A Pharmacist Speaks About the Dangers of Benzodiazepines
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ก.ย. 2024
- For more information, including links to the scientific evidence base for the statements in this video, as well as further resources: medicatingnorma...
An article in HuffPost, written by Allen Frances, M.D., who chaired the task force for creation of the DSM-IV (the bible of psychiatry): “Yes, Benzos Are Bad For You”: bit.ly/33plk84
Stat News: "Benzodiazepines: Our Other Prescription Drug Epidemic" by Anna Lembke, M.D.: bit.ly/2EMYdYw
The Ashton Manual provides detailed information about withdrawal symptoms and the tapering process for benzodiazepines. It can be found at www.benzo.org....
BenzoBuddies is an online community providing a forum for people to connect around their experiences withdrawing from benzodiazepines. It can be found at www.benzobuddie...
Examples of benzodiazepines include: alprazolam (Xanax), clonazepam (Klonopin), chlordiazepoxide (Librium), diazepam (Valium, Diastat) and lorazepam (Ativan).
Medicating Normal on Facebook: / medicatingnormalfilm
Medicating Normal on Twitter: me...
Donate: medicatingnorm...
Note: This video does not constitute medical advice. Stopping psychiatric drugs, especially abruptly, can be dangerous, as withdrawal effects may be severe, disabling or even life-threatening.
Music: www.purple-pla...
This guy's voice is so relaxing, I don't need benzodiazepines anymore
That's a hilarious comment, but if you or anybody you know is having problems with them it is very possible to quit. I did, and for me personally, I am much better now 2 years later.
@@shineyshine2008 thank you!! I actually quit just after watching this video and others. It was not easy, but I'm already feeling better and actually less anxious. Can't believe I went so many years taking this stuff, blissfully ignorant (or maybe willfully ignorant and in denial).
@@OrbitArc good luck with it.
@@OrbitArc not for everyone. There are many more factors involved, like your genetic makeup etc.
@@OrbitArc woah!! You have a lot to learn!! It's not a laughing matter!! Well, if you can go month's and month's off of it, then why take it!? If you have so much "mind over med's", "which I don't believe in"!! Then, why don't you just, mind over matter and stop all together!? I don't wish this nightmare on anyone, but leave other sufferers alone, if you have nothing nice to say!! Do you work for the pharmacudical industries!? Mind over med!? Uhh huh!! Doesn't work that way!! If you've suffered any of this, you wouldn't be saying any of this, and you'd have compassion, in which you are lacking!! You should stop playing with them, because that's, what it sounds like you are doing!! Your laughing emoji, would disappear!! Central nervous system and brain are damaged and need to heal! Our brain's are the slowest thing to heal on us! Don't be so natulant about it!! Sound's like you know, nothing about it!!
If they don't prescribe these pills, psych drs will be out of business and they know it, not to mention pharmaceutical companies.
It's much deeper than that, but you're right.
Yup
These pills are necessary for some people to live a decent quality of life tho
@@kevinking2931no they aren’t? Nobody needs benzos. Toughen up.
I watched this and I have been studying this for a long time after having been through it. There are no words to describe what the withdrawal feels like. No other terror in life can come close to it.
It’s like biting down electrical wires while rolling in the snow naked. 😮💨
It's a living hell! Doctors have no idea what they do!
@@exoticwater do you know how many days it takes to be normal?
@@exoticwater how long have you been on benzodiazepines?
Is it similar to alcohol withdrawal?
He said psychiatrists are seeing more and more patients and yes this is true. Go to your average psychiatrist office and you'll probably see them taking a patient back every 5-10 minutes. They only talk to you maybe 2-5 minutes. How can you really treat someone with mental illness in that amount of time? You can't.
Amen
They just prescribe now
@@michelekisly2535 the medical industry is basically 95% spin doctors
Mhm... They just keep upping the doses...
