I was on 2mg of klonopin for 33 years. For the last 10 years on the drug, I was slowly going crazy. I ended up in jail for five months, where I was taken off the drug immediately and given a 10 day protocol to avoid seizures. I've been couch bound for a year with brain damage and every symptom you can imagine. Thanks for doing these videos. Most doctors and my wife think I'm crazy. I thought I was crazy. These drugs are poison.
Same Here. It's agony. It's a challenge just laying on the couch. Can't wait til we all feel better. This is making me Bonkers. Jail just got out. It's so Brutal. Feels like endless torture
Damn I’ve been on 1mg of kpin for 6 years and I’m learning that I might be in big trouble. I’m so scared about coming off this crap. Sorry to hear about your traumatizing experience, these drugs really are scary.
@@robertworton2394 dear friend, I care for you and do not want you to go through this torture. Please for the good of your Health. Start weening off. I love you my friend. You will be in my prayers. That's a promise Robert.
If you saw this interview out of context, you would think Lance was talking about being exposed to some horrible poison. The fact that this is inflicted on him by medicine, and then he is basically just left for dead, is really shocking.
Medical drugs that psychiatrists and pharma tell us save lives, and save you from having very bad mental health. Psychiatry centuries tradition of abuse has to end. Pharma has to stop lying about drugs. Doctor Ashton extensively researched benzodiazepines tapering and causing severe dependence (addiction) in the 1980s, but 40 (!!!) year later medics seem to have not received that memo yet. Best wishes.
That's because they are horrible poisons and what people are calling side effects are just the effects of these poisons. No one is taking new account the different effects from different biochemistry because contrary to the materialist empiricism view we are not hold built the same we do not all have the same vaccine history where our bodies were damaged we all don't have the same genetics we don't all have the same diet we don't all have the same exposure to chemicals and toxins that are changed our epigenomic structure etc etc etc. What they taught these psychopharmacologists and psychotherapist about how these drugs work is half a load of nonsense and half misinformation because these people don't even really know what these things due to brain chemistry and hormones chemistry nor do they even understand how they work but instead what they do is they attach a false ontological conceptual framework to what these things do and they call that the treatment effect and then everything else that isn't supposed to happen they call a side effect will this is just clear nonsense and has nothing to do with reality. We can see the same thing with the justification for using ssris and other medications for instance with schizoaffective disorder or other severe psychiatric disorders that display psychosis or delusions or hallucinations and for decades they've been telling people well you have some sort of deficiency or a chemical imbalance and then they give you the drugs and symptoms go away just by chance and then they say well we fixed the brain chemistry well there's absolutely no empirical or cited evidence or data on any of that no one can measure any of these brain chemicals no one can point to a lessening or an increase in any of them it's just something they told people decades ago and it's not true. In fact more of a rational or logical argument could be made for how symptoms develop come out of nowhere or increase or shift overtime when you are on these medications versus Simpsons being alleviated because of course you are being poisoned.
I know all about the 7 hours a week sleep.... I had that for over 2 years....It seems like I had every symptom this man had...for over 2 years nonstop...but PRAISE GOD...I finally healed!!!!
I still have this brain shut down all the time and can't do anything or be with anybody. I'm homebound. Waking up to death and brainlock and that truth I'm homebound and can't do anything. I'm now at 8 mg of valium from 60 mg (klonopin crossover). I had that one chance to survive when I had rapidly tapering oxazepam and had crossover to diazepam first time and stabilized and brain lock went away. I could be myself. Active, social. But taper was too quick and went badly wrong. Since then one ct, one month, kindling to klonopin and now tapered to 8 mg of valium with Ashton manual, not stabilized once since that late 2021. I'm in hell. Have still temazepam to taper. Can you give me hope. All the best.
Exactly!!! I can describe it all perfectly just like I was describing my symptoms from the cortisone and no one understands or takes it seriously. Even within the community as I got incredibly incredibly ill after 5 days use many do not believe that is possible but I am living it.
I’m so sad. 26 years on benzos. 16 on Xanax and 10 years on Klonopin. I’m down to 2.89mg from 4mg Klonopin with no help and I’m suffering!! My son has been abused by psychiatry. I wish we had a psychiatrist like you. We need a miracle. God help us all.
My father died 2013. I could'n cry, couldn't express any emotion,was blank...That's the day I realized that something seriously is wrong using this evil drugs...
That is true and is what we all experience. Many just don't know how to express what it is because it's so bad. I feel, as do many others, of course, advocate putting them in prison. Because they have known this for Many Decades and still murder people. But, finally now, the authorities are going after them. This is true. So future generations will not suffer and die like us. It's a consolation that came too late to save us though..
Don't give up hope. I am ten years off of being on Clonopin for ten years. I experienced most of the symptoms being described. The first five years were just trying to get by moment to moment. I now feel a greater sense of well-being than I have ever felt. I have learned to take care of myself physically, emotionally and spiritually. I would add that I started a meditation practice and read books on mindfulness to help with the anxiety, hyper vigilance and restlessness both of which have proved to be helpful. So glad I found this community. I thought the hell I lived through was a response unique to me.
Hi there...I'm on 1mg of Clonezepam that I take just in the morning. I was thinking of weening of slowly by going down .10mg every month for 10 months to have less side effects. I also take 50 mg a day of paxil which I heard can help with the withdrawal of going off the clonezepam. Just wondering if you have any advice for me?
This man is describing the insanity that is benzos the best ive heard anyone else describe it. I can relate so much to what he is staying. Its unreal. Thank you for talking about it.
My mom was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer, I was a single mom of four, I came down with a rare disease all at the same time. Was given a benzo to manage disease symptoms and all the trauma and stress. I was a full time therapist and had a beautiful life. Was cold Turkey’d but would have healed at two years or so but have had multiple setbacks and here I am four years later.
@@Waves353 I do know what caused them. Antibiotic the first time then a steak I ate that was marinated in alcohol and I thought it would cook out, huge amounts of stress and loss, and currently supplements because I am trying to treat a giardia infection without antibiotics.
@@xy-qy2ygbecause say you have sadness your whole life or get sadness or anxiety from a life change, you can extrapolate how you will get through it based on your past experience and you measuring your own emotions
You are such a brave man!! 4 kids. No support from friends and family. How cruel and terrible. I am in protracted withdrawal from antidepressant. ( 36 months now) All windows and waves. I have a lot of same symptoms but not the akathisia. You will heal. You’re brain is busy going back to homeostasis. Hold on. One day it will all be over. Read Baylissa’s book! Love from Amsterdam!❤
Between how well Lance describes his symptoms and his progress and Josef’s skills of actively listening and asking good questions, this is one of my favorite videos. I’m passing it along to my people who care. Many thanks to you both.
It's true, we need to share this information more because our peers and people that don't understand it. Don't know how to deal with us. And we end up losing jobs and everything else because of it. I truly believe it is that important to get this information out there.
Great interview, Lance. Thanks for telling your story. God bless you. It's like every doctor and psychiatrist prescribing these things is reading from the same script. "Baby dose," "you just need to take your Xanax," "just quit taking it," "you must have some underlying issues..." Add to that from my doc: "maybe you're just very sensitive," "I've never seen this before," "it's just your old anxiety coming back," and "I'm not worried, you're on a very low dose." I told my doc I thought I was dependent on K after a month and a half of PRN use, and he said "you can take it indefinitely." They just don't know anything about these drugs, as you noted with your psychiatrist's opinions of you and your need of venlafaxine, but this is changing because of people like us who have lived the trauma and good doctors like the Witt-Doerrings. They can't argue with evidence forever.
Yesss this , the babydose, 0.5 mg so 5 drops clonazepam is a babydose. No one is sick for more than two weeks from this. You can stop without seizure so no worries. Oh only 0.1 mg so one drop it's like placebo.
I have been immersing myself in these types of videos. I thought I was going crazy, dr acts like I am- husband thought so too. I am shocked that this happening to SO MANY PEOPLE with nobody being held accountable. Doctors just straight up deny that I am in benzo withdrawal and try to prescribe more meds. I don’t know if I will make it through and I hate the thought of people not knowing the truth about what has happened to me. Especially my children.
To me the worst part is nobody believes us. So lonely and terrifying. I pray non stop for every soul suffering and try my best to warn Anyone that will listen about the dangers of all psychiatric drugs. A "dr" recently tried to put my 13yr old granddaughter on Abilify for having mood swings. She's perfectly healthy and hormonal as teenagers usually are. A 45 minute visit and prescription could destroy her future.
Withdrawal from psychiatric drugs is so common, it's almost criminal. I'm thankful I've never used these drugs but very aware of their effects. I've been called down for encouraging other's to try and deal with depression with diet, exercise and realizing not all times in our life will be joyful or comfortable.
Drug pushers! They need to pay for their lavish style living, laughing all the way to the bank with big Pharma behind them not caring about their patients, no one can get well with a 15 min. Time slot... Sad.
