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

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181–190 of 400 posts

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

#181

Was just in Mexico and took them 3-4 days in a row (0.5mg - 2mg) to sleep after drinking or the next morning. Slept amazing those few nights. Felt terrible 2 days after the last one, and even now close to a week later I don’t even feel that good. Pretty sure they are terrible for you.

That's quite a lot, especially mixed with alcohol.

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

#182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Propranolol is very commonly prescribed for anxiety in the UK. I take it as needed and it works wonders, but it does make me a bit lethargic. It doesn't completely eliminate the low level anxiety but it stops it ending up in a viscous panic cycle.

Widely used for anxiety in my country as well but not an optimal choice due to the cardiovascular effects. As you noted, it can cause fatigue.

there exists beta blockers that mostly do not cross the blood brain barrier, and therefore have less effect on fatigue

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

#183

I was prescribed benzos because of sleeping issues, but I was also taking phenibut at the same time. After about 3 weeks of using large doses of the benzos every night, I stopped taking them, but a year later I still feel pangs of withdrawal sometimes when I get stressed. It took me another 4 months to get off the phenibut and a month or so after that before my sleep returned to normal. There were months where I mayb…

I have to disagree with the "any reasons" part. First is if it's a psychiatric emergency administered by a nurse for psychosis but I doubt we're really talking about that.

But I think they're a valid last-resort treatment for panic attacks if we're talking less then twice a month-ish range. Reason being is that they will reliably work every time, and for many people including myself just knowing we have it can prevent panic attacks. But you still need to be treating your anxiety with therapy and/or other medications (but especially therapy) - its only a last resort.

And I mean using it very sparingly, I only take it once every few months, and only the lowest dose (klonopin @0.5mg max) to take the edge off so I can work through it, not enough to remove all the anxiety.

EDIT: Oh and anyone with addiction issues should stay away from these. They work _every time_ which is so tempting to use for just mild anxiety and my understanding is higher doses then what I take are euphoric so stay clear.

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

#184
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.

Just a warning to anyone who has asthma, propranolol is a older beta blocker from the 1960s and has made asthma worse in various trials. My doctor and psychiatrist recommended I use other classes of medications.

Yes. Asthma is treated with beta agonists. Beta blockers will block the effect of the asthma medication.

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

#185
post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I really only ever tried the ones with a short halflife personally.

Now that I think of it, a benzo actually did help me once, when I got my wisdom teeth removed. Made me a bit more calm about it. But it was fairly tolerable overall anyways.

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

#186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

picamilon is banned? That's dumb, soon they will ban l-theanine and taurine? I really don't think you can get addicted to picamillon like phen or benz

Some supplements are basically unregulated medications. I found out the hard way that L-Theanine does not mix well with bipolar disorder. I suspect it inactivated the mood stabilizer I was on.

that is surprising to hear. ltheanine action of GABA should calm/stabilize you. it's action of dopamine might trigger anxiety/anger/mania but the effect is so mild vs caffeine/nicotine/amphetamine that I find it surprising/weird. To be clear we are talking about theanine and not theine.

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

#187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just a warning to anyone who has asthma, propranolol is a older beta blocker from the 1960s and has made asthma worse in various trials. My doctor and psychiatrist recommended I use other classes of medications.

Yes. Asthma is treated with beta agonists. Beta blockers will block the effect of the asthma medication.

Yup. Newer, more specific beta-blockers are supposed to be safer, but I’m not really interested testing that. :)

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

#188
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.

The first time I took Xanax I cleaned my kitchen and it went from mildly embarrassing to quite presentable in an hour or two. I could actually execute the things I wanted to do without fighting though ridiculous feelings. I am treated like an addict or ridiculous when I tell doctors I'd rather not "try SSRIs" or a series of strange sedating substances because they're all so afraid of prescribing something with addict…

Wouldn't you be afraid? Patients who get addicted to benzodiazepines are likely to end up taking them their whole lives, even in old age, in ever escalating dosages due to tolerance. Elderly patients on these drugs are at higher risk of losing their balance, falling, fracturing a femur and entering a fragile state after losing their functionality and independence. If anything doctors aren't afraid enough. Polypharmacy is one of the geriatric giants and iatrogenic complications are common.

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

#189

I was prescribed benzos because of sleeping issues, but I was also taking phenibut at the same time. After about 3 weeks of using large doses of the benzos every night, I stopped taking them, but a year later I still feel pangs of withdrawal sometimes when I get stressed. It took me another 4 months to get off the phenibut and a month or so after that before my sleep returned to normal. There were months where I mayb…

> 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…

Yeah, I've been diagnosed with chronic insomnia and benzos are the only thing that can reliably put me to sleep if I desperately need them. I reserve them for emergency situations, but just knowing I have them as an option is comforting.

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

#190
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doctors prescribe benzos for sleep issues and tell you they are safe? Do you live in the US?

is that a question? Benzos are not safe despite what many doctor believe. I'm in EU.

In my opinion doctors underestimate the danger of benzos. They also often don't know that there is a black market for benzos (like there is for any other drug). Patients will be able to find benzos if they look for them even if they don't have a prescription.

I had a friend who wanted to stop smoking cannabis and got alprazolam prescribed for that by his doctor (it was in EU). In my opinion it would be better to stick to cannabis than switch to Xanax.

I myself tried talking with my family doctor about my benzo addiction. I was addicted to etizolam, a RC benzo popular at the time. He seemed not to believe me that it was possible to get benzos without a prescription, and told me that I was wrong and couldn't have a benzo addiction.

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