An experience like no other

[[...]]

Hi Ann,

 

The first thing you have to do is ask yourself:  "Before the benzos did I suffer from an inordinate level of anxiety?"  If you did not, then you can, in all probability, attribute your anxiety to the use of Klonopin. 

 

Although many Doctors do not make the connection between withdrawal symptoms and benzo use, I never want to tell folks to ignore their Therapist or their Doctor's recommendations, as that is something they and their patient must discuss, and come to terms with.

 

The maximum effect from taking Buspar usually does not occur for approximately three to four weeks.  If you decide to take it for that long, and you experience no improvement, then perhaps it is time to revisit the anxiety issue with your Doctor or Therapist.

 

I'm just a country bumpkin, but I don't think taking another drug to deal with anxiety while still having withdrawals from a previously prescribed drug for anxiety makes a whole lot of sense, but then again I'm just a country bumpkin, so it's best to discuss this with your Doctor or your Therapist.

 

I have read many times where folks, when having withdrawals from benzos could not gain weight.  I have also read many times where folks gained a ton of weight.  This just reinforces what a strange and ruthless drug the benzos are.

 

It's only natural that your illness has given you a reason to have more stress and anxiety than you were accustomed to, but I think that is a totally different issue from the type of anxiety that is created from the use of benzos.

 

I would bet you dollars to donuts ( I bet you don't hear that expression very often) that the majority of your anxiety, depression, and other symptoms are all benzo related.

 

At five months off, I was a total whack job ... didn't know if I was coming or going most of the time.  I was more mixed up and confused than a mosquito in a mannequin factory.

 

Before you think of capitulating and 'throwing in the towel' - remember that a total recovery from benzo withdrawals takes an average of fourteen months.  At only five months off, you are but a fledgling.  I've got a positive feeling that you are going to weather your benzo experience like a true champ, and when it is all over, your spirit will soar to new heights - leaving you giddy with happiness.

 

Happy new year to you. 

 

pj

[[st...]]

Thank you PJ,

 

To answer your question about this "The first thing you have to do is ask yourself:  "Before the benzos did I suffer from an inordinate level of anxiety?"  If you did not, then you can, in all probability, attribute your anxiety to the use of Klonopin."

 

My reply is No, I didn't. I was worried about my health but I didn't have the anxiety that can sometimes blow up now a days.

 

Thank you again for your reply I might still try the Buspar and that seems like something that either works for people or it just doesn't.

 

This Klon crap has made more problems in taper and withdrawal then anything and I hate it for that. I have to be strong and look forward to getting better as this next year unfolds. I just pray that the withdrawal syndrome does go away.

 

Ann

 

[[...]]

You're welcome Ann,

 

All the best pieces of your life that have been torn from you, and scattered in so many different directions, will come rushing back to you when those awful withdrawals have all gone away.

 

Until that happens, try to live your life in as normal a way that you are capable of.  And try not to worry too much about when that day will arrive.  Because  when that long-awaited day does arrive, 

you will once again look forward to each new day with the enthusiasm and the excitement of a child who has been dreaming for such a very long time about going to the circus and eating cotton candy while watching the dancing elephants and the red-nosed clowns with the big shoes. :balloon:

 

Here is a quote from C JoyBell C  I have always found this to be quite inspiring.  I would like to share with you.

 

"I have come to accept the feeling of not knowing where I am going.  And I have trained myself to love it.  Because it is only when we are suspended in mid-air with no landing insight, that we force our wings to unravel and alas begin our flight.  And as we fly, we still may not know where we are going to.  But the miracle is in the unfolding of the wings.  You may not know where you are going, but you know that so long as you spread your wings, the wind will carry you.   

 

I wish you the very best.

 

pj

[[Wo...]]

Aah PJ

 

This one sentence of yours sounds like heaven right now, you have such a way with words, that only someone who has been through benzo withdrawal could write:

 

''''All the best pieces of your life that have been torn from you, and scattered in so many different directions, will come rushing back to you when those awful withdrawals have all gone away''''.

