I'm seeing way too many of my friends in denial

[[Th...]]

My good friend Jill was prescribed Klonopin 3 weeks ago knowing full well The pain it causes. I linked her to this forum, I've sent her articles about it and in the end she is taking it now  She obviously does no believe me. My second friend has been on it awhile as her Dr. said it was the only medicine that would work for her. She is now in tolerance, severely depressed and wont admit the possibility that its being caused by the drug.

 

I just called my mom who is 69 and on 6mg klonopin a day for 20 years and is terribly ill and never leaves the house; they say at her age the dose is equivalent to 12mg . She thinks its another drug causing it.

 

I have the flue on top of bad sxe due to it along with my period. I called her to vent as my symptoms are horrible She told me I need to be going to the hospital because its not Klonopin I'm just "under medicated"  and that I need to stop tapering because I can't handle it and should go back to what I was on and get more....!f I could punch through the phone I would have.

 

It's so frustrating that I wish I could adopt a new family from benzobuddies. Anyone interested in adopting a 38 year old?

 

 

[[Fl...]]

Anyone interested in adopting a 38 year old?

 

Sure, but it might be a bit awkward considering I am only a few years older 

 

Once you have been through this, considering the insanity of the world will drive you insane. It's a pretty helpless feeling knowing that you possess this critical knowledge that no one else believes, isn't it?

[[Te...]]

People depend on the word of doctors instead of we who have gone through it. That's why I keep saying that doctors HAVE to start admitting that these drugs just don't work for everybody and to have informed consent.

[[Th...]]

Anyone interested in adopting a 38 year old?

 

Sure, but it might be a bit awkward considering I am only a few years older 

 

Once you have been through this, considering the insanity of the world will drive you insane. It's a pretty helpless feeling knowing that you possess this critical knowledge that no one else believes, isn't it?

 

Well I don't mind a mom that had me at 3  . I'm sad they have to learn the hard way, but like we all say, people that have not gone through this have no idea. It makes me more sad that so many people are sick and have no idea why.

[[Th...]]

People depend on the word of doctors instead of we who have gone through it. That's why I keep saying that doctors HAVE to start admitting that these drugs just don't work for everybody and to have informed consent.

 

You are right. I've told people not to go by their Dr.s advice and do the research. They take it and think it's some miracle with no idea it will not last long.

[[wa...]]

I had a friend on K who was incontinent in her 40s and wouldn't hear the suggestion that it may be the K.  Doc also put her on Effexor for her depression associated with insomnia and incontinence.  It just seems too remote to them - this idea that it might be the "benign" benzo.  W

[[Th...]]

I had a friend on K who was incontinent in her 40s and wouldn't hear the suggestion that it may be the K.  Doc also put her on Effexor for her depression associated with insomnia and incontinence.  It just seems too remote to them - this idea that it might be the "benign" benzo.  W

 

It's the opposite! Seems it's one of the harder ones.

[[Te...]]

It just seems too remote to them - this idea that it might be the "benign" benzo.  W

 

It's awful that people can even think of Klonopin being "benign." Have the doctor try it out for six months, taper him off quickly, and that will be the last time he talks about it being "benign."

[[be...]]

I've have friends that say the same thing. And to boot, they tell me I should stay on my benzos like they do. But to they do anything productive? No! The are on the dole. I no longer visit them. Some friends. But I have a few who tell me this will be the best decision of my life, so there are some sane people out there.

[[Th...]]

I've have friends that say the same thing. And to boot, they tell me I should stay on my benzos like they do. But to they do anything productive? No! The are on the dole. I no longer visit them. Some friends. But I have a few who tell me this will be the best decision of my life, so there are some sane people out there.

 

Clueless! I called my mom, big mistake, as she is not well at the least. She hates I'm trying to come off these drugs...she told me that I should be on more Klonopin... Advice from a woman that can barely get out of bed or leave the house because of Klonopin herself. I'm done going to that dry well looking for water. 

[[be...]]

I've have friends that say the same thing. And to boot, they tell me I should stay on my benzos like they do. But to they do anything productive? No! The are on the dole. I no longer visit them. Some friends. But I have a few who tell me this will be the best decision of my life, so there are some sane people out there.

 

Clueless! I called my mom, big mistake, as she is not well at the least. She hates I'm trying to come off these drugs...she told me that I should be on more Klonopin... Advice from a woman that can barely get out of bed or leave the house because of Klonopin herself. I'm done going to that dry well looking for water.

 

Well said.

[[xe...]]

Benzos are a total crapshoot, but I know maybe a dozen people who have withdrawn from them after extended use and only 2-3 of those people had much trouble at all. So, I don't find it too useful to get people too alarmed about them; I always encourage people to google their drugs before they just eat them for weeks, but you have to trust other adults to have agency and make their own decisions.

 

I also have at least one close family member who has been on benzos for a long time to deal with otherwise debilitating health problems, who has no interest or plans of ever coming off of them. Maybe at some point that will cause a problem, maybe not, but I get the feeling that even if they caused huge problems starting tomorrow she'd be okay with it because it's sort of given her some amount of control and quality of life for the past couple decades. It's very complex, and we don't gain anything by seeming like extremists.

[[Th...]]

Benzos are a total crapshoot, but I know maybe a dozen people who have withdrawn from them after extended use and only 2-3 of those people had much trouble at all. So, I don't find it too useful to get people too alarmed about them; I always encourage people to google their drugs before they just eat them for weeks, but you have to trust other adults to have agency and make their own decisions.

