Flunitrazepam Addiction

Flunitrazepam, also known as Rohypnol, is a benzodiazepine that is used in the short-term treatment of insomnia and as a hypnotic sedative and pre-anesthetic medication. Flunitrazepam addiction is very similar to Diazepam addiction; the only real difference between the two medications is that Flunitrazepam is roughly 10 times stronger and more potent.

Recent police raids and after the fact reports, seem to indicate that the abuse of Flunitrazepam are increasing domestically, especially in the southern and southwestern States. The two primary concerns of course are that each tablet costs only $5 and that it is increasing in popularity with young people by leaps and bounds.

How is Flunitrazepam categorized?

Flunitrazepam is officially manufactured as:

• A sedative
• An extremely powerful hypnotic
• Anticonvulsant
• Anxiolytic
• Muscle relaxant

Rohypnol, Flunitrazepam’s most common name, is prescribed to patients who are extreme insomniacs. Because it is such a strong benzodiazepine, it is most commonly prescribed as a muscle relaxant.

A prescription of Flunitrazepam is generally given to insomniacs who are resistant to other hypnotics. It is intended for short term use only, and because it can be so addictive, the patient must truly stick to the short term prescription. These prescriptions are generally reserved for inpatient use.

Although Flunitrazepam/Rohypnol is almost exclusively referred to as the date rape drug, due to its high potency and ability to act as an amnesiac, investigations have shown quite the opposite. According to research conducted by Michael Robertson from the San Diego Medical Examiner’s office and Dr. Mahmoud El Sohly of El Sohly Laboratories, test results indicated that Flunitrazepam was only used in around 1% of reported date rapes according to Robertson and 0.33% according to urine lab tests done by El Sohly.

Flunitrazepam causes addiction in humans, and once Flunitrazepam addiction has been established, several symptoms begin to present. Should someone decide to abstain for some reason, there can be serious withdrawal symptoms. These include:

• Extreme anxiety and tension
• Headaches
• Muscle pain
• Confusion
• Irritability
• Numbness and tingling in hands and extremities
• Hallucinations
• Loss of Identity
• Convulsions
• Total cardiovascular system collapse

These withdrawal symptoms can last anywhere from one week to one month after the addict has stopped using the drug. Even when the patient slowly tapers off the medication, which is a must, and the symptoms begin to lessen, the withdrawal can still be horribly hellacious.

In Miami, Florida, where the drug is both readily available and extremely popular, it is becoming the fastest growing drug problem. Other reports reveal that in Miami, the largest using population is high school students, who combine the drug with either cocaine or alcohol, or both.
Common Misconceptions About Rohypnol:

• That it is safe, or unadulterated because in comes in sealed bubble packs.
• That it is not detectable through drug testing.

In Sweden 52% of all drug forgeries are explicitly for benzodiazepines, and the vast majority of those were for both Nitrazepam and flunitrazepam.

The drug is often used to produce profound intoxication, to increase the sedative effects of heroin and to ease the anxiety of stimulant use. To lessen the crash that follows meth or cocaine usage, when mixed with alcohol, it allows oblivion to be achieved.

Available treatments for Flunitrazepam addiction

• Behavioral Therapy
• Psychotherapy
• CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy)

The main problem with all of these recovery programs available around, and the use of, say, 12 Step Programs, is that they do not treat the entire person. Many times the user/abuser/addict becomes nothing but a number, they are not treated as people, they are not treated as individuals, and they are not treated as an independent case. Generally speaking they are lumped together, and their chances of recovery are severely impeded.

Drug addiction has devastating effects on every aspect of the addict’s life. Their family relationships, their intimate relationships, their work life, and especially their health, all suffer gravely. Many therapists believe, and believe correctly, that the entire person must be treated in order for them to have any chance at long term success. Nobody wants to stay sober for 6 months, just start getting their life back together and have to start all over again, because they missed something.

An addict, especially one with Flunitrazepam addiction has to eat healthy food, breathe healthy air, read healthy books, hang out with healthy people, and change, literally, every aspect of their lives! Here is a list of some of the things that an addict can do to help them heal and continue the process of recovery.

• Find a nutritional therapist
• Take herbal medicine; detox your body, enough of all these pills!
• Find a certified practitioner, and do acupuncture/acupressure
• Guided Imagery
• Creative Visualization
• Biofeedback
• Homeopathy
• Meditation

If you are not treating the entire you, then why should anyone else? To follow this list will be expensive, but nowhere near as costly as all the money that you have flushed down the toilet of your addiction. You have a choice here. Keep spending money on the stuff that will kill you until it does, which it will 100%, or spend it on a list that will help to save your life. It is your choice, and the choice is simple, live or die. Which one you choose is up to you. Find some spirituality, hit that list, and move on with your life.