The Dizziness Group: For those who are floating, boating, falling or flying

[[La...]]

Hi BarkLee,

Welcome Aboard! Nice to meet you, but of course, I'm sorry you're lost at sea like the rest of us. Am I reading your signature correctly... you were on the medication for about a month? If so, the fact that you didn't take anything for a very long time could put you in a very good place as far as healing goes. We can't know for sure, but I'm going to keep my fingers crossed for you and hope that it's all short-lived. I do agree with you that genetics play a huge role in how things go for each one of us.

 

 

[[Yo...]]

I read an article recently about a study that came to the astounding conclusion that prescribing Benzodiazepines "as needed" could be linked to abuse. Gee, ya think?? That's exactly what happened to me. I felt I needed it nightly! The medical community is about 40 years late in addressing this problem. I saw a documentary, or news report, dating back to the late '70s warning about these drugs. It's disgusting. Ironically, my poison, Clonazepam, was approved for use the year and month I was born... 

[[Yo...]]

Hi BarkLee! Lapis, being the captain here, speaks for all of us!   

 

I got hissing in both ears too. Try this masking noise:

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nKo4jYDO9FQ

 

It works well for me. Welcome aboard!

[[pr...]]

Can anywe me still drive with these symptoms?

 

 

i've been able to drive short distances since the beginning in acute withdrawal, don't know how? i have always also been able to shower myself as i know of another buddie who doesn't come on here that much any longer was needing to have his wife bath him for the good part of 2 years and over. i have no idea how i have been able to drive when i couldn't and still kinda can't do much of anything else. i've lived on my sofa, my computer chair and my arm chair for a very long time. pretty much also live in nightgowns. this is all getting very old and i'm done with it by now. and you guys know that i've been on to always talk about my improvements and success.

[[La...]]

Can anywe me still drive with these symptoms?

 

 

i've been able to drive short distances since the beginning in acute withdrawal, don't know how? i have always also been able to shower myself as i know of another buddie who doesn't come on here that much any longer was needing to have his wife bath him for the good part of 2 years and over. i have no idea how i have been able to drive when i couldn't and still kinda can't do much of anything else. i've lived on my sofa, my computer chair and my arm chair for a very long time. pretty much also live in nightgowns. this is all getting very old and i'm done with it by now. and you guys know that i've been on to always talk about my improvements and success.

 

Hey prettydaisys,

When you were driving, did the motion of the car seem to block out (or counteract, as the case may be) your dizziness? A lot of people find that. It's kind of the opposite of motion sickness, and it makes sense, when you think about it.

 

I'm still so thrilled to know that your dizziness is gone! Did it fade away, or did it seem to go more suddenly?

[[La...]]

I read an article recently about a study that came to the astounding conclusion that prescribing Benzodiazepines "as needed" could be linked to abuse. Gee, ya think?? That's exactly what happened to me. I felt I needed it nightly! The medical community is about 40 years late in addressing this problem. I saw a documentary, or news report, dating back to the late '70s warning about these drugs. It's disgusting. Ironically, my poison, Clonazepam, was approved for use the year and month I was born... 

 

Hi YSMANL,

There's a Health Canada document on benzodiazepines from 1982 stating that the meds shouldn't be taken for more than a week or two. Yup, 35 years ago! I also found a 1987 Canadian Medical Association Journal article about findings from the Toronto General Family Practice. It's called "Benzodiazepines: Are We Overprescribing?" Yes, they were then, and they still are.

 

 

[[Yo...]]

It seems every 5 years or so there's an "exposé" about the dangers of Benzodiazepines, but nothing changes as you say.

 

Ahh 1982... I was watching E.T. and going to Chuck E. Cheese... Ahh 1987, I was watching The Lost Boys and saw Gowan and The Spoons at Hamilton Place... 

[[HO...]]

Yeah..I drive but not often and only very short distances...for the most part though I saty away from driving because its just not safe

 

 

Funny thing is I have the mal debarquement syndrome mostly  so when I am in motion I feel the best...not that I am EVER well just less of the Bobble head

Did you have this before withdrawl?

[[la...]]

Hope...I had some times that it was VERY weak and very rare  nothing I ever paid attention to...This is a whole different kind of BEAST

[Guest [Lu...]]

youshookme, ha, i was just talking about 1982 with my big sister, E.T., blade runner, wrath of khan, etc ahhhhh great time to be young.

 

ive noticed too that while im driving, if im not at my worst, it kinda can distract from the drunken boaty nightmare,m but then when i arrive at my destination and get out of my car, oh man my symptoms are ramped up. that was yet another wonderful side effect i had no idea what the hell was happening then i came on here and saw other people with trouble driving.

 

what fun all this...

 

lainey did you see my big crazy rambling post at ya a few pages back? hehe

 

by the gods im getting tired of this 24/7 bad acid trip, i just want to be a normal dude again....okay well i was never normal, but arghhhhhhh to this withdrawal, boaty whackiness please relent.

 

lol im at my desk at work right now barely able to sit up straight, the people around me have no idea that the guy sitting near them is agoraphobic, dizzy, on the verge of falling over with racing thoughts.... but, "oh, hello there work person, hows the weather?" *luke smiles as if all is well and carries on* things usually subside a teeny bit around noon, the boatyness likes to cling to the morning heightened symptoms.

 

sry, rambling like a looney person, im feeling a lil cut i did a few days ago, at roughly 3.8mg diazepam now.....

[[La...]]

Hey Luke,

I  think you're doing a fabulous job of the "fake it until you make it" withdrawal program! It's not easy, but you may win an Academy Award for best male performance in a leading benzodiazepine withdrawal role. 

