Re:A drug that cures alcoholism may be the next anti-anxiety...
by nickjj on Saturday April 16, 2022 @08:44AM
(#31051857)
> Advocating for people to switch from alcohol to xanax to quit drinking… this is utter madness and I strongly advise anyone who reads this to completely disregard this advice.
Yeah, absolutely.
This recently happened to someone I knew who was addicted to alcohol, 9 months later they died from a combo of alcohol, Xanax and Fentanyl.
Let me preface this with I'm not a doctor, I also never tried Xanax / Fentanyl and I don't "really" drink alcohol. The air quotes mean I drink about a handful of beers a year at assorted family events and occasionally when socializing. I'm not saying that to brag or be like "look at me, I'm above that!", I just want to paint the picture here that I don't have first hand experience on how easily it is to get addicted to this stuff, know what it feels like or how hard it must be to quit.
Anyways, here's 1 potential formula for how someone ends up dying after being prescribed Xanax when a doctor knows the patient has addictive behaviors and drinks a lot:
1. They're addicted to alcohol to the point where they feel compelled to drink very often. Not just a beer a day, but more like lots and lots of Vodka.
2. They try going to rehab multiple times and it fails every time within a month or 2 after returning.
3. They get prescribed Xanax by a doctor.
4. They have an addictive personality in general and get addicted to Xanax.
5. This helps for a brief amount of time (weeks or months perhaps).
6. They end up drinking again.
7. They very quickly discover drinking while taking Xanax has a whole new effect.
8. They run out of prescribed Xanax.
9. They attempt to find it on the street and do.
10. They enter a world of street drugs and now Xanax turns into Xanax plus Fentanyl (intentional or not, I don't know how it becomes laced, etc.).
11. They do this combo for a bit and one day they go-to sleep and never wake up from heart failure.
The question I ask myself all the time now is if step 3 didn't happen, would the outcome have been the same? My gut tells me no way, being introduced to Xanax started the chain of events that lead to death.
Yeah, absolutely.
This recently happened to someone I knew who was addicted to alcohol, 9 months later they died from a combo of alcohol, Xanax and Fentanyl.
Let me preface this with I'm not a doctor, I also never tried Xanax / Fentanyl and I don't "really" drink alcohol. The air quotes mean I drink about a handful of beers a year at assorted family events and occasionally when socializing. I'm not saying that to brag or be like "look at me, I'm above that!", I just want to paint the picture here that I don't have first hand experience on how easily it is to get addicted to this stuff, know what it feels like or how hard it must be to quit.
Anyways, here's 1 potential formula for how someone ends up dying after being prescribed Xanax when a doctor knows the patient has addictive behaviors and drinks a lot:
1. They're addicted to alcohol to the point where they feel compelled to drink very often. Not just a beer a day, but more like lots and lots of Vodka.
2. They try going to rehab multiple times and it fails every time within a month or 2 after returning.
3. They get prescribed Xanax by a doctor.
4. They have an addictive personality in general and get addicted to Xanax.
5. This helps for a brief amount of time (weeks or months perhaps).
6. They end up drinking again.
7. They very quickly discover drinking while taking Xanax has a whole new effect.
8. They run out of prescribed Xanax.
9. They attempt to find it on the street and do.
10. They enter a world of street drugs and now Xanax turns into Xanax plus Fentanyl (intentional or not, I don't know how it becomes laced, etc.).
11. They do this combo for a bit and one day they go-to sleep and never wake up from heart failure.
The question I ask myself all the time now is if step 3 didn't happen, would the outcome have been the same? My gut tells me no way, being introduced to Xanax started the chain of events that lead to death.