I've had enough!!!

[[Rx...]]

If I was a medical professional prescribing and/or giving medical advice regarding Rxs, I would research and keep up to date on current findings.  In regards to benzodiazepines, the DANGER memo has been out for decades.  For anyone to blame a patient for not doing their research first is victim shaming and nothing more.

[[Je...]]

If I was a medical professional prescribing and/or giving medical advice regarding Rxs, I would research and keep up to date on current findings.  In regards to benzodiazepines, the DANGER memo has been out for decades.  For anyone to blame a patient for not doing their research first is victim shaming and nothing more.

 

You're right.  We shouldn't have to do a doctor's job for them by researching things and just show up to get their rubber stamp given they have the license.  I've read that in Europe doctors aren't allowed to play dumb and are limited on how long they can prescribe these drugs.  Regarding holding on to anger and assigning blame:  Many people here were not "addicts" in the classical sense.  They trusted doctors as they prescribed medicine, not realizing for a moment that benzos can cause such great harm.  I'm tired of people acting like the benzo problem can be compared to other withdrawals from other substances.  Many patients bear no responsibility for their plight, and they have every right to show anger in a forum such as this and to blame their doctor if the doctor deserves it.  Nobody in this thread is advocating committing mischief, or anything physical at all.  Nobody is hurting anyone out there with their thoughts or naming names.  I think people should be allowed to vent anger, because for some, it is the only possible therapy at times (because therapy can't fix physical harm).

[[Lo...]]

If I was a medical professional prescribing and/or giving medical advice regarding Rxs, I would research and keep up to date on current findings.  In regards to benzodiazepines, the DANGER memo has been out for decades.  For anyone to blame a patient for not doing their research first is victim shaming and nothing more.

 

I agree with everything written here. Also, it is well known that benzodiazepines can cause severe suicidal ideation both while taking them or when quitting them (by cold turkey, by detoxing, or by tapering). Further blaming the patient who is wrestling with incredible amount of suicidal ideation brought on by benzodiazepine tranquilizers (and especially by withdrawal from them) is extremely unsupportive, to say the least.

[[li...]]

Most doctors are not informed of the truth about benzos. That is just how it is and why? I do not know.

I DO know that  holding onto anger because your doctor was ignorant is a waste of your time. All of us need to focus on positives and learn how to deal with the stuff we live with now. I am an RN of 36 years and I even worked on an acute psych ward and in a Detox Center. Never ONCE did I hear the truth about benzos. None of my patients told me, probably because they were afraid to, just as I felt after I went CT. I wish I knew why the truth has been withheld from medical people. Does Big Pharma pay millions of practitioners to squelch the real truth??? The drug companies, from what I have read, know perfectly well how  dangerous benzos and other psych drugs are, but only make public the "positive" stuff. What a pack of lies this is. In all my years working in medicine I have only met 2 physicians who seem to know the truth about this stuff. That is indeed sad.

My point to you is this: you cannot spend much time on this anger you have. Yes, you have a right to be angry! So did I. But part of healing from benzos means letting go of all of that anger and focussing only on YOU.

 

All patients need to take responsibility for their health and not just trust a doctor to know what you should do  .Do your research before taking yet another drug. Never blindly trust a physician again. And spend some time thinking about your current anger and what it really means to you.

east

 

Response to bold.

 

Probably several factors. For decades, doctors have been getting their information and education from pharmaceutical companies. You can't expect those companies to say that their products are dangerous and harmful. I recall reading the marketing rep that only people with personality disorders would have trouble getting off !

Maybe it's different in the USA, but 'over here' benzodiazepines have become less popular compared to antidepressants. Then you can get some 'information' about benzodiazepines being 'addictive' and the 'safer' SSRIs ! Up to a point , doctors do know about iatrogenic damage and usually they wouldn't take the stuff long term if they could possibly avoid it. But like all people, doctors are no less fallible than the rest of us and are also mostly guided by their subconsciousness. Patient complains of anxiety, doctor gives benzo. After that, the rest is rationalization.

 

Asking some leeway from the moderation team: try to imagine doctors seeing themselves are superior being who have intrinsic healing properties. (doctor-patient contact etc.) (Note: it gets really bad if  prescribing a drug is part of their personality and if you criticize the drug, you hurt their feelings!)  (I should write a note about the 'God complex, not right now) What can ordinary GPs do ? Prescribing a drug or presenting themselves as not being able to do anything ? Also, prescribing a benzo can lead to the introduction of many other drugs, as many members here have experienced !

 

And up to a point: they don't want to know. Locally (NL) the new informal guideline is to prescribe sleeping or calming tablets for at most 1 or 2 days. Why ? Doctors cannot handle prescibing the drug.

 

EDIT: it has been stated that the pharm companies don't make much money off benzos. That's different for brand Klonopin and Ativan if that is still sold as a brand. But there are also indirect profits. Fuck up your patients, iatrogenic damage, more money.

[[Rx...]]

Nobody is hurting anyone out there with their thoughts

 

Yes, angry thoughts do not hurt others.  Obviously, how angry thoughts might be expressed or dealt with or acted upon is another story.  But simply having a range of human emotions, including all the non-fun ones, is simply being human.  However, I'm not so sure about this guy pictured below.  I would not want to get on his bad side.

 

 

 

[[ea...]]

LOL! My cat Bear, is a big kitty. Almost 16 lbs, and he isn't fat. He is just a big hunk of a cat and I dearly love him. He came into my life after my BWD, and he does not know or trust anyone  BUT me.

 

Nope, there are some cats you don't want to piss off.  But most  cats are truly wonderful.

east

[[Rx...]]

This is my kitty.

 

[[Lo...]]

Yes I read the manual. Very informative. I'm just so flabbergasted at how so many doctors have such a difference in opinion on the matter. My gyno acknowledged it as withdrawl the other week, and my GI dr acknowledged it yesterday. Only medication I'm taking now is metoprolol for high bp (didnt have before these wd symptoms) and the GI dr put me on amitriptyline yesterday for the gi issues I'm having (which I also didnt have until wd).

 

I started taking metoprolol myself because of a high bp that was caused by withdrawal. I had never had that sort of blood pressure prior and my BP was controlled with a single BP medication before in very modest doses along with exercise, healthy eating, etc. I am really sorry, but even a beta-blocker as strong as metoprolol can't always counter all the conformational changes that benzodiazepines induce. I am sorry for your suffering.

[[Ea...]]

I was given a diagnosis of depression & anxiety neurosis. Never once said I was depressed.

[[Je...]]

This is my kitty.

 

Very impressive.

[[Je...]]

If I was a medical professional prescribing and/or giving medical advice regarding Rxs, I would research and keep up to date on current findings.  In regards to benzodiazepines, the DANGER memo has been out for decades.  For anyone to blame a patient for not doing their research first is victim shaming and nothing more.

 

You're right.  We shouldn't have to do a doctor's job for them by researching things and just show up to get their rubber stamp given they have the license.  I've read that in Europe doctors aren't allowed to play dumb and are limited on how long they can prescribe these drugs.  Regarding holding on to anger and assigning blame:  Many people here were not "addicts" in the classical sense.  They trusted doctors as they prescribed medicine, not realizing for a moment that benzos can cause such great harm.  I'm tired of people acting like the benzo problem can be compared to other withdrawals from other substances.  Many patients bear no responsibility for their plight, and they have every right to show anger in a forum such as this and to blame their doctor if the doctor deserves it.  Nobody in this thread is advocating committing mischief, or anything physical at all.  Nobody is hurting anyone out there with their thoughts or naming names.  I think people should be allowed to vent anger, because for some, it is the only possible therapy at times (because therapy can't fix physical harm).

 

All, I wanted to clarify something I wrote above.  When I said " Nobody is hurting anyone out there with their thoughts or naming names.", what I meant was "Nobody on this thread is hurting anybody with angry private thoughts or naming doctors by name."

[[Lo...]]

If I was a medical professional prescribing and/or giving medical advice regarding Rxs, I would research and keep up to date on current findings.  In regards to benzodiazepines, the DANGER memo has been out for decades.  For anyone to blame a patient for not doing their research first is victim shaming and nothing more.

 

You're right.  We shouldn't have to do a doctor's job for them by researching things and just show up to get their rubber stamp given they have the license.  I've read that in Europe doctors aren't allowed to play dumb and are limited on how long they can prescribe these drugs.  Regarding holding on to anger and assigning blame:  Many people here were not "addicts" in the classical sense.  They trusted doctors as they prescribed medicine, not realizing for a moment that benzos can cause such great harm.  I'm tired of people acting like the benzo problem can be compared to other withdrawals from other substances.  Many patients bear no responsibility for their plight, and they have every right to show anger in a forum such as this and to blame their doctor if the doctor deserves it.  Nobody in this thread is advocating committing mischief, or anything physical at all.  Nobody is hurting anyone out there with their thoughts or naming names.  I think people should be allowed to vent anger, because for some, it is the only possible therapy at times (because therapy can't fix physical harm).

 

I agree, JessMe. Some of us here are introverts and tend to internalize things easily, and expressing anger is very important because anger suppressed leads to horrific depression, and horrific depression can lead people to think the unimaginable.

 

Those who were prescribed benzos and other psychiatric drugs for depression, anxiety, panic and insomnia most likely didn't have good outlets to channel their fear, sadness, anger, isolation, frustration and hurt in the first place, and pretty much everyone in benzo recovery communities knows all too well that very strong emotions, including anger, will occur during and after withdrawal. Saying that anger is useless is similar to telling people not to feel, and it might send them either back on psych drugs or it may send them to such depths of depression where they will not see a way out.

[[By...]]

I really want to take my doc information, but I'm scared she'll cut me off before I can taper safely

[[Rx...]]

This is my kitty.

 

Very impressive.

 

Kitty says thank you, Jess.

[[Ch...]]

I am at the same place right now. I am angry and upset that my doctor had me on Xanax for 16 years. I went to him several times that I was having trouble with my memory and I was tried all the time. He said because I was on a low dosage he didn’t believe it was the medication. Looking back I didn’t have my first panic attack until I had been on the medication for awhile. At one point he had me on Wellbutrin, Celexa, ambien and Xanax. Over the years I took myself off of one by one. And I too thought that it was the antidepressant causing the problem. I truly believe that my depression and anxiety were getting worse the older I got. Now I know it was the drugs. I lost myself for years because I was just trying to function. I can only imagine what my life would have been like if I was never given this medication. The side effects are unreal and the withdrawals have been hell.

[[ea...]]

China, your story is similar to mine. I did not know tolerance withdrawal existed, so I ended up getting diagnosed with a whole bunch of weird stuff and it turned out to ALL be due to the benzos and ADs I was on. Sadly, being polydrugged is common in some parts of the world.

east

[[Ch...]]

East,

I’ve been diagnosed with a bunch of weird stuff too. Never knew it was from withdraw. Every doctor I saw over the years knew what I was taking and no one said it could be your medication.  I even saw a neurologist and was diagnosed with nerve damage and that was 4 years ago. 

[[Gi...]]

Great thread. That NICE link was invaluable to me. I was on Clonazepam 0.5mg daily for 8 months -been off for 4 months now - and I thought I was getting better until 10 days ago since when I have been taken underwater by a massive wave. Looks like my recovery will be in the 6-18 month timescale which is very dispiriting. When I am well I can be strong but when my head feels like it does this morning I feel unsure if I can make it.

[[ea...]]

East,

I’ve been diagnosed with a bunch of weird stuff too. Never knew it was from withdraw. Every doctor I saw over the years knew what I was taking and no one said it could be your medication.  I even saw a neurologist and was diagnosed with nerve damage and that was 4 years ago. 

.

 

 

Now I do understand this much better. I didn't back when I was in WD. Tolerance withdrawal happens to many people and it does not matter how long they took benzos. That is the part I don't quite yet understand. But I know it happens. Tolerance withdrawal mimics many odd diseases, especially GI and Neuro ones, or so I think. I had symptoms of both and was told I had IBS, etc., and other weird diseases like Fibo that I am not sure even exist. I personally think that fibro is a nonsense disease, one doctors use on women they cannot figure out. Its sort of like how women used to be told they were "neurotic" if they didn't enjoy cleaning their houses, or doing other "womanly" things.

 

Please know this is just a personal opinion, but it is also based on 30 years as an RN, working in a lot of different medical settings. Someday the real truth will come out and when it does, I will read it and accept it.

 

 

Sorry you had to go through this too. It IS scary. You have been taught to trust doctors and when it came to benzos, they let you down big time. I guess over time you learn a few things. I learned that only I control my healthcare. No doctor can ever tell me I have to do something. My current doctor is a nice man and he will NEVER do that to me. He makes suggestions and referrals and its up to ME what I choose to do.

 

east

[[We...]]

Rx - love the pictures of the cats  LOL!!!

 

I was so angry for so many months on end, which in a way was good cuz anger is a great motivator.  It gave me some serious 'victim-no-more' mojo.  I still get very angry about the suffering and I try to channel it into proactive things I can do for myself right now, however lame or humble.  It fuels my determination to get better.  It fuels self-compassion.  Getting angry is good and very good.  We've been hurt by those we entrusted with our well being. Getting past the anger is good too and will come in its own time.  It's all good.

 

Some of you here have lost decades to the benzos and my heart breaks for you.  I can't even begin to understand the pain of  that.  I'm just saying, whatever we feel as we go through this is ok, as long as it does not boomerang back and hurt us more.

 

Love you guys.  Rx...I'm hoping for more cat pictures 

[[Rx...]]

Rx...I'm hoping for more cat pictures 

 

Did I tell you all how much kitty loves her walks?

 

[[We...]]

Cool.  Rock on.

[[Rx...]]

Cool.  Rock on.

 

You betcha. 

 

[[ea...]]

How are everyone's kitties doing? Mine is asleep on the other chair, near me, of course. He almost always wants to be near me. Such a loveable guy. Yeah he sheds more than usual, some cats just do and that is why I have a good vacuum cleaner! LOL! I have to vacuum tomorrow because the kitty fur, MY hair, cardboard from Bear's scratch posts, and other weird stuff is building up.

Funny. The Cleaning Lady gets everyones house cleaned at a fair price but her OWN houses may not be as clean!

LOL!

east

 

[[We...]]

Kitty is moping around the house in this sub-zero weather.  She asked to go out the back door instead of the front thinking it might be warmer.....my little goofy girl.  Not the brightest cat.  Takes after her mother...

 

She has been giving me dirty looks all day because she thinks I control the weather.  Kids. Whattya gonna do?