I feel awful for the people in these videos going through this stuff. But as someone who was heavily physically dependent on alcohol for years (and periods of being so with benzos), I can’t describe how grateful it makes me feel to see this and know that I’ve been sober for over a year now. Life can get better, it’s a really hard change to make but a sober life is possible and for certain people (like myself) is a matter of life and death. I hope this guy has been doing better.
I look forward to the the next interview Lance. Thanks for putting a time line 18 months, the next mile stone 3 year and between 3 and 5 years most people are healed, perhaps with a few residual symptoms that are manageable, hearing this means a lot.
Why isn’t there a mass lawsuit being filed against these companies. It happened due to the opioid crisis. It’s time for makers of benzodiazepines as well as doctors to be held accountable. I’ve been through opiate withdrawal which I thought was hell at the time. I would GLADLY welcome that back over what benzodiazepine detox is doing to me.
Pharmaceutical companies needs to be transparent about all their medications so providers know what they are prescribing to patients. Hold Pharmaceutical companies accountable!
It is truly HELL. I try to talk to people all the time about their Xanax prescription and it makes me so sad that they think it's safe simply because it's prescribed by a dr. This is a business and they don't give a damn about us, only about the money they can make from us. Praying for you to get through this. Been about 5 years for me and I'm beyond thankful to be alive.
I used to be very sharp and creative. It has completely dumbed me down and annihilated my ability to think outside the box.... or in the box for that matter.
Thank you so much for this interview. It couldn’t have been easy to do. Looking forwards to hearing about the outcome of this. The worst is behind you. You have suffered much but healing and recovery await. You will get to the other side. Thank you for sharing your story with us. You are a brave and courageous man. This was a great interview . So very sorry for the suffering you have endured after only a few months on the drug. I’m 71. Was on a prescribed Benzo for over 30 years. Not once, was it reviewed or questioned. Came off cold turkey. Been off over 32 months. I’m seeing improvements, howbeit slowly. Your four children should be so proud of yiu, if the only knew what you have experienced over these last 19 months. Loving these interviews. Thank you doctor.
I lost my family all of my friends my daughter died and was buried my was not invited.. I have no one left in my life. My relationship with my partner has been destroyed... A body has been destroyed.. The stuff is poison
I am so sorry that you're experiencing so much hell. Most ppl don't want to try to understand. I don't want to say anything about your daughter because there are no words in my vocabulary to touch that subject.
This planet is in a bad place it appears. I think we had a world leader that was against big pharma but let's just go with CNNs version and wonder why we're screwed
I really hope this man understands how much he is respected . This has clearly been more than traumatic for him ( his teens also) but if he hadn’t explained some of the crazy details of what he was experiencing, I’d have thought it was just me … Very similar except the amount of time I’d been taking a benzo- for me, I 1st started in 2006- I’m taking myself off now. ( about 8 months now) . But I also had surgeries and a brain aneurism that I had coiled. Not until I heard this guy say everything I heard today, didn’t know if it was because of the aneurism or just a new mental hurdle. This is a unbelievably helpful channel. Thank you to Dr Josef for caring and helping so many people who’d have never been understood or had hope.
Dr. Please keep up the work you're doing. Just watching this helps me so much as I know I'm not alone. I can relate to so much of what the sufferer (Lance, right?) is going through, including the part where nobody in your family understands, or if you try to show them resources, they don't care. I was on 2 mg Xanax and before that Klonopin. I've a long way yet to taper and it's hell. If you keep up your work, you have no idea how many lives you might save. Awesome interview!
2mg Xanax bars? That's me 4 x a day😢 I'm terrified. My doctor is retiring in 1 month. It's very hard to get a doctor around here that's willing to prescribe them. 9 yrs. I need a miracle
We need doctors to be allowed to deprescribe these medications safely and not have the government pull the rug out form underneath patients who have been legitimately prescribed these medications..... yes the stories are brave and need to be acknowledge but we need doctors to be proactive for their patients NOW.
Yes, this exactly! Don't know how so many people come away from these videos, and all they seem to understand is "xanax bad". The most dangerous part of it is medical or government officials taking you off of it suddenly.
My heart goes out to this man and all who are going through what he's going through. I can relate to a lot of his symptoms from a concussion, where drs only option was 'meds'. Thankfully I declined (tho did have ssri for years, and see now that impacted me in ways I thought were 'just me'.). The life getting smaller, unable to go into stores cuz of lights, sounds, etc, the inability to follow conversations - I hear the words but can't comprehend in the moment what it actually means. (I repeat the words in my head, think about what they mean, think about an answer, then reply - and that's not what people are used to.). Thankfully I did find someone who understands the brain and body - related to Z-Health training, and made progress learning how to begin to manage my brain energy, recognize when my brain is shut down so I can close out stimulus, etc. Big hugs for all facing these horrific challenges inflicted upon them with 'safe and effective' words that are nowhere near the truth of the experience of many.
I've been prescribed benzos for years I'm dealing with withdrawls I'm very worried. My motor functions are going. My doctor who kept me on them years never warned me.
They don't warn you! They hand it out like candy. The female Psych who handed me my Rx for C had to close her practice down for some unknown reason. They're shady.
Please tell Lance it WILL get better!!!!! I am so thankful to him for describing so well exactly how it feels. The constant battle between the two brains-couldn’t have said it better myself. It’s exhausting and sucks every ounce of sanity and cognition from you. On top of that let’s throw in some violent body zaps and insomnia. A pure hell. But it does get better! I’m living proof! On benzos 20 years, never told the dangers. Accidentally cold turkeyed when I realized I haven’t taken it in a few days-then there was no turning back. Didn’t want to reinstate and possibly make things worse (can’t even imagine how that would’ve been possible). So did my best to fight through it. It truly is just a minute to minute existence, trying to make it to the next minute clutching to the ounce of sanity you have left. I’m here to say a year later I am healthy and happy! I still experience some side effects but they are manageable and do not get in the way of my life.
This is something I saved as I went through hell. I appreciate both of you for putting this out there. People need to know this is real. Xanax is poison! I definitely still suffer trauma from what happened to me.I can’t believe how much I relate to this story, the horrific insomnia and constant pacing and so many other symptoms. I missed my daughters graduation because I couldn’t leave the house and barely functional. My Akathisia story This is my Akathisia story… the good news is that it eventually ended….. Akathisia is completely different…. I would have liked to have been in an anxiety or panic attack. When my Akathisia was severely active is was like being in a state of terror 24/7. Also my body buzzed, it felt like things were crawling under my skin, I felt like I was on fire but also like someone was dumping buckets of ice water over me, I couldn’t sit still some part of my body was in constant movement, I was completely and totally uncomfortable no matter where I was, I didn’t sleep for days and days at a time and when I did it would only last 10-15 minutes, I couldn’t eat, my entire body was in pain, I hallucinated and suffered psychosis, my mind was constantly racing, my body twitched and spasmed and the craziest part was that I had absolutely no control over any of it. No matter how hard I tried to stop moving or thinking it was completely out of my control. I constantly wished and prayed for death. I’m basically better today but when I think of how it was it scares the living hell out of me. My doctors where worthless in trying to help me. I couldn’t drive or leave my house. I did every relaxation technique known. I am so thankful that I survived and pray and hope it never ever happens again. This is the best I can describe it and I’m sure I’ve missed a few things. My heart actually feels like it’s aching when I think of people suffering from this. It’s said that Hitler actually knew how to inflict this upon people and used as a form of torture in WWII. It wouldn’t surprise me to find out if the poor people he did this to begged for the gas chambers the asshole also used. I tried 22 different medications over the time it was active and none of them helped. I pray with all my heart for anyone suffering from Akathisia today.
So the doctor is the doctor of your friend that went through it, so, bc of your awareness through your friends experience, you trust that doctor… or, You trust one doctor, AND also , your friend went through this, Or , the friend that you trust, IS who you trust and listen to, and refer to as a doctor as a figure of speech only - Or , your doctor is your actual friend, regardless of which came first but the doctor friend is your trusted doctor ?
@@kate4biglittlevoices haha yeah my boyfriend's best friend was studying medicine at the time I had my accident and got cortisone last year. My boyfriend never asked him anything cause he was not officially graduated yet at the time and thought to trust doctors with actual experience BUT those were olf school and unknowledgeable in my case. Now he has worked as a GP for a year and he actually knows more than the professors neurology I have spoken to because he is willing to actually listen and learn, was taught in a different educational system, and has psych issues since childhood and been on SSRIs and APs himself for those issues. So he knows withdrawal. Also his gf has issues and is on SSRIs and alprazolam. So like they know all about side effects and withdrawals and everything. He is the one keeping an eye on me now and the one I can vent to best when I get into my loop of how this even could happen to me because in my case it was not because of doctors but because of therapy. So he became my close friend through my boyfriend and now he is also my GP and my confidant.
