The Washington Post: What patients — and doctors — should know about ‘benzo’ withdrawal

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Sharon Goldman delivers excellent coverage of benzodiazepine harm for The Washington Post, highlighting members from our organization, as well as our friends from the Alliance and Coheal!

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2023/09/02/xanax-klonopin-benzo-withdrawal-addiction/

 

[[Ri...]]

I’m glad this information was in a major paper that many read….. all of these articles should be required reading for practitioners… They should also be required to listen to the stories of real life lived experiences of those trying to come off benzos…. As someone who was recently told that a 7 day taper of Klonopin after 8 years of daily use for anxiety was perfectly normal and any symptoms I had were more psychological then real, Im happy to see more written about the true dangers of these drugs once you are on them and/or trying to come off.. I had to be reinstated just so I could function properly at work.   Glad to see more info in the news 

[[Li...]]

Tip of the hat to our friends at the Benzodiazepine Information Coalition for bringing this article to our attention! The number of individuals impacted by benzodiazepines and z-drugs is staggering.  Per the article:

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An estimated 30 million adults in the United States take benzodiazepines such as Klonopin, Ativan, Xanax and Valium for anxiety, stress and related mental health conditions. Millions more take sedative-hypnotics including Ambien for sleep, which, like “benzos,” work on a specific brain neurotransmitter called gamma-aminobutyric acid, or GABA.

Other than wishing a certain medical professional quoted in the article would make a distinction between addiction and physical dependence, it’s a solid piece.  As of the date/time of this post, it has garnered over 502 comments.

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On 03/09/2023 at 10:03, [[L...] said:

Other than wishing a certain medical professional quoted in the article would make a distinction between addiction and physical dependence, it’s a solid piece.  As of the date/time of this post, it has garnered over 502 comments.

I know, I wish Anna Lembke would've stressed a little bit more how this is due to physical/physiological dependence and not addiction. You touches on it just barely, but it's not clear enough. We need articles that do not use addiction language, because then the majority of those reading it think this is only a problem of those who abuse these drugs, and they're basically "safe" otherwise. You'll see that proven in the comments section.

[[Li...]]

I share your disappointment over how many of the comments had an addiction slant @[he...]. However, there were also signs of hope.  For example, this comment from physician Mark h808:

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As a physician who has dealt with this extensively in my practice this article basically rings true. Patients with long term benzodiazpine use usually need to be tapered off VERY gradually and a substantial subset have severe symptoms that are not fully appreciated by most US doctors. literature and support groups in the UK document this more clearly. I think the best answer is education and a firm but understanding approach towards physicians and patients. Some patients stay on a low dose of these meds without serious problems although it's not ideal practice. I do worry that overreacting could boomerang. What's really missing is the medical community's listening to patients. The withdrawal can be Extremely difficult and patients are telling the truth about it. Neurological symptoms, muscle wasting and other severe withdrawal symptoms are quite real and this needs to be factored into the decision to use these meds in the long term and usually they shouldn't be used long term. When patients have been on them long term physicians need to be educated about going slowly. Although it's not great practice to have patients on these meds long term at all, once they are, what's the rush to get them off ? Some patients need a very slow taper and physicians and medical boards need to be aware of this as best practice in the case of taper practicing standards. Better to gradually and successfully taper off than not at all. Medical boards need to respect how difficult this can be for patients and if it takes 1-2 years to taper off, that’s appropriate for some people. 

 

 

[[he...]]

That's great to hear that. And the comments from JockomoL, another primary care physician, are very good too. Good to know some doctors actually get it, when it seems like none do.

[[Ba...]]