Article on Benzos in Chicago Tribune

This is from a few months back, but in case it hasn't been shared yet...

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/health/sc-hlth-xanax-valium-next-drug-crisis-0307-story.html

 

This is from a few months back, but in case it hasn't been shared yet...

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/health/sc-hlth-xanax-valium-next-drug-crisis-0307-story.html

 

Teegirl, you're on a roll !!  Another excellent, fearless piece that steps up and tells it like it is, for example: 

 

<<Other warning signs of addiction include needing increased doses to get the same effect, or resorting to doctor shopping to maintain a steady supply of the drug, she (Dr. Anna Lembke of Stanford Unversity) explained.

 

"Those are very worrisome signs because they indicate you've developed a tolerance and you're investing a lot of time and effort overcoming that tolerance," Lembke said. "Essentially, you're taking it not to help with your sleep or anxiety but to treat the withdrawal from the last pill that you took."

 

"These are highly addictive and potentially lethal drugs, and many people don't know that," Lembke said. "Sadly, most physicians are also unaware of this and blithely prescribe them without educating their patients about the risk of addiction.">>

 

We don't speak enough truth because the truth hurts.  Result?  Nothing changes.  It's so good to see these pieces.

 

Thank you again !!

 

 

 

 

Yes, it is good to see more articles coming out warning on the dangers of these drugs. Hopefully it helps to get the word out, so people can stay safe from them.

I object to the word "addiction." It makes it seem as if only a certain type of person would need to read the article. If I were reading this  (before taking benzos) and came upon the word addiction, I would consider that "I'm not one of them" and stop reading. The article wouldn't apply to me. I didn't have an addictive personality when it came to pills and would take them only as prescribed. But we know that many, if not most, who ended up on BB took them as prescribed and ended up really dependent.

 

Doctors tend to wash their hands of the situation when it comes to the word addiction. It becomes the fault of the patient. The doctor, even though he or she prescribed the pills, is taken off the hook. I don't think this is fair at all.

 

 

I object to the word "addiction." It makes it seem as if only a certain type of person would need to read the article. If I were reading this  (before taking benzos) and came upon the word addiction, I would consider that "I'm not one of them" and stop reading. The article wouldn't apply to me. I didn't have an addictive personality when it came to pills and would take them only as prescribed. But we know that many, if not most, who ended up on BB took them as prescribed and ended up really dependent.

 

Doctors tend to wash their hands of the situation when it comes to the word addiction. It becomes the fault of the patient. The doctor, even though he or she prescribed the pills, is taken off the hook. I don't think this is fair at all.

 

Unfortunately this article has little to do with what landed most of us here. I don't know how many people die from overdose with benzos involved but I question whether or not that is a true "epidemic". The real epidemic is the thousands of people who find themselves dependent on the drugs and face a potentially life altering withdrawal that could last for months or years on end.

 

Articles like this only serve to perpetuate the misinformation that got many of us here in the first place.

"Benzodiazepines are best used intermittently, Lembke said, no more than a couple of times a week."

I'm wondering about the above quote from the article.  Isn't that a problem long term? 

Very dangerous article. Weekly benzo use is almost guaranteed to end up in daily benzo use and interdose anxiety from hell. I wouldn't mind the article if the authors knew what on Earth they were talking about. Benzos are "more-ish" drugs and any kind of repetitive, patterned use can lead to problems. People think they are fine while their GABA receptors are slowly (or quickly) being nuked away. Chemical frontal lobotomy, pure and simple, and they affect way much more than just a frontal lobe.

Also, anything that has "overdose" associated in it is fodder for media coverage. It attracts readers. Nobody wants to read about prolonged, grueling suffering of those trying to come off of their therapeutic doses. The "underdose" suffering that so many go through....

This quote from the article:

 

"It is important to acknowledge the risks involved in the overuse/misuse of benzodiazepines, especially when combined with other medications or alcohol," said Bruce Goldman. He is director of substance abuse services at Zucker Hillside Hospital, in Glen Oaks, N.Y.

 

It's even more important to acknowledge the risk involved in taking as prescribed which the majority of us do. The overall onerous of this article shifts blame to the patient, who in many cases has been taking medication exactly as prescribed for many years.

 

It's past time that big Pharma and doctors acknowledge their role in the suffering we are going through.

It's even more important to acknowledge the risk involved in taking as prescribed which the majority of us do. The overall onerous of this article shifts blame to the patient, who in many cases has been taking medication exactly as prescribed for many years.

 

It's past time that big Pharma and doctors acknowledge their role in the suffering we are going through.

 

Exactly. I haven't known of anyone who has died of an overdose involving a benzo. My brother almost died of that, but of course it was because he combined it with an opiate. But what's his REAL problem? It ain't the benzo! It's the heroin. He is hopelessly ADDICTED to the heroin and that makes him do incredibly stupid things like combining it with benzos. If he didn't have a problem with heroin he probably wouldn't have a problem with benzos.

 

How many of these benzo related deaths are there, and how many of the people that died actually have a much bigger problem that lead them to combine benzos with other drugs in a lethal cocktail? The media would like everyone to believe that benzos are killing people because headlines that talk about overdose and addiction sell but benzos don't generally kill you; they just make you wish you were dead. Sometimes for years on end.