Pharmacist wanting to better understand benzo withdrawal

[[CC...]]

Hi there! I'm a pharmacist from Australia and I want to better understand benzo withdrawal so I can support my patients more effectively. I hope its okay that I'm here!

[[Pa...]]

Hello CC647, welcome to BenzoBuddies,

 

Yes, its actually good you're here, the more professionals who understand what we go through, the better.  Please feel free to look around and engage with members, I hope you come away with a better understanding of what taking these drugs as prescribed has done to us. 

 

Pamster

[[Ne...]]

Hi there! I'm a pharmacist from Australia and I want to better understand benzo withdrawal so I can support my patients more effectively. I hope its okay that I'm here!

 

I took Temazepam for only 21 days and am now in my 22 month of recovery.  I never took a benzo before this.  Does not affect everyone like this but for the many of us that it does, the experience is just awful and overwhelming.  I pretty much cold turkeyed as my Dr. Said that this could not be physical dependence issues and that due to my limited time on it, there was no need to taper.

[[or...]]

Welcome and really glad you are here for the same reasons Pamster mentions!  Yesterday I watched a video from a Pharmacist and I'll share it below my reply.  I was so encouraged to hear his thoughts on Benzodiazapine prescriptions. 

 

[[Be...]]

Based on my experience, its hard to overstate the possible problems with benzo withdrawls. I found it most true to think of benzos as a "deal with it later" drug.

 

Imagine blowing a puff of air into a balloon for every stressful, sad, or anxious event that (say xanax) prevented you from reacting to.

 

Withdrawls are letting the air back out of the balloon. If you stop all at once your mind will be so flooded with those stored up emotions and events that it will overwhelm the brain to the point of siezures.

 

The air has to be let out of the balloon very slowly as the mind must process everything it has stored up.

 

Every single pysch med contains a label that says "mechanism of action not understood" .... ultimately the brain is plastic and these medications cause significant changes to structural processing... withdrawls is your brain trying to put itself back together....

 

The rest of our body does the same thing. We get a cut and the body repairs....but the mind is different because the repair process is a conscious one that causes alterations in experiences and even personality.

 

But patients should be encouraged that, though the process is misreable, there is a high success rate at getting off and staying off these medications.

 

[[or...]]

Based on my experience, its hard to overstate the possible problems with benzo withdrawls. I found it most true to think of benzos as a "deal with it later" drug.

 

Imagine blowing a puff of air into a balloon for every stressful, sad, or anxious event that (say xanax) prevented you from reacting to.

 

Withdrawls are letting the air back out of the balloon. If you stop all at once your mind will be so flooded with those stored up emotions and events that it will overwhelm the brain to the point of siezures.

 

The air has to be let out of the balloon very slowly as the mind must process everything it has stored up.

 

Every single pysch med contains a label that says "mechanism of action not understood" .... ultimately the brain is plastic and these medications cause significant changes to structural processing... withdrawls is your brain trying to put itself back together....

 

The rest of our body does the same thing. We get a cut and the body repairs....but the mind is different because the repair process is a conscious one that causes alterations in experiences and even personality.

 

But patients should be encouraged that, though the process is misreable, there is a high success rate at getting off and staying off these medications.

 

This was a great read, can't thank you enough.  It registers true for me because I am not the gal I used to be, it is like being another person to me, and I don't like her.  But what you say about the process and be encouraged because I have such hope to returning to being someone I remember, I am so hopeful :'(  Those are tears of are hopefulness, even joy that I found out, and refuse to believe the lies in my head that I'm permanently damaged, brain damaged.

 

Thank you Benzonaught, so much, Denise

[[Ro...]]

Just wanted to thank you for caring enough to seek information, and for acknowledging the value of seeking this information by listening to the people with lived experience. This is rare. I wish more people were like you.

 

(I am new here, and still familiarizing myself with the forum, but I intend to come back and post a more thorough response when appropriate.)

 

Again, thank you for being here. Sincerely

[[Re...]]

I wish a pharmacist would have warned me about Ativan. I would have never taken it.

 

You might want to speak with Angela Peacock: https://www.apeacockconsulting.com/

Also Dr. Jennifer Leigh, Chris Paige LCSW, and Dr. Josef Witt-Doerring