The horrible history of anxiety treatments.

This is what google says about the withdrawal symptoms caused by barbiturates.

Barbiturates can produce psychological and physical dependence and produce a withdrawal syndrome on the second to fourth day after the drug is suspended. Symptoms include anxiety, restlessness, insomnia, rhythmic intention tremor, dizziness, seizures, and psychosis. If the syndrome is not recognized and correctly treated, hyperthermia, circulatory failure, and death may ensue. Although barbiturates are less frequently used nowadays, they are employed in combination with other drugs in many medications used for the treatment of headache. We report the case of a 54-year-old woman who developed a barbiturate abstinence syndrome when she suspended self-administration of a drug containing butalbital. The patient had been using barbiturates, 900 mg/die, for 2+ years for persistent headache. She was admitted to the hospital because of seizures, hallucinations and delirium not controlled by benzodiazepine and phenothiazine administration. Her symptoms resolved after parenteral phenobarbital administration.

Quaalude’s

When you take Quaaludes, your body processes the drug. Eventually, your body regards the drug as something you need, similar to food or water. After a user decides to stop taking the drug, he might discover that he exhibits the classic symptoms of withdrawal, including:

  • Restless thoughts, feelings and actions
  • Irritability
  • Vomiting
  • Shaking or tremors
  • Seizures
  • Difficulty sleeping
  • Headaches
  • Muscle weakness
  • Confusion
  • Upset stomach
  • Nausea

Benzodiazepines

Typically, benzodiazepine withdrawal is characterized by sleep disturbance, irritability, increased tension and anxiety, depression, panic attacks, hand tremor, shaking, sweating, difficulty with concentration, confusion and cognitive difficulty, memory problems, dry mouth, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite and weight loss, burning sensations and pain in the upper spine, palpitations, headache, nightmares, tinnitus, muscular pain and stiffness, and a host of perceptual changes.[2] More serious symptoms may also occur such as depersonalization, restless legs syndrome, seizures, and suicidal ideation.

Benzodiazepine withdrawal can also lead to disturbances in mental function that persist for several months or years after onset of symptoms (referred to as post-acute-withdrawal syndrome in this form).

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