 

I was only thinking this today how all the pieces of my life have been stolen from me and the memories that I have '(which im not even sure are mine)' are in my brain scattered all over the place, and then what happens you go and write the exact same thought..

 

Even though we all share our unique and individual journey our pain is still the same deep down, I feel so far gone in to this different dimension I live in its impossible to see how we can come back, but you C/T and you still came back...

 

I believe myself that the intense DP DR is what makes us feel this is permanent as we feel so changed and tortured by this unbelievable and indescribable experience that in our minds coming back does seem the impossible...

 

I have been out of reality now for 13 months that everyone who know me (except my fiancée) has given up on me ever returning..

 

I have never in my life before benzos experienced DP DR and it scares the life out of me, I distract with all I got everyday but I feel like im a lost soul that died and is stuck somewhere in a different dimension that no one can see..

 

I envy the buddies that say they never got DP DR as these two symptoms without doubt come straight from hell, I hate the DR but the DP makes you feel like your brain damaged and will never recover, its horrible to see your old life through a distorted vision from afar and no matter how hard you try you still cannot connect to it, nothing for any minute of the day ever feels real, even sometimes when things look normal they still never feel normal, I see my life in the distance going on around me and cant understand why it all feels so unreal and dreamlike, and the more I want to connect the more disconnected I seem to get, people refer to it as the worst LSD trip, well I cant relate but I know from what I read an LSD trip is fun and then it ends, this never ends!!!

 

Can you relate to all I have wrote PJ ? was this you before you came back?

 

Merry Christmas PJ and may all your wishes and dreams come true in 2014..

 

My only wish it to be healed or at least for the DP DR to go away, I want to know who I am and what I am again...

 

Blessings to you and yours...

 

Woofs

[[St...]]

Hi PJ,

 

Thank you so much for sticking around and being so supportive to so many. Even if people aren't posting to you directly your words are still helping them by being there for them to read.

 

I don't know if you have written on this subject so I don't know if you experienced it.  I am 27 months out and really my only sxs are from my being hypoglycemic, which I wasn't until this.  When I get the correct balance of protein, carbs and fats in - I am so balanced and feel well.  But when that balance gets out of whack - the heart palpitations, nausea, adrenaline, blurry eyes, runny nose, anxiety all hit. These are definite symptoms of hypoglycemia.

 

I am eating a very strict diet for hypoglycemia.  Very clean - no antibiotics in my meat nor eggs. No sugar, no caffeine, no additives, etc.

 

My question is - is this a benzo hypoglycemia like benzo belly?  So then if it came because of benzo w/d then will it get better and go away? 

 

I don't know if any of those recovered BB had this glucose problem and if it gets better.  So many of my sxs have gotten better or gone away 100% but I don't know the story on this sx.

 

Did you have this problem or do you know if any other healed BB did, and what the out come is?

 

Thank you again, you are a wonderful person to have been around and supportive as you are. I appreciate it with all my heart,

 

Merry Christmas PJ and may 2014 be a blessed healing year for all,

love,

Sally 

Hi Sally,

 

It is really nice to hear from you again.   You always wrote me some of the kindest, most heartfelt posts.  Hopefully your ordeal with low blood sugar is related to benzo withdrawals, and given more time, it will no longer be an issue with you.

 

This site was very helpful for me when I was going through the worst of withdrawals ... so, I am happy to, and I feel privileged to occasionally take a few minutes out of my life to help others to navigate the confusing and painful journey that is known as benzo withdrawals.

 

As you know, most cases of hypoglycemia are directly related to having diabetes.  You stated that you did not have hypoglycemia before you took benzos, so can the effects from taking benzos cause it?  That's a good question, I wish I had a good answer.  I did not have hypoglycemia during withdrawals, hopefully someone who did and it went away, will respond.

 

Benzos can cause Gerd ( acid reflux) and so many other conditions - perhaps benzos can also cause hypoglycemia - I'm sure that a doctor would say no, but as you know, benzos do cause some strange alterations to our body chemistry, so who really knows?

