pain pill addict take a buch of tylenol? No.
Xanax is not like Sub, to be used as a tool in ending addiciton. While sub may have addicitve properties, it is nothing like Xanax. Xanax not only is addicting, it also decreases a persons ability to make rational decisions.
I quit Xanax for a reason. When I became ill, and life and death decisions needed to be made, I wasn't making the greatest decisions in the world. In fact, they were pretty lousy. In fact, they were downright irrational. And that was because I really didn't have a whole heck of a lot of concern. I wasn't concerned because I was taking a drug specifically designed to alleviate anxiety. It's kind of hard to wrry when you don't have too many cares in the world.
And I wasn't even taking a large dose.
Some people think they can't become addicited to Xanax (or other strong benzo's like Ativan) because they took them before and didn't become addicted.
I'm not buying it and they shouldn't be selling it.
The half life of Xanax or Ativan is short. Extremely short. We are talking about less than 1/2 a day. If you take it occasionally, say every 3rd day or so, and over a short span of time, it would be rather difficult to become addicted (which is different than the dangers of drug interactions entirely). It takes normal usage, over a period of 3 weeks or more to become addicted to Xanax.
Withdrawal from Xanax is quite different than an opiate. I know because I withdrew (?) from both. Not even remotely alike. Oh, yes..you get all the same stuff opiate withdrawal causes. That horrible feeling. But that wasn't the worse part. In fact, compared to the rest, that was the easy part.
A lot of people here take sub because they can't handle the withdrawal from opiates. Thats fine. Now take that feeling of withdrawal and add:
Sensory hypersensitivity, depersonalisation, derealisation, Hallucinations, illusions and perceptual distortions.
I'll try to explain what these are and they may seem somewhat abstract. These are not experienced in opiate withdrawal:
Sensory hypersensetivity. Well, kind of hard to explain. When someone asked me what it was like, the best way I could describe it was imagine being blind and deaf from birth. Like Helen Keller I suppose. And then, one day, all of a sudden, you could see and hear. You might jump for joy thinking about it. No you wouldnt if it happened. The sudden rush of colors, lights, sounds, taste, touch, everything, is overwhelming to the point where you can not function. You taste colors and see sounds. You can literally hear conversations in the next room. If they are even real concersations. More on that later. This is a brief explaination of what I mean. But fairly accurate in a condensed version.
Depersonalisation and derealisation. These are extremely difficult to explain. They are typically lumped together but are differences. Depersonalization is the easier one. We have all seen those science fiction movies where there is a small time warp and people are "there but not there"..maybe time has shifted a fraction of a second. Where you can step sideways and actually view yourself, as though you are looking at yourself. You are you but you are not you. You speak and see your mouth moving. Basically, you feel as though you are slightly removed from your body.
Derealization is where you are quite convinced nothing around you is real. You are not. Your spouse is not, the couch is not. Nothing is real. Not like a dream per se, because in a dream, you don't think "this stuff is not real". Some dreams we have, we WISH were real..With derealization, you have difficulty actually beleiving anything is real. It's not a dream like state at all though. It's very hard to explain. You question your own reality I suppose.
Hallucinations. We, well have all had those. They are extremely vidid during withdrawal and extremely disturbing. In fact, they are quite horrible.
Perceptual distortions are basically where you have trouble determining actual dimensions of objects, be it the length of a room, the width of a street, or whatever. Small things seem big sometimes and big things seem small sometimes.
It sounds like Alice Through the Looking Glass. It kind of is. You certainly beiive you are insane. Because everything is real.
Imagine that stuff, combined with all the stuff you feel from opiate withdrawl and THEN imagining it lasting anywhere from 3 to 18 months. There is no "Day 3". There is no Sub like drug.
More than 90% of benzo addicts fail during withdrawal, even when using tapering or switching to a lower strength benzo. Less than 1% succeed when quitting cold turkey. And the problem is, once you fail, it is almost impossible to quit again because you thank your lucky stars you are not insane. Literally.
It might sound "dramatic". It is very real. It is discussed in the Ashton manual. These symptons are not atypical. They are typical.
