12 years free, 10 years healed…

[[th...]]

And all I can say is wow. It feels like a lifetime ago that I was going through hell coming off Klonopin. I remember the night in 2012 at the age of 19 when my withdrawal first hit. I remember the sheer torture of the 6 weeks of acute withdrawal I went through. And I remember how slowly time crept through the almost 2 years it took me to feel fully healed.

It’s crazy how something so traumatic can feel like a blip on the radar, but that’s how it feels. My withdrawal and my healing process feel like they were a lifetime ago, and thank God it feels like that. That was hands down the worst time of my life. No pain, no trauma I’ve been through since has remotely compared to the pain I went through coming off my 0.5mg daily Klonopin.

Life is good now. I’m currently 30, and I got married last year. My benzo journey and the support I received both here and from the mental health professionals that were a part of my journey inspired me to work in mental health myself. I decided way back in 2014 that I wanted to become a mental health nurse practitioner, not only to help those such as us here who are suffering or have suffered through the process of coming off benzos, but also to prevent patients from falling prey to the harms of benzos in the first place. It’s been a long road, but I became an RN in 2021 (a seriously terrible time to become one lol), and I finish my psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner degree this December. And I am so excited to start making a difference and serving others in that capacity.

12 years ago, I felt like I lost my life. And it took a long time before I felt like I got it back. But I do have it back, and it’s greater than ever. I just want to close out this ramble by saying that even on days where things feel hopeless, there is so much hope and promise. Keep pushing through the dark times, and the light will slowly begin to shine through, brighter and brighter with every passing day. You will make it through this.

[[ns...]]

1 hour ago, [[t...] said:

And all I can say is wow. It feels like a lifetime ago that I was going through hell coming off Klonopin. I remember the night in 2012 at the age of 19 when my withdrawal first hit. I remember the sheer torture of the 6 weeks of acute withdrawal I went through. And I remember how slowly time crept through the almost 2 years it took me to feel fully healed.

It’s crazy how something so traumatic can feel like a blip on the radar, but that’s how it feels. My withdrawal and my healing process feel like they were a lifetime ago, and thank God it feels like that. That was hands down the worst time of my life. No pain, no trauma I’ve been through since has remotely compared to the pain I went through coming off my 0.5mg daily Klonopin.

Life is good now. I’m currently 30, and I got married last year. My benzo journey and the support I received both here and from the mental health professionals that were a part of my journey inspired me to work in mental health myself. I decided way back in 2014 that I wanted to become a mental health nurse practitioner, not only to help those such as us here who are suffering or have suffered through the process of coming off benzos, but also to prevent patients from falling prey to the harms of benzos in the first place. It’s been a long road, but I became an RN in 2021 (a seriously terrible time to become one lol), and I finish my psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner degree this December. And I am so excited to start making a difference and serving others in that capacity.

12 years ago, I felt like I lost my life. And it took a long time before I felt like I got it back. But I do have it back, and it’s greater than ever. I just want to close out this ramble by saying that even on days where things feel hopeless, there is so much hope and promise. Keep pushing through the dark times, and the light will slowly begin to shine through, brighter and brighter with every passing day. You will make it through this.

Congrats!

[[...]]

Very inspiring story, thanks for sharing it. 

I'm still in the recovery phase but I also feel that once I get through this I would want to help others who are on this painful journey.

Respect for seeing your plan through and becoming a practitioner!

Edited January 27 by [...]

[[Cr...]]

Thank you for sharing this inspiring success story. It made me feel wonderful reading it. 

[[Ju...]]

That's awesome! I have a serious distaste for mental health professionals at the moment, but mine that I see is a pretty good guy. We need more people like you, who have actually been through it themselves, instead of just talking off the wall with some DSM-5 nonsense.

I had an interesting conversation with my mental counselor over the last few months, talking about whether or not Psychiatry is even real or not. We discussed native ways, versus post-industrial ways. Are the natives and the natural world the reality, and we interfered and created a synthetic false reality? Or is this the new reality, just another form of nature being built?

Anyways, I also went through years of hell from klonopin, and I'm glad you made it through.

[[La...]]

Congratulations!  Thanks so much for coming back to share your story. I wish you all the best.