 

I assume that you have had the necessary blood tests to rule out diabetes, and those tests came back negative.  If that is the case, perhaps you can assume that it is indeed related to benzo withdrawals, and just like benzo belly disappears, the hypoglycemia will also disappear, and you then will be one-hundred percent recovered from your long ordeal with benzo withdrawals.

 

You have a Merry Christmas, too, and a happy, healthy, healing new year.

 

pj 

 

Hi pj,

 

I hope you had a nice Christmas.  I had a wonderful one - my sxs were almost 100% gone for Christmas Eve and Christmas day.  By Christmas night I started feeling slightly some pins and needles and low anxiety, and woke the next two mornings with vibrations but not as strong as they have been in the past.  I know it was from being so tired and just a lot of stimulation.

 

Yes I have had blood test and do not have diabetes, not even type II.  I do see so many people on the forum have issues with sugar that I feel this most likely is a benzo effect.  I am now drinking a plant based protein drink that is low in carbs, and not loaded with extra vitamins other than what is naturally found in the plants.  It seems to be helping me.  I feel in time a lot of this will settle back down.  My blood test had shown that my HPA axis was off to varying degrees, nothing alarming but yes not surprisingly it was.  So as so many BB have read Perseverance's postings on the HPA axis and how it will settle down and straighten out, I'm keeping my fingers crossed it will for me also. I'm wondering if this also doesn't affect the sugar issues also.

 

Have a Happy New Years PJ and may healing happen in 2014 to many of our loved BB,

love,

Sally 

[[...]]

Aah PJ

 

This one sentence of yours sounds like heaven right now, you have such a way with words, that only someone who has been through benzo withdrawal could write:

 

''''All the best pieces of your life that have been torn from you, and scattered in so many different directions, will come rushing back to you when those awful withdrawals have all gone away''''.

 

I was only thinking this today how all the pieces of my life have been stolen from me and the memories that I have '(which im not even sure are mine)' are in my brain scattered all over the place, and then what happens you go and write the exact same thought..

 

Even though we all share our unique and individual journey our pain is still the same deep down, I feel so far gone in to this different dimension I live in its impossible to see how we can come back, but you C/T and you still came back...

 

I believe myself that the intense DP DR is what makes us feel this is permanent as we feel so changed and tortured by this unbelievable and indescribable experience that in our minds coming back does seem the impossible...

 

I have been out of reality now for 13 months that everyone who know me (except my fiancée) has given up on me ever returning..

 

I have never in my life before benzos experienced DP DR and it scares the life out of me, I distract with all I got everyday but I feel like im a lost soul that died and is stuck somewhere in a different dimension that no one can see..

 

I envy the buddies that say they never got DP DR as these two symptoms without doubt come straight from hell, I hate the DR but the DP makes you feel like your brain damaged and will never recover, its horrible to see your old life through a distorted vision from afar and no matter how hard you try you still cannot connect to it, nothing for any minute of the day ever feels real, even sometimes when things look normal they still never feel normal, I see my life in the distance going on around me and cant understand why it all feels so unreal and dreamlike, and the more I want to connect the more disconnected I seem to get, people refer to it as the worst LSD trip, well I cant relate but I know from what I read an LSD trip is fun and then it ends, this never ends!!!

 

Can you relate to all I have wrote PJ ? was this you before you came back?

 

Merry Christmas PJ and may all your wishes and dreams come true in 2014..

 

My only wish it to be healed or at least for the DP DR to go away, I want to know who I am and what I am again...

 

Blessings to you and yours...

 

Woofs

 

Hi Woofs,

 

I was fortunate that I didn't have DP and DR for very long.  For the short time that I did have it, it was quite mild compared to what you are describing.  I sympathize with you.  I can't imagine how you must feel, having to deal with this for so long.

 

Since your DP and DR is correlated to your taking of benzos, from everything that I have read, this symptom will disappear, just as the physical symptoms of withdrawal disappear.  Your DP and DR will not last forever, although to you, it may seem so.

 

It's going to happen.  One day those symptoms will be gone, disappearing into thin air, like the fog does when it is touched by the sun.  Your cloudy world will be clear again.