@@michelekisly2535 Yup; so much easier 2 medic8 than communic8. So unnecessary bc psych meds do not acknowledge, address, &/or resolve what TRIGGERS (i.e.: abuse, bullying, & harassment committed against u by other people) mental health conditions. When subjected 2 the a4mentioned abuse, bullying, & harassment by others, it's human instinct 2 fight back & defend urself as such but doing so's considered "inappropri8". There4, any1 who stands up 2 & defends themselves against abusers, antagonists, bullies, & harassers often gets punished 4 doin' so & gets medic8d 2 "control" themselves. It's like "Monkey C; Monkey Do". Monkey Do gets punished (via psych meds) & Monkey C gets off "scot-free". So SPOT-ON U R!!!!!
I pray to God I never get into a situation where I need to take any meds
I pray I stay natural forever
I was on them for 29 years! It took me 4 and a half years to taper off of 6mg of Klonopin and I STILL had withdrawals for 2 years!!!!!!!!!!!
@christianagorge5597 what is he gonna do? Recommend shrooms???
@christianagorge5597 I'm in an illegal state
You were not experiencing withdrawal for 2 years. What you were experiencing was severe nuerological damage. An your nervous system an brain can't completely heal untill your completely off the drugs. Because they literally cause brain an nervous system damage. Amongst other things. What you suffered was more tyen just drug withdrawal. You suffered a very serious nuerolgical injury. Hopefully your doing ok now.
My 9 year old was prescribed lorazepam after being diagnosed with catatonia. He went through hell with disturbing behaviours including suicidal thoughts. I tried to get him off them 3 times but but the withdrawals were immensely painful. The doc wanted him to stay on them but I was determined to taper him off bit by bit with the help of cbd. After the 4th attempt, he was off it within 4 months. It was the best decision I ever made but now that he’s off them, the doctors don’t want to know about why he ended up catatonic, but he is much better now.
Well done. Respect to you in taking charge as a parent for the good of your child.
I don't understand. How do you see benzodiazepines harming him in the long term if he suffering from catatonic schizophrenia?
@@Jordan-ln2ef They helped hin initially to get out of thr catatonic state, then came the insomina, the suicidal thoughts, scratching , pulling his hair out, biting himself, screaming from morning till night, the list goes on and on. he didnt do any of those things before he went onto the medication. i took him off and he hasnt displayed any of those behaviours since. benzo's may help others but it didnt help my child long term. he was not supposed to be on them for more than 4 months but the docs tried to keep him on them as well as give him respiridone and prozac and melatonin. he was only 7 but was on so many drugs. he is now drug free and happy.
Going thru this at the moment with a loved one it’s been 3 solid months 🤞🏾✨🤞🏾✨
@@Jordan-ln2ef it creates more mental health problems and physical problems with your health and organs.
It took me a year of withdrawal to get off 6mg of klonopin.
It was a hell I wouldn't wish on my worse enemy
Yeah dealt with a bad withdrawl myself. When ur on them long ammounts of time it can effect ur memory
I`m on 4 1/2 mg.
Thanks for the warning. I’ve been really tempted to try these but I feel like they’ll just mess my life up even more long term
@@bape7372 run for your life. Don't take them.
@@bape7372
I agree, steer clear of this medication and otter Benzos. Mediation and other healthy avenues should be looked at other than taking these awful drugs. Hope you can conquer this without being medicated.🙏🏻🦋
So very glad this is being addressed by professionals. I have witnessed the troubles of a man who had been on since 1985. A new doc took him off, saying You have been on too long. A lot of symptoms went away; symptoms which had been wrongly attributed to a mental condition but were actually caused by the medication.
hope they did a multi year taper
@@jbath8276 doubt it..
I guess other medications don't have side effects huh? Smh !
Scary stuff going through cold turkey withdrawals. I nearly died. I also had a phychotic break on night 4 and went into phychosis for a month. I've never been insane before, let me tell you, you don't ever want to be there. There is nothing.woese than being completely insane but same enough to know your completely insane. I needed a straight jacket from attempting suicide. No way I would have lived through that forever, and I thought it was forever because it had already been a month. I'm finally better after two full months.
@@brettwilson7680 you're lucky
I was in protracted withdrawal for 7months cold turkey. I got severely kindled with general anesthetic after a septorhinoplasty. Was left to figure it out myself. Reinstated and found tolerance at 20mg diazepam. Got off in 7 months. 7 months out still some lingering symptoms..but that protracted withdrawal I couldn't out run it. Had complete insomnia and brain misfiring at night. Fkg horrific. When I reinstated my brain sort of zapped together. I found tolerance at sedation but not overly sedated. Only got that info online. That close to getting sectioned I would not have made it. Had to buy people's prescription. Mad .
