Benzos vs barbs as anxiolytics
I know that barbiturates are clearly more potent than benzos as hypnotics, but
what about their effect in relieving anxiety? Are benzos any more effective in
alleviating anxiety than barbiturates, or would the opposite be true? My
understanding is that benzos are more selective regarding the parts of the brain
that they affect (hence the small chance of respiratory depression, for
instance), but do barbs affect all the same parts of the brain that benzos do?
I mean is there any part of the brain that has to do with anxiety that benzos
act on that barbiturates don't? At the doses used for barbiturates as
sedatives, say 30 to 50 mg of pentobarbital three times a day, is tolerance any
more of a problem than it would be for benzos?
Regarding the difference between the therapeutic dose and lethal dose, my
understanding is that the lethal dose of the shorter acting barbiturates such as
secobarbital is roughly ten times the hypnotic dose (so perhaps twenty times the
sedative dose?). Granted, the benzos are hardly lethal at all unless mixed with
other {*filter*} or {*filter*}, but let's look at the regular dose of Tylenol, say 1
gram, compared to toxic doses, quoting from posts within the past week to these
news groups:
"Tylenol (acetaminophen) reaches the upper limits in dosing at 4 grams/day
for acute use (less than 2 weeks) and 2.6 grams/day for long term chronic use.
This
translates to 8 tabs/day acutely and 5 tabs/day chronically."
and . . .
"The toxic does is different for individuals.
"UK liver transplant unit figures suggest that toxic paracetamol
damage can start at around 7g /24 hours. It's variable, depends on
the size of dose, and the timings of doses, and the body's innate
ability to take care of itself.
"Don't go above the 4g/day for an {*filter*} guideline and you will be safe."
-----------
Do you have to have the IQ of a genius to realize that taking ten times the
normal dose of a sleeping pill might kill you? Don't most people realize that
taking ten times the normal dose of Tylenol would, at the very least, be a very
dumb thing to do? Don't people realize that if you purify contaminated water
with chlorine bleach that you don't dump a cup of bleach into a quart of water
and then drink it? I mean don't most people have enough common sense to check
these things out before they act? Well, I could go on about this but I think
I've made my feelings clear.