The doctor friend is my trusted doctor. He was in my life but did not really know him (long distance relationship sp only met him briefly), became a friend in withdrawal who spoke to me with knowledge I could not get anywhere in my country and now I moved to where they are and he became my GP. He found me a decent neurologist who runs all kinds of tests and does not really believe it is the benzo and a very good psychiatrist who admits it is the benzo and is the first doctor I spoke to to confirm this can happen, that I am not alone, that it is not my fault and who ACTUALLY ASKED HOW I FELT AND ABOUT MY SYMPTOMS AND MENTIONED MICROTAPERING!!! HALLELUJAH! because no other doctor in my country was willing to keep track with me or cared how I felt in cortisone, they all filled in themselves and told me how I felt and why instead of listen and work evidence based.
@@kate4biglittlevoices I don't trust any medical person anymore. I suffer immensely due to it..but my chances are better trying to get through this hell without them trying to switch meds and have no clue what withdrawal is like and how long it takes. Oh God please help us all
@LanceJones-mh7tz I woukd say I am about 85% but the worst is over by far. It was hell skeep is slowly getting there. BUT NAN A TON BETTER how you doing ??
@@garysimone4977 I wish I could say I was feeling as good as looked in the video. I guess my “normal person” mask was working correctly that day. I’m glad to hear that you’re mostly recovered. I hope to get there someday
I can relate to the deep depression he feels. It's awful realizing that you've been harmed when you were looking for help and nothing can remedy your suffering except time.
I can relate to everything this man says. One of the worst mental torture was the compulsion to confess and dwell on the dark parts of my life, 24/7, over and over and over.
I can relate to what Lance said about having to present like he was for 40yrs and how hard it is when you’re suffering so much. Also the two brains thing hits home for me. I’m still in here but feel like I’m on a really heavy dose of a BAD drug. (3yrs off 18yrs of daily as-prescribed benzos with 3 cold-turkeys.)
I wanna say to you lance you are simply amazing. You obviously have an amazing mind I can hear from your strong witnessing of your process. I am so sorry for your struggle and for so many in your situations. We need to shake the system to avoid more injury. When you are better you will be the best voice out there! Unfortunatly I try to warn people but I dont gr much credibility. I will 100% pass these videos along. Tks so much for opening up to us you will help many. Tks Dr too what a service you are doing for humanity. Thank you!
I had the severe myoclonic tonic seziure and he is right, it’s at that line that you let go just enough to near go into sleep, or def right away if you slip into sleep- my right arm would raise up and smack myself in the face- other times maybe a leg, maybe one of each, but sudden jolt and zap was startling and terror- like water boarding - it sets you up bc you are so miserable and so tired and can’t relax bc now your brain and your muscles KNOW the association of the moment you relax an electric jolt will be brought on- in my case, I was able to find infor on possibly being very depleted in magnesium, which would interfere with muscle nerve electrical activity- I began to supplement with magnesium with vitamin D and calcium an all in one formula - I quickly had results, that told me there was a link, so I continued, the symptoms did ease but I’ll never forget them - And the Akanestetia he speaks of , it’s the lowest low mentally - just no rest no hope - no relief- it’s so different from acute pain, that you know is happening and why.
That doctor in the ER must not no to much about insomnia. One time I was up for 9 nights and finally fell asleep on the 10th night. I too was Hallucinating and I was bartending almost every night. On the 9th and 10th evening, I was so grateful that bartending was second nature for me or I could have had the register/ money all messed up. Finally, I told one of the regulars that I hadn't slept for, going on 10 nights. He recommended I have a few drinks and he would drive me home. I don't like to drink, but I was desperate and getting really afraid, so I took 3 shots of butterscotch schnapps and I finally slept the 10th night
Thank you Lance for this insight and for sharing your experience. I'm sure you will continue to improve with time. You've helped validate those of us who've experienced similar. I identify with so much of what you said: the inability to describe in words how awful one feels; the sense there is the 'real' me doing daily battle with the medically injured me; the waking each morning to a internally raw state that takes an eternity to dissipate; the screaming tinnitus and raging insomnia; the overstocked supplement cabinet, and so on and so on. In my case four years off all psychoactive drugs and still not 100%, but with more and more days that I feel closer to the real me. Please persevere and I look forward to your 18-month catch up with the doc.
Thanks Lance for your story. It describes very well the total misery of benzo withdrawal. You're brave and I hope you will continue to heal. Strength to you.
It's interesting because I belong to a caffeine withdrawal group, and many people report similar post accute withdrawal symptoms. I know it's not the same degree as benzos, but the overlap seems to be there in how the body withdrawals in pretty awful ways from altering substances. One woman had such severe withdrawals that she ended up committing suicide. She had severe sleep disturbances and like the person you're interviewing just couldn't sleep for weeks and weeks. It drove her basically insane, along with the severe anxiety.
I'm just figuring this out now (8 months after this video) & have seen A LOT of symptom crossover in different trauma, grief, divorce, medical injury conversations. Sad thing is those people are on a lot of these drugs and don't realize it's what's causing the most harm. There are so many others - worse of all there is a huge push to get the kids on these types of drugs.
Some of us were so bad on benzos we couldn't look anything up. We couldn't think at all. I couldn't taper because I couldn't count. I had to go to rehaqb. I lost all control. I needed real help. Not a do-it-yourself at home BS. You had it easy!
@@CBT5777he had it easy that doesn't mean he had it easy, just because he healed and got better does not mean somebody has to say you're lucky like it's not all about luck a lot of it is about being in these groups that are driving people insane. Honestly I mean you get bashed in the group for saying that you had a relatively smooth taper and you can even get banned for it, that logic is insane and no one's going to heal with this kind of not even logic it's just insanity. How are you going to get made fun of for trying to shed some light out there you don't see anybody being interviewed for positive stories there are a lot of people that have positive stories why aren't they getting interviewed? Why is it all people that have the most tragic stories it's like the whole world now is going insane over this and obsessing over it so much that they will not heal because they're not seeing any light and they are just pretty much looking up all of these symptoms every day all day until the symptoms do arise. I'm sure this doctor on this channel can straight up tell you medically it is true you can stress yourself into a seizure, stress yourself into a heart attack, you can do a lot of stuff without even being on benzos I know people that have never taken one and have all of the symptoms people talk about during their benzo withdrawal Post Acute symptoms never touched a benzo though, so what's their reasoning
The mornings and nights are theworst for benzo withdrawal. Benzo withdrawal is almost like delerium tremens. I would wake up shaking so badly for like a year, at leadt, after I got off Xanax. One shrink put me on it and then a doctor suddenly cut me off of it because I missed an appointment, like it was a punishment.
Semi functional, I didn't know I had PAWS so I kept seeing drs and they would put me on different medications, supplements, diets and detox crap. A bunch of stuff that just made me feel worse @@Waves353
I can so relate to how you describe these horrific symptoms Lance.. I spent 5 and a half years getting myself off 60mg Valium and I slowly got to a pattern of waves and windows and coping with my life as it had become somehow. However when I entered the clinic where I started my taper I had been going through 4 years of inter-dose withdrawal hell and so I was put on 2 different anti-depressants as well. I felt so broken down. Recently I have withdrawn from one of those medications and again I am going through some really rough periods as my brain and nervous system adapt to another major change. I am again finding it hard to communicate and my world has become very small as I don't have the bandwidth to socialise much again. I completely understand where you are coming from. I wish you well in your recovery.
I got worst first year because I made so many mistakes but eventually got better after 16 months now it's been 3 years and I'm much better so you will recover just need to push the needle towards the healing path away from the drugs convincing you that you won't heal
The Catholics go to shrines where Mary has appeared on earth in apparitions when they need healing. There is a shrine for St. Dymphna in Ohio. She is the patron saint of mental health. There is a Marian apparition site in the US--the only one that's been confirmed by Rome. It might help to visit one even if you don't understand the faith.
Thank You for sharing your story. This is so heartbreaking and unfortunately doctors are so ignorant to the how horrific these drugs are. Kudos to Dr. Witt-Doerring for bringing this to light and providing a forum to those whose have been injured by these poisons.
Do not think you're crazy when describing your withdrawal symptoms. I experienced the exact exact EXACT same things coming off. I'm still suffering too. I couldn't articulate myself like you. Especially not right now. So this is so great that you are sharing because you're putting a voice to what I can't describe to my doctor or others. Xanax and benzos are hell. Beyond hell. I wanted my life to end for months. The insomnia is insane. That alone will make you crazy. The brain zaps and jerking are relentless. My feet cramp and ache all day. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry to all if us in this situation. We trusted the most important thing we have, our mental health, which turned out to be a gamble most of us lost, to "the professionals" which knew so so little about how this drug will destroy everything you hold dear. I hope the insomnia gets better for us both. I pray for everyone struggling with addiction. I wish I knew something that helped. My dr just keeps throwing different antidepressants on me hoping something will work.