The most difficult drug by far to ever get off of...and I've been on everything! No other drug holds a candle to the hell that benzo withdrawal will bestow upon a poor soul! Blessings! 🙏
Definitely. I had no idea as my doc didn't taper me or advise, just told me to stop. I took them as directed for 28 years, 6 months. Withdrawal was a nightmare for many months, wanted to die, almost did.
I'm 29 months out now and am not as bad as the first 6 months off of them, but I'm so different now. Very easily panicked, confused, hypersensitive to everything and everyone. Easily angered. I now avoid everyone, live in quiet, dimly lit apartment.
@Let It Roll It gets better. I'm off 3 years now. Slowly but surely we got this. Allow nothing to hold you back. The worst is behind us now...everything from here is gravy! 👍 👌
@@supertiger1979 Thank so much for your comment. So appreciated. 🌹
I take benzodizapines and I'm not addicted
@@valkrie5816 Best of luck to you!
It's criminal that doctors are STILL prescribing benzos long term.
Every patient eventually becomes tolerant and developesi interdose withdrawals.
Three and a half months is NOTHING!
It takes most people on long term benzos YEARS to get off of them and feel normal again. Doctors will often deny that the benzos they prescribe are causing severe harm to patients. Every patient is different, and the withdrawal syndrome takes varying amounts of time with different patients.
The withdrawals from benzodiazepines are the most EXCRUCIATINGLY BRUTALLY PAINFUL withdrawals which LAST FOR MONTHS ON END in their worst forms. Inpatient treatment centers are not equipped to properly treat benzo patients unless the stay is extended to at least three months before the patient is sent home. Most private treatment centers try to apply the same treatment model to every patient regardless of what chemical they use. Most patients addicted to alcohol, cocaine, meth, or heroin are able to finish their ACUTE detox in 2-5 days. Benzo patients stay in the ACUTE stage of withdrawals for many WEEKS. It is a brutally long process. There should be comfort meds prescribed to treat severe muscle spasms, and sleeplessness. Patients coming off of water soluable benzos like Xanax should be monitored very closely for seizures. In fact, no one should be tapered off of Xanax. They should be switched to Valium (a much longer acting benzo) first so that a safe titration can be accomplished.
Most benzo addicted patients were only taking their medication as prescribed.
Yet doctors unwilling to take responsibility for their negligence will often blame their patients, even though no evidence exists that they abused their medication. That's the whole rub. Benzos make patients extremely sick when they are taken as prescribed. Some patients don't show signs until they've been taking them for three years, some in three months. A well respected cardiologist developed benzo sickness after just several months of taking them.
The single biggest problem is that no patient is safe taking them for more than six to eight weeks. Yet doctors commonly prescribe them for long term use all the time. In fact, the original prescriber is rarely at the scene of the crime when the sickness starts occurring. I was on Klonopin for almost twenty years before switching to Valium and beginning my taper. I knew something was wrong but no doctor though to blame the benzo because they all prescribed them long term. To admit that it was the Klonopin, the doctors would have to come to terms with how many patients they're hurting. The ones who are STILL prescribing them long term always use the excuse that no other drug class works for these patients. But they refuse to see that these very same patients are getting worse BECAUSE of the benzo. It happens over and over again. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of videos on TH-cam with people documenting how sick benzos made them and how brutally long and impossibly severe the withdrawals were.
These drugs cause such severe emotional anxiety and turmoil that ramps up exponentially during withdrawals.
And even when carefully tapered, the symptoms of anxiety, depression, hallucinations, muscle tremors, long term gastrointestinal upset, headaches, vision disturbances, thyroid dysfunction, pseudo-tumors, and a host of others prevent the person from functioning normally in society. It's almost impossible to hold down a job when withdrawling from benzos. You can't think straight. You can't remember anything. It takes months to years to recover most function. And so far, some appear to be permanent.
