Anyone take benzos long-term?

[sundestroyer]

I've been on benzodiazepines in the past and how found them to be very effective. I'm currently on risperidone and escitalopram but the latter doesn't work at all for anxiety.

I understand that in the UK/Ireland, GP's/psychiatrists are very reluctant to prescribe these medicines and when they do, it's for short term only. I have a relative in the States who has been on a 0.25mg dose of Xanax for a year without any issues.

Is anyone here like that?

They don't prescribe for anxiety generally and certainly not for long term use.The US has a very different system and things are prescribed in ways that they wouldn't be here.

Doctors got too many people addicted to them in the past without proper warning.

I guess it's a question whether they have now gone too far in the other direction, and are too reluctant to prescribe.

The problem with antidepressants for anxiety, is that may need to go back and forth to your doctors for months trying to find an antidepressant and dosage that works for you; and you may never find one that works properly. And if you need to try things other than SSRIs, well your GP may not want to prescribe, and that means dealing with the mental health team for other medication options assuming of course that they are even willing to accept the referral; and that means even more delay in getting suitable medications.

If people are willing to give informed consent to the risks of benzodiazepines, maybe they should be more used. It's not like we know all the long term risks of antidepressant use, so that could be causing some damage itself; and antidepressants can also cause serious withdrawal symptoms in some cases.

I've been taking Temazepam for years with no problems. They still work ! Occasionally the pharmacist will tell me " they only work for a few weeks" but I haven't found that to be true.

I’ve been taking 2mg diazepam for a year, gp is ok with it and knows I’m not silly with them

Does the conservative approach to prescriptions also apply to opiates? I'll be going for a wisdom tooth extraction next week and my aunt in America is surprised that the oral surgeon is asking me to take ibuprofen + paracetamol only when she gets prescribed something like vicodin or oxycontin.

There is a huge opioid problem in the US (aware this is only relevant to your latest post) so I’m surprised your aunt is so blasé - however I don’t think you should need to be in pain. Hopefully after the local anaesthetic and removal of the problem (the tooth!) you won’t need strong painkillers for too long.
Regarding benzos - there are a small minority who can “be sensible” with them, however they are easy to overdose on, people do develop tolerance to them (not in the same way as opioids) and they have decent street value, which makes a lot of GPs reluctant to prescribe loads. I think people also underestimate the effects they can have, people often appear drunk and disoriented if they have taken a dose they are not used to, and they can really incapacitate people (like you see in rom coms when they take a sleeping tablet).
That being said I do think they have their place for acute issues including panic and anxiety, but meds like Ssris and other antidepressants are better than a short term “fix”.

As someone who has had terrifying panic and anxiety attacks to the point of no return, I must say I wish they weren't so reluctant to prescribe here! Just two weeks ago I was sat in a doctor's office screaming and crying that I had been in blind panic for over twenty four hours and bloody mindfulness was NOT effective! Three doctors coming in later, I was given four 2mg diazepam and told not to ask again. So of course when I left I had a whole new anxiety about them not being string enough/prescribed for long enough to get me out of a two day terror episode and did my doctor think I was some jumped up chancing addict?. A little bit of trust in me would've helped the entire situation

I was quite unwell and took them for 4-5 months straight just last year. I still need them very occasionally and it’s certainly no issue getting them prescribed.
I did feel a bit rough when I stopped them but it wasn’t too awful, perhaps I was lucky.