 

I also have at least one close family member who has been on benzos for a long time to deal with otherwise debilitating health problems, who has no interest or plans of ever coming off of them. Maybe at some point that will cause a problem, maybe not, but I get the feeling that even if they caused huge problems starting tomorrow she'd be okay with it because it's sort of given her some amount of control and quality of life for the past couple decades. It's very complex, and we don't gain anything by seeming like extremists.

 

Agreed, I try to be somewhat tactful about it and just tell them what the possibilities are and what happened to me, but I'm not getting anywhere. At the same time I also mention I visit a support group online that is really only people that have had bad experiences with these drugs. I don't hear from people with no problems. My brother-in-law has debilitating schizophrenia and obviously he needs them because his illness is the bigger evil. What makes me sad is when I see a friend go on such a powerful drug for everyday stress. She decided to take it anyways and I don't bring it up anymore but unfortunately she is spacing out at work now and dropping the ball on things. People get very defensive to the topic if they are on them so I'm keeping my story to myself from now on unless I know the person very intimately. It's obvious it's not working.

[[xe...]]

I'm keeping my story to myself from now on unless I know the person very intimately. It's obvious it's not working.

 

the thing that's distressing to me is understanding how much I completely lost my self-perspective when I was on benzos in a way that kept me from realizing how much they were affecting me, and then seeing that happen in other people who are likewise, literally incapable of having that view of things because they are being reprogrammed by the drug...

[[Lo...]]

I'm keeping my story to myself from now on unless I know the person very intimately. It's obvious it's not working.

 

the thing that's distressing to me is understanding how much I completely lost my self-perspective when I was on benzos in a way that kept me from realizing how much they were affecting me, and then seeing that happen in other people who are likewise, literally incapable of having that view of things because they are being reprogrammed by the drug...

 

I second that. I remember the depression slowly creeping up, the existential dread getting slowly worse, developing more and more fears, feeling more and more fatigued, exercising but feeling tired for days afterwards, listening to music that was darker and darker, becoming very fragile in presence of stressors. And it happened so slowly, until it hit a critical point. I've read plenty of pop psychology/self-help in my youth, so all these symptoms were easily explainable by some sort of mental health theory. Also, I had plenty of anxiety symptoms (IBS, allergy type symptoms, aches/pains, fatigue, panic attacks, worrier mentality) to explain it all away. That was the scariest part. And it was the stupid Ativan. I've never even taken Klonopin, and the longest I've ever taken Xanax was 1 week, and that was more than 10+ years ago.

 

I actually feel kind of angry with myself because my father was a moderate drinker, and my mother used benzos occasionally. It should have been obvious to me that this could become a problem at some point in my life.

I didn't like alcohol, and I was safe there, but I didn't realize these anxiolytics would become the problem

 

I feel like people who haven't been on them need to learn as much as they can about these pills. What may be a small prescription in your 20's may become a huge problem in your 40's

[[Fl...]]

My brother-in-law has debilitating schizophrenia and obviously he needs them because his illness is the bigger evil. What makes me sad is when I see a friend go on such a powerful drug for everyday stress.

 

That's the real problem with these drugs, they are being prescribed for very minor, everyday "conditions". They are basically comfort drugs. I am paying a huge price for the couple of years of comfort they gave me.

 

One note on the schizophrenia thing though- even though it is a lot more serious than something like everyday anxiety, the statistics show that patients who take drugs for it long term do not tend to fare well. This is all outlined in the book Anatomy of an Epidemic. After reading that book you won't look at any of these drugs the same way.

[[Th...]]

I'm keeping my story to myself from now on unless I know the person very intimately. It's obvious it's not working.

 

the thing that's distressing to me is understanding how much I completely lost my self-perspective when I was on benzos in a way that kept me from realizing how much they were affecting me, and then seeing that happen in other people who are likewise, literally incapable of having that view of things because they are being reprogrammed by the drug...

 

I second that. I remember the depression slowly creeping up, the existential dread getting slowly worse, developing more and more fears, feeling more and more fatigued, exercising but feeling tired for days afterwards, listening to music that was darker and darker, becoming very fragile in presence of stressors. And it happened so slowly, until it hit a critical point. I've read plenty of pop psychology/self-help in my youth, so all these symptoms were easily explainable by some sort of mental health theory. Also, I had plenty of anxiety symptoms (IBS, allergy type symptoms, aches/pains, fatigue, panic attacks, worrier mentality) to explain it all away. That was the scariest part. And it was the stupid Ativan. I've never even taken Klonopin, and the longest I've ever taken Xanax was 1 week, and that was more than 10+ years ago.

 

I actually feel kind of angry with myself because my father was a moderate drinker, and my mother used benzos occasionally. It should have been obvious to me that this could become a problem at some point in my life.

I didn't like alcohol, and I was safe there, but I didn't realize these anxiolytics would become the problem

 

I feel like people who haven't been on them need to learn as much as they can about these pills. What may be a small prescription in your 20's may become a huge problem in your 40's

 

I often think of those still out there searching for answers when it's right under their nose, I think some like my mom are in denial. I wonder pre internet if I would have ever known and may have suffered the rest of my life or worse.

[[be...]]

My brother-in-law has debilitating schizophrenia and obviously he needs them because his illness is the bigger evil. What makes me sad is when I see a friend go on such a powerful drug for everyday stress.

 

That's the real problem with these drugs, they are being prescribed for very minor, everyday "conditions". They are basically comfort drugs. I am paying a huge price for the couple of years of comfort they gave me.

 

One note on the schizophrenia thing though- even though it is a lot more serious than something like everyday anxiety, the statistics show that patients who take drugs for it long term do not tend to fare well. This is all outlined in the book Anatomy of an Epidemic. After reading that book you won't look at any of these drugs the same way.

 

I read it and felt the same way, FG............