This episode brought a tear to my eye. I have felt all of the symptoms this man has endured since recovering from an abusive relationship the last year and a half. The DP/DR alone led me to suicidal ideation. My heart breaks for all people suffering with these symptoms. It sounds like this man is dealing with some sever PTSD in addition to his withdrawal symptoms. EMDR therapy and exposure therapy for the panic/anxiety has really helped me. Maybe he can try those. Praying for him! I am nearly back to “normal” now. There is hope and healing ahead for all of us! 🙏
I have been taking Ativan for over 20 years for insomnia now I take that along with 250 mg of Seroquel and 5 mg of Ambien which I have taken now for quite a long time I'm 70 years old and that is too old to be on all these drugs I but after listening to the stories I'm scared to death to go off of these drugs
5 yrs off after most of my adult life on traditional meds for fibromyalgia...the worst part is the TOTAL LACK OF PROFESSIONAL ATTENTION AND KNOWLEDGE AND ACCOUNTABILITY. NEVER WAS there proper disclosure for consent. . ITS CRIMINAL. Absolutely CRIMINAL. BARBARIC. RUINED MY LIFE..STOLE MY POTENTIAL.
Lance seems like such a great guy. It’s shocking to me that he took the meds for only 2 months and it caused so many problems. I hope he’s getting better.
I wonder that, too. They just want to get rid of our pain and don't think or know what they're prescribing. There should be a class action suit against the maker of Clonazepam.
I have been on 26 mg of Benzodiazepine medication since I was a kid,I have Autism and PTSD. My Doctor died on a plane to Jerusalem, he did all paperwork by pen and paper and there were no back up Doctors and all of the patients files were moved to a storage facility with all of his office furniture. I went 33 days without sleep,couldn't function, I had Derealization and Depersonalization ,Insomnia ,Choking,blurry vision,abnormal heart rate,nod off every few seconds and wake up ,then my muscles would cramp up and my arm would throw itself ,my legs would kick for no reason. I felt like I couldnt breathe,my heart rate was over 310 Beats a minute. My Pupils were so large ,If I sat up I had bad spins,I couldnt eat,I couldnt cook if I tried anyways,I couldnt get out of the house to see a Doctor. I couldnt remember the day of the week,the month or year or my Birthdate even or my Address😢 😢I have seizures and I spend 6- 7 hours of straight Seriously severe Panic attacks. I cannot work a stable Job. I have a Brain injury from these meds and I am better off Dead.
I have been through all of this due to taking this substance, bed ridden, panick attacks etc etc !One thing that they seem to do is cut us off from our sense of connection to our higher self & sense of being protected by something. It severs our natural sense of being cared for by a higher power 😢
The taper is worse than hell on Earth. Then, when the taper stops and you no longer take any diazepam, the never ending hangover starts...I literally felt like I had a hangover that I just couldn't emerge from. it's been six mmonths and only now there's light at the end of the tunnel. My "good days" are becoming much more frequent, and for the first time in 4 years, I'm starting to feel a bit like the "old me"....although, I don't think you can ever 100% be your old self again. This drug is a DEMON from HELL.
Lance achieves to describe very well how you are still completely sane, while very disabled and mentally disabled and affected by drugs. These abusing medics must be educated on what they are really doing, they are ruining families, relationships and persons. We live in health / medicine cave age and mental health is even worse. Best wishes.
I was in a chronic pain support group. The counselor tried to round us up for a picnic for MONTHS. Everybody was so low functioning and suffering in pain, that he gave up. There were about 12 of us.
You have to understand: This is not drug addiction! You have Brain Damage like the rest of us. Don't Blame Yourself. These providers know what they did to you. You must understand that. They are not clueless! They know!
Amazing that you can articulate your experience so well at this stage of withdrawal. A few seizures led me down the road of taking this terrible drug for a while and then reading an article which I connected with. I related to all you went through and are going through. I am still brain damaged and sometimes feel disconnected or over connected. This after 16 years off it.
Been watching Dr. Josef all week and this was a great session of accurate gentle empathy for Lance - who was equally courageous to be HONEST about the brain damage from a very small powerful dose of xanax. When he revealed he did not consult a psychiatrist but a nurse practioner it is easy to see that he should have gone to a cognitive behavioral psychologist (not a psychiatrist) to learn stress management skills as a single father of 4 and demanding career of x ray repair and care for elderly sick parents, etc. Using a family systems approach. The nurse committed malpractice by what she did and should have referred him to cognitive behavioral therapy as she was not competent or trained in it to treat anxiety and/or depression all which are completely/safely treatable without drugs using a non-medical paradigm.
He's right spot on the twitching the insomnia shakes eyes flickering. Was a nightmare. The only way I did it was to reduce dose very very slowly. Your not crazy.
I was on 2mg of klonopin for 33 years. For the last 10 years on the drug, I was slowly going crazy. I ended up in jail for five months, where I was taken off the drug immediately and given a 10 day protocol to avoid seizures. I've been couch bound for a year with brain damage and every symptom you can imagine. Thanks for doing these videos. Most doctors and my wife think I'm crazy. I thought I was crazy. These drugs are poison.
Horrific. 😢
Same Here. It's agony. It's a challenge just laying on the couch. Can't wait til we all feel better. This is making me Bonkers. Jail just got out. It's so Brutal. Feels like endless torture
Damn I’ve been on 1mg of kpin for 6 years and I’m learning that I might be in big trouble. I’m so scared about coming off this crap. Sorry to hear about your traumatizing experience, these drugs really are scary.
@@robertworton2394 Robert checkout Ashton Manual from Dr Heather Ashton. It is a tapering guide.
@@robertworton2394 dear friend, I care for you and do not want you to go through this torture. Please for the good of your Health. Start weening off. I love you my friend. You will be in my prayers. That's a promise Robert.
If you saw this interview out of context, you would think Lance was talking about being exposed to some horrible poison. The fact that this is inflicted on him by medicine, and then he is basically just left for dead, is really shocking.
Medical drugs that psychiatrists and pharma tell us save lives, and save you from having very bad mental health.
Psychiatry centuries tradition of abuse has to end.
Pharma has to stop lying about drugs.
Doctor Ashton extensively researched benzodiazepines tapering and causing severe dependence (addiction) in the 1980s, but 40 (!!!) year later medics seem to have not received that memo yet.
Best wishes.
Good analogy.
That’s exactly how I feel about it. I feel like I was poisoned
We WERE/ARE poisoned 💔
That's because they are horrible poisons and what people are calling side effects are just the effects of these poisons. No one is taking new account the different effects from different biochemistry because contrary to the materialist empiricism view we are not hold built the same we do not all have the same vaccine history where our bodies were damaged we all don't have the same genetics we don't all have the same diet we don't all have the same exposure to chemicals and toxins that are changed our epigenomic structure etc etc etc. What they taught these psychopharmacologists and psychotherapist about how these drugs work is half a load of nonsense and half misinformation because these people don't even really know what these things due to brain chemistry and hormones chemistry nor do they even understand how they work but instead what they do is they attach a false ontological conceptual framework to what these things do and they call that the treatment effect and then everything else that isn't supposed to happen they call a side effect will this is just clear nonsense and has nothing to do with reality. We can see the same thing with the justification for using ssris and other medications for instance with schizoaffective disorder or other severe psychiatric disorders that display psychosis or delusions or hallucinations and for decades they've been telling people well you have some sort of deficiency or a chemical imbalance and then they give you the drugs and symptoms go away just by chance and then they say well we fixed the brain chemistry well there's absolutely no empirical or cited evidence or data on any of that no one can measure any of these brain chemicals no one can point to a lessening or an increase in any of them it's just something they told people decades ago and it's not true. In fact more of a rational or logical argument could be made for how symptoms develop come out of nowhere or increase or shift overtime when you are on these medications versus Simpsons being alleviated because of course you are being poisoned.
I know all about the 7 hours a week sleep.... I had that for over 2 years....It seems like I had every symptom this man had...for over 2 years nonstop...but PRAISE GOD...I finally healed!!!!
I still have this brain shut down all the time and can't do anything or be with anybody. I'm homebound. Waking up to death and brainlock and that truth I'm homebound and can't do anything. I'm now at 8 mg of valium from 60 mg (klonopin crossover).
I had that one chance to survive when I had rapidly tapering oxazepam and had crossover to diazepam first time and stabilized and brain lock went away. I could be myself. Active, social. But taper was too quick and went badly wrong. Since then one ct, one month, kindling to klonopin and now tapered to 8 mg of valium with Ashton manual, not stabilized once since that late 2021.
I'm in hell. Have still temazepam to taper.
Can you give me hope.
All the best.
@@ManishKumar-ky8vu Thank you
That’s amazing! How long did you go with such a low amount of sleep?
@@lauriina85
Can you tell me why you have the temazepam to taper, being as your on vallium?
@@TBAC16 Hi, I have it to sleep, I think I have to switch it to valium too. I have now 4 mg of valium left to taper.
The feeling of going insane, while you’re sane enough to witness the event..
This.
Exactly!!! I can describe it all perfectly just like I was describing my symptoms from the cortisone and no one understands or takes it seriously. Even within the community as I got incredibly incredibly ill after 5 days use many do not believe that is possible but I am living it.
Absolutely this.
Exactly.
Well put.
this guy deserves an applause from the entire earth.