 

While you are waiting for this to happen, engage in activities that you enjoy, especially activities that keep your mind busy.  Don't try to over-analyize how weird or how strange your DP and Dr makes you feel, because by relentlessly trying to figure it out,  it puts you in a catch-22 situation. 

 

The more you focus on your DP- DR, the harder it becomes not to focus on it, and then anxiety and depression kick in, worse than ever.

 

Try looking into a mirror.  Laugh at the person looking back at you, because you can either make light of your situation or you can let it drag you down.  Since there is no medication that cures DP or DR, try laughter, because in many circumstances, Laughter is indeed the best medicine.

 

The key is not to get discouraged.  When it comes to withdrawal, your brain needs to regroup, and learn again some of things that the benzos have changed in you. 

 

Time will put all the pieces of the puzzle back in the right places again, and your strange, weird, maddening, surreal journey down the long, winding, up and down, benzo trail will be over. 

 

Take care.

 

pj

[[...]]

Hi Sally,

 

It sounds like you are doing pretty darn good.  That's great!

 

And a Happy New Year to you, too.

 

pj

[[Wo...]]

Aah PJ

 

This one sentence of yours sounds like heaven right now, you have such a way with words, that only someone who has been through benzo withdrawal could write:

 

''''All the best pieces of your life that have been torn from you, and scattered in so many different directions, will come rushing back to you when those awful withdrawals have all gone away''''.

 

I was only thinking this today how all the pieces of my life have been stolen from me and the memories that I have '(which im not even sure are mine)' are in my brain scattered all over the place, and then what happens you go and write the exact same thought..

 

Even though we all share our unique and individual journey our pain is still the same deep down, I feel so far gone in to this different dimension I live in its impossible to see how we can come back, but you C/T and you still came back...

 

I believe myself that the intense DP DR is what makes us feel this is permanent as we feel so changed and tortured by this unbelievable and indescribable experience that in our minds coming back does seem the impossible...

 

I have been out of reality now for 13 months that everyone who know me (except my fiancée) has given up on me ever returning..

 

I have never in my life before benzos experienced DP DR and it scares the life out of me, I distract with all I got everyday but I feel like im a lost soul that died and is stuck somewhere in a different dimension that no one can see..

 

I envy the buddies that say they never got DP DR as these two symptoms without doubt come straight from hell, I hate the DR but the DP makes you feel like your brain damaged and will never recover, its horrible to see your old life through a distorted vision from afar and no matter how hard you try you still cannot connect to it, nothing for any minute of the day ever feels real, even sometimes when things look normal they still never feel normal, I see my life in the distance going on around me and cant understand why it all feels so unreal and dreamlike, and the more I want to connect the more disconnected I seem to get, people refer to it as the worst LSD trip, well I cant relate but I know from what I read an LSD trip is fun and then it ends, this never ends!!!

 

Can you relate to all I have wrote PJ ? was this you before you came back?

 

Merry Christmas PJ and may all your wishes and dreams come true in 2014..

 

My only wish it to be healed or at least for the DP DR to go away, I want to know who I am and what I am again...

 

Blessings to you and yours...

 

Woofs

 

Hi Woofs,

 

I was fortunate that I didn't have DP and DR for very long.  For the short time that I did have it, it was quite mild compared to what you are describing.  I sympathize with you.  I can't imagine how you must feel, having to deal with this for so long.

 

Since your DP and DR is correlated to your taking of benzos, from everything that I have read, this symptom will disappear, just as the physical symptoms of withdrawal disappear.  Your DP and DR will not last forever, although to you, it may seem so.

 

It's going to happen.  One day those symptoms will be gone, disappearing into thin air, like the fog does when it is touched by the sun.  Your cloudy world will be clear again.

 

While you are waiting for this to happen, engage in activities that you enjoy, especially activities that keep your mind busy.  Don't try to over-analyize how weird or how strange your DP and Dr makes you feel, because by relentlessly trying to figure it out,  it puts you in a catch-22 situation. 

 

The more you focus on your DP- DR, the harder it becomes not to focus on it, and then anxiety and depression kick in, worse than ever.