Lives are ruined. Marriages are destroyed. My family tossed me to the wolves, and my wife hung in there for a long time. But she's resentful and angry about the time lost and the lasting dysfunction. It should be a crime to get people hooked on long term benzos.
It is SOOO hard to get off of them. It's almost impossible to get competent help getting off of them. Big pharma plays a huge role in preventing the word from getting out about the dangers. The govt agencies which are supposed to protect consumers and patients are run by former pharma execs. Others frequently BECOME pharma execs. Dark money keeps doctors in the dark about the damage this class of drugs causes.
It's shameful!
Your post, writing is the best I have ever seen on google feed. You should write a book. Read this book to start, " Toxic Psychiatry ", by Dr. Peter Breggin. Thank you so much for your writing. I too, experienced beyond hell , on Xanax, Klonopin and other psychiatric drugs. I am permanently damaged with Tardive Dyskinesia. I went beyond hell. Since 1994 I have suffered terribly. That is an understatement. Death would have been better.... Thank you so much for writing and putting truth out into the world. The truth is critically important. 🙏
Excellent post.
What a bunch of nonsense you put forth. People need these drugs and most people either want to stay on them or get off them. Some, but very few, have difficult stopping them but most because of people like you shaming the drugs, believe when they get off these drugs which they started taking for a reason, will be absolutely fine and the disorder they took them for would have disappeared. Often, these disorders do not disappear, and yes for a week or two or three, when the disorder is no longer masked, and suddenly so, it can seem worse.
Stop the hysteria. What you are promoting is cruel because you don't know what you are talking about and are spreading broad generalizations that are simply not true. In addition, adults should be able to make the decision of whether or not to take these drugs long term. Doctors are not Gods, and they should be free to prescribe these meds. for life as for millions, they are lifesaving. What you are saying is poisonous and ethically criminal in my view, and heartless. These people suffer so much with anxiety disorders and probably a billion or more people over the decades have taken these medications without incidence. Alcoholics love to blame these drugs for all of their ills, as do people with anxiety disorders that hate the fact that they require a drug to feel calmer. I say, too bad, if that is reality, then own it. If one wants to suffer because they want to be medication free, fine. If they want to be medicated, fine. Everyone else needs to stop shaming others. Shame on you I say respectfully, your comment is as cruel as it is dangerous as it is uninformed. So many suicides have been prevented because these drugs as unpleasant as they are to take, can mitigate the mental torture that so many are plagued with as a result of anxiety or depressive disorders. Please, stop spreading hysteria, think logically and honestly.
what you are saying is nuts. most people do fine. i agree with the previous comment.
@@blairsterling6141 WRONG, tardive dyskineasia is Not caused by benzos. you were probably given a major tranquilizer which is an entirely different class of drug which can cause your problem. i mean no disrespect, but given the ease with which you through this untruth around, your other takes on drugs should be ignored because you are throwing around blanket accusations without knowing what did what, and what your disorder might have been causing in and of itself
I took valium everyday for 15 years and never took more than I should and it worked great. My doctor stopped it one day, said it was bad for me, and then eventually I started drinking alcohol for anxiety and now alcoholic. Worst thing that ever happened. BTW antidepressants don't work for anxiety. None of them!
You said the drugs worked great, so they did hence you did Not take more than you should have because they "worked great." You did not start drinking because of the drugs, you did so because of your anxiety. People that don't have a pre-existing propensity for alcohol do not start drinking. If you cannot stop drinking, perhaps you should go back to the benzos but do not mix the two as that is dangerous.
@@BenjaminGolden-c5u Yes I have always had anxiety. The valium used to give me relief from my anxiety. It worked better than alcohol. Now for some reason they don't want to prescribe it so the only relief I get from my anxiety is alcohol. I did not drink when I was taking valium. I would rather go back on just benzos but they don't prescribe them anymore.
antidepressants can work for anxiety; they just don't word immediately and predictably for all patients whereas benzos do work immediately. antidepressants don't work on everyone but they do help a lot of people that stay on them with anxiety.
@@Michael-te7fj Unfortunately, I have tried at least 10 antidepressants and they just don't do anything. Tried them for years. Going back to another doctor to see if something new could be out.
Doc's gotta see more patients to get rich. The quality of care goes down.
