How long after you were on benzos that you realized you were addicted / found a support group / realized benzos were responsible for your symptoms (i.e. memory loss, slurring of speech, indecision etc.)

[[...]]

How long after you were on benzos that you realized you were addicted / found a support group  / realized benzos were responsible for your symptoms (i.e. memory loss, slurring of speech, indecision etc.)

For me 13 years.

 

[[Co...]]

For me 2 weeks but I got sick on it day 5.

[[Su...]]

15 years, though my awakening to that was less than 1 month ago.

Realizing this fact has oddly given me hope for a new life even though I am still in tortured symptoms. 

[Guest [...]]

Suffered interdose withdrawals for a few months before c/t’ing, then it finally clicked. 

[[Da...]]

20 years!!!  I didn’t have mental symptoms. Developed neuropathy or so I was told so assumed it was true. Now I realise it was tolerance. I’m so angry

[[gr...]]

15 years, went off for awhile 5 years in, but asked to be put back on. At the time I was scared of my WD. Now, I am thankful I am clean off them. Took a lot of work. 

[[no...]]

20 odd years not once did I realise all my diagnosed ''illnesses'' I got massively poly drugged for were actually severe tolerance withdrawal and probably also side effects from the Diazepam as I had a DNA drug test done last year which showed I'm really sensitive to benzos, and Diazepam was one of the highest bloody risks for me !!

I originally thought the offender was Oxycodone, and other opiate painkillers I was put on after doing big research as to why the hell was I getting sicker, and more disabled, yet I was under some of the best consultants and  thought what was really wrong was I had opiate induces hyperalgesia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opioid-induced_hyperalgesia    after reading up on the symptoms.

Got myself off all the other drugs of many different families but still continued to get  worse, still didn't click it was the other Benzos I was on and off plus the Diazepam which was the very  first drug I was prescribed before the shit hit the fan was the true catalyst all along

[[be...]]

@[...] I never felt addicted, but I found that what was supposed to be helped by the Valium, was not really working for my Meniere's. The main thing that made me want to get off, I read an article about changes that Doctor's would have to make about Benzo's and prescribing them. I already dreaded that my ENT Doctor was acting like I was addicted to them and saying mean things. I realized that the writing was on the wall, and lo and behold, Doctor's Offices all over the USA was pulling the scripts from patients, and they did not know or care at times the result would be. That was why I wanted off and I am thankful, as I read posts here and the horrible way buddies have been treated and being put on notice to stop them, is atrocious. 💖Peace and Healing.

[[Lo...]]

Crazily enough, it took me some 16 years or so. For those 16 years, I trusted the doc prescribing it and felt it was perfectly normal to take a sleeping tablet every night since I was insomniac (have been since I was about 12). I had no clue about addiction and dependency and certainly no idea about brutal potential WD symptoms once off the meds. My doctor didn't mention any of them to me, so it sounded legit. I mean, he's the doctor, I'm part of the unwashed masses, so surely the doc knows best, right.

But then, I moved to another country and suddenly, my Clonazepam supply had run out. Oh well, I thought, no biggie, as soon as I can find a psychiatrist to help, surely they'd give me a prescription. 

I didn't factor in how long exactly it would take - couple of days, weeks maybe? Still, I wasn't worried.

 I was blissfully ignorant at the time, so, as the pills ran out, I just went off Clonazepam CT. It just didn't seem like a big deal to me at the time; I figured it would just be a minor inconvenience.

I slept sort of okayish for the first couple of nights. Then, I began struggling to fall asleep. Then, my overall sleeping time went from about 7-6 hours to 4-5 hours, then to just one or two. At that point, I started feeling really weird, but even then, I thought maybe it was a mild case of flu or something along those lines.

Then the anxiety, the chills, the sweats, the muscle twitches, and the hallucinations showed up. I was in a bad state, and it finally dawned on me the benzos might have something g to do with it.

Still messed up and severely sleep deprived, I Googled Clonazepam. Then, I  kept googling, and what I found was just🤯🤯🤯 Luckily, I came to this forum and was Benzo-free within the year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[[Da...]]

17 hours ago, [[n...] said:

20 odd years not once did I realise all my diagnosed ''illnesses'' I got massively poly drugged for were actually severe tolerance withdrawal and probably also side effects from the Diazepam as I had a DNA drug test done last year which showed I'm really sensitive to benzos, and Diazepam was one of the highest bloody risks for me !!

I originally thought the offender was Oxycodone, and other opiate painkillers I was put on after doing big research as to why the hell was I getting sicker, and more disabled, yet I was under some of the best consultants and  thought what was really wrong was I had opiate induces hyperalgesia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opioid-induced_hyperalgesia    after reading up on the symptoms.

Got myself off all the other drugs of many different families but still continued to get  worse, still didn't click it was the other Benzos I was on and off plus the Diazepam which was the very  first drug I was prescribed before the shit hit the fan was the true catalyst all along

We’ve had pretty much the same journey then 😞

[[no...]]

17 hours ago, [[b...] said:

I never felt addicted

Exactly!  addiction is the craving of the drug, constantly thinking about   how to get it,  wanting to take more and more, getting a buzz off it not once did I ever think about it unless it was time to take, it did nothing for me the way it was supposed to do, or any other way at all it did  nada  ( well unbeknown to me, it was doing something alright it was damaging me ) A nd each I told the Drs it wasn't helping, which was pretty regular,  they kept upping the dose!! 

We became 'dependent' meaning, although we wanted off the drug ASAP,  didn't crave it or no longer wanted to take it, it was impossible to just CT or drop it rapidly due to the disabling and possibly deadly effects of the withdrawal especially on top of already being in unbeknown tolerance withdrawal.

I still didn't cotton on it was the bloody Diazepam when I began cutting the dose, for a long time I thought it was all my misdiagnosed 'illnesses'' getting worse or flaring up which kept resulting in even more drugs getting added to the four carrier bags ( yep it was that bloody many!! I was already taking, and getting even sicker and helpless.

Every day for years now while trying to get the hell off this crap there isn't a day when I don't feel like throwing the lot out and walking away, but It's way too risky for me otherwise I'd do it in less than a heart beat

[[no...]]

46 minutes ago, [[D...] said:

We’ve had pretty much the same journey then 😞

Unfortunately yes 😞

[[no...]]

2 minutes ago, [[n...] said:

I ever think about it

Now it's all I bloody think about most of the time as I'm desperate to be recovered from this living hell , and how can get off it sooner rather than later also due to a massive  burning hatred of the drug too, not because of longing for it totally the opposite