Nancy89 Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 Hello, Friend told me this is a great site where I can share my experiences and learn from others. Has anyone ever had benzo addiction? I had panic attacks and my doctor put me on benzos.. At first it was all good until when it was time to stop I couldn't get off of them. Has anyone ever had similar issue? Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus scallywag Posted November 11, 2016 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted November 11, 2016 Nancy -- Welcome to Surviving Antidepressants (SA) Difficulty coming off benzodiazepine medications is very, very common. To start, I suggest that you read this topic on the work of Professor Heather Ashton who has been a leader in developing tapering benzos and on the work of others who have improved and expanded on her work. Ashton and beyond in tapering Would you post about what medication you are taking and how you have tried to stop taking it? Also, A request: Would you summarize your history in a signature -- drugs, doses, dates, and discontinuations & reinstatements, in the last 12-18 months particularly? Any drugs prior to that can just be listed with start and stop years. You don't need to include symptoms or diagnoses other than the initial condition that led to prescribing the first drug. We ask for this information in your signature so that we can see it at a glance. A list is easier to understand than one or multiple paragraphs. You can find instructions in this topic: Please put your withdrawal history in signature You can't just stop taking a psychiatric medication such as a benzo, even if you've only taken it for as little as 2 weeks. It may be that you merely need to learn how to taper slowly, to get informed about what symptoms are typical, and to develop non-drug techniques to cope with symptoms and with anxiety. The link above on Ashton will give you information about tapering and symptoms; here are a few links that may provide useful tactics for coping: Non-drug techniques to cope with emotional symptoms The Dr. Claire Weekes Method of Recovering from a Sensitized Nervous System This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.1997-1999 Effexor; 2002-2005 Effexor XR 37.5 mg linear taper, dropping same #beads/week with bad results Cymbalta 60 mg 2012 - 2015; 2016: 20 mg to 7 mg exact doses and dates in this post; 2017: 6.3 mg to 0.0 mg Aug. 12; details here scallywag's IntroductionOnline spreadsheet for dose taper calculations and nz11's THE WORKS spreadsheet Link to comment
nz11 Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 Nancy any update? Thought for the day: Lets stand up, and let’s speak out , together. G Olsen We have until the 14th. Feb 2018. URGENT REQUEST Please consider submitting for the petition on Prescribed Drug Dependence and Withdrawal currently awaiting its third consideration at the Scottish Parliament. You don't even have to be from Scotland. By clicking on the link below you can read some of the previous submissions but be warned many of them are quite harrowing. http://www.parliament.scot/GettingInvolved/Petitions/PE01651 Please tell them about your problems taking and withdrawing from antidepressants and/or benzos. Send by email to petitions@parliament.scot and quote PE01651 in the subject heading. Keep to a maximum of 3 sides of A4 and you can't name for legal reasons any doctor you have consulted. Tell them if you wish to remain anonymous. We need the numbers to help convince the committee members we are not isolated cases. You have until mid February. Thank you Recovering paxil addict None of the published articles shed light on what ssri's ... actually do or what their hazards might be. Healy 2013. This is so true, with anything you get on these drugs, dependance, tapering, withdrawal symptoms, side effects, just silent. And if there is something mentioned then their is a serious disconnect between what is said and reality! "Every time I read of a multi-person shooting, I always presume that person had just started a SSRI or had just stopped." Dr Mosher. Me too! Over two decades later, the number of antidepressant prescriptions a year is slightly more than the number of people in the Western world. Most (nine out of 10) prescriptions are for patients who faced difficulties on stopping, equating to about a tenth of the population. These patients are often advised to continue treatment because their difficulties indicate they need ongoing treatment, just as a person with diabetes needs insulin. Healy 2015 I believe the ssri era will soon stand as one of the most shameful in the history of medicine. Healy 2015 Let people help people ... in a natural, kind, non-addictive (and non-big pharma) way. J Broadley 2017 Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now