I’m so sad. 26 years on benzos. 16 on Xanax and 10 years on Klonopin. I’m down to 2.89mg from 4mg Klonopin with no help and I’m suffering!! My son has been abused by psychiatry. I wish we had a psychiatrist like you. We need a miracle. God help us all.
Just do a very slow taper
How are you doing know.
Keep slowly tapering.
easier said than done @@acelarson1872
I hate to say it but booze is the original psyche med .
My father died 2013. I could'n cry, couldn't express any emotion,was blank...That's the day I realized that something seriously is wrong using this evil drugs...
That is true and is what we all experience. Many just don't know how to express what it is because it's so bad. I feel, as do many others, of course, advocate putting them in prison. Because they have known this for Many Decades and still murder people. But, finally now, the authorities are going after them. This is true. So future generations will not suffer and die like us. It's a consolation that came too late to save us though..
My mother died and I couldn't cry or anything. I was numb and emotionless. Just like you. EVIL😢
@@elizabethferrari1346 😒😓
@afol4016 I appreciate your comment. I'm in for a long haul getting of xanax.
Don't give up hope. I am ten years off of being on Clonopin for ten years. I experienced most of the symptoms being described. The first five years were just trying to get by moment to moment. I now feel a greater sense of well-being than I have ever felt. I have learned to take care of myself physically, emotionally and spiritually. I would add that I started a meditation practice and read books on mindfulness to help with the anxiety, hyper vigilance and restlessness both of which have proved to be helpful. So glad I found this community. I thought the hell I lived through was a response unique to me.
Thanks for hope Mary
@maryhendrickson2408 At what point did your symptoms start improving? I’m 3yrs off and cannot live like this the rest of my life
@@kmjansen ar 3 years I started to get several hours of sleep in a row.
Thank u for some hope but please GOD help us all. This is like hell
Hi there...I'm on 1mg of Clonezepam that I take just in the morning. I was thinking of weening of slowly by going down .10mg every month for 10 months to have less side effects. I also take 50 mg a day of paxil which I heard can help with the withdrawal of going off the clonezepam. Just wondering if you have any advice for me?
This man is describing the insanity that is benzos the best ive heard anyone else describe it. I can relate so much to what he is staying. Its unreal. Thank you for talking about it.
My mom was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer, I was a single mom of four, I came down with a rare disease all at the same time. Was given a benzo to manage disease symptoms and all the trauma and stress. I was a full time therapist and had a beautiful life. Was cold Turkey’d but would have healed at two years or so but have had multiple setbacks and here I am four years later.
Why would you have healed at two years? How could you know? Just curious.
Hey jks, so sorry to hear. I wish I didn’t relate. Do you know the cause of your setbacks?
@@xy-qy2yg I was finally turning big corners at two years off and slowly getting my life back. Healing was happening and the antibiotic destroyed me.
@@Waves353 I do know what caused them. Antibiotic the first time then a steak I ate that was marinated in alcohol and I thought it would cook out, huge amounts of stress and loss, and currently supplements because I am trying to treat a giardia infection without antibiotics.
@@xy-qy2ygbecause say you have sadness your whole life or get sadness or anxiety from a life change, you can extrapolate how you will get through it based on your past experience and you measuring your own emotions
You are such a brave man!! 4 kids. No support from friends and family. How cruel and terrible. I am in protracted withdrawal from antidepressant. ( 36 months now) All windows and waves. I have a lot of same symptoms but not the akathisia. You will heal. You’re brain is busy going back to homeostasis. Hold on. One day it will all be over. Read Baylissa’s book! Love from Amsterdam!❤
Hi how do you feel now ?
Ah better .. longer windows so I think I am getting close ! Thank you❤
Hi Amsterdam! thank you for the suggestion about Baylissa. keep fighting for truth. xx
U OK now? I needed to hear this and hope u ok
You mean me? Slowly getting better☺️ and you?
You are making a difference, by telling your story. Stay Strong!!!
Between how well Lance describes his symptoms and his progress and Josef’s skills of actively listening and asking good questions, this is one of my favorite videos. I’m passing it along to my people who care. Many thanks to you both.
Thank you for the support.
It's true, we need to share this information more because our peers and people that don't understand it. Don't know how to deal with us. And we end up losing jobs and everything else because of it. I truly believe it is that important to get this information out there.
Could you do more videos on lamictal? @@taperclinic
Great interview, Lance. Thanks for telling your story. God bless you. It's like every doctor and psychiatrist prescribing these things is reading from the same script. "Baby dose," "you just need to take your Xanax," "just quit taking it," "you must have some underlying issues..." Add to that from my doc: "maybe you're just very sensitive," "I've never seen this before," "it's just your old anxiety coming back," and "I'm not worried, you're on a very low dose." I told my doc I thought I was dependent on K after a month and a half of PRN use, and he said "you can take it indefinitely." They just don't know anything about these drugs, as you noted with your psychiatrist's opinions of you and your need of venlafaxine, but this is changing because of people like us who have lived the trauma and good doctors like the Witt-Doerrings. They can't argue with evidence forever.
Great comment.
Gives me some ideas for more videos.
Yesss this , the babydose, 0.5 mg so 5 drops clonazepam is a babydose. No one is sick for more than two weeks from this. You can stop without seizure so no worries. Oh only 0.1 mg so one drop it's like placebo.
Ive never seen anyone sick from medications before. If it wasnt symptoms from rivotril it would be something else right now.
You werent actually getting better before rivotril (cortisone withdrawal that was livable), you just thought you were fine.
I have been immersing myself in these types of videos. I thought I was going crazy, dr acts like I am- husband thought so too. I am shocked that this happening to SO MANY PEOPLE with nobody being held accountable. Doctors just straight up deny that I am in benzo withdrawal and try to prescribe more meds. I don’t know if I will make it through and I hate the thought of people not knowing the truth about what has happened to me. Especially my children.
To me the worst part is nobody believes us. So lonely and terrifying. I pray non stop for every soul suffering and try my best to warn Anyone that will listen about the dangers of all psychiatric drugs. A "dr" recently tried to put my 13yr old granddaughter on Abilify for having mood swings. She's perfectly healthy and hormonal as teenagers usually are. A 45 minute visit and prescription could destroy her future.
Withdrawal from psychiatric drugs is so common, it's almost criminal. I'm thankful I've never used these drugs but very aware of their effects. I've been called down for encouraging other's to try and deal with depression with diet, exercise and realizing not all times in our life will be joyful or comfortable.
@@iam1smiley1 it is criminal. It is torture.
Drug pushers! They need to pay for their lavish style living, laughing all the way to the bank with big Pharma behind them not caring about their patients, no one can get well with a 15 min. Time slot... Sad.
Totally understand. I'm crazy too .
I feel awful for the people in these videos going through this stuff. But as someone who was heavily physically dependent on alcohol for years (and periods of being so with benzos), I can’t describe how grateful it makes me feel to see this and know that I’ve been sober for over a year now. Life can get better, it’s a really hard change to make but a sober life is possible and for certain people (like myself) is a matter of life and death. I hope this guy has been doing better.
I look forward to the the next interview Lance.
Thanks for putting a time line 18 months, the next mile stone 3 year and between 3 and 5 years most people are healed, perhaps with a few residual symptoms that are manageable, hearing this means a lot.
So so long before they even begin to feel well 😢
Why isn’t there a mass lawsuit being filed against these companies. It happened due to the opioid crisis. It’s time for makers of benzodiazepines as well as doctors to be held accountable.
I’ve been through opiate withdrawal which I thought was hell at the time. I would GLADLY welcome that back over what benzodiazepine detox is doing to me.
Let's do it where do I sign the petition?
Yes why isn’t there .They need to be help accountable.25 years of benzo hell here
Pharmaceutical companies needs to be transparent about all their medications so providers know what they are prescribing to patients. Hold Pharmaceutical companies accountable!
It is truly HELL. I try to talk to people all the time about their Xanax prescription and it makes me so sad that they think it's safe simply because it's prescribed by a dr. This is a business and they don't give a damn about us, only about the money they can make from us. Praying for you to get through this. Been about 5 years for me and I'm beyond thankful to be alive.
@brettneygibbs9047 well said 👏
My friend is unfortunately on this. Astronomical genius. It wiped her brilliance away. Her memory too.
I used to be very sharp and creative. It has completely dumbed me down and annihilated my ability to think outside the box.... or in the box for that matter.
@@thesaint9276 She was too. I am so sorry.
Really? How long? Why'd she get on it?
My comment was removed. Go figure.
You just keep going I am right here with you! Hold on! You are a warrior! Stronger than anyone could imagine!
Thank you for the encouragement. I hope you’re feeling even better since you made this post.
You truly are Lance, I was blow away by your clarity. Hang in there your story will help many.
Thank you so much for this interview. It couldn’t have been easy to do. Looking forwards to hearing about the outcome of this. The worst is behind you. You have suffered much but healing and recovery await. You will get to the other side. Thank you for sharing your story with us. You are a brave and courageous man. This was a great interview . So very sorry for the suffering you have endured after only a few months on the drug.
