Does your looks come back after withdrawal?

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My face looks soo different than how i was before the withdrawal  my cheeks are all sunken and i look soo souless ! Will my face return to normal ? I dont recognize myself anymore im scared i will forever look like this  

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@[...]did you loose a lot of weight in the process and is your weight normal or underweight,  I am underweight and afraid what's gonna happen if I continue 

[[WU...]]

Are you eating reasonably welll? Do you manage to get some fresh air ? We feel so awful in this journey that you might be seeing yourself in terms of how you feel. Seeing photos of ourselves when we are smiling and happy compared with when we are miserable totally changes the way we look, so I would say yes your face will return to normal, the way it looks when you feel happy.

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@[...] yes i lost alot of weight  i was 64kg and now im 54 or something…

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@[WU...] yes i eat alot but i still havent gain weight. Im 27 and before all this happened i used too look way younger than my age people would say i look 17 ..18 and now i look 30 years older ! I used to have high cheek bones and really good skin now my face looks soo souless i dont even recognize myself ! Its like two different people …  

[[Pi...]]

I'm old 68 but I always looked good for my age. Went to the gym 3 days a week. Now my face looks very drawn. People who have lost a loved one or something traumatic tend to have the same look I see in myself. I've lost all my muscle tone all over my body because exercise is so difficult. I believe our appearance is a reflection of the trauma our bodies have been through and our overall health. Even at my age I do see signs of this reversing and I think it is because I have experienced some healing. Healing to all!

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@[...]. That's good , maybe it will take time , you are young person . I lost appetite and weight and can't stop weight loss , which is scary 

[[wi...]]

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@[...] dont worry your appetite will return to normal. I had that for the first month i literally could not eat solid food but it completely went away for me and now i can eat anything without a problem the only thing left for me is severe mood swings, lost weight , emotional blunting and i dont look like my self  but my symptoms really improved and i just get tiny waves but wayy more managable than what it was first month 

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@[wi...] same here  i really hope i get the old me back

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@[Pi...] thanks pinster. Yea true trauma can definetly take a toll on the appereance i just hope this reverses   

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@[...] well, I have huge problem , I still take ativan that looks like is not working for my insomnia , and because I keep about the same dose I get withdrawals. I m loosing my weight progressively since July last year and it got to the point my weight is critically low, can't afford loosing more , would be dangerous,  and still have anxiety, insomnia and more symptoms . I don't know how I will get out of this mess but doesn't look good , loosing hope. 

What med did you take, just curious.

[[Be...]]

I remember how horribly gaunt I looked before stepping over and really healing. As my appetite improved, along with my ability to eat a wider variety of foods, my face began filling out, and I look better. 

I'm 10 months out now, just functioning much better overall. And I don't see a stranger looking back at me when I look in the mirror. I'm starting to see and recognize the old me. 

[Guest [...]]

@[...]

Yes… it’s true our looks can change because of how run down we are, but just remember that your appearance to yourself and others isn’t all physical… you have no light shining through you… out into the world. To me, there clearly seems to be a lifelessness in our appearance because of what we are going through, and that has an affect on our physical appearance. As we recover, that light will come flooding back through us, out into the world. Your appearance will return to one of ‘aliveness’, which will actually change your perception of your physical appearance.  

[Guest [...]]

2 hours ago, [[w...] said:

They say we won’t always look like this.

Everything on my body changed. It’s humbling.

I’ve aged 15 years in under one year!

I’m the same, @[wi...]

Your light returning (once it returns) will do half the work, and then you will also be in a position to work on anything else with confidence and joy. ❤️🫂

Edited February 15 by Guest

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@[Be...]  hi benzolottie im glad your doing better now ! Did your emotional blunting fade away too ? 

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@[Wi...] yea true i guess i just have to give it some more time …  

[Guest [...]]

@[...]

Just don’t dismiss how important that ‘spark for life’ is to our physical appearance.

I used to smile everywhere I went… muscles in the face were being exercised. I notice through this that I’ve been using no facial muscles… just letting them droop because I’m too worn down to express anything physically through my facial muscles. I look like my whole face just droops which makes me look old. But, I know that spark for life (once it returns) will have me working those facial muscles again through a sheer joy and zest for life. I’m trying to make myself smile more now, even though I don’t feel like it. 
 

When I say I don’t have the desire or energy to smile… I also don’t even have the energy to frown, so all facial muscles have become unconditioned causing that droop and aged look. 

Edited February 15 by Guest

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@[Wi...] yea i totally agree the spark for life and the sheer joy we feel can truly make a difference ! Its just soo frustrateing how much we change in this process  i barely even smile these days because of all the emotional blunting but hopefully we all will return to ourselfs one day 

[Guest [...]]

We will @[...]

[[Pi...]]

My question is once we're all felling better how does this madness stop?? I read during covid Xanax prescriptions went up 20%. One group poisons you and then another group makes millions on our suffering getting us off the drug. And there are many other prescription drugs like this. Painkillers are in a class by themselves. This is not healthcare. It's madness! It's because of big money that these drugs weren't outlawed years ago.  

[Guest [...]]

I think that’s a question worth putting away until we’ve recovered @[Pi...]

All those emotions like anger and frustration only hit our nervous systems harder and increase symptoms, so we’re best to let go for now (if we can) and ponder them later. 

I know… easier said than done. 

But, emotional stress really does only make our experience worse. 🫂

[Guest [...]]

Welcome to BenzoBuddies, @[...].

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@[...] well, I have huge problem , I still take ativan that looks like is not working for my insomnia , and because I keep about the same dose I get withdrawals. I m loosing my weight progressively since July last year and it got to the point my weight is critically low, can't afford loosing more , would be dangerous,  and still have anxiety, insomnia and more symptoms . I don't know how I will get out of this mess but doesn't look good , loosing hope. 

What med did you take, just curious.

[[...]]

@[Wi...] thank you .

I'm hopeless one, not dealing with it well, and very afraid