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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Seizures can happen when addicts are withdrawing from alcohol or benzos - Xanax, Klonopin, Ativan, or Valium typically. Both alcohol and benzos more or less hit the same neurotransmitters. From a brain's perspective, Xanax and the other benzos are basically alcohol in a pill.

Over time, an addict will develop a physiological dependency that can be very serious. When you remove alcohol and/or benzos from their system, the brain goes haywire. It's like the brakes are gone, and suddenly the accelerator is being pressed hard on their central nervous system. Seizures - as well as strokes, heart attacks, delirium tremens and an all around bad time - can often result as they go through the withdrawal process.

Severe alcohol withdrawal is typically over with within a week. Benzo withdrawal can take much longer. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. It's a process that goes on and on and on.

[b]Opioid withdrawal might make an addict feel like death, but medically, it's nothing serious.[/b] Physically, they'll be fine within a week or so. They don't really need a heavy duty medical intervention. The suck isn't life-threatening.

The alcohol and benzo addicts are the ones that often need to be in the hospital as they go through withdrawal. That can kill. It's no fun at all for the severe addicts.

The seizures your benzo and alcohol addicted friends complained about were almost certainly caused by withdrawal, which can happen within hours of their last use.

People in an active state of addiction tend to lie. People in recovery from addiction tend to be rigorously honest. So, judge accordingly with whatever they tell you.[/quote]

The bolded is irresponsibly inaccurate. Like anything else that makes you rapidly lose fluids (via vomiting, sweating, diarrhea), you can throw off your electrolyte balance and screw up your heart. https://ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/blog/yes-people-can-die-opiate-withdrawal

Recovering addicts aren't exactly psychologically equipped to handle all that alone, and most don't pre-stock pedialyte or the like for their detox journey.[/quote]

Ok. But needing some pedialyte isn't exactly the same as the massive amount of medical intervention a severe alcoholic requires. Vomiting is not the same as the DTs, strokes, grand mal seizures, and heart attacks. In the detox wards, the opioid addicts aren't typically the problem. The alcoholics and benzo addicts can be a week long nightmare. And that's if they get there before liver failure has set in. Not to mention pancreatitis and a host of other things. These people die without a medically-supervised detox. And sometimes they die anyway.

I don't mean to diminish opioid addiction at all. But I do mean to stress how dangerous alcohol and benzo withdrawal can be. Regardless of the substance, the brain is going to require a long time to heal. But for the acute withdrawal stage, alcohol and benzos typically present with far more severe symptoms. And that's what's likely causing the seizures here. [/quote]

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