How do we educate our doctors and those in our lives?

[[ca...]]

This is really long overdue! With the opioid epidemic taking front and center in the news, benzos should also be included in this world medical crisis. Everybody that has gone through this has had the experience of having a doctor tell the patient that this can't be withdrawal. It may not be withdrawal after a few months but it doent mean that we have recovered from this trama. It may be that the medical community isn't ready to admitting that it has traumatised millions. An education program needs to take place! Doctors need educated as well as the public. Were will this come from?

 

After I have spent many months dealing with this, reading the experiences of others and the experiences I have had, we share the same frustrations and we want answers. I think we deserve it and the public needs to be protected from being misguided into thinking that these drugs are like taking 2 asprin for a headache.

 

I will be 3 years off in November. My withdrawal period was probably over after my accute stage of about 4 months. The rest of this time has been recovery and healing. I'm not quite there, I  still have reminders that pop up but I  do feel progress. This is definitely going to leave a mark!

 

Writing this has been therapeutic!  I hope this is of some use to those reading this!

[[Pe...]]

I have sent close family and my partner a link to Jennifer Leigh's blog benzo withdrawal help. She has a good post "what we wish friends and family knew about benzo withdrawals."

 

I'm too weak to deal with doctors at this point

[[ne...]]

Yeah, she had some very good articles over there... too bad the site is now down! :'(

I can't do much my self at the moment, but definetly agree that we should bring this to more awerness.

[[ca...]]

There was an article floating around on Facebook about doctors prescribing Xanax for pain associated with Lyme Disease. I weighed in on the discussion and shared my experience. I was a little taken back by the response I got from a couple of longtime users of Xanax. They considered it life saving and that my comment showed inconsideration for their dependency. After some thought I came to the conclusion that those that have been on it for some time view it as just another medication to cope with life. We know the dangers and the consequences. We know that breaking away from this is extremely difficult and few find the path to freedom. The article talked about the deadly consequences of it's use and how doctors abuse the prescribing of drugs.

 

This ordeal has opened my eyes to what these medications can do to people and their lives. Nobody should suffer the way we have!

 

Thank you for your input!

 

 

[[al...]]

You can't educate those arrogant mother******.

 

Sorry, not in the right mood right now.

[[ne...]]

Hi camre, I happen to know a long time Xanax user myself, and sadly it's my own brother. In fact, he convinced me to go the benzo route myself.

 

Thing is, my nervous system couldn't handle them, and after only two months I was thrown into serious withdrawal. After ridiculous amount of tests and doctors that couldn't tell me what was wrong, I finally figured it out myself after another two months of agony. Dear God, I had no idea when I started what it would cost me. The info just isn't out there, in the "collective consciousness" let's say, people are not aware. I sure wasn't, and can't convince my brother either. 

 

So, I imagine some strangers on the Internet are probably even harder to convince. Cognitive dissonace, I guess?

 

[[ca...]]

Hi camre, I happen to know a long time Xanax user myself, and sadly it's my own brother. In fact, he convinced me to go the benzo route myself.

 

Thing is, my nervous system couldn't handle them, and after only two months I was thrown into serious withdrawal. After ridiculous amount of tests and doctors that couldn't tell me what was wrong, I finally figured it out myself after another two months of agony. Dear God, I had no idea when I started what it would cost me. The info just isn't out there, in the "collective consciousness" let's say, people are not aware. I sure wasn't, and can't convince my brother either. 

 

So, I imagine some strangers on the Internet are probably even harder to convince. Cognitive dissonace, I guess?

 

Thank you for sharing your experience. It is my hope that your recovery is around the corner! What people don't know can hurt them. I tell those that I am close to about what I have gone through and what I have learned through my research. My wife understands and is very supportive. This helps a lot and it takes away the unnecessary stress that goes with this.

[[Gr...]]

When I was taking klonopin I really did think it was helping me.  When I came across benzo buddies the first time, I was actually surprised and a bit defensive.  I had tried on my own to go off klonopin so many times and it was proven to me time and time again that I was better off on it, because what I thought was my underlying anxiety came back, every time I went off it.  So when I was going off klonopin for pregnancy, I never imagined that I would go off and stay off.  I thought I was just going off and then back on again, because life would be miserable without it.

 

I remember seeing some people say how awful it was to get off and such on the internet, and when I was ready to finally come off, I remembered this, and benzo buddies.  I think the more we educate, the better.  I know people are going to be defensive about it. 

 

A few months ago, I posted an awareness article about ADs on my facebook and a friend got really defensive saying how antidepressants saved her life.  I was like, yeah, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't warn people about violent thoughts that they might get while taking them.  She deleted her comment and pretty much noone comments on anything I link on Facebook about psychiatric drugs now. 