I’m 71. Was on a prescribed Benzo for over 30 years. Not once, was it reviewed or questioned. Came off cold turkey. Been off over 32 months. I’m seeing improvements, howbeit slowly. Your four children should be so proud of yiu, if the only knew what you have experienced over these last 19 months. Loving these interviews. Thank you doctor.
Thank you for your support.
Watching AGAIN. what a mess we are/were in. This man is eloquent explaining an awful experience with current crisis
I lost my family all of my friends my daughter died and was buried my was not invited.. I have no one left in my life. My relationship with my partner has been destroyed... A body has been destroyed.. The stuff is poison
Truth
I am so sorry that you're experiencing so much hell. Most ppl don't want to try to understand. I don't want to say anything about your daughter because there are no words in my vocabulary to touch that subject.
So sorry. Hugs
❤😢❤
😭😭😭 . I understand
This man is so relatable. Sure hope he gets better. Thank you for doing the interview Lance, especially the part about two brains.
They should have a Benzodiazepines Anonymous.
This is a great idea.
They do in New Zealand
@@judithwilliams3147I’m in nz. How do I access this?
This planet is in a bad place it appears. I think we had a world leader that was against big pharma but let's just go with CNNs version and wonder why we're screwed
They really do So we can all come together and share our experiences with this horrific drug. Start the healing.
I really hope this man understands how much he is respected . This has clearly been more than traumatic for him ( his teens also) but if he hadn’t explained some of the crazy details of what he was experiencing, I’d have thought it was just me …
Very similar except the amount of time I’d been taking a benzo- for me, I 1st started in 2006- I’m taking myself off now. ( about 8 months now) . But I also had surgeries and a brain aneurism that I had coiled. Not until I heard this guy say everything I heard today, didn’t know if it was because of the aneurism or just a new mental hurdle. This is a unbelievably helpful channel. Thank you to Dr Josef for caring and helping so many people who’d have never been understood or had hope.
Hes a good guy. If his family saw this video they may change their minds. Good luck. God bless 🙏
Lance, I have gone through most of the things that you are talking about…it’s just horrible…. continued healing for you.
Thank you so much. Nobody should have to go thru this. I hope you have recovered.
@@LanceJones-mh7tz Still recovering but it is much better than it was…hang in there!
@@LanceJones-mh7tztry keto, it helped me sleeping
Dr. Please keep up the work you're doing. Just watching this helps me so much as I know I'm not alone.
I can relate to so much of what the sufferer (Lance, right?) is going through, including the part where nobody in your family understands, or if you try to show them resources, they don't care.
I was on 2 mg Xanax and before that Klonopin. I've a long way yet to taper and it's hell.
If you keep up your work, you have no idea how many lives you might save.
Awesome interview!
2mg Xanax bars? That's me 4 x a day😢 I'm terrified. My doctor is retiring in 1 month. It's very hard to get a doctor around here that's willing to prescribe them. 9 yrs. I need a miracle
Lance deserves all the good things in life man
We need doctors to be allowed to deprescribe these medications safely and not have the government pull the rug out form underneath patients who have been legitimately prescribed these medications..... yes the stories are brave and need to be acknowledge but we need doctors to be proactive for their patients NOW.
Yes, this exactly!
Don't know how so many people come away from these videos, and all they seem to understand is "xanax bad".
The most dangerous part of it is medical or government officials taking you off of it suddenly.
My heart goes out to this man and all who are going through what he's going through. I can relate to a lot of his symptoms from a concussion, where drs only option was 'meds'. Thankfully I declined (tho did have ssri for years, and see now that impacted me in ways I thought were 'just me'.). The life getting smaller, unable to go into stores cuz of lights, sounds, etc, the inability to follow conversations - I hear the words but can't comprehend in the moment what it actually means. (I repeat the words in my head, think about what they mean, think about an answer, then reply - and that's not what people are used to.). Thankfully I did find someone who understands the brain and body - related to Z-Health training, and made progress learning how to begin to manage my brain energy, recognize when my brain is shut down so I can close out stimulus, etc. Big hugs for all facing these horrific challenges inflicted upon them with 'safe and effective' words that are nowhere near the truth of the experience of many.
I've been prescribed benzos for years I'm dealing with withdrawls I'm very worried. My motor functions are going. My doctor who kept me on them years never warned me.
They don't warn you! They hand it out like candy. The female Psych who handed me my Rx for C had to close her practice down for some unknown reason. They're shady.
I had similar symptoms and situations
I'm 6 years clean it gets better 😢😮
Im going thru the same shit looking after four children by myself and got vac injured too and a post concussion
Please tell Lance it WILL get better!!!!! I am so thankful to him for describing so well exactly how it feels. The constant battle between the two brains-couldn’t have said it better myself. It’s exhausting and sucks every ounce of sanity and cognition from you. On top of that let’s throw in some violent body zaps and insomnia. A pure hell. But it does get better! I’m living proof! On benzos 20 years, never told the dangers. Accidentally cold turkeyed when I realized I haven’t taken it in a few days-then there was no turning back. Didn’t want to reinstate and possibly make things worse (can’t even imagine how that would’ve been possible). So did my best to fight through it. It truly is just a minute to minute existence, trying to make it to the next minute clutching to the ounce of sanity you have left. I’m here to say a year later I am healthy and happy! I still experience some side effects but they are manageable and do not get in the way of my life.
This is something I saved as I went through hell. I appreciate both of you for putting this out there. People need to know this is real. Xanax is poison! I definitely still suffer trauma from what happened to me.I can’t believe how much I relate to this story, the horrific insomnia and constant pacing and so many other symptoms. I missed my daughters graduation because I couldn’t leave the house and barely functional.
My Akathisia story
This is my Akathisia story… the good news is that it eventually ended…..
Akathisia is completely different…. I would have liked to have been in an anxiety or panic attack. When my Akathisia was severely active is was like being in a state of terror 24/7. Also my body buzzed, it felt like things were crawling under my skin, I felt like I was on fire but also like someone was dumping buckets of ice water over me, I couldn’t sit still some part of my body was in constant movement, I was completely and totally uncomfortable no matter where I was, I didn’t sleep for days and days at a time and when I did it would only last 10-15 minutes, I couldn’t eat, my entire body was in pain, I hallucinated and suffered psychosis, my mind was constantly racing, my body twitched and spasmed and the craziest part was that I had absolutely no control over any of it. No matter how hard I tried to stop moving or thinking it was completely out of my control. I constantly wished and prayed for death. I’m basically better today but when I think of how it was it scares the living hell out of me. My doctors where worthless in trying to help me. I couldn’t drive or leave my house. I did every relaxation technique known. I am so thankful that I survived and pray and hope it never ever happens again. This is the best I can describe it and I’m sure I’ve missed a few things. My heart actually feels like it’s aching when I think of people suffering from this. It’s said that Hitler actually knew how to inflict this upon people and used as a form of torture in WWII. It wouldn’t surprise me to find out if the poor people he did this to begged for the gas chambers the asshole also used. I tried 22 different medications over the time it was active and none of them helped. I pray with all my heart for anyone suffering from Akathisia today.
Do you have a source re: the Nazi's using this ?
what specific drug caused yr condition ? IYHO
@@newkingdom6750 I heard that Akathisia was created by the Nazi's in WW2 too. I imagine it's not easy to find an impromptu link on it these days.
Thank you for your story. Keep going, a terrible journey for you and those of us suffering.
I trust one doctor. A friend who went through withdrawals himself. Only doctor I trust anymore.
So the doctor is the doctor of your friend that went through it, so, bc of your awareness through your friends experience, you trust that doctor… or,
You trust one doctor, AND also , your friend went through this,
Or , the friend that you trust, IS who you trust and listen to, and refer to as a doctor as a figure of speech only -
Or , your doctor is your actual friend, regardless of which came first but the doctor friend is your trusted doctor ?
@@kate4biglittlevoices haha yeah my boyfriend's best friend was studying medicine at the time I had my accident and got cortisone last year. My boyfriend never asked him anything cause he was not officially graduated yet at the time and thought to trust doctors with actual experience BUT those were olf school and unknowledgeable in my case. Now he has worked as a GP for a year and he actually knows more than the professors neurology I have spoken to because he is willing to actually listen and learn, was taught in a different educational system, and has psych issues since childhood and been on SSRIs and APs himself for those issues. So he knows withdrawal. Also his gf has issues and is on SSRIs and alprazolam. So like they know all about side effects and withdrawals and everything. He is the one keeping an eye on me now and the one I can vent to best when I get into my loop of how this even could happen to me because in my case it was not because of doctors but because of therapy. So he became my close friend through my boyfriend and now he is also my GP and my confidant.
