In 2001, when my mother was dying of lung cancer, I was under a lot of stress. I lived in DE and was shuttling between her homes in NY and FL. I went to my doctor and said, “I’m so anxious that I’m drinking alcohol every day. This is really bad because normally I don’t drink.”
My doctor prescribed 4 mg a day of Xanax.
I went to the internet to research Xanax and quickly learned that it was highly addictive. I decided to take a dose of 0.25 mg (1/2 of the smallest pill which is 0.5 mg) and only when I simply couldn’t stand the stress anymore which was about two or three times a week. I avoided addiction by never using continuously.
In 2019, the most recent data available, pharmacies dispensed an estimated 92 million benzodiazepine prescriptions, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
That’s almost one out of three of the entire U.S. population so it has Macro impact. Benzodiazepines are the pharmaceutical industry’s top-selling family of prescription drugs.
Coincidentally, both the Wall Street Journal and New York Times have published articles about the problems caused by benzos this week. The WSJ was first and its article is stunning in its powerful description of the horrors of trying to withdraw from benzo addiction. Maybe that’s why the NY Times addressed the issue. But the WSJ article is deeper and really shocking.
From the NY Times:
A 2019 study found that nearly 20 percent of people who take benzodiazepines misuse them. If someone develops a dependence, quitting can be difficult, in part because of the intense withdrawal symptoms.
Those symptoms can include sleep disturbances, irritability, sweating, heart palpitations, elevated blood pressure and stomach problems like dry heaving.
Tapering off the drug needs to be done in a gentle way, ideally under the supervision of a doctor. [end quote]
That doesn’t sound so terrible. But the WSJ describes the hideous problems in detail, even leading to suicide.
Benzos are like opioids – they are like playing with fire. Very helpful in extreme situations but only to be used minimally. If you are still in pain you are taking the right dose. If you take enough to be out of pain you are in danger of addiction.
The widespread use of benzos in the U.S. means that a large part of the population is probably addicted. But people aren’t dying of benzo overdoses the way they die of opioid overdoses so the issue flies under the radar.
Wendy