Strongest FDA Warnings Out on Opioid, Benzodiazapine Risks

I am curious, now after years of over prescribing medications with little known facts about their consequences what is being done to help the people who trusted the fda, pharmaceutical co., and Dr.'s above all who put these drugs into circulation. I personally have dealt and am dealing with family member/s who are now up in years, 65+ that have been on opiod/benzo combo for years 20+ for 1 family member chronic pain/depression, 1 family member anxiety and for the 3rd I am not quite sure just why he is being prescribed the medication. Now, 1 family member has passed away, the other is under care of psychiatrist, and the 3rd is under care of pain mgt. clinic who after 2 years of pain mgt. has decided to wean 68yr old from benzo's and opiods all at same time, over the course of 2 months have been to ER twice. 1st they administered benzo and sent home or offered Bradford. 2nd trip withdrawals were worse and admission to geriatric psych unit (most heart wrenching and disgusting vile place I've seen removed all meds and psych dr. wanted to treat with depakote and venlafaxin, after 2 days paranoid, hallucinations etc..., another family had same situation after 1 week they said there mom came in walking and talking on her own by day 6 she could not stand on her own and could barely formulate a complete sentence. I left with my family member and called the pain mgt clinic and we are now on round 5 of tapering and withdrawals. So I am curious now we have the warnings for future generations that is GREAT, but what about the generation who have been used as lab rats and are now suffering due to this epidemic of benzo/opiad abuse. The Dr.s say one thing and you should follow this for tapering/weaning this is what to expect, but then look at the messages contained on this website and others the people who are going through this are saying something else and everyone's withdrawals are different. There seems like little to no help and not everyone can afford to check into a treatment facility in california overlooking the ocean. And Bradford treatment center is not equipped to deal with someone who has a chronic pain condition such as facial or trigeminal neuralgia. So my question is what about the generation who have been used as lab rats, now where do they go from here? This is time lost from work, strained family relationships, and it seems like for everyone 1 positive there are 3-5 negatives. What have we gained by sending someone 65+ into benzo/opiad nightmares there are tons of families dealing with this. It seems like with medications the FDA needs to be regulated and drugs need to be tested more than what they are a.) for longer periods of time and b.) on more diverse groups of people. Any thoughts?

I was prescribed Lorazepam years ago (at 27 yrs. Old during my divorce) for my anxiety/panic attacks. I really only took them when I needed to fly for my job or for vacation. I had a few times when I had particularly bad panic attacks and took the pills. Fortunately, I never liked how I felt on them or the "hangover" I had after 8 hours or so. I usually just waited through my anxiety or panic, using Yoga breathing to calm down. I knew they only lasted about 20 minutes and that I wouldn't die from the anxiety. When I adjusted to Citalopram 6 years ago, I noticed that I no longer had anxiety or panic attacks. I flew to Costa Rica & Panama, and even zip lined down 7 lines with no anxiety or panic. I felt so free from my old fears, and it is due to the antidepressant.

Since Tramadol also affects your SSRI, I'm a little concerned that I may have anxiety when we fly to Tahiti in a month. I say this only because I had a lot of anxiety when withdrawing from the Tramadol. I used CBD derivative from marijuana to help me calm down as I had a lot of muscle tremors as well as anxiety and was not able to think clearly at the time. It was very helpful. I no longer use it, but will again if I experience a lot of anxiety for some reason. It is not addictive for me at least.

We'll see how well I do with flying 8 hours in the plane. At least I think Tahiti as the destination will be worth it! This is my husband and my long overdue honeymoon completion. When we married 35 years ago we had planned to go to Tahiti, but went only to Hawaii instead, due to work and other responsibilities. Now that we're retired and he's 72 and I'm 69, we are having our honeymoon in Tahiti.

Gail B
Volunteer Mentor

I started taking Klonopin in January of 2006, at 1mg, for anxiety disorder. I was taking 450mg of Wellbutrin already. This was before peripheral neuropathy entered my life.

The first few years with neuropathy I didn't need any medication, but around three years ago, I began experiencing increasing pain in my feet. I tried every medication for neuropathy, and then the neurologist recommended seeing a pain specialist. He took me through a bunch of meds that are off label for neuropathy, but are known to help some people. Nothing was helping. In the meantime, my pcp had me start taking morphine sulfate contin, and over the course of a year or so, I gradually worked up to 30mg tid. I finally found relief from the pain.

Last year I had a spinal cord stimulator implant in June and it reduced my pain by 80%. After that, I weaned off the morphine, to figure out if it was the morphine or Cymbalta that was helping my residual pain. After being off the morphine for 2-3 weeks, I knew that it was the medication I needed. I later weaned off the Cymbalta and didn't observe any effect, positive or negative, on the neuropathy pain. When I restarted morphine, I was able to get relief at 15mg bid.

Over the past couple of months, I've been having increased pain, and the stimulator is adjusted to its strongest setting, so I plan to ask my doctor to increase the morphine, beginning with adding a third pill at lunch. That's still a relatively low dose.

Back to the Klonopin, I tried several years ago to wean off it and went from 1mg to .75mg. After a few sleepless nights, I gave up. One of my doctors recommended that I continue taking it because it keeps me from acting out my dreams, specifically leg motion - read that, kicking my wife. She doesn't want me to stop taking the Klonopin. But, as I said, it's only 1mg.

My takeaway from the opioid/benzodiazepine discussion is that I will continue taking them because morphine is my last resort. I've run out of options. I think that my BIPAP will lower the risk of stopping breathing.

Jim

I started taking Klonopin in January of 2006, at 1mg, for anxiety disorder. I was taking 450mg of Wellbutrin already. This was before peripheral neuropathy entered my life.

The first few years with neuropathy I didn't need any medication, but around three years ago, I began experiencing increasing pain in my feet. I tried every medication for neuropathy, and then the neurologist recommended seeing a pain specialist. He took me through a bunch of meds that are off label for neuropathy, but are known to help some people. Nothing was helping. In the meantime, my pcp had me start taking morphine sulfate contin, and over the course of a year or so, I gradually worked up to 30mg tid. I finally found relief from the pain.

Last year I had a spinal cord stimulator implant in June and it reduced my pain by 80%. After that, I weaned off the morphine, to figure out if it was the morphine or Cymbalta that was helping my residual pain. After being off the morphine for 2-3 weeks, I knew that it was the medication I needed. I later weaned off the Cymbalta and didn't observe any effect, positive or negative, on the neuropathy pain. When I restarted morphine, I was able to get relief at 15mg bid.

Over the past couple of months, I've been having increased pain, and the stimulator is adjusted to its strongest setting, so I plan to ask my doctor to increase the morphine, beginning with adding a third pill at lunch. That's still a relatively low dose.

Back to the Klonopin, I tried several years ago to wean off it and went from 1mg to .75mg. After a few sleepless nights, I gave up. One of my doctors recommended that I continue taking it because it keeps me from acting out my dreams, specifically leg motion - read that, kicking my wife. She doesn't want me to stop taking the Klonopin. But, as I said, it's only 1mg.

My takeaway from the opioid/benzodiazepine discussion is that I will continue taking them because morphine is my last resort. I've run out of options. I think that my BIPAP will lower the risk of stopping breathing.

Jim