Benzo damage need advice

[[Mh...]]

Hello, I would like to share a little inside of my story. I was in dental hygiene school and during finals week I was having panic attacks and insomnia due to exams and stress. Looking back now they would have resolved on their own. I went to my doc and automatically put me on Xanax and never informed me of the consequences of getting off these drugs. Within two month I would wake up every morning with acid all over my mouth and teeth. My enamel started wearing off and I started noticing severe gum recession and loose teeth. I was so confused and lost. I went to another doc to help me taper using the Ashton manual. Taper has been nothing but hell but the worst of it is this acid pouring from my stomach to my mouth. Nothing I take helps. I’ve tried all anti acid medication.  After an endoscopy was done. My GI doctor said that my Lower esophageal valve wasn’t functioning properly and he’s so confused to why that’s happening. All my teeth are damaged and loose. I’m so depressed. I can’t work or exercise because when I apply pressure more acid spills in my mouth. I feel helpless. I lost my girlfriend, my career and everything I worked hard for. My anxiety is so bad and I have so many withdrawal symptoms. Im fighting for my younger brother who needs me and loves me to death. All my friends are living life except for me. Can anyone give me a glimpse of hope to keep going. 

Edited February 24 by [Mh...]

[[Pa...]]

Hello @[Mh...], welcome to BenzoBuddies,

Your situation sounds terrible, I'm so sorry!  I take it your doctor doesn't understand what caused your lower esophageal valve to not function properly but can he correct it surgically?

I know gastrointestinal issues are common in withdrawal but yours sounds extreme.  Can you share with us where you are in your taper and did you cross over to Valium?  Does this symptom change when you adjust your taper? 

I hope we can help you find a solution to your nightmare, we're glad you're here.

@[Pa...]

[[Mh...]]

Thanks for the reply pamster. 
 

surgery was discussed but I was so afraid of getting it done because I didn’t want to have more problems on top of what’s already going on. 
 

I crossed taper to 20mg of Valium since I was on 1mg Xanax. I am currently down to 10mg over 6 month. Which I feel like is a slow enough taper. Many symptoms come and go except for this specific stomach problem. I can’t lay down during the day or else acid pour in my mouth unless I take the Valium. Only thing stops the acid from poring into my mouth is the Valium and now that i am on a lower dose it doesn’t completely stop it. It’s so weird i know and it really doesn’t make sense to me or my GI doctor. I have all the other GI issues as well but this is by far the worst. It’s only getting worse now that I am on 10mg Valium.  I just want to live life again. My younger brother is the only person I have left. He works so hard to take care of me and even stays up most night to make sure I’m not left alone. I wouldn’t be here without him. 

[[...]]

@[Mh...] - Maybe do a search here and online for BPC-157. It's a peptide that is really helping my GI issues with benzo withdrawal. There is med literature on both uses (benzo and GI). I've posted about it here. Not sure if it will help your case, but I'm super sensitive to meds and I can tolerate it (actually I can't eat without it), so maybe it's worth looking at? 

[[Mh...]]

@[...] thank you so much for your reply. I will definitely give it a try. I am honestly open to trying anything to get off this poison. 

[[Pa...]]

Wow, it amazes me the Valium will stop the acid from rising, but with 10 mgs to go and the Valium not helping as much, can you endure this pain?  There are so many unknowns, why is the Valium helping and did it cause it, will it get worse as you reduce and will it stop once completely off the drug and recovered from your use?

I know its a scary option but many of us have had surgery while going through this, I did and I didn't notice any uptick in symptoms, other than some anxiety.  If surgery is your only option to improving your quality of life, I hope you'll consider it. 

[[Mh...]]

@[Pa...]

I did some research and found out the benzodiazepines relax the lower esophageal valve for some individuals and can cause these symptoms, some worse than others. I can endure the pain but I don’t want to lose the rest of my teeth. My dentist was shocked when she looked in my mouth. I think I’m going to go the surgery route. I can’t live like this much longer. 
 

Ive never experienced acid reflux a day in my life prior to the Xanax. I don’t understand how this stuff is FDA approved. Big pharma had ruined so many lives. I made the biggest mistake of my life listening to my doctor. Oh boy did I mess up big time. 

[[Ma...]]

The teeth issue is actually really common. I haven’t read all of the responses here, but wanted to reinforce that.

If you do have the surgery ask to be sedated with propofol, not versed. The Benzo Alliance for Best Practices suggested this for me as I am having surgery Monday. Actually (my BRAIN), I think they said there were a couple of options so I would recommend you contact them. Jennifer Leigh just had surgery with propofol but the anesthesiologist didn’t follow her instructions and I believe gave her versed. You can Google her and read the article she posted.

The last thing you need is to be put into more hell.

 Sending you much support, strength and hope! 

P.S.

Please don’t do that to yourself. YOU did not mess up in any way. Stop, okay? This is not your fault. It’s just not. ❤️‍🩹

[[Pa...]]

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

I did some research and found out the benzodiazepines relax the lower esophageal valve for some individuals and can cause these symptoms, some worse than others.

I've learned something new today, I've been around BenzoBuddies for around 9 years and I've never seen this issue but I'm not surprised to learn benzodiazepines can cause this, the misery we face from these drugs is inhuman. 

I'm grateful you have your brother to help you and it sounds like you think the world of him, I believe you have excellent motivation to do what it takes to recover. 