The doctor friend is my trusted doctor. He was in my life but did not really know him (long distance relationship sp only met him briefly), became a friend in withdrawal who spoke to me with knowledge I could not get anywhere in my country and now I moved to where they are and he became my GP. He found me a decent neurologist who runs all kinds of tests and does not really believe it is the benzo and a very good psychiatrist who admits it is the benzo and is the first doctor I spoke to to confirm this can happen, that I am not alone, that it is not my fault and who ACTUALLY ASKED HOW I FELT AND ABOUT MY SYMPTOMS AND MENTIONED MICROTAPERING!!! HALLELUJAH! because no other doctor in my country was willing to keep track with me or cared how I felt in cortisone, they all filled in themselves and told me how I felt and why instead of listen and work evidence based.
I tell my "doc" all the time..let's let u try this for a couple weeks and see what happens. B doesn't listen to anything I say. Evil evil
@@kate4biglittlevoices I don't trust any medical person anymore. I suffer immensely due to it..but my chances are better trying to get through this hell without them trying to switch meds and have no clue what withdrawal is like and how long it takes. Oh God please help us all
I fully understand were he is coming from 100% understand,,, Here for ya my friend if ever need to share or get that much needed assurance
Have you recovered?
@LanceJones-mh7tz I woukd say I am about 85% but the worst is over by far. It was hell skeep is slowly getting there. BUT NAN A TON BETTER how you doing ??
@LanceJones-mh7tz yes how are you doing
@@garysimone4977 I wish I could say I was feeling as good as looked in the video. I guess my “normal person” mask was working correctly that day. I’m glad to hear that you’re mostly recovered. I hope to get there someday
I can relate to the deep depression he feels. It's awful realizing that you've been harmed when you were looking for help and nothing can remedy your suffering except time.
Got brain shocks from tramadol
I can relate to everything this man says. One of the worst mental torture was the compulsion to confess and dwell on the dark parts of my life, 24/7, over and over and over.
Yes! Sorry you are dealing with this too
Talking about them probably made you feel like you could get rid of them by verbalizing them.
I feel so damn sorry for this guy, he clearly had an incredibly bad reaction to benzos just being on them. I hope he's doing better now
I can relate to what Lance said about having to present like he was for 40yrs and how hard it is when you’re suffering so much. Also the two brains thing hits home for me. I’m still in here but feel like I’m on a really heavy dose of a BAD drug. (3yrs off 18yrs of daily as-prescribed benzos with 3 cold-turkeys.)
Have you seen improvements yet?
@@martinez4560 Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has helped quite a bit, but I struggle to get even the simplest of tasks done
@@kmjansen Ive also started mhbot
Good going 🎉
why so many cold turkeys?
I wanna say to you lance you are simply amazing. You obviously have an amazing mind I can hear from your strong witnessing of your process.
I am so sorry for your struggle and for so many in your situations. We need to shake the system to avoid more injury. When you are better you will be the best voice out there!
Unfortunatly I try to warn people but I dont gr much credibility. I will 100% pass these videos along. Tks so much for opening up to us you will help many.
Tks Dr too what a service you are doing for humanity. Thank you!
Thank you.
I had the severe myoclonic tonic seziure and he is right, it’s at that line that you let go just enough to near go into sleep, or def right away if you slip into sleep- my right arm would raise up and smack myself in the face- other times maybe a leg, maybe one of each, but sudden jolt and zap was startling and terror- like water boarding - it sets you up bc you are so miserable and so tired and can’t relax bc now your brain and your muscles KNOW the association of the moment you relax an electric jolt will be brought on- in my case, I was able to find infor on possibly being very depleted in magnesium, which would interfere with muscle nerve electrical activity- I began to supplement with magnesium with vitamin D and calcium an all in one formula - I quickly had results, that told me there was a link, so I continued, the symptoms did ease but I’ll never forget them -
And the Akanestetia he speaks of , it’s the lowest low mentally - just no rest no hope - no relief- it’s so different from acute pain, that you know is happening and why.
🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 we are with you… you have a lot of people rooting for you. You are healing ❤
Thank you so much. It sure is taking it’s sweet time
@@LanceJones-mh7tz are you feeling bits of improvement?
You are not alone Lance !!!
You described it perfectly. Thanks to Dr. for his research, hard work and interviews with the stricken.
Why are there no lawsuits n this? Someone must be held accountable!
That doctor in the ER must not no to much about insomnia. One time I was up for 9 nights and finally fell asleep on the 10th night. I too was Hallucinating and I was bartending almost every night. On the 9th and 10th evening, I was so grateful that bartending was second nature for me or I could have had the register/ money all messed up. Finally, I told one of the regulars that I hadn't slept for, going on 10 nights. He recommended I have a few drinks and he would drive me home. I don't like to drink, but I was desperate and getting really afraid, so I took 3 shots of butterscotch schnapps and I finally slept the 10th night
Wow thank you Lance for sharing your story, I hope you will continue to heal and get your whole life back. I really think you will!
Thank you Lance for this insight and for sharing your experience. I'm sure you will continue to improve with time. You've helped validate those of us who've experienced similar. I identify with so much of what you said: the inability to describe in words how awful one feels; the sense there is the 'real' me doing daily battle with the medically injured me; the waking each morning to a internally raw state that takes an eternity to dissipate; the screaming tinnitus and raging insomnia; the overstocked supplement cabinet, and so on and so on. In my case four years off all psychoactive drugs and still not 100%, but with more and more days that I feel closer to the real me. Please persevere and I look forward to your 18-month catch up with the doc.
Thank you. I appreciate the encouragement. I pray that you and I continue to get better
Thanks Lance for your story. It describes very well the total misery of benzo withdrawal. You're brave and I hope you will continue to heal. Strength to you.
It's interesting because I belong to a caffeine withdrawal group, and many people report similar post accute withdrawal symptoms. I know it's not the same degree as benzos, but the overlap seems to be there in how the body withdrawals in pretty awful ways from altering substances. One woman had such severe withdrawals that she ended up committing suicide. She had severe sleep disturbances and like the person you're interviewing just couldn't sleep for weeks and weeks. It drove her basically insane, along with the severe anxiety.
I'm just figuring this out now (8 months after this video) & have seen A LOT of symptom crossover in different trauma, grief, divorce, medical injury conversations. Sad thing is those people are on a lot of these drugs and don't realize it's what's causing the most harm. There are so many others - worse of all there is a huge push to get the kids on these types of drugs.
I believe that sleep has a lot to do with your body's cortisol levels.
Benzo withdrawal was hell. I think it took over a year to feel completely okay again. If you're getting off benzos look up the Ashton manual.
You are so lucky you felt better after a year.
Some of us were so bad on benzos we couldn't look anything up. We couldn't think at all. I couldn't taper because I couldn't count. I had to go to rehaqb. I lost all control. I needed real help. Not a do-it-yourself at home BS. You had it easy!
@@CBT5777 If you can read my comment on a radom youtube video, you can google Ashton Manual.
@@CBT5777he had it easy that doesn't mean he had it easy, just because he healed and got better does not mean somebody has to say you're lucky like it's not all about luck a lot of it is about being in these groups that are driving people insane. Honestly I mean you get bashed in the group for saying that you had a relatively smooth taper and you can even get banned for it, that logic is insane and no one's going to heal with this kind of not even logic it's just insanity. How are you going to get made fun of for trying to shed some light out there you don't see anybody being interviewed for positive stories there are a lot of people that have positive stories why aren't they getting interviewed? Why is it all people that have the most tragic stories it's like the whole world now is going insane over this and obsessing over it so much that they will not heal because they're not seeing any light and they are just pretty much looking up all of these symptoms every day all day until the symptoms do arise. I'm sure this doctor on this channel can straight up tell you medically it is true you can stress yourself into a seizure, stress yourself into a heart attack, you can do a lot of stuff without even being on benzos I know people that have never taken one and have all of the symptoms people talk about during their benzo withdrawal Post Acute symptoms never touched a benzo though, so what's their reasoning
The mornings and nights are theworst for benzo withdrawal. Benzo withdrawal is almost like delerium tremens. I would wake up shaking so badly for like a year, at leadt, after I got off Xanax. One shrink put me on it and then a doctor suddenly cut me off of it because I missed an appointment, like it was a punishment.
Yes. They like you when you're well and want to get rid of you if you're not well.
Ive listened to everything you’ve done for a year. Lance’s story is who I can relate to the most.
I am going on 8 years with PAWS, but I made a lot of mistakes along the way that hindered my healing. I'm glad more people are talking about this now.
Semi functional, I didn't know I had PAWS so I kept seeing drs and they would put me on different medications, supplements, diets and detox crap. A bunch of stuff that just made me feel worse @@Waves353
I can so relate to how you describe these horrific symptoms Lance.. I spent 5 and a half years getting myself off 60mg Valium and I slowly got to a pattern of waves and windows and coping with my life as it had become somehow. However when I entered the clinic where I started my taper I had been going through 4 years of inter-dose withdrawal hell and so I was put on 2 different anti-depressants as well. I felt so broken down. Recently I have withdrawn from one of those medications and again I am going through some really rough periods as my brain and nervous system adapt to another major change. I am again finding it hard to communicate and my world has become very small as I don't have the bandwidth to socialise much again. I completely understand where you are coming from. I wish you well in your recovery.