 

Try looking into a mirror.  Laugh at the person looking back at you, because you can either make light of your situation or you can let it drag you down.  Since there is no medication that cures DP or DR, try laughter, because in many circumstances, Laughter is indeed the best medicine.

 

The key is not to get discouraged.  When it comes to withdrawal, your brain needs to regroup, and learn again some of things that the benzos have changed in you. 

 

Time will put all the pieces of the puzzle back in the right places again, and your strange, weird, maddening, surreal journey down the long, winding, up and down, benzo trail will be over. 

 

Take care.

 

pj

 

Thank you PJ

 

I do try do everyday what you say but I think the sheer duration of how long ive suffered these 2 symptoms is what makes it so bad..

 

You have been such a great support to a lot of people on here and this thread when you read it proves that in itself..

 

I wish you and yours all the very best for 2014 and I hope that some day soon I come back and prove you right...

 

Sincere Regards

 

Woofs

[[...]]

Quote from Woofs:

 

I wish you and yours all the very best for 2014 and I [...] that some day soon I come back and prove you right...

 

 

Some day soon, when you come back and declare that you have completely recovered, it will not be to prove me right.  It will show me, that, because you did not stop believing in yourself, you did not give up, and with all your heart and soul, you were determined to get through one of the most difficult and confusing episodes in your life ... you proved yourself right ... proving to me,

 

that in the future you are going to do many good and honorable things in your life, because you are a strong, and decent person with a kind heart, a can do attitude, and a determined spirit.

 

Now, go and win one for the Gipper. 

 

I am a huge Notre Dame fan. Flip, a well-respected member here, can attest to that.  George Gipp was an All-American half-back on the Knute Rockne coached team from 1918-1920.  Sorry about the history lesson, Woofs.  Notre Dame won their bowl game last night, so I'm still ridin' high.

[[pa...]]

HAPPY NEW YEAR our dearest PJ..

 

 

Pattylu

[[...]]

Happy New Year to you too, patty ... my lovely California Cowgirl.  How's the novel coming?  Don't give up on it.  I know you have what it takes to write a best seller.

 

Happy New Year to all you folks who have had the best pieces of your life taken from you by the benzos. 

 

When you have recovered, all those lost pieces of your life will be found ... and your life will be whole and complete once again.  Your life will no longer be an unfinished puzzle.

 

pj

[[Co...]]

Happy new year PJ, all the best to you in 2014 !!

[[...]]

Thank you, Conzumed.  You have a Happy New Year, too.  I like your avatar.  He looks like he could be Popeye's more refined and genteel relative ... a perfect mate for Olive Oyl.

 

Cheers,

 

pj

[[Ja...]]

Happy New Year PJ. Am in Florida now healing. Can't wait. Just started my 15th month.

[[pi...]]

Happy New Year PJ!!!

 

Thanks for being you and coming around to offer your kindness and positive affirmations about healing to our members. Your writing is so beautiful to read, you are an artist.

 

PG 

[[Co...]]

Thank you, Conzumed.  You have a Happy New Year, too.  I like your avatar.  He looks like he could be Popeye's more refined and genteel relative ... a perfect mate for Olive Oyl.

 

Cheers,

 

pj

 

Hehe... thanks PJ!

 

Yep, of course he is... I mean, Popeye - a sailor without a beard... seriously?? 

[[...]]

Happy New Year PJ. Am in Florida now healing. Can't wait. Just started my 15th month.

 

Happy New Year to you, Jazzy.  With all the cold weather across the nation, being in Florida has to feel pretty good.  I hope month 15 is the magic month for you to be healed.

[[...]]

Happy New Year PJ!!!

 

Thanks for being you and coming around to offer your kindness and positive affirmations about healing to our members. Your writing is so beautiful to read, you are an artist.

 

PG 

 

And you have a Happy New Year too, pianogirl   I cannot imagine that my writing is as beautiful to read, as your playing a Mozart Concerto on your piano is beautiful to listen to.  But I do indeed, appreciate your gracious words.

 

pj

[[...]]

