BB 101: Beginner's Guide

This Beginner's Guide is intended for newer members, to inform you of what you most need to know when you arrive at this community. If you seek more detailed information about making best use of our systems and features, please refer to BB 101: Advanced Guide.

Contents:

Writing your Introduction

Creating and Editing your Posts

Adding your Benzodiazepine 'History' Information to your Profile

Seeking Support from your Peers

As a new member, you can post to nearly any area of our community. But if you seek practical help or support with your use of benzodiazepines (or 'z-drugs'), you will probably introduce yourself to one of these two forums:

1. Benzodiazepine Use, Withdrawal & Recovery
   For general benzo questions and support.
2. Planning your Benzodiazepine Taper
   Help with planning, monitoring, and adjusting your benzodiazepine or z-drug taper.

For general support, coping with side effects, problems with dosing, interactions, etc., please use the first forum listed above. You might join in with (reply to) a general discussion or support another member. But if you require feedback for your particular situation, please start a new topic.

If you instead seek assistance in planning your withdrawal taper, please create a single topic on the Taper forum.

Other particularly useful forums for new members include:

• Insomnia, Depression & Anxiety
• Helpdesk (private contact with the team, for non-support orientated, technical matters)

But please post to whichever community forum feels most appropriate for you.

When seeking support, please detail the benzodiazepine(s) or z-drug(s) you take, the dose, for how long you have been taking them, changes to your dosing regimen (particularly if recent) and any prior use too. And please include information about other medications you think might affect your situation. This information will better inform members and enable them to provide you with better feedback and support.

Please be aware that many of your fellow Buddies are also going through withdrawal or are managing their recovery. When seeking support, try to balance including all relevant information with being succinct, as shorter posts are more likely to receive responses from other members. The use of paragraphs, lists, and bullet points is helpful.

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You can post to almost all of our forums. Simply click the 'Start new topic' button towards the top of the relevant forum, or the 'Reply to this topic' within an existing topic which might be of interest to you.

The 'text editor' allows you to format and style your post. Just highlight text you wish to style and click the appropriate button. When you have finished composing your post, click the 'Submit reply' button (bottom-right of the text editor).

If you need to go back and edit your post:

(Top-right of your post) click the 'meatball' menu (...) => select 'Edit' => make your changes => click 'Edit Topic' (bottom-right)

You can edit your post for up to 24 hours.

If you need to edit the title of a topic you started, it is a similar process, but you must select 'Edit' for the opening topic post.

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The most important information to include in your profile is your 'History'. There, you will detail your present and prior use of benzodiazepines and 'z-drugs', doses, approximate dates, and any other medications and details you think is relevant. The use of lists to format your History might be helpful. These details will help fellow Buddies provide you with better feedback. Try to keep the information succinct.

Profile => 'Edit Profile' => Detail your 'History' => click 'Save' (bottom-right)

While you are adding your History, you will notice another text editor box, 'About me'. You can use About me to detail other aspects of your life, your guiding philosophy, or almost anything else you would like your fellow Buddies to know about you. (But we strongly suggest that members do not include personally identifying information).

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There are several avenues of support, interaction and help available to you at BenzoBuddies:

• Forums
• Personal Messaging (PMs)
• Groups
• Chat Room
• Helpdesk (for purely technical matters)

Forums: We have already detailed much of what you need to know about seeking support on our forums. But you should also refer to our guidelines/rules for more detailed information what we allow and do not allow.

Main menu => About => Guidelines

Personal Messaging: Please note that we do not allow for discussion of withdrawal and taper support via PM. This is for your safety, as narrow or erroneous information provided there cannot be expanded upon or corrected by other members. For more detailed information please refer to:

Rules & Policy Documents (forum) => Guidelines for Use of Direct Messaging System

Groups: These semi-autonomous areas operate under the same general guidelines as the rest of the community. Though, individual groups might have additional requirements and rules, detailed (if applicable) when you join the group.

Main menu => Browse => Groups

Chat Room: Chat is for chit-chat. Please do not use this space for detailed discussion about tapers or for seeking withdrawal support. If you need support and help for withdrawal or planning your taper, instead use the appropriate forum.

Helpdesk: Contact the team privately with any technical matters or concerns which you do not wish to discuss on the open forums. This is not a withdrawal or taper support space. You might also post to our Technical Support forum where other members might provide you with a more prompt answer to your technical questions.

Home page => Community Affairs (category) =>

• Feedback & Technical Support (forum)
• Helpdesk (forum)

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