[zijax]

Tonight I really wanted to drink. But I didn't want to mess things up. So i took a couple benzos instead and I felt totally OK. I ended up having a good time in a difficult situation. I was able to relax and the awful craving left me. I'm wondering if benzos could be used in place of alcohol when the cravings come on. If I'm substituting one drug for another benzos seem harmless compared to alcohol.

[childofchaos831]

I would say, as someone who was hooked on benzos, to be careful. They are addictive, and for me, were harder to kick. The detox is horrible, and takes a long time. If they are prescribed, try to not go over the written dose. Also, I highly recommend not taking the benzos and then drinking as well. It's extremely dangerous.

Chaos

[Misssy2]

The Drs have told me for years that benzos "play" on the same pat of the brain as alcohol.

Which was their good reason for not wanting to prescribe them to me....for fear that it would lead me to a drink. I DID convince the Dr. I had after 8 years of sobriety (as long as she kept prescribing 3x a day)....that I would be ok. AND I WAS.

I agree with your assessment of how they can take you from bad to good in 20 minutes..and not all ****-UP'd.

I also agree with childofchaos assessment that BE CAREFUL...because although I only took my 3x a day....when a new Dr. cut them to 1x a day....I could not handle it.

God forbid if I had ever been taking more than 3 a day (prescribed) because I would have felt just like I did or worse than when I come down from alcohol. So, that is the only reason I am telling you to be careful.

Yes, they are very useful. I myself...prefered drug is alcohol...so I never thought about taking more benzos because I don't like drugs that much....but I do LOVE the Lorazepam I have. Because I feel NORMAL when I take them.

Basically, I agree with you....that benzos reduce cravings for alcohol. But, Dr.s are ridiculous with prescribing them now....I did finally get my 3 back this week.

[Kuras]

Please don't fall into the trap of thinking that benzos are harmless. Don't get me wrong, they're great meds and certainly have a place in treating certain things. But they are also have a high addiction potential (obvious not great for an addict) and your body easily develops a tolerance over time. Having withdrawn from both benzos and alcohol (along with other things), I can tell you that, even apart from the seizures, delirium tremens, etc, I almost stroked out and died. Was hospitalized multiple times over the course of my detox and treatment. Was so bad that they literally had to feed me multiple anticonvulsants and lower dosages of different benzos until they could slowly taper me off those. Does that mean that everyone will have the same withdrawal experience as someone like me? No it doesn't. But the point is that are still very real dangers to benzodiazepines. Please do not take them in any manner other than what an informed doctor would have you do. And if you take them, do NOT take them along with alcohol. You're playing with an extremely large fire at that point.