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Benzos are killing me
Back in 2018, I diagnosed with what doctors thought was CDiff and they put me on vancomycin and Reglan. I had a very bad reaction to the Reglan and suddenly started having anxiety. It came out of nowhere. I had been on Effexor for 16 years when that happened and it had been working fine for 16 years and never had any anxiety or depression. When the anxiety started the doctors didn’t know what was causing it so they took me off of the Effexor cold turkey. I basically went into psychosis. I was in and out of hospitals for months and months and months with them trying to help me and they finally put me on Klonopin. That was in 2019. By early 2021 I had already reached tolerance and decided I would start tapering off of the benzo. I did that for nine months and it kept getting worse and worse and someone suggested that I try brain restoration NAD. I did that for 10 days and they switched me over to Valium to complete my taper. It didn’t help. I honestly don’t think I can do this for another nine months to a year every day. I wake up wanting to just die from the symptoms. I don’t have anxiety in my brain, I just have all these physical symptoms. Today I finally had a complete meltdown and told my family that I couldn’t do this anymore. I used to be a very successful business woman in Atlanta and traveled the world and did mission trips to Third World countries and now I’m curled up on the sofa wishing I could just fall asleep and never wake up. I know if I go into a rehab program they are just going to do a fast taper and then I will be left dealing with withdrawal symptoms. Someone please give me a recommendation. I can’t live like this anymore.
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@daveshaw , @wmbcat
Dave makes a good point. I take a very low dose of clonazepam 0.25mg once or twice a day as needed to calm my anxiety. This BENZO works instantly and I’m not willing to take SSRI or SNRI for weeks waiting for them to work. And if they don’t, weening of them is also extremely painful.
I’ve been taking the Benzo for 6 weeks and don’t have any noticable bad side effects. However I am concerned about all the horror stories about physical dependency. But if you have any medical condition and you take medication for it, you effectively are dependent on it.
BTW, I have a very strange story. My 68 yr sister-in-law took .5mg twice a day or 18 years. She stopped cold turkey about a year ago because her anxiety disappeared (an event too unusual to describe here). No withdrawal symptoms whatsoever. Bizarre, I know.
Maybe @wmbcat was given too high of a dosage or her body just couldn’t take it.
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1 Reaction@daveshaw - Dave, I guess I have a thing for this particular drug since it caused extreme havoc with my CNS for 2 1/2 years. Seriously thought I had parkinsons coming on at one point, thus my appointment with a neurologist who found nothing, but after finding out about the Klonopin, he looks at me and says, "where there you go"! Yes, I know many love this drug and good for them, have at it. Just know that once on it for any length of time, dependency is pretty much a given for most whether realized or not. For some who plan on staying on it permanently, well I guess that's fine too but obviously many have to up the dose, no different than street drugs that you mention. I do agree with you, I am totally anti-illegal drugs etc., have never tried any and never will. It's sad what opiods have done - agreed. But this particular drug messed me up just as bad I'm certain. I have researched this drug until I was blue in the face, talked to pharmacists about it as they obviously know more about this stuff than most physicians ever will. Both agreed, not a good drug, one who is now retired, said he was surprised it was even dispenced, said it was a drug from the 70's. Talk to physicians, the younger ones, they will tell you it's a no no, the older guys are the ones mostly still prescribing. But Dave, if you were me for those 2 1/2 years you'd know why I was angry, mostly with the idiot who prescribed it and denied it's side effects, (yes old guy). Every day I just walked around with tremors & vibrations, feeling like I was sitting on a running outdoor AC unit. That was life. Sorry, won't post anymore, but I still say NO to benzo's just like opiods!
@meingan - While I agree with most of what you are saying, no, your body is not dependent on most drugs you take. I only take atorvastatin now and if I stop, no side effects or withdrawal symptoms. For many when they stop benzo's they have withdrawal symptoms, that shows you are dependent, no different than with illegal drugs. Thats why they recommend long term reduction of the benzo's. But it works for many so thats good until its not! Best to you.
@meingan Thanks for reading my post.
Unfortunately SSRI’s do take up to six weeks to get in your system.
You might want to try Zoloft, Wellbutrin and Buspar. I have had great luck with them over many years. I do believe Zoloft might be most popular SSRI and is well tolerated by many people.
By the way people are addicted to caffeine and alcohol. I find alcohol to be very destructive to many families.
You are right that taking almost anything can become addictive.
Good luck to you.
@arthur57 I have been fortunate that I have never upped my dosage or had any bad side effects.
Those same pharmacists were prescribing OxyContin like it was candy. Unlike OxyContin I don’t know of anyone overdosing on Klonopin.
My PCP tells me not to stop taking it especially since I don’t drink or smoke and exercise 6-7 days a week.
Good luck to you and I don’t make light of your problems with it. I think a lot of the younger Doctors are afraid to prescribe it because of the opioid crisis in this county. My PCP carefully monitors the patients she prescribes it for and if they have a problem with alcohol she is quick to taper them off.
I have a physical in December and I will mention it again. She will probably just role her eyes. I am 74 and I don’t want to spend up to a year getting off something if I don’t need to. At my age there is enough to worry about.
Good luck to you.
@daveshaw
Are you taking them for depression or anxiety? Most people don’t realize they are distinctly different.
I have severe anxiety that just suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It’s not caused by my life situation. Working with a ND to determine if it’s hormonal. So hopefully I can stop the Benzo soon.
I appreciate your comments.
@daveshaw Why so angry? K is a benzo. In the Olden Days docs didn’t know their dangers. They were and are for short-term use. They are not meant for people over 65. They cause falls and sleep disorders - and central sleep apnea is a bugger to treat.
@shar1504 Sorry I don’t suffer from any of that.
I wish you luck.
@meingan When I first learned to in my 30’s that I had been suffering from depression since college I finally had a name for what I was going through.
I remember reading a Time Magazine with Prozac on the cover. The next day I called my PCP at the time and said this article is describing me. We tried Prozac and I did not react well to it. Then we tried Zoloft and my mind had no adverse effects.
She referred me to a psychiatrist and eventually we added Wellbutrin, Buspar and Klonopin for anxiety. I have tried other antidepressants and always came back to Zoloft. I actually cut my dosage to 50mg a day and kept everything else the same.
I am certainly not a doctor but I believe depression, anxiety and OCD are all tied in together. My son suffers from depression and my daughter has OCD.
My mother by the way was clinically depressed her whole life which led to a pretty dysfunctional family growing up.
I hope for you it is hormonal because my son had panic attacks and they were frightening.
Good luck to you.
@shar1504 Not angry. All medications react differently for different people.
Just cause it works for me doesn’t mean it works for everyone. I let my PCP decide. She has an MD at the end of her name and a practice dedicated to Seniors.
I am happy.