 

That driving effect is something I read about a number of years ago in a newspaper article about Mal de Debarquement Syndrome. The people affected by it (very similar symptoms to ours) liked to go out in cars because the motion of the vehicle counteracted their own sensation of movement. It makes sense from a vestibular point of view. I, too, have had that happen as a passenger (I'm not driving these days).

 

Congrats on the cuts you're making! You're getting there. I don't think anyone would recommend a cold-turkey at any time, though -- working or not. It's just not a good thing to do.

 

Take care!

[[HO...]]

Hi fellow travelers.

 

I've been visiting the BB site for months but this is my 1st time posting. The noise in my head gets so loud that the roar from my hairdryer does not drown it out. Other days I can actually ignore it. Sometimes on my dizzy days, which usually are accompanied by the hissing in my head, I feel like I'm on a small boat in the ocean and can feel the rolling of the waves and feel my stomach go out from under me as though my small boat got dropped from a wave. I don't try to drive on those days.

 

I'm 8 months out from c/t off Zoloft and Valium. Definitely better than the first few months but still no where near healed. I will never know if my experience would have been less of a hellish nightmare if I would have tapered. I expected a few bad days but had no clue that the drugs had done so much damage and I that would loose a large piece of my life. This board gives me hope but I'm not convinced that I will ever fully recover. I suspect that genetic sensitivity plays a roll in the degree of damage and symptoms I have experienced. My best to all of you. Your stories have literally saved my life.

 

What do you mean by genetics? I thought everyone could fully heal. Scared!

[[La...]]

Hi fellow travelers.

 

I've been visiting the BB site for months but this is my 1st time posting. The noise in my head gets so loud that the roar from my hairdryer does not drown it out. Other days I can actually ignore it. Sometimes on my dizzy days, which usually are accompanied by the hissing in my head, I feel like I'm on a small boat in the ocean and can feel the rolling of the waves and feel my stomach go out from under me as though my small boat got dropped from a wave. I don't try to drive on those days.

 

I'm 8 months out from c/t off Zoloft and Valium. Definitely better than the first few months but still no where near healed. I will never know if my experience would have been less of a hellish nightmare if I would have tapered. I expected a few bad days but had no clue that the drugs had done so much damage and I that would loose a large piece of my life. This board gives me hope but I'm not convinced that I will ever fully recover. I suspect that genetic sensitivity plays a roll in the degree of damage and symptoms I have experienced. My best to all of you. Your stories have literally saved my life.

 

What do you mean by genetics? I thought everyone could fully heal. Scared!

 

Hi HOPE02,

Genetics play a role when it comes to medication metabolism. There's a system of liver enzymes -- CYP450 -- and depending on those enzymes, one person may metabolize a given medication more quickly or slowly than another. Other medications and substances can play roles as well by causing interactions. I don't want to speak on behalf of BarkLee, but I don't think we have clear evidence at this point about who heals and who does not. If it exists, it hasn't been shared around here, or we'd all know about it.

 

 

[[Yo...]]

Hey, who killed the thread?

 

Don't make Luke and me reminisce about '80s movies to keep things moving, cuz we will, right Luke?

 

Let's start with 1983's 3-D movie revival! I only saw the superlative Jaws 3-D, and Metalstorm. The latter featured a cyborg that shot green acid, or something, out of his robotic arm! In 3-D!

 

(tumbleweed rolls by)

[[...]]

Okay, how about something a little different down memory lane.  Anyone remember this one?  Not sure if it was big in Nth America, I was away in Oz for a bit, and it was huge there.  There are several different videos of it on Youtube but I chose this one cos of her way cool hairdo! 

 

 

[[Yo...]]

It said "this video is not available"... But found another vid with same song title. Probably a cover version. Worst song I ever heard! Famous Aussie actors trying to be funny, and failing, in it too!

 

[[Yo...]]

Should've won a prize for worst director and worst everything in a video! 

[[...]]

Oh no, that one's beyond terrible.  Search Youtube for the original, like I say there are quite a few.  I still love this song, lol, really takes me back ... there's something quite mesmerizing about them, mainly her!

 

Promises - Baby It's You

[[Yo...]]

Ok, yeah the original is catchy. Don't think it charted over here. Think you might be alone in reminiscing about it!

[[...]]

:laugh:   Thanks for nothin'!  But, yea, it's a goodie, she had an amazing voice.  Okay, I just looked it up, it was huge in Europe and Oz apparently but didn't make it big elsewhere.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promises_(group)

[[Yo...]]

Watching Bob Ross paint now. He just loaded a 2 inch brush with Van Dyke Brown! Shit just got serious! 

 

"Baby it's you! Who makes me feel the way that you do!" 

[[La...]]

Hey, who killed the thread?

 

Don't make Luke and me reminisce about '80s movies to keep things moving, cuz we will, right Luke?

 

Let's start with 1983's 3-D movie revival! I only saw the superlative Jaws 3-D, and Metalstorm. The latter featured a cyborg that shot green acid, or something, out of his robotic arm! In 3-D!

 

(tumbleweed rolls by)

 

Hey YSMANL,

Sometimes we get a little quiet, so the thread isn't necessarily "dead", it might just be "resting". I've had to deal with some intensely bad days, and I just couldn't see well enough through my tear-filled contact lenses to read or write much around here. I'm not sure if it's the same with others. It goes in waves (yes, pun intended) around here!

 

I do hope others aren't having horrible days too. If so, hang in there, Everyone!

 

 

[[Yo...]]

No need to explain, Lapis. I figured as much. Hope you're feeling a little better today.

[[la...]]

Horrible is an UNDERSTATEMENT

[[La...]]

No need to explain, Lapis. I figured as much. Hope you're feeling a little better today.

 

Thanks. Still crying. Not there yet.