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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

#241

Post by kayodelycaon »

ILMostro7 wrote: post #234
kayodelycaon wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Joking aside, if I’m seeing more than one of these hypothetical professions, someone needs to coordinate my care. For myself, I trust me to keep everyone informed. Anyone else wouldn’t have the same incentive to do a good job. After all, I’m the one that suffers the consequences if there’s a mistake. :)

Age and cognitive issues may hinder you from effectively doing "a good job" of that.

I know. I’m bipolar and have other medical problems. Getting older scares me.

Beyond old age, the vast majority of people are bad at taking care of themselves. So many people that it is not a moral issue. It is a systemic issue.

The problem is, you don’t need to take care of yourself, until you do. Society doesn’t prepare us for that. (I got to learn the hard way.)

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

#242

Post by ineedasername »

gavinray wrote: post #172
sph wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a hard time believing that while the current status quo is suboptimal, there's some little known compounds that are, as you say, revolutionary and with little side effects. Pharmacological research is a constantly moving target, there is no scientific nor economic reason that a supposedly "perfect" remedy remains unknown. Sounds too much like thinly veiled conspiracy, or perhaps they're not as perfect as you'r…

I have personal experience with Guanfacine (and Clonidine), beta blockers (Propanolol/Labetalol), Etifoxine, Phenibut, and a myriad of benzos. Long history of RX for anxiety disorders, which I eventually tapered off of and quit due to dependence. Can attest to Etifoxine being effective without side effects, guanfacine and clonidine being mildly effective. Beta blockers never did much for me but YMMV.

After all of those, what did you settle on for managing anxiety long term? Was it the Etifoxine?

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

#243

Post by Aloha »

jmcgough wrote: post #24
fermentation wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Had some anxiety issues in France and a doctor that I met with (who I had trouble speaking to) prescribed daily benzos for a month. Towards the end of the month it felt like my body NEEDED the pills. It was scary.

Your brain chemistry acclimates to using a GABA agonist every day and will get out of whack if you stop taking it :( like anxiety will be WAY WORSE when going through withdrawal. I still use a benzo (lowest dose lamictal) but only about once a month when I need hit the panic button. It's really not meant to be a daily use drug, scared me when a friend was prescribed it as a daily medication.

I take Temazepam with no ill effects, I take it nightly except sometimes when I forget, its been a game changer for me.

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

#244

Post by [deleted] »

matheusmoreira wrote: post #235
shepardrtc wrote: post #29

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 tell people having a panic attack not to take a sublingual benzodiazepine?

[deleted]

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

#245

Post by ineedasername »

cameronh90 wrote: post #91
retrac wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anecdotally, I can attest to the surprising efficacy of alpha blockers. I have used prazosin as a sleep aid for the last decade, a few times a month. There were some limited studies that suggest it is effective in helping sleep quality in people with nightmares and PTSD. Now, I don't have PTSD, but I do have a mind that will not shut off at night, running in useless circles that jolt me back awake. It does nothing fo…

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.

To me it seems like it helps with some of the physical symptoms of anxiety, but not so much the anxiety itself. So, it's efficacy depends a lot on the pathology of a specific individual's anxiety. For many people the physical symptoms of anxiety become self reinforcing, and short circuiting them can stop the anxiety. For folks whose anxiety takes a different path it may still be slightly effective but not quite as much.

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

#246

Post by erichmond »

shepardrtc wrote: post #29

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…

First, I want to acknowledge your situation so I don't want to belittle what you went through in any way, but I had a catastrophic series of events happen in my life almost 9 years ago, and Xanax was literally a life saver for me.

Taking the Xanax allowed to me relax enough to do the work to figure out how to relax naturally. Before the Xanax I was having crippling panic attacks 24/7.

My only point is, you're a data point of one, I'm a data point of one we both had very different experiences. I don't tell people to take, or not to take benzos when they ask me, I just give my objective experience and let them make their own decision.

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

#247

Post by andrekandre »

s5300 wrote: post #117
Commodore63 wrote: post #40

Jordan Peterson had a horrible time with these drugs and resorted to extreme measures to get off them (eight days in an induced coma!) Even today he might still be on them - he is pretty cagey about his present pharma situation when asked about it on podcasts. https://nationalpost.com/health/jordan-peterson-benzodiazepi... Horrible drug.

Peterson is a verified idiot with nonexistent self-control. Not the slightest modicum of it. Basing anything off of his antics is asinine. So weird to see people who put him on a pedestal on HN. & benzos aren’t “horrible drugs” People who don’t know how to manage themselves and their usage of them are horrible people though, especially when they try to cut down others who have no issues using them responsibly, which…

  > Basing anything off of his antics is asinine. So weird to see people who put him on a pedestal on HN.
not sure if its putting him on a pedestal as much as an example of what some prescribed drugs can do to people when they aren't careful...

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

#248

Post by ineedasername »

m_a_g wrote: post #207
SemanticStrengh wrote: post #45

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…

I've been seeing your comments on HN and you seem very well-read. Is there a drug/supplement stack you recommend or use? I've seen you recommend magnesium l-threonate and skq1 several times and I was wondering if there are more drugs/supplements that are worth mentioning.

Not sure what the parent post would recommend, but l-theanine is supposedly well tolerated and moderately effective as an anxiolytic. Annecdotal personal experience supports this.

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

#249

Post by ineedasername »

As a PSA, something to be aware of is the stimulant paradox for anxiety due to ADHD. Typically anxiety & stimulants would be a no-go combination, but for folks with ADHD-induced anxiety stimulants can actually help. I know someone whose child was (finally) properly diagnosed with ADHD only after they let their child try a tiny bit of their coffee and there was a significant change. It was the revelation needed to get to a good treatment path.

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

#250

Post by [deleted] »

tptacek wrote: post #77
rhexs wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's sort of a sad indictment of our system, but odds are the pharmacist sees the patient far more than the psychiatrist does.

I have literally never had a discussion with a pharmacist. I drive up, hand them my script through the drawer thingy, and they hand me back my drugs. In fact, in the last couple years, I barely even do that anymore; our doctors just call in our scripts, and we get a text message when it's time to pick them up, and that's that. The idea that pharmacists have any meaningful diagnostic role in the US is risible.

[deleted]
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