Posted by ace on November 27, 2006, at 21:33:57
In reply to Re: Difference between Ativan and Valium? ?laima ?ace, posted by Quintal on November 27, 2006, at 21:10:25
> >I personally have never seen any evidence of this - only when Benzo's are used as street drugs. I have read a lot of clinical and anecdotal literature and the use of higher doses
> does not correlate with responsible medical usage.
>
> Ace, I don't like the way this is starting to feel like an attack on you, because it isn't.No no, it's all cool!
Could I just add a bit of my own experience with benzos to this debate?
>
> I got my first script for lorazepam when I was 19. It was for 4mg/day, no titration, and the doc supplied it at my request on the basis of an internet printout.This should have been titrated slowely up to that level. That is a very ethically dubious thing to do.
She told me she had never heard of this drug before.Therefore she should not have dispensed it.
I soon moved on to other benzos, obtaining scripts for different benzos from different doctors and taking them all at the same time - I was abusing them. Six months after I began Ativan I managed to get a script for Klonopin (actually the trade name is Rivotril here in the UK) from a locum doctor, again on the basis of an internet printout and heavy persuasion on my part.So, you were abusing them, as by your own admition.
> Soon after this when my supply of Rivotril no longer kept me satisfied I forged a prescription (taking huge doses of Rivotirl to calm my nerves) and was caught. I live in a small village, so you can imagine the humiliation when the Rivotril worse off and I was left facing the hard reality of what I'd done.
>
> Eventually I began buying my supply of benzos from online pharmacies and I think this gradually eroded my self-esteem. I considered myself an addict (which I was) and no better than a street drug pusher, so maybe this was the reason I accepted without hesitation when I was offered my first line of coke?
The Quintal of old would have shied away from any such dealings.
>
> I'm now off all meds and street drugs and hope to stay that way so long as I can be healthy and functional. I'm no benzophobe and I've written some venomous retorts to Ms. Ashton's propaganda during my benzo years. Now I find I'm left with little choice but to admit though, that benzos *do* cause dependence, they *are* addictive, and in some rare cases they *may* trigger compulsive drug taking behaviour that *may* lead to experimenting with stronger substances.I think the CAN cause dependence (when used in a nonchalent fashion)
When used responsible I just personally can't see how they can be called addictive. If they are 'addictive' per se, we must then call ALL psychoactive drugs used in psychiatry addictive.
> Non of this diminishes my view of people who responsibly take benzos for decades at a time. I hope they keep working just as well for all you guys who are in that position, and I hope you are able to resist the people who will try to coerce you into quitting only to create further dependence on the (IMHO) inferior SSRIs.
>
> QWell I agree with you on the SSRI's!!!!
No, I can understand your points fully, and i DO respect them. Obviously we have a different spin on this issue as we have had different experieneces and what not.
I feel in no way you are attacking me: on the contrary, you are being very diplomatic and polite in stating your view.
I mean, this is ongoing research for me, so, as aforementioned, I well might see evidence which sways me to another position. But at the moment I am preety staunch in my views.
I appreciate this dialogue...in a way it's cool we disagree to some extent, it would be a boring world if we all agreed on everything!
Ace:)
poster:ace
thread:707968
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20061123/msgs/708053.html