Symptoms of withdrawal. Are they really understood by doctors?

[[Ja...]]

It's been almost five months since I cold turkeyed off awful amounts ( I don't have much memory of it) of valium over a one year period and ten days of Xanax in sept/Oct of 2011.

 

My health has improved immensely from where I was five months ago (very scary) to where I am now. I was one of those poor souls who experienced the severely extreme symptoms and was sure I was insane.  I shudder at the thought of even trying to recall those long days and nights.

 

Having gone through this and lived it, I KNOW my brain is healing. I can work again, I can drive, I can remember,  I can do much much more than the first day of pure hell five months ago. The problem is I have some lingering issues and I believe they are all symptoms of the ct withdrawal.

 

I am still having big problems sleeping, thinking critically and with depth and emotion, some stifling fear, head aches and an incessant electricity sound in my ears.

 

After experiencing the last five months of total agony I am now apprehensive about any sort of prescription medication and really view them as poison pushed on the unknowing masses by big money pharmaceutical companies without a care for how many lives are shattered by brain altering chemicals.

 

When I talk to the doctor ( several ), they are so quick to say this is all psychological and want to give me an ssri stating it will help and that my brain likely has a chemical balance caused by the  benzos and they immediately want to label or diagnose with some disorder to explain what is happening.

 

Please tell me-Do these symptoms go away on their own as one's brain returns to normal functioning? Am I wrong to not want to take anything prescription wise, despite doctors telling me it will help?  They told me benzos would help too and certainly never said anything about the risks and agony of cold turkey despite my telling them I was going to stop them!  I am not sure what to do but I am sure I am improving albeit slowly.

 

Please give me some feedback here. I'm not bashing doctors by any means but I have come to believe after extensive reading on my own that doctors have very little knowledge in this area and they're trained to throw medicine at problems they're presented with.

 

Thank you for reading and providing some real insight here.

 

J

[[...]]

It is my opinion that taking medication should be the last resort, especially psychiatric medications.  They tend to have a lot of side effects and who knows what kind of long term effects they can have.  Of course, it's a personal choice and some people find that these type of medications help them.

 

Based on the books I've read and the research I've done it is quite common for doctors to misdiagnose benzo withdrawal symptoms as psychological illness.  Often other medications are prescribed to patients experiencing tolerance withdrawal while still taking benzos.

 

My suggestion before taking any medication recommended by a doctor is to do as much research as possible and to ask as many questions as possible as well as getting a second or third opinion.

 

You haven't been off benzos for very long and you quit CT yet you're already noticing healing.   

 

Hopefully some other members will stop by and share their thoughts.

 

Wishing you continued healing.

 

[[Th...]]

Hi Jane,

 

I can only give you information from my experience, I like you C/T of a massive amount of Clonazepam and Zolpidem .. given for Restless legs Syndrome .. I Lost the ability to eat for 6 months and survived on nutritional drinks only, I went over a week without sleep and then only got minutes each day for months, I had to be carried and moved, I had help with bathing having lost the ability to care for myself because of the intense physical symptoms and was pretty much bedbound and housebound for the 1st year off, my family thought I was dying, By the time I found the link to the drugs being the cause I was already off the drugs by 6 months ... the hell I endured was inhumane to say the least ... I had all the symptoms that you describe and all I can say is that any medication that I took just made things infinetly worse even medications that I had been been taking long term for other reasons .. and I had to come off them .. I agree that there is neurochemical changes to our brain caused by the medication and withdrawal but I do not believe that it is one that can be corrected with other drugs from my experience  ... only time .. I would be cautious to trying things and if you do then just take a fraction of the lowest possible prescribed dose and see how you react ... because even at 3 years off I am still chemically sensitive to meds something that I did not have before ... and where I had over 60+ symptoms I have a about 12 left so I am not living the dream ... the ones I have include the muscle twitching, head shocks and headaches/ head pressure / dizziness etc .. so  I know what you are relating too ..

 

I think it will be a long time before Docs commit to believing the problems this class of drugs causes, in some areas it is coming but it is painfully slow, after all what doc could ackowledge the damage and prolonged consequences of this class of drug and then go out and prescribe it in good conscience tommorow to someone else ... it is a dilemma sadly ...

[[ac...]]

Most of these doctors don't have a clue, I had one doctor that insenuated that having all these symptoms cold be my imagination, which was an insult to me.  When I left his office I layed the Ashton Manual on his desk and suggested he read it in his spare time.