Finding a doctor

[[Ti...]]

Is there an appropriate forum to ask if there are specific doctors who will work with a patient via the Ashton method of withdrawal? Thank you

[[ra...]]

Tiss,

 

It is.  They are very hard to find.  If you are in the US, there is a new ICD diagnosis code F13.232 "Sedative, hypnotic, or anxiolytic dependence with withdrawal with perceptual perturbances."  But this code is new in 2020, so most doctors do not know it exists.

 

The term in our community is a "benzo-wise" doctor, and they are rare as hen's teeth.  Start with a psychiatrist or neurologist who practices in a private practice in or near a major metropolitan city.  Be prepared to share you benzo use history, and be prepared to fail on your first few attempts to find a doctor who will work with you.  Most of us who keep trying find one eventually.

 

Good luck.

 

ramcon1

[[Ti...]]

Thank you.  My beloved doctor retired and another psychiatrist bought his practice.  I don't care for him at all.  Arrogant, very dismissive of my fears of withdrawal, refuses to try a slow taper with a longer acting benzo and he would want to control my taper.  He suggested going down .5 a week.  He's crazy and out of touch.  I need to find someone else. It's weird switching to another dr because then you can be labeled as a drug seeker.

[[Pa...]]

This group has a list but I don't get the feeling they have much confidence in their list of Dr's.  https://www.benzoinfo.com/doctors/

[[or...]]

Tiss, when I had to look for  another doctor, this is what I did. I assumed (correctly) that it would be very difficult to find a "benzo-wise" doctor. And really, I didn't need one. I just needed someone to prescribe my valium while I planned my own taper. I followed Dr. Ashton's schedule. I looked around and found a Nurse Practitioner (my own primary did not want to prescribe benzos, even for my taper). I explained that I was tapering valium, explained about the Ashton Method and she actually read about it. She agreed to prescribe the valium I needed as long as the "general direction of my taper was down". I didn't need her for hand-holding or suggestions about what to do when s/x became too much -- I had this forum for that. Also, my therapist was a great hand-holder. She (the NP) never quibbled abut prescribing valium -- she made sure I had plenty.  I talked to a few NPs in my county and they were all reasonable people but I decided on the NP I chose as she seemed warm, sympathetic, and would let me taper at my own rate. No nasty control issues. I saw her monthly and she recorded my dosage.

 

So that might be an option for you. My psychiatrist got me into a world of trouble (mis)diagnosing me with a condition I did not have, and loading me up with too many psych drugs, as well as Xanax and Ativan. I would never have looked for another psychiatrist. I crossed from Ativan to valium and all I needed a prescriber for was the valium to do a taper.

 

Anyhow, hope this helps,

 

Katz

[[Ti...]]

Hi Katz,  thank you for the reply.  I'm curious if by NP you mean nurse practitioner? 

[[or...]]

I'm sorry, yes. An NP is a Nurse Practitioner. I've found them to be in general warmer, kinder, more open-minded and more patient-centric. My own primary care "doctor" is an NP.

 

Best to you,

 

Katz