Posted by yxibow on February 5, 2007, at 1:04:39
In reply to Re: Ashton Rocks! » yxibow, posted by Quintal on February 5, 2007, at 0:17:37
> Something seems wrong with my last post - can't seem to load it into my web browser. I'll repost it here just in case it's disabled for some reason.
The board ate it, I already saw that
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> > My problem was not with ashton nor did i say anything negative of her except that the titration schedules she reccomends seem extremely long and not needed.
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> I would concur on that
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> In his initial post dbc posted this statement:
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> >Despite how nice it is what she said The Ashton Manual is complete and utter b*llshit.
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> Hardly a complement to the venerable Prof. Heather Ashton.Well he's entitled to his opinion too.
> Prof. Ashton's suggested taper schedules are extremely long so as to give people plenty of space and time to adjust their lives around the schedule and produce no withdrawal symptoms at all if followed correctly. She has always maintained that people should adjust the schedules according to their own preferences and reduce the dose at their own pace, not hers, the doctors, the psychiatrist's or anyone else's. Believe me, that way is much better than a Gestapo style 'tough love' withdrawal advocated by some of the true ani-benzo fanatics.Benzo tapers should be something done as a collaborative effort between a rational psychopharmacologist and his or her patient. But that doesn't mean that it takes 2 years to get off of a few milligrams of Valium nor does it say you should drop benzodiazepines like a lead brick.
I am well versed in the latter as engaging in that myself only to have half of the Tranxene given back by the worst psychiatrist I've ever had in my life and have permanent scalp spasms and head to toe "lockup", 10 years later.But, what do you figure of a male hating psychiatrist who ran the college psych counseling place like her fiefdom.
Granted they don't come often and aren't painful but I would oh so like Soma rather than Robaxin. At least I don't crack my neck now as much.
Anyhow, I think I've described that before. It still doesn't mean that I'm anti-benzo. In fact I think they're the safest psychiatric medications when used as directed and I would be in far worse condition now without them having a rare disorder.
No arguments of the prior, but it also shouldn't be purely run by the patient, witness my earlier foray that I just mentioned.
> >Its not clear that benzo.org.anti is "run" by her -- it seems to be some other person disseminating information. I'm not clear of the connection between the foresaid individual and the site.
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> I don't think benzo.org is run by Heather Ashton. I also suspect she has never launched a publicity campaign against benzos herself, but she has taken up invitations to give evidence as a professional speaker on their behalf. I know she has done her best to dissociate herself from those groups who have tried to use her work as a weapon in their scare-mongering to get benzos off the market.
That's good, because that site is well.. I won't go further.> >I too think the whole thing is kind of scary and we've had several "trolls" about benzodiazepines not to mention a recent person I won't mention who seems to be anti-medicine and new to the board.
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> You finding a particular poster's views upsetting does not make them a 'troll'. I hope you're not trying to imply any connection between myself and that person yxibow?
No its not directed at you at all. I'm not going to target individuals but a certain poster seemed vigorous about neuroleptics and spewed arguments including lumping criminals with the "mentally ill", which was rather offensive and never addressed, and then suggested that someone with an MAOI should use Luvox to address their akathisia. That's what I mean by trolling -- the deliberate posting of inflammatory and odd arguments to generate large amounts of waste of time posts.suggested that she is not a benzophobic fanatic that will stop at nothing to rid the UK of those drugs and crush their users. That idea is just absurd, yet it remains incredibly popular here.
Well that's fine, I didn't argue about that. The UK has always been behind with benzodiazepine dispensing.
> I think it's about time someone stood up for Heather Ashton with all the hard work she's done to help people caught up in benzo addiction against their will. What she did for benzos in the 1980s is similar to what many people here wish someone would do for drugs like Paxil and Effexor with their claims of unparalleled freedom from side-effects and withdrawal symptoms - she was an active professional that stood up to the medical profession against fierce criticism, to defend people who were suffering with no support and much ignorance and denial on the part of their doctors. I think she deserves some cheer for that and recognition for her effort, not derision and mindless sniping.
I'm not sure about the against their will part, but again I'll agree to disagree.The sniping came from the person who runs the site, not how decorated this professor may be.
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> >I think I will stay out of the foray
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> You entered the foray when you decided to post here.Perhaps, but we know that we have on file to agree to disagree already.
poster:yxibow
thread:729587
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070201/msgs/729851.html