This is true of any system. If a system takes on more work than it has capacity for, quality will drop. Money is a factor but the medical system is not that simple. There are probably other components rotting in the system.
Not even just to get rich, but to make ends meet, make the student loan debt go away. You don't become a doctor to not make more money than someone who didn't go to school.
@The Ministry of Truth KMK not even that. My old psychiatrist would take back a patient every 5 minutes just about.
If you are interested in getting Oxycodone, Adderall, Percocet, Xanax, no prescription required, visit: darkfax.com
Yeah what care
Dude I have some type of OCD where my brain doesn't filter random thoughts and obsesses over whatever until it's like the most random thing to make me have anxiety. I took plenty street stuff and Klonopins were absolutely the thing that worked. I understood it was like a two week thing and then the solution makes the problem worse...wish I could find them...maybe not after hearing some stories just for emergencies...I thought my mind was wild, really appreciate some of you all being so honest and kind in your truths. You're in my prayers and good vibes
It's likely you've had a lot of trauma, and it has rewired your brain's reactions. The brain then misinterprets normal things as ""Danger" and you get flooded with adrenaline and the Fight or Flight impulse. Somatic tracking can help with that, as can trauma counseling. The former is available on TH-cam. Some people have been helped with neurofeedback and EMDR. I wish you luck with your healing journey - you are a kind soul who appreciates people's truths, though the street drug helped you. I'm so glad you didn't take them long term - they can worsen any problem you have enormously.
He is right about Psychiatrists. I used to spend 45 min to an hour with mine who put me on a High dose of Clonazepam. Now spends only 15 or 10 min. never has time to talk about medications just make sure I am still alive and refill or add medications based on a 15 min visit. I am told to go to a Therapist to work with my Dr I can't afford this and Insurance won't pay for this. I have been on clonazepam for 21 years. Tried to get off of it and had a series of seizures that put me in the Hospital. There I first learned this is a very dangerous drug and can cause irreparable damage to your brain. Some have, but very few success stories but from people on low doses for a shorter period of time. I was told it was safe and not addictive at the beginning. Now I see I am trapped on this medication for life or live in hell. I am 70 and do not have 10 years to taper and still have withdrawal symptoms. Never have I abused or taken more than prescribed.
in my opinion, you should be grateful that your doctor prescribed you these medications and didn't leave you hanging for fear of writing prescriptions of controlled substances. they are not addictive. you are mixing up terms, they can be habituating for some people. take them if you need them and don't feel shame. if you don't need them, you should be able to taper off slowly in a number of days, or perhaps weeks albeit most don't require that amount of time. I do not believe the horror stories I see in this thread, although I do believe the people writing them believe them. you have been medicated for a disorder for 21 presumably because the drugs work. when you stop taking them, you likely will return to where you were prior to taking them, or where you would have been if you never took them. your choice, but it is unpredictable and unknown how your illness will manifest without meds. because it can't be known. You do not need ten years, ten days or ten weeks should be more than enough. if the tapering seem rough then slow it down to the point where you feel okay.
as for the horror stories, use your head. if withdrawal is so horrific, then one should stop the process and continue if they wish, more and more slowly but it shouldn't be tough. even morphine addiction should not be bad if done correctly.
life is tough, and we have choices. thank god for these medications at they allow patients a choice of taking them, or not. you are not trapped, you are privileged in my opinion to have had options that people before our time could never have dreamed of, many of whom committed suicide.
these drugs do not damage your brain in any significant charted way. theories abound but millions of people have taken these drugs short and long term and done just fine.
@@Michael-te7fj•I have brain Atrophy caused by the medication given to treat my seizures and the medication is the above medication so please unless your on the medication or looking after someone whom already has brain damage from a Dr’s typo Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome-Check your facts ether this drug company sponsors you ,you have shares in them .Or you need realise and understand that when it’s to late for you these drugs are not the solution to your problem or mine possibly Skittles a packet of skittles or the greatest med ever invented (Fuckitallapin )For when you just don’t give a shit
@@Michael-te7fjI know this was posted 9 months ago but anyone reading this looking to come off of Benzos PLEASE FOR THE LOVE GOD DONT LISTEN TO THIS FUCKING IDIOT
@@Michael-te7fjThank you doctor for really screwing up my mind.