Would you recommend THOSE experiences to help rid the body of some tremors from an opiate detox? No thanks. Plus, taking them both together in all likely hood could probably kill you.
Worry about it killing you? Not likely, are benzo's are designed to remove that worry.
DO PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THAT??????
When it comes to detoxing and recovery, my personal opinion is this:
Don't recommend any drug you could receive a DUI/DWI while using. Prescribed or not.
Never.
It is most typically prescribed for severe anxiety disorder (by severe, I mean disabling) or when starting SSRI's as they can cause profound anxiety when first initiated.
I also never abused it, never increased my dose nor took more than prescribed. I never thought of it as a DOC (because it honestly wasn't). I felt very normal. I was able to deal with customers easier. I opened up to people. I never once freaked when I was getting low. I never counted a single pill.
Sound familiar?
I never knew I was addicted to it. Until I stopped taking it. I would of laughed in your face if you said I was.
Xanax (and this is a warning from the manufacturer) should never be prescribed if the individual has a history of drug or alcohol abuse/dependence. Never. Period.
The decision to use Xanax for panic attacks this so severe must be carefully made by a specialized psychiatrist, taking into account the individual's suffering, quality of life, loss of social performance and risk of dependence.
I know this is a PP board. No one is here is talking about benzo's alone, but rather used in conjunction and or immediately after stopping opiate use and therefore it figures prominately into this forum.
No, this is not a meeting. However, the name of this board is Addiciton Recovery Guide and I dont see a lot of addiction recovery guiding going on regarding this subject.
Xanax was not developed to mitigate anxiety or panic induced by opiate withdrawal. It was developed to treat profound or severe mental illnesses. If someone needs occasional relief from anxiety (such as the death of a loved one or public speaking or sudden job loss), there are numerous benzodiazepines on the market of a much lower strength and longer half life and even those should not be taken for longer than a couple of weeks. And even those are supposed to be used as a last resort.
I see people here recommending the usage. One person mentioned they had just quit opiates and had some tremors. Another quickly advised seeing a psychyatrist because they were on Xanax and it might help. Wrong. The tremors are part of the detox process. Unfortnately.
Do you understand the CDC has listed drug interactions as the second leading cause of accidental death in the United States? That is after automobile accidents. Over 11,000 people a year die from it. A couple of Hollywood personalities this year alone have.
We Anyone on this board recommend a pain pill addict take a buch of tylenol? No.
Xanax is not like Sub, to be used as a tool in ending addiciton. While sub may have addicitve properties, it is nothing like Xanax. Xanax not only is addicting, it also decreases a persons ability to make rational decisions.
I quit Xanax for a reason. When I became ill, and life and death decisions needed to be made, I wasn't making the greatest decisions in the world. In fact, they were pretty lousy. In fact, they were downright irrational. And that was because I really didn't have a whole heck of a lot of concern. I wasn't concerned because I was taking a drug specifically designed to alleviate anxiety. It's kind of hard to wrry when you don't have too many cares in the world.
And I wasn't even taking a large dose.
Some people think they can't become addicited to Xanax (or other strong benzo's like Ativan) because they took them before and didn't become addicted.
I'm not buying it and they shouldn't be selling it.
The half life of Xanax or Ativan is short. Extremely short. We are talking about less than 1/2 a day. If you take it occasionally, say every 3rd day or so, and over a short span of time, it would be rather difficult to become addicted (which is different than the dangers of drug interactions entirely). It takes normal usage, over a period of 3 weeks or more to become addicted to Xanax.
Withdrawal from Xanax is quite different than an opiate. I know because I withdrew (?) from both. Not even remotely alike. Oh, yes..you get all the same stuff opiate withdrawal causes. That horrible feeling. But that wasn't the worse part. In fact, compared to the rest, that was the easy part.
A lot of people here take sub because they can't handle the withdrawal from opiates. Thats fine. Now take that feeling of withdrawal and add:
Sensory hypersensitivity, depersonalisation, derealisation, Hallucinations, illusions and perceptual distortions.
