Getting Publicity For This Issue

[[Le...]]

As I recover more and more I really want to contribute in some way to preventing this issue and getting word out about it. I have considered many things including a lawsuit with the proceeds given to initiatives that help people recover. I am in a financial position to do this and I believe there was considerable wrong done in my case. I would even consider it a win if I lost the case but it got some publicity. 
 

Think there is any good to come from an approach like this?

Edited June 2 by [Le...]

[[jo...]]

The more people that know the better. By whatever means.

[[Le...]]

yea. i just wonder if others have tried and if it has worked at all or if there are better ways. 

[[Cr...]]

The medical community at large definitely needs to have their training guidelines revised as far as benzodiazepines go. While doctors are now more likely to follow the 2 to 4 week max for benzo use, it seems many psychiatrists are still far too willing to prescribe benzos for long-term use.

I never want benzos to be banned as I believe they do have some medical merit when used responsibly. Sometimes only benzos are effective at stopping certain types of seizures. They are also needed to assist in sedation for surgery.

As for treatment of anxiety... they should be a last resort if all other options have failed. Never prescribed for daily use, and only given in scripts of around 10 pills at a time for 'occasional use', so that way even if patient does use daily they won't go past the 2 week mark where most dependence occurs.

There will obviously still be people affected by short term use, but they are a lot more rare in terms of those afflicted with dependence. The guidelines for tapering off long-term users should be updated to mention long-term tapering (months to years depending on dose) as a viable option for severely afflicted patients.

Feel free to agree or disagree with any of my suggestions. This could be an interesting discussion.

Edited June 3 by [Cr...]

[[Le...]]

3 minutes ago, [[C...] said:

The medical community at large definitely needs to have their training guidelines revised as far as benzodiazepines go. While doctors are now more likely to follow the 2 to 4 week max for benzo use, it seems many psychiatrists are still far too willing to prescribe benzos for long-term use.

I never want benzos to be banned as I believe they do have some medical merit when used responsibly. Sometimes only benzos are effective at stopping certain types of seizures. They are also needed to assist in sedation for surgery.

As for treatment of anxiety... they should be a last resort if all other options have failed. Never prescribed for daily use, and only given in scripts of around 10 pills at a time for 'occasional use', so that way even if patient does use daily they won't go past the 2 week mark where most dependence occurs.

There will obviously still be people affected by short term use, but they are a lot more rare in terms of those afflicted with dependence. The guidelines for tapering off long-term users should be updated to mention long-term tapering (months to years depending on dose) as a viable option for severely afflicted patients.

I am more of the opinion that docs should be willing to say “ there is nothing more I can do “ and not prescribe them. much like the million people given opoids for moderate pain. the original suffering is nothing compared to the suffering the drugs create. patients dont know that and want an easy fix. doctors should know better. 

Edited June 3 by [Le...]
spelling

[[Cr...]]

True, but while there are thousands (perhaps millions overall since benzos invented) of people negatively affected to the degree we all have been, the majority of people seem to go on and off benzos with no issues.

When 9 out of 10 patients say "Thanks doc, this med helped me" and got off with no issues, while 1 out of 10 patients say "This med is causing major problems!" the doctors probably view the sufferers as being cases of 'rare reactions' to which almost every med has a potential to cause rare reactions.

I surmise that the negative reactions may be a lot more common than is documented as the side effects of benzo use/dependence/tolerance/PAWS often get misdiagnosed as other ailments.

Benzos should never be a first option or long-term option. People seem to get scripts simply for being stressed about natural life events.

To be put on benzos outside of emergency situations you should have any anxiety/stress issues first addressed in therapy. If a very-short term benzo script is determined as necessary, the patient should then be informed of the potential consequences of getting physically dependent and how long it could take to recover. 

Lee, i can understand your stance when I look back and realize humanity made it all the way through history up until recently without benzos. Many in the past may have been self-medicating with alcohol (liquid benzos) but I doubt the advent of benzos have lessoned overall alcohol use anyway. May have made it worse.

[[Le...]]

i think the answer is simpler. Old people, people who already have anxiety issues, people with dementia, and people affected by neuortoxic effects of other drugs or long term use of these are the ones are the ones that seem to have the most reactions. basically those that seem to need them most are most harmed. those who want a day off or to sleep through a flight are rarely harmed enough to suffer. a drug that shouldnt be given to sick people doesnt seem so useful. 

[[Cr...]]

Yeah quite the paradox.

Benzos- good at treating anxiety, but potentially harmful to those with an anxiety disorder. 

The irony is that people with anxiety disorders tend to get heightened anxiety from having scary physical symptoms. That is what benzos can do.

Like you said, the casual person with no anxiety that just wants to sleep on a noisy plane won't be as affected. Even if they get a side effect from use that likely won't bother them as they don't suffer from anxiety.

That said there are many people that only ever developed anxiety/panic for the first time after being prescribed benzos for something like muscle tension. So in reality, the risk is there for any type of person. Its just that increasing the anxiety of someone already suffering from anxiety seems more cruel.

Edited June 3 by [Cr...]

[[Le...]]

sadly i went to a doc and got this stuff for problems with life not really me. you dad dies in a particularly gruesome way, brother breaks back, sister really struggles with cancer, mothers heart fails and me like an idiot goes totally off the edge and takes pills for the first time ever. I feel like an idiot. 

[[Le...]]

I think a better way for me to help that is more moderate will be to help people recovering. I am going to continue mine then try opening my granny suite at my place in the country to someone recovering locally if I can find them. A few months with good food in a quiet place with walks in nature where you can eat from the garden maybe very healing. 

 

I need to get to the point where I can witness someone suffering as I did without becoming unhinged so I can actually help them.