@@peterlyons8793 Peter I am sorry you are having a rough time. That said, respectfully I assure you the aforementioned drugs did not screw up your mind. One of two things are going on. Either what you are currently going through would be happening anyway or if the medications were the culprit, you will return to normal.Ipromise you, if you were fine before you will be fine again.
Mushrooms containing psilocybin saved my life. The aided my benzodiazepine withdrawal allowing me to quit illicit pill addiction after three years of heavy daily use before it would had became medically dangerous to quit. It has also helped me survive depression.
The Trips I've been having really helped me a lot,I finally feel in control of my emotions and my future and things that used to be mundane to me now seem incredible and full of nuance on top of that I'm way less driven by my ego and I have alot more empathy as well
@Lillian Victoria I was having this constant, unbearable anxiety due to work stress. Not until I came across *dr.jeromespore* a very intelligent mycologist. He saved my life honestly
@Lillian Victoria You can check him out on. 👇🏻
*l* *G*
@@ellaaysun6181 I feel the same way too. I put too much on my plate and it definitely affects my stress and anxiety levels. I am also glad to be a part of this community.
Sorry, ssris are no better and thats what there pumpin now . Look at all the mass shootings and suicides
My mum was given Valium in the 1960s, that's when they first came out in the UK. It was stated that they weren't addictive, so many women started taking them. Mick Jagger (Rolling Stones) even mentions them in one of their songs at that time, wherein part of the lyrics was "mother's little helper".
Read about Stevie Nick's, from Fleetwood Mac. She said 7 years of her life were ruined because of Klonopin. 7 years.
...and they are not addictive. No one stays on them because they are fun. When one feels better, they stop taking them. For some, there is a brief withdrawal period that is not severe generally unless other drugs and or alcohol are involved which many on this thread I trust do not admit to.
@@BenjaminGolden-c5uAre you for real? Benzodiazepines cause some of the worst withdrawal symptoms of any drug on this planet, worse than opioids, alcohol, or most recreational drugs. One of the only drugs that can be fatal during withdrawal as well.
psychiatrists aswell as psychologists have become very angry at me even when i told them they should take more time listening to me instead of giving me these...
they INSISTED that i took them... it's the only thing they wanted to do for me.
they NEVER informed me of any side effects and never said anything about how long i should take them
respectfully, are you an adult. you have a choice and can say no. you can also open a book and read. if you didn't think you were getting the time you needed and said so, they should have stopped prescribing the drugs until you felt you understood them. but you, must take personal responsibility in life, doctors are not gods, there are good and bad ones like every other profession.
It’s the same with vaccines. Look how many took the new experimental ones that are very dangerous. Big Pharma is corrupt and they control the doctors.
Was on them every day for 10 years. 6 months off and just starting to feel like myself a little again. First month was literally hell on earth.
How you doing, I have been off for 3 years after 10 years on. I tried getting off 3 or 4 times in the 10 year period but the way I felt was indescribable. Funny how I think I miss them but remembering the necessity of always having them and how many I had left in conjunction with the withdrawal will make me not go back I hope.
@@stevenm2526 I'm doing great man thanks for asking. It will be one year off December 13th. The good thing for me i was so done with them that I haven't thought about or craved them one time. I still have days where I feel weird and times I get crazy anxiety if I know I'm about to be around a bunch of people. 3 years? Awesome man!
@@mccoin30 That's awesome, learning to walk through your fear or next to it is tough to do when we were so used to having those senses dulled. Glad for you and every time I took the action my mind was hesitating on doing(thinking more) nothing turns out the way I feared and generally the opposite.
A little over 2 years off for me. Happy for you guys. :) I was put on them as a teen, and they took a toll on me. The first few months off I had intense insomnia and felt like an impact drill was going off in my skull at night. I found that exercise helps the withdrawals and also anxiety in general. Just light exercise can make a difference.
I was on Benzos for seven years and could not taper. I was dying. I found out about NAD, received treatment and quickly recovered and am doing very well. Please check out NAD treatment centers. Read and watch testimonials. I have seen six other people personally get the same results as I. Good Luck
I was struggling with divorce and saw a psychiatrist 15 years ago, an older guy near retirement. He assumed I was there for drugs. I said no thanks. When I told him I use cannabis every day, he said, "That's better than anything I have to offer."
