Posted by special_k on March 26, 2006, at 1:59:29
In reply to Re: benzo's for anxiety (which one?) » Phillipa, posted by yxibow on March 26, 2006, at 1:45:30
> Not that I am suggesting it at all, but yes, if you push through the sleepy part...
Yeah that is the one. And you can do something or other to make it stronger (though don't try this at home because it can be quite dangerous. And you are right... The come down isn't much fun at all).
> repeated use would probably lower this effect.
Yes. That is what tolerance is. You need to take more... and more... to have the same effect. Some people (who take lowish dosages) don't find that a tolerance develops. But if you quite like a feeling of deep relaxation or general wellbeing or something and you find that n dosage does it for you... Then over time you typically need n+1 and then n+2 etc just to achieve the same effect. I'm not sure how long tolerance typically takes... In the new ethicals (doctors medication manual) I think it says to not prescribe benzo's for more that 5-7 days (typically) so I figure that longer than that would mean you get withdrawals... But tolerance... I think you might get a little bit of a lesser effect the second night. But I guess everybodies body is different and people metabolise things differently etc etc.
> it'd be nice if psychiatric medicines were allowed to make you feel good.
Yeah I know what you mean. I think that the reason why they aren't 'allowed' to make you feel good / high is that anything that tends to get you feeling high you tend to need more of it to achieve the same effect then more then more then more. And then when you stop taking it you have a worse problem than you had before you ever started taking the darned stuff.
I found that with imovane / zopiclone / zotab. used to take it for sleep... then i was up to 2 per day over maybe 4 years... and i had the same trouble sleeping as i had before i started taking the damned stuff. i managed to kick it but really struggled for maybe two weeks. was starting to get major hallucinations and having crying fits etc because i couldn't sleep for 4 nights and then only in fits and bursts. don't ever want to go through anything like that again.
> I sometimes think that the "feel good" transmitters only operate once or after a long period of disuse)
Yeah. I think the neurotransmitter is produced in a certain amount every day. When you take something your body throws out a couple days supply all in the space of 8 hours or something like that. Taking the drug doesn't mean you have more transmitter - it is just that your body releases its supply that it has made itself. That is why you feel all flat afterwards. Because you don't have any left. And it takes a few days for your body to build up a supply again.
That is very very crude. But that is how I think of it...
> As for myself, I've taken large dose diazepam (Valium) for an extended period of time with some slight escalation of dosage but I don't believe the escalation is because I crave more, but the illness shifts directions at times. Who knows, its hard to say.
yep. how much of a dosage did you start with? every day? did you take it in the morning or the evening or both?
poster:special_k
thread:624663
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060322/msgs/624722.html