I hate to ask this, but in your research, did it say if your valve will return to normal if you're off the Valium?  Wondering if a faster taper would help with that? 

[[ns...]]

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

The teeth issue is actually really common. I haven’t read all of the responses here, but wanted to reinforce that.

If you do have the surgery ask to be sedated with propofol, not versed. The Benzo Alliance for Best Practices suggested this for me as I am having surgery Monday. Actually (my BRAIN), I think they said there were a couple of options so I would recommend you contact them. Jennifer Leigh just had surgery with propofol but the anesthesiologist didn’t follow her instructions and I believe gave her versed. You can Google her and read the article she posted.

The last thing you need is to be put into more hell.

 Sending you much support, strength and hope! 

P.S.

Please don’t do that to yourself. YOU did not mess up in any way. Stop, okay? This is not your fault. It’s just not. ❤️‍🩹

Hi Mary1,  you Said your having brain surgery correct.  Can u tell us why your having this if it's not to petsonal? I'm curious to know if it's related to benzo or something else. I had gamma knife for acoustic neuroma but that's really radiation to shrink the tumor. Are u still tapering? 

Thanks 

Ns

[[bw...]]

Its because benzos are mast cell stablizers.

Reflux can be caused by excess histamine.

 

Try lower your histamine in your diet.

Drink nothing but water.

And try drink apple cider vinegar. 1 teaspoon with water. 2x a day.

[[ns...]]

56 minutes ago, [[b...] said:

Its because benzos are mast cell stablizers.

Reflux can be caused by excess histamine.

Try lower your histamine in your diet.

Drink nothing but water.

And try drink apple cider vinegar. 1 teaspoon with water. 2x a day.

Vinegar is very high histamine.  I had to stop eating sourdough bread, deli turkey. No more vinegar im my roast which i can no longer eat anyway. Turkey and french bread was my lunch for 6 months. Then had to change. Idk, I think glutamate is Worth looking into, I looked into histamine and it's not adding up at least for me.

Ns

[[Mh...]]

@[Pa...]

The research stated that once one off the medication the valve could repair itself but could take a really long time (month to years) or it may have been weakened enough that surgery is the only option. 
 

I tried tapering faster but it actually made my reflux worse so I had to slow down. I’m honestly so discouraged and unmotivated to do anything. I will start the surgery process as early as tomorrow and go from there. I think I held on enough. 
 

i want to thank you for your response and encouragement. You’re awesome. 

[[Pa...]]

Of course it can be made worse @[Mh...], my gosh, the cruelty of this process never ceases to amaze me.  I'm so sorry you're in this situation, but I thank you for joining and sharing your story.  Now, thanks to you I'm armed with the knowledge of yet another nightmare these medications are responsible for.

I hope you'll stick around, I would love to read your success story one day. 

[[Mh...]]

@[Pa...]

I will definitely stick around and keep you updated on everything. I’m praying to God I’ll find a solution soon and I promise when God gets me out of this. I will share my success story. 
 

Thank you once again 🙏!

[[Ro...]]

@[Mh...]

I'm so sorry to hear about your situation and will be praying that you find a solution. 

My husband is in the process of tapering originally from Klonopin (which he was only on for 2 weeks) and once we figure out what was happening we started following the Ashton Manual and moved over to Valium (30mg).  He's been at it for a year now and we're down to 16.5mg of V.  He has to go super slow or the withdrawal effects are unbearable which include a lot of GI issues.  

I'm replying because we actually went to the dentist today.  He's always been anxious about his teeth and was worried about a small chip on the back of a front tooth.  We were thinking it was just a chip that needed to be smoothed out but low and behold we found out that he has a bunch of small cavities starting over several front teeth and that his mouth was apparently very dry.  Historically, my husband has dealt with some acid reflux that he wasnt aware of because it presented like post nasal drip and he's proactively opted to have a few crowns put on the back molars, but this is next level stuff.  Reading your post makes me wonder if he's having more acid because of a lower esophageal valve issue.  He sleeps more while going through this taper issue because it helps with recharging the batteries and lowering overstimulation (he gets a nasty jaw tremor, think teeth chattering when you're cold) but has never complained of feeling heartburn or tasting acid in his mouth.  

I wanted to share so you know you're not alone and to thank you for reaching out so we know it's a "thing".  

What this med does to everyone is just terrible and my heart goes out to everyone that's impacted!  

[[Mh...]]

@[Ro...]

Thank you for sharing your husband’s journey with me. I pray to God he finishes his taper and improves his health and live a happy life. He’s very lucky to have someone like you by his side. 
 

I too had to have several filling and now needing two implants and a sinus lift/ more fillings as well. 

Acid reflux doesn’t necessarily have to come in a heartburn or an acid taste in the mouth. There is something called LPR (silent acid reflux) which can have stomach content leak out from the gut and enter the throat and mouth causing all kinda off dental and mouth/ sinus issues. I’m going to slow my taper down and see if that helps any. 
 

things that helped me a lot are probiotics and agmatine sulfate. They may cause some discomfort at first but they started helping me after a week or so. 
 

Let your husband know that he has another supporter that’s praying for him. He will get through this and he will be better than ever! 

[[Fo...]]

[[Ro...]]

@[Mh...]

Thank you for the reply!  We added a probiotic and it's actually helped his stomach feel more settled. Thank you for making the suggestion!