Doctor's Advice

[[So...]]

So,when did everything clear up?  Did you get paranoia symptoms?  I take meds everyday.  I have to.  I hope they don't upset my recovery.  They are meds for medical problems that I have had for years.

[[Ho...]]

I take meds everyday.  I have to.  I hope they don't upset my recovery.  They are meds for medical problems that I have had for years.

 

What meds do you take everyday Sonria?

[[...]]

I went to my Neurologist today and he told me that my anxiety and panic attacks are not from the Benzos.  He said that Benzo withdrawal does not last this long and should be out of your system in a couple of weeks.  He told me not to believe what I read online.  So am I to believe now that all of these symptoms I am having is not related to the Benzos and I have something wrong with me?  So all of the phobias, anxiety and panic attacks are not from the Benzos?  I am very upset right now and I am freaking out.  If this is the way I am going to be for the rest of my life I will not be able to live like this.  Please give me your thoughts.  Thank you! 

 

I cant speak for anybody else but what you doctor says is true for me. I didn't want to believe it and I was slow to admit it. Stopping valium is never going to make all my problems go away. Blaming the valium for my problems guarantees the problems will never go away.

 

My plan is to try to fix my anxiety issues, not to live with them forever. There are other ways to help my underlying anxiety issues, but not if I never admit they exist. I was too quick to dismiss my doctor as an idiot or ignorant. My doc may have lousy people skills, but he knows about some things than i dont.

 

I decided i could keep blaming the valium and suffer forever, or I could try to help my anxiety with other methods also. Blaming withdrawal was an easy way out for me, but will never solve my underlying issues.

 

Yes, many of us had problems to begin with, but pre-existing problems can't account for a considerable amount of people: these people went on benzos with NO prior history of mental illness or substance abuse, and changed completely after stopping benzos. People like this may sometimes say "Oh, I had anxiety before benzos," and, of course this is rationalization. This rationalization is able to make more sense if the benzo-taker had some anxiety to start with.

 

I can clearly look at myself and realize that the severity and scope of my anxiety was extremely different pre-benzos than post-jump. Before I took benzos, I never had a time where I was afraid of leaving the house, talking to my own parents, and fearful of intrusive sexual thoughts.

 

There was a point a few weeks ago where I had a window. I looked at all the misery on BB, and decided to make a post criticizing how negative everyone was. I felt I had adopted a new attitude and somehow beaten the system. I then got worse again and realized that what I was dealing with was very real.

 

nathan, I noticed in your signature that you have suspended your taper. You are still on benzos. There seems to be a clear difference in those still tapering, and those who are months off. You will probably face a different storm when you make the jump.

 

In a world where family, friends, and health care professionals deny and reject the possibility of benzo w/d, it is easy to start believing that you are going crazy. The justification that this is just the 'real me' seems to blossom out of defeat, a 'If you can't beat 'em, join 'em'-mentality.

 

Did I have anxiety before benzos? Yes. But does one honestly believe I'm too stupid to differentiate normal anxiety from what I'm experiencing now?

[[So...]]

JC90 I agree with what you said.  I was never like this before.  I to might have had a little anxiety like everyone else, but not to the extent what I am experiencing now.  I have never been afraid to go out of my house.  Never been afraid of people before.  Never afraid to drive.  I never had paranoia.  The paranoia just happened about 3 weeks ago, never was like this before.  So am I to believe the doctor and think all of a sudden I am psycho?   

Nathan what kind of problems did you have before the Benzos?  Is your anxiety worse now?

[[Fl...]]

Ironically I was put on benzos for an anxiety issue and although there have been a few times when the anxiety was bad during wd, for the most part it hasn't been a major symptom for me since acute wd.

 

It is quite convenient for doctors to write off your symptoms when you started the drug for a psychological issue. Never mind the fact that someone could have taken them for something else and still end up with pretty much the same set of physical and mental symptoms.

[[So...]]

Most people seem to be withdrawing from Clonazepam.  Has anyone had symptoms withdrawing from Valium or Xanax?

[[In...]]

Most people seem to be withdrawing from Clonazepam.  Has anyone had symptoms withdrawing from Valium or Xanax?

 

Many people here were on Valium or crossed over from a different benzo to valium to taper. It has to be the most used benzo on this website.

[[So...]]

So does Valium and Xanax give me the same side effects?  It seems as if everbody side effects are from Klonopin.

[[In...]]

So does Valium and Xanax give me the same side effects?  It seems as if everbody side effects are from Klonopin.

 

Klonopin, Xanax, Valium, Ativan. They all have essentially the same withdrawal side effects. If you are tapering, then the difference is some stay in your body longer. Once you are done taking them the withdrawal is pretty much all the same.

[[So...]]

Thank you Innadaze!