Last night, as I sat in front of the old stone fireplace ... warming my weary bones, my dog, Dixie, wandered over to me and laid her head on bare feet ... warming not only my feet, but also my heart.

 

Together, we watched the gaily dancing flames jump high above the burning logs, to cast their shadows upon the wall.  They looked like belly dancers grinding to the sounds of a snake-charmer. 

 

The dried oak logs, the way they crackled and popped, mesmerized me ... their sparks, glowing like far away stars, made my sleepy eyes start to close, shutting out the cold, dark night ... putting me in a dream-like state of mind.

 

Feeling Dixie's paw upon my knee, I emerged from my stupor.  I was wide awake now.  A little bit of a melancholy feeling surrounded me as I reflected upon the past, and on the future.   

 

I think most folks experience a bit more sadness and melancholy after the holidays.  The long, harsh, cold month of January, with it's winter blahs, reminds them that the warm month of June, with it's promise of renewal and healing, is still far away.

 

During withdrawals, if the winter blahs have you wishing that you could just curl up into a ball, staying put in your warm bed, not wanting to ever get up and get going to face the world again until you have healed, don't despair.

Even folks who are not dealing with withdrawals oftentimes feel this way.  I think all of us have wished, at one time or another, that we were like the bears, and we could just stay asleep, and shut out the world until we were awakened by the reassuring sounds of the happy songbirds welcoming Springtime.

 

If the winter blahs are getting you down, and you are feeling more sad and melancholy than usual ... that's okay ... because you are going to be okay. 

 

Just like those withdrawals are temporary, so are those winter blahs. 

 

You are going to recover from both of those things  ... just like a summer rainbow chases away a scary thunderstorm ... when the time has come for you to be healed, the soothing, life-renewing sunshine, will shine upon you, chasing away those scary withdrawals, forever leaving you a changed person, a change that you will always cherish.

 

Take good care of yourself, and love you for who you are ... one of the most important people in your life. 

 

pj

[[Ga...]]

Dear PJ

Beautiful post, as usual.  Not doing good myself, anxiety and inner shakes.  Weary.  Fears.  Holidays were not good.  Can't blame the weather, it's been beautiful here and warmer than normal.  Just tired of the day in and day out fight.  But I thank you for your encouragement and support.  You are such a special person.  Kind and compassionate...an anchor in our storm here on BB.  Stay with us, dear friend.

God bless and be well always.

Galea

[[...]]

 

Hi Galea, 

 

On April 1st, it will be two years since I declared myself recovered from the Ambien and the Ativan cold turkey.  What a glorious day that was.  And what a wonderful, glorious day it will be for you when you can declare that you, too, have completely recovered from what has to be one of the worst experiences in your life. 

 

Although the ability to remember some of my withdrawal symptoms are beginning to slowly fade away.  What has not faded from my memory are all those special memories of the wonderful, decent, and kind folks just like you, who I have had the pleasure to interact with on this most unique site.

 

Their names are indelibly written on my mind, forever ensuring that they will not be erased from my memory and forgotten. 

 

I hear you, Galea, and I can empathize with you regarding your fears and your concerns.  I completely understand how hard it is to remain positive and upbeat when each new day, just to survive, makes you feel like you are engaged in a fifteen round boxing match, and you only have the strength and the will to go half a round. It's so easy to become discouraged.   

 

What helped me to remain hopeful, while also taking my mind off some of those depressing withdrawal symptoms, was to get a sheet of paper, and write about all the things in my life that I was thankful for, and all the changes I wanted to make in my life when I was completely recovered. 

I wrote down how I would not worry so much about all those small, insignificant things in life that don't amount to a hill of beans, and are not worth a minute of our time obsessing over or needlessly worrying about.

 

Instead, when I recovered, I vowed to myself that I would live in the moment, not in the past, and not in the future.  I vowed to cherish all the little things in life, that, because we get so busy, we forget about; like taking the time to really see the sunset, to really feel the sun and wind on our face, to really listen to, and to really hear and feel the concerns of the person we are talking to.

