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Yeah, well I took 3, got to sleep, I’m still alive and sick and tired of all these fresh out of school doctors who think they know what’s good for me. Obviously I didn’t tell my doctor I was taking all 3 of my rx at once and I’m not going to. I wish they’d get over this addiction/dependency issue. I also am on pain management for degenerative disc disease and I take 2. - 7.5 hydrocodone a day. I don’t think I’m addicted to that either because sometimes if I lay around all day and don’t exert myself, I don’t experience pain so I don’t take it at all. When I had my knee replaced, that hurt like hell and I was on 2 5mg oxycodone for the pain. After two months, the pain was a lot less and I went down to 1 pill each time I needed it. When the pain subsided completely, I stopped taking them. I have never had a problem with these drugs. However, I read something on the internet recently that said people become addicted because of the euphoric effects. Well, I’ve never had a euphoric effect- just a cessation of pain. Maybe that’s why I don’t get addicted because I haven’t taken more of the pain killers than the doctor prescribed and promptly stopped once I noticed the pain was gone. Back to the sleep issue, that’s a tough one. I did take more than the doctor prescribed but I slept without side effects or any drugged feeling upon waking with the clonazapam. I have been on it for years but once the nurse practitioner reduced my dose when the doctor was on vacation and I had a temper tantrum, ripped up the prescription and threw it on the floor and left. Since this was when I was on ambien, I didn’t experience any sleep issues and I also had no problem going without clonazapam for over 4 months other than a return of my anxiety issues. After that time I returned to the doctor and he put me back on the clonazapam at my regular dose. If the ambien had continued working, I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing now to get sleep. I have tried literally everything since my sleep issues have been doing on since my 30s and I’m 73 now. I wish the ambien still worked.
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Please know that there is no condemnation here at all. We just do the best we can and that includes when drugs work for our issues. I, too, do not feel like I was "addicted" in the sense of craving a drug or taking more than prescribed. I was just alerted to the dangers of taking psych drugs, particularly benzos, regularly. It is just like when pain killers became an evil, but they are not when they are needed. I have a friend who is a Stage 4 cancer survivor and I remember when she had fentanyl patches daily and oxycontin for break through pain. She has been off any pain meds for 5 yrs now. I know those were crucial in her ability to go through her cancer and treatments. All these drugs have a purpose and just because there is the potential for abuse and overuse and side effects does not mean they don't have a good therapeutic effect in the right circumstances.