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Long-term benzodiazepine use causes synapse loss and cognitive deficits in mice

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Re: Long-term benzodiazepine use causes synapse loss and cognitive deficits in mice

#161

The reality is many drugs have long term effects, we just can't see them yet. But if you are close to someone who is a user, over the long run you will notice differences. Sometimes its just that they don't have the same spark. Regardless, 100 years down the line we will look back in horror at the state of pharmaceutical drugs. All it takes is going to a doctor, saying you have anxiety, and the doctor pops out a scri…

SSRI-like drugs and drugs like buspirone are considered the gold standard for anxiety disorders now. They do not act like benzodiazepines at all in the brain.

How do they act? I just started taking buspirone for crippling social anxiety and I’m not sure if it’s helping or not.

Re: Long-term benzodiazepine use causes synapse loss and cognitive deficits in mice

#162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Assuming GP is male, he probably doesn't want to do something that might be seen as being aggressive, harassing or upsetting to her, even if not violent. Threatening to involve the police is a common way women abuse men. You can of course involve the police yourself but they often won't listen. I had an ex try to create a situation where I would be framed for rape by creating fake social media accounts purporting to…

I had similar experiences and police are pretty much useless in that case, flat out said since you're physically stronger than the stalker there's no threat to your life. Oh well... Its a constant torture.

My ex is smart, wealthy, and devotes most of her life to this. She smart enough that she rarely leave evidence, and when it's there, it's convoluted enough that you can't really act on it. For example, a drone fly-by leaves no evidence. A story about some convoluted 9-month scheme to frame me isn't something anyone will listen to, let alone pursue. If you walk in with a big pile of documentation, you look crazy, not them.

The court system is a big hole to throw money into:

1) It is surprisingly impervious to actual evidence. A woman crying on the stand, with a bunch of fabrications, will be believed. A man showing documents won't be.

2) It's influenced by preparation and money. If the other party is willing to devote their whole life into this, and you want to live anything resembling a normal life, you're basically SOL.

There isn't a magic fairy government agency who cares about this sort of thing.

I don't think there's a solution.

I was modestly famous before this, but I haven't done anything public in a half-decade because of this !@#$%.

Re: Long-term benzodiazepine use causes synapse loss and cognitive deficits in mice

#165

The world of medecine is degenerate. Sustainable, non addictive and non neurotoxic anxiolytics exists: the #1 being opipramol the sigmaergic. emoxypine (which btw cure hangover) and guanfacine are worth mentioning. Maybe beta blockers to some extent. NMDA antagonists such as memantine have side effects but are not neurotoxic to my knowledge and there are milder ones such as mg-lthreonate. afobazole is interesting but…

Etifoxine can be purchased from other countries and has studies showing comparable effects to classic benzodiazepines for acute panic attacks, but without being addictive.

Personal experience, it doesn't have noticeable psychoactive effects like benzos do but does block stress response + panic.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etifoxine

Re: Long-term benzodiazepine use causes synapse loss and cognitive deficits in mice

#166
post #19

Benzos are pretty terrible drugs in general. The physical addiction potential and withdrawal people are going through are enough to dissuade me from touching them. For folks dealing with anxiety, I recommend trying propranolol. It is not as powerful, but sometimes it is enough to achieve the desired effect and the side effects are way less severe.

Propranolol does almost, but not quite nothing for me. It does, however, put me on a daily(!) withdrawl cycle where when I'm on it, it does a small amount which is right up near the level of noticing, and when it wears off amplifies my normal symptoms.

Xanax was the only thing I ever took that did more than took the edge off (or some things which just made me loopy, sleepy, and/or high), it could at appropriate dosages simply turn my symptoms off and I went about doing normal productive human things that I wanted to.

But the state that I live in, and every doctor that I've met since I moved across the country has wanted to try every other drug in the book (again) before even considering, and none have thought raising the dosage beyond the literal smallest dose (despite me being 6'2" >200lbs). It is extremely frustrating.

Re: Long-term benzodiazepine use causes synapse loss and cognitive deficits in mice

#167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SSRI-like drugs and drugs like buspirone are considered the gold standard for anxiety disorders now. They do not act like benzodiazepines at all in the brain.

How do they act? I just started taking buspirone for crippling social anxiety and I’m not sure if it’s helping or not.

[deleted]

Re: Long-term benzodiazepine use causes synapse loss and cognitive deficits in mice

#168
post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I tell everyone to never take benzos for any reasons You can't generalise your experience. Everybody is different and that's the doctor's job to assess whether the benefits outweigh the cost, considering the patient and their problems. Personally, I've been taking benzos very occasionally for 20 years (never more than a few days at a time) and they helped me overcome difficult times. Never had the slightest addicti…

I have friend who was at nursing school, and she'd get them prescribed for the few occasions where she had to do a presentation, as she would get extremely nervous. She never took them after. Maybe she could've addressed the issue differently, but it worked for her, and she never got hooked. But milage varies, and so on. She also told me that at the hospital, benzos are readily available and they kinda hand then out…

I’ve reacted differently to different benzos. One did nothing. Another triggered one hell of a mood swing (I’m bipolar). Finally settled on Klonopin, which has a long half-life. It seems to be less.. harsh?

Psychoactive medications are fun…

Re: Long-term benzodiazepine use causes synapse loss and cognitive deficits in mice

#169
post #66

I took 1 benzodiazepine bill once about 15 years ago and I still remember the effect--instant total relaxation. I remember thinking that it felt too good and that it's something I shouldn't let myself have again. Hearing about its long term effects, I feel somewhat lucky.

I was prescribed some after a severe accident and it really helped me, both during while dealing with the pain and stress, and after to get over the trauma and anxiety attacks.

I've always been fervently anti-meds but sometimes when you're in a tough spot they are magical and going without is the worse alternative.

For what it's worth after 2 years of occasional use, I have no addiction at all. I've been tracking my use daily for the past year and as my anxiety has waned I've stopped taking them entirely.

Re: Long-term benzodiazepine use causes synapse loss and cognitive deficits in mice

#170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I tell everyone to never take benzos for any reasons You can't generalise your experience. Everybody is different and that's the doctor's job to assess whether the benefits outweigh the cost, considering the patient and their problems. Personally, I've been taking benzos very occasionally for 20 years (never more than a few days at a time) and they helped me overcome difficult times. Never had the slightest addicti…

My family was addicted to benzos by a quack doctor who hands them out like candy. He has many seniors on it long term for "anxiety" and though seniors are at particular risk and are not supposed to use more than 6 months.

I got to see this side of American medicine while in high school. My great aunt unofficially overdosed on a cocktail of drugs prescribed by a group of loosely coordinating doctors.

When she passed, her cocktail included 12 prescriptions. One of her doctors had prescribed her medication to lower her blood pressure while another had her on medication to raise it.

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