 

It's a tough line to walk.  I see how helpful antidepressants are but tbh, I'm not sure benzos are actually that helpful in the long run. 

[[Te...]]

There was an article floating around on Facebook about doctors prescribing Xanax for pain associated with Lyme Disease. I weighed in on the discussion and shared my experience. I was a little taken back by the response I got from a couple of longtime users of Xanax. They considered it life saving and that my comment showed inconsideration for their dependency. After some thought I came to the conclusion that those that have been on it for some time view it as just another medication to cope with life. We know the dangers and the consequences. We know that breaking away from this is extremely difficult and few find the path to freedom. The article talked about the deadly consequences of it's use and how doctors abuse the prescribing of drugs.

 

This ordeal has opened my eyes to what these medications can do to people and their lives. Nobody should suffer the way we have!

 

Thank you for your input!

 

Yes, I've found that this is very, very true. This is another reason it will be very hard to convince doctors of the reasons why these drugs are so insidious and terrible. There was information on MadinAmerica about benzos, and some people wrote comments saying that they don't want us taking away their rights to be on benzos. They got very defensive. You cannot convince them unless, of course, they have withdrawal symptoms and start searching around the Internet like the rest of us have probably done. Another "problem" is that a lot of people seem to have no difficulty getting off these drugs the first time. That's great, but then they know nothing about the nature of these drugs. They don't know about kindling. Some end up taking the drug again and again and then have problems.

 

CONGRATULATIONS on almost 3 years off!!! You've accomplished A LOT!!!

 

One doctor, who I saw in the ER, told me that a month max, and I should have no problems. "The drug is out of your body," he said. BUT he didn't talk about GABA and glutamate and how the neurotransmitters are pummeled by these drugs. I wonder how much he knew about them. It sounds like not much.

 

It's a very difficult uphill battle that has been going on for decades. WHEN will doctors see the light??

[[Yo...]]

What I've learned is that everyone will have their own reasons for being pro or anti benzo or AD, and they're all valid. It's a very individual experience.

 

I thought Klonopin was a miracle drug, but started asking questions the second time the effect wore off and I felt the need to raise the dosage. That's when I typed "benzodiazepine" in the Wikipedia search engine and found disturbing information that was never disclosed to me by my prescribing doctor or pharmacist.... It's there for anyone, and any doctor, to find. Didn't have to look too hard.

 

That's the problem I have. I don't care if the potential hazards of benzo use are being kept out of medical school curriculums by "nefarious means". You would think that after years of practice most if not all doctors would've made the connection on their own, or heard something from another doctor, or just happened to see one of those damning reports that have trickled out over the past forty years or so. You have to wonder if it's not wilful ignorance on the part of some doctors, for whatever reasons. Your guess is as good as mine.

 

Then you have doctors set in their ways who are just incredulous, no matter what you try and tell them. They'll dismiss your claims, remind you that they are the doctor, put you on a "low Internet diet" (as one condescendingly told me), and suggest you take an adjunct AD for "that health anxiety". 

 

I wouldn't advocate banning benzos. They are necessary and "life savers" for some, despite the associated risks.

 

I'm for informed doctors and informed consent for the patients, and judicious decisions made about who really needs these drugs....

 

In other words, no more prescribing them because someone comes in and says he's had some trouble sleeping lately.

[[ca...]]

I worked  as an EMT for about 16 years. I receive a lot of training in ERs. One thing that has always impressed me was the drugs used in emergency situations. They are powerful and meant for short term intervention. Morphine, Atropine and Epineprin for example are life saving drugs but outside of emergency care they are dangerous to use. The right tool for the right job! Benzos are in that same category.  They are a short term intervention drug. They are used in operating rooms as an anesthetic.  This is why they have such a calming effect. Everyday use of these drugs and you can end up like Michael Jackson. Just a side note here. I had to remove myself from being an EMT due to the fact that this drug and my following withdrawal compromised my ability aid others. I volunteered my services on my full time job so my income wasn't affected.

[[Te...]]

I don't believe these drugs should be banned either. But they have a special time and place. Like Shook, I believe in informed consent and (very much so) informed doctors. If someone absolutely believes they need them, who am I to say no? But there has to be solid information given to the patient BEFORE prescribing these pills. I wasn't told a damned thing, and I trusted the physician assistant. Surely she would not lead me down the wrong path. Surely she knew about the drugs she was prescribing. Wrong on both counts.

 

Wow, amazing volunteer work, camre!!  :thumbsup: