Many report struggling with anxiety, but are we really coming undone?

[[se...]]

I really wonder, since there are so many powerful drugs and supplements out there, if people don't realize that these all have implications on people's nervous systems. They may feel anxious in quitting the pill or supplement and not realize that they're just going through a period of discontinuation syndrome. So they reach for something, or go to a doctor, requesting something to help calm them down. Of course they're given another pill. This creates havoc on the system and can add to more anxiety.

 

Just wondering, that's all...

 

That's what led me to benzos in the first place. Now I know better, but I wonder how many people are floundering.

 

They, and perhaps their doctors, may not realize that it's not a discontinuation syndrome but rather a life-long change in their CNS brought about by the long-term use (more the 2-4 weeks) of a benzo.

 

  Fi Addendum, what??

[[...]]

Great article, Fi, a fantastic approach!  Thanks for sharing!

[[Te...]]

In my opinion, the numbers must be very great, Terry.

 

Yes, I think so, too, Lapis.

 

I wonder why discontinuation syndrome isn't known as it ought to be. I don't even trust a drug that has this added on to it: "non-habit forming." Huh??? It seems that ANY drug or supplement that tampers with the nervous system and sedates or calms down whatever it is a person is trying to deal with will have the opposite effect when discontinued.

 

Doctors either don't understand this in patients or figure that they need another pill to counteract the effects and maybe won't tell the patient. I was astounded that the doctor in the hospital in November didn't think I'd suffer any real effects when he took away 6 pills all at once. We have to watch out for ourselves, though at that time there was no choice really.

[[La...]]

Yes, Terry, it's really unfortunate. And it's also inexcusable. Do you remember the article I posted about withdrawal effects being part of the action of the drug? These are known effects that should be familiar and understood by any doctor who prescribes a given medication. Such medications create physiological dependency through their actions, and they need to be discontinued in a very careful way so that the body can re-adapt -- especially if the medication has been taken for awhile.

 

Years ago, when I was trying to get off Cymbalta, an SNRI, there was an effort by the drug company to skirt around the idea that there was a withdrawal effect when people tried to stop taking it. And they only had capsules where the smallest dose was fairly high. I had to open the capsules and dick around with the tiny little beads inside. It was insane! I had a terrible time of it.

 

I understand, though, that it's impossible to predict who will have a hard time getting off a given medication and who will sail through it. Some people might be just fine. However, some of us -- the unlucky ones -- get hit much harder.

[[Te...]]

Yes, I remember that article, and I recall it to this day. That was a very good article!

 

Cymbalta must have been a horror story getting off! It would be great if pharmacists made it easier to get off drugs. Surely they don't expect people to stay on drugs doctors prescribe throughout life once they start them () Why make them so difficult to taper from?

 

I wish there was some way of tracking who would have difficulty getting off drugs. Something with the nerves and our delicate nervous system. Some test. I didn't realize before all this how very fragile the nervous system is. It seems that needs much more looking into as a basis for well-being.

[[La...]]

Yes, Terry, a test for that would be fantastic. In that video called "The Benzodiazepine Medical Disaster", Dr. Malcolm Lader mentioned the same issue, i.e. that we don't have any way of knowing who will have a hard time coming off benzos. A certain percentage of people obviously do just fine and have few issues. We here on BB appear to be the unlucky ones. 

 

Bear in mind, too, that Dr. Malcolm Lader was working in this field of study back at the same time that Dr. Ashton was (1980s), and he mentioned that they'd wanted to do certain kinds of studies at that time but didn't get the funding they needed. Someone needs to pick up that torch and run with it.

[[Te...]]

Absolutely, Lapis!!!

 

If the 1980s was the last time this was looked into - well, that was almost 40 years ago! I'm so glad that Dr. Ashton and Dr. Malcolm Lader were so outstanding in their work on the benzo crisis, but you're right: Someone needs to pick up that torch and run with it.

[[Ca...]]

https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2019/02/neoliberalism-normalising-hostility.html

 

A little essay about the decline of civility and hyper-individualism via our economic system.

 

This thread, just in case still active, excellent article! Of course, since this posting, things have only spiralled further downward yet. I does in fact look like democracy is all but gone in the US. Subject(s) being depression/anxiety, the current, corrosive socio-political climate is a lightening rod, critically attributed to my current, fragile, ultra-sensitive neurotic state of Benzo crisis. I'm in acute mental anguish.