I'll try to explain what these are and they may seem somewhat abstract. These are not experienced in opiate withdrawal:
Sensory hypersensetivity. Well, kind of hard to explain. When someone asked me what it was like, the best way I could describe it was imagine being blind and deaf from birth. Like Helen Keller I suppose. And then, one day, all of a sudden, you could see and hear. You might jump for joy thinking about it. No you wouldnt if it happened. The sudden rush of colors, lights, sounds, taste, touch, everything, is overwhelming to the point where you can not function. You taste colors and see sounds. You can literally hear conversations in the next room. If they are even real concersations. More on that later. This is a brief explaination of what I mean. But fairly accurate in a condensed version.
Depersonalisation and derealisation. These are extremely difficult to explain. They are typically lumped together but are differences. Depersonalization is the easier one. We have all seen those science fiction movies where there is a small time warp and people are "there but not there"..maybe time has shifted a fraction of a second. Where you can step sideways and actually view yourself, as though you are looking at yourself. You are you but you are not you. You speak and see your mouth moving. Basically, you feel as though you are slightly removed from your body.
Derealization is where you are quite convinced nothing around you is real. You are not. Your spouse is not, the couch is not. Nothing is real. Not like a dream per se, because in a dream, you don't think "this stuff is not real". Some dreams we have, we WISH were real..With derealization, you have difficulty actually beleiving anything is real. It's not a dream like state at all though. It's very hard to explain. You question your own reality I suppose.
Hallucinations. We, well have all had those. They are extremely vidid during withdrawal and extremely disturbing. In fact, they are quite horrible.
Perceptual distortions are basically where you have trouble determining actual dimensions of objects, be it the length of a room, the width of a street, or whatever. Small things seem big sometimes and big things seem small sometimes.
It sounds like Alice Through the Looking Glass. It kind of is. You certainly beiive you are insane. Because everything is real.
Imagine that stuff, combined with all the stuff you feel from opiate withdrawl and THEN imagining it lasting anywhere from 3 to 18 months. There is no "Day 3". There is no Sub like drug.
More than 90% of benzo addicts fail during withdrawal, even when using tapering or switching to a lower strength benzo. Less than 1% succeed when quitting cold turkey. And the problem is, once you fail, it is almost impossible to quit again because you thank your lucky stars you are not insane. Literally.
It might sound "dramatic". It is very real. It is discussed in the Ashton manual. These symptons are not atypical. They are typical.
Would you recommend THOSE experiences to help rid the body of some tremors from an opiate detox? No thanks. Plus, taking them both together in all likely hood could probably kill you.
Worry about it killing you? Not likely, are benzo's are designed to remove that worry.
DO PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THAT??????
When it comes to detoxing and recovery, my personal opinion is this:
Don't recommend any drug you could receive a DUI/DWI while using. Prescribed or not.
Never.
Thank you Danny for that explanation.
I for one have never recommended or would I condone the use of any drug. I come on here and talk about my experience and what happened to me and what worked for me.
I understand what you went through using xanax. It sounds horrible. I am not a proponent of drug use.
I am not in agreement with people pushing one drug or another to aid in w/d.
I take my sobriety very seriously and work a strong program.
My problem was that this person may need help and understanding. To be snapped at and told to take his voice off the board is inappropriate. I never saw anyone offering advice on the seriousness of what he may or may not have been doing.
The comment was in-compassionate and bi*chy. Is that was this place has become?
Anyway....your story is important Danny, you lived it. Its not always what you say but how its said. I believe in treating people how you want to be treated...I am old school that way.
I am out...I have had enough of this place for today.
I for one have never recommended or would I condone the use of any drug. I come on here and talk about my experience and what happened to me and what worked for me.
I understand what you went through using xanax. It sounds horrible. I am not a proponent of drug use.
I am not in agreement with people pushing one drug or another to aid in w/d.
I take my sobriety very seriously and work a strong program.
My problem was that this person may need help and understanding. To be snapped at and told to take his voice off the board is inappropriate. I never saw anyone offering advice on the seriousness of what he may or may not have been doing.
The comment was in-compassionate and bi*chy. Is that was this place has become?
Anyway....your story is important Danny, you lived it. Its not always what you say but how its said. I believe in treating people how you want to be treated...I am old school that way.
I am out...I have had enough of this place for today.