Stay strong alot is these meds but the change in society has caused much stress for this world .
Dr. Josef, you should follow up with Lance. Would love to see how he's doing now.
Just terrifying that this could happen from only being on that moderate dosage for a couple of months.
I'm a year off- still no windows. I want this torment to end...
I took me over a year, but it does eventually get better.
@@aaronjackson2720thank you
I got worst first year because I made so many mistakes but eventually got better after 16 months now it's been 3 years and I'm much better so you will recover just need to push the needle towards the healing path away from the drugs convincing you that you won't heal
Did you taper?
The Catholics go to shrines where Mary has appeared on earth in apparitions when they need healing. There is a shrine for St. Dymphna in Ohio. She is the patron saint of mental health. There is a Marian apparition site in the US--the only one that's been confirmed by Rome. It might help to visit one even if you don't understand the faith.
Thank You for sharing your story. This is so heartbreaking and unfortunately doctors are so ignorant to the how horrific these drugs are. Kudos to Dr. Witt-Doerring for bringing this to light and providing a forum to those whose have been injured by these poisons.
Do not think you're crazy when describing your withdrawal symptoms. I experienced the exact exact EXACT same things coming off. I'm still suffering too. I couldn't articulate myself like you. Especially not right now. So this is so great that you are sharing because you're putting a voice to what I can't describe to my doctor or others. Xanax and benzos are hell. Beyond hell. I wanted my life to end for months. The insomnia is insane. That alone will make you crazy. The brain zaps and jerking are relentless. My feet cramp and ache all day. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry to all if us in this situation. We trusted the most important thing we have, our mental health, which turned out to be a gamble most of us lost, to "the professionals" which knew so so little about how this drug will destroy everything you hold dear. I hope the insomnia gets better for us both. I pray for everyone struggling with addiction. I wish I knew something that helped. My dr just keeps throwing different antidepressants on me hoping something will work.
Hugs. I feel same way and u put it out there very well
It's a wonder it got past the initial medical trials before it got licensed!
I’m just glad that TH-cam videos on this exist now. When I went through it 15 years ago, I was truly alone
Please please please never stop your informative videos!! I have taken benzos (klonopin 1 mg) for over 10 years and have felt so hopeless 😢
Could you please make a video on setbacks?
Great idea.
@@taperclinicIts hell.
I missed my brother's funeral when I was on psychiatric drugs. Didnt trust myself to go
This episode brought a tear to my eye. I have felt all of the symptoms this man has endured since recovering from an abusive relationship the last year and a half. The DP/DR alone led me to suicidal ideation.
My heart breaks for all people suffering with these symptoms.
It sounds like this man is dealing with some sever PTSD in addition to his withdrawal symptoms. EMDR therapy and exposure therapy for the panic/anxiety has really helped me. Maybe he can try those.
Praying for him! I am nearly back to “normal” now. There is hope and healing ahead for all of us! 🙏
Thank you Witt and Lance! Lance you come across with beautiful humanity and sincerity.
This video really hits home, I can so relate to everything being said!…
Much Love for sharing ❤
I have been taking Ativan for over 20 years for insomnia now I take that along with 250 mg of Seroquel and 5 mg of Ambien which I have taken now for quite a long time I'm 70 years old and that is too old to be on all these drugs I but after listening to the stories I'm scared to death to go off of these drugs
5 yrs off after most of my adult life on traditional meds for fibromyalgia...the worst part is the TOTAL LACK OF PROFESSIONAL ATTENTION AND KNOWLEDGE AND ACCOUNTABILITY. NEVER WAS there proper disclosure for consent. . ITS CRIMINAL. Absolutely CRIMINAL. BARBARIC. RUINED MY LIFE..STOLE MY POTENTIAL.
Had fibromyalgia for decades; vitamins d,bs alpha lipoid made huge differance
No doc ever helped,only addictive drugs prescribed with hell to quit
I am sorry, Drs. Should be held accountable.
They All Know what they have done to you. Trust me. They All Know. They are sadists.
I am sharing this with family members. Thank you. Very much.
Your strength and perseverance are impressive my friend. Best wishes and prayers for you 🙏.
Good description.
Your poor man ! How awful. I hope you feel your on the road to recovery
Lance seems like such a great guy. It’s shocking to me that he took the meds for only 2 months and it caused so many problems. I hope he’s getting better.
I know. 2 months!
Horrific thing to have to endure. How could they not know when prescribing????
I wonder that, too. They just want to get rid of our pain and don't think or know what they're prescribing. There should be a class action suit against the maker of Clonazepam.
@CookieZ3353 something...anything
@@CookieZ3353 Did you have issues with this topic?
I would so enjoy talking to this courageous man Does he have a email ? If so possible to pass on ?
I have been on 26 mg of Benzodiazepine medication since I was a kid,I have Autism and PTSD. My Doctor died on a plane to Jerusalem, he did all paperwork by pen and paper and there were no back up Doctors and all of the patients files were moved to a storage facility with all of his office furniture. I went 33 days without sleep,couldn't function, I had Derealization and Depersonalization ,Insomnia ,Choking,blurry vision,abnormal heart rate,nod off every few seconds and wake up ,then my muscles would cramp up and my arm would throw itself ,my legs would kick for no reason. I felt like I couldnt breathe,my heart rate was over 310 Beats a minute. My Pupils were so large ,If I sat up I had bad spins,I couldnt eat,I couldnt cook if I tried anyways,I couldnt get out of the house to see a Doctor. I couldnt remember the day of the week,the month or year or my Birthdate even or my Address😢 😢I have seizures and I spend 6- 7 hours of straight Seriously severe Panic attacks. I cannot work a stable Job. I have a Brain injury from these meds and I am better off Dead.
Hi brother
I have been through all of this due to taking this substance, bed ridden, panick attacks etc etc !One thing that they seem to do is cut us off from our sense of connection to our higher self & sense of being protected by something. It severs our natural sense of being cared for by a higher power 😢
Did you recover or are you still in protracted
The taper is worse than hell on Earth. Then, when the taper stops and you no longer take any diazepam, the never ending hangover starts...I literally felt like I had a hangover that I just couldn't emerge from. it's been six mmonths and only now there's light at the end of the tunnel. My "good days" are becoming much more frequent, and for the first time in 4 years, I'm starting to feel a bit like the "old me"....although, I don't think you can ever 100% be your old self again. This drug is a DEMON from HELL.
Lance achieves to describe very well how you are still completely sane, while very disabled and mentally disabled and affected by drugs.
These abusing medics must be educated on what they are really doing, they are ruining families, relationships and persons.
We live in health / medicine cave age and mental health is even worse.
Best wishes.
Great observation/description 👍
I reckon they are well aware of the side affects especially if they have been practicing awhile
My sleep neurologist was the most misinformed about this. I don't get it.
THANK YOU for this channel. ❤
I can't stand my psychiatrist anymore but its hard for me to find someone else.
Can relate.
I was in a chronic pain support group. The counselor tried to round us up for a picnic for MONTHS. Everybody was so low functioning and suffering in pain, that he gave up. There were about 12 of us.
It’s too painful and hard for us.
This makes me sad
Best explanation ever of the gaba vs the go go go, finally I got it😂
I feel bad for this guy man , I went through some withdrawal just like this but it didn’t last very long. Pray this guy heals
Excellent interview
I feel u brother
You look good brother, very good. Great job. Good luck. 👍
Doctors prescribe this stuff for years and years then the patient has to suffer getting off the stuff. This is criminal!
You have to understand: This is not drug addiction! You have Brain Damage like the rest of us. Don't Blame Yourself. These providers know what they did to you. You must understand that. They are not clueless! They know!
Amazing that you can articulate your experience so well at this stage of withdrawal.
A few seizures led me down the road of taking this terrible drug for a while and then reading an article which I connected with. I related to all you went through and are going through. I am still brain damaged and sometimes feel disconnected or over connected. This after 16 years off it.
Been watching Dr. Josef all week and this was a great session of accurate gentle empathy for Lance - who was equally courageous to be HONEST about the brain damage from a very small powerful dose of xanax. When he revealed he did not consult a psychiatrist but a nurse practioner it is easy to see that he should have gone to a cognitive behavioral psychologist (not a psychiatrist) to learn stress management skills as a single father of 4 and demanding career of x ray repair and care for elderly sick parents, etc. Using a family systems approach. The nurse committed malpractice by what she did and should have referred him to cognitive behavioral therapy as she was not competent or trained in it to treat anxiety and/or depression all which are completely/safely treatable without drugs using a non-medical paradigm.
7 Decades and more of Destroying Millions of patients' lives. I hope they think about that when they are dying. What a legacy.
Vengeance belongs to Jesus.
I don’t know how I can overcome my trust issues because of psychiatrists
He's right spot on the twitching the insomnia shakes eyes flickering. Was a nightmare. The only way I did it was to reduce dose very very slowly. Your not crazy.
💯💯💯💯💯💯 He is completely correct, I have had the same symptoms and yet to today still fighting