 

Your benzo nightmare will end one day, and when it does end, the physical, and mental toll that it has taken on you, will soon be forgotten, because you will be so grateful, and so thankful that you have recovered ... even a picnic in the rain will make you smile.

 

Thank you for your kind words towards me.  I wish you and yours the very best.

 

pj

[[Co...]]

Hi Pj, Wanted to come by and wish you a happy new year, so lol...Happy New Year...I'm really happy for you that you are doing so much better...you are so encouraging to the buddies still suffering and you write so beautifully to them...I'm sure it's very comforting...sometimes it's hard for me to know what to write so that I may be of help also...it doesn't seem like enough sometimes. Anyway, take good care of yourself and be happy. Love, Colleen

[[Co...]]

Hi Galea...saw your post to pj and it made me so sad for you...I'm so sorry that you are experiencing so many awful sx...I went thru detox too and it was really harsh but I want to reassure you also that it does get better with time...you are not alone or forgotten and I care about your suffering...sending love and hugs your way  :)Colleen

[[...]]

Hi Colleen,

 

Happy New Year to you, too.  I am happy that you are now able to enjoy your life once again ... a life that was put on hold for far too long as you struggled to get back all that the benzos had taken from you.

 

Your words of encouragement, your gentle personality, and your sincerity have helped, and encouraged many folks to not give up. You are loved and respected by many folks who have admired you for your strength and your courage as they followed your progress in overcoming all that you have been through.

 

Take good care of yourself.  Give your Great Danes a pat on the head and a scratch or two behind the ears.  Tell them it's from that pj guy

[[...]]

Unfortunately, out of ignorance or out of sheer evilness, BenzoBuddies has sometimes been referred to as a cult - a hangout for losers and drug addicts where folks hungrily feed off of each other's misery. 

 

These cold and callus remarks are further from the truth than the Earth is from Mars.  They were obviously made by people who are either jealous or envious of this unique site, because a former site they may have been associated with was not so successful and helpful in getting folks off of benzos, as is BenzoBuddies.   

 

The thousands of folks who have come and gone from this site, and the many folks who come here on a daily basis were legally prescribed benzos by a doctor.  They did not seek them on the street from some low-life drug peddler. 

They are all very intelligent, decent folks who we would be proud to have as our friends or neighbors.  Through no fault of their own, the benzos that they were given to get relief from insomnia, anxiety or depression made the condition for which they were prescribed much worse for them.

 

That is the insidious, and unforgiving nature of benzos. 

 

Although we are as anonymous, and distant as ships passing in the night ... strangers who will never meet, we are more understanding and compassionate towards each other here at BenzoBuddies, than some of our friends outside of this place may have been to us while we  are or were dealing with withdrawals. 

 

Because of this site, we know what benzos can do to a person.  We know that withdrawals are real.  We know that benzos can play with our mind, causing us to think and act completely different than we did before we had our chance encounter with them.

Because of this site, we know that withdrawals from benzos is a temporary condition, a condition that we will recover from, and when we do recover, we know that life will be as good or better for us than it ever was before.

 

To the mean-spirited and warped people who have referred to this place as a cult, thank you -

 

because this great place IS a cult ... it is a CULT ure of decency.  It is a CULT ure of kindness.  It is a CULT ure of compassion.

 

It is a culture where complete strangers become friends.  It is a culture where helping and encouraging folks who are hurting is the norm, not the abnormal.

It is a culture where folks do not judge or criticize another person.  Without malice, they gladly offer the hope, the understanding and the encouragement that people so desperately need in order for them to be free from benzos.

 

This place instills confidence.  It is like the friend who lends a helping hand to give someone they love, the strength and the courage that is needed to fight on when things seem hopeless. 

 

Thousands of folks have been given a new chance for a better life because of this site.  If some deranged people want to ridicule and belittle that achievement by calling benzobuddies a cult, who cares?

 

BenzoBuddies will always be a place where folks can feel secure in the knowing that this site and the people who frequent it, are a class act. 

 

Thousands of people will never forget this site or the folks who they met here.  I am proud to include myself among that group.