Classic
If he wasn't about to retire , he would've told u to get off the weed. Fuckin snakes.
Very unpredictable and will vary widely from user to user. Many on this thread have psychiatric disorders and must be cautious about unregulated drugs they have never tired before.
Regulated drugs are extremely dangerous. SSRIs cause suicidal feelings in many of us. Most all mass-shooters are on SSRIs. I'm not recommending cannabis to anyone. I have recently quit using after over forty years of daily use. It was difficult until I hit upon the idea that if Govco wants me to be on drugs, then I don't want to be on drugs. @@Michael-te7fj
@@Michael-te7fj I think phciatric disorders can be mistaken for everyday stress an anxiety these days too. I mean it's not abnormal to have severe amounts of stress in this life , expesially in certain situations, doesent mean someone should be medicated for the rest of there lives. Doctors are to quick to hand out these drugs. People need to learn how to deal with life threw healthier ways first. Now some people may need help with medicine, but too many normal everyday people are being told they have depressive disorders sn anxiety disorders, when infact they are just living in a world that's hard to live in. These addictive medications aren't the answers to that. There more like a crutch that's eventually gonna snap an break in half.
I thought someone dropped me off into the pit of hell when I was abruptly taken off klonopin. 20 plus years prescribed
Me too! 23 years taken as prescribed..abrupt cut off of clonazepam caused a seizure, my vision I'm afraid is permanently impaired.
So sorry. My ativan withdrawals were horrible. Felt like impact drills were going off in my skull. I was about 27, and I think the older someone is/the longer they are on them the worse the withdrawals. Hope you are both doing well.
I sympathise; I have seen someone in withdrawal and he said it was unspeakable hell.
If you are interested in getting Oxycodone, Adderall, Percocet, Xanax, no prescription required, visit: darkfax.com
@@joebradley5021 you fool troll
Kudos to this Pharmacist
I am autistic and have ADHD and it's the only drug that has helped. I take it sparingly so that the effects don't dwindle and I try to only take it as needed, but again, it's the only drug I've used that works.
The problem with psychiatry is that psychiatrists are no longer practicing psychiatry, meeting with their patients/clients to try to discover the cause(s) of their emotional problems, but have simply become pill pushers for the pharmaceutical industry, prescribing "medications" like the so-called "antidepressants," the efficacy of which have NOT and CANNOT be proven, since there are no medical tests to determine the levels of the brain chemicals they supposedly affect. Prescribing these drugs is therefore pure GUESSWORK, hardly an ethical medical practice. Every time I point out to medical personnel that psychiatrists no longer practice therapeutic treatment, I'm told "That's a therapist." Psychiatry is no longer a legitimate profession if it ever was, but a QUACK ENTERPRISE!
nonsense. people should make their own decisions about these drugs after being informed once by a doctor. psychologists today or other therapists do the emotional part for the patient. although antidepressants have little science to back up their efficacy, the benzos are great medications that any person taking them can feel right away without question. they are not pleasant medications which leaves the patient a decision to make.
as for big pharma pushing these drugs, there is absolutely no money in benzos. if you are going to criticize big pharma, get the specifics right. there are a bunch of suffering people on this thread and pretending that big pharma is pushing benzos is wrong. in fact, big pharma would like nothing more than to kill the benzo class off so they can market new more profitable drugs and sadly, most people on this thread are being the "useful idiots" as the expression goes by doing big pharma's fear mongering for them.
This pharmacist is brave, honest and caring.
I just finished a 2 month taper from 2-3mg of clonazepam per day for 7yrs. Didn’t abuse them but I picked up on my tolerance, & it went very well. My anxiety has decreased to almost nothing. Strangest 7yrs of my life on benzodiazepines. ://
People experiencing prolonged withdrawal symptoms suffer the tortures of the damned - so nightmarish that only someone who has been through it can possibly understand. Physical, neurological, and psychological torture. Lots of sympathy for everyone enduring this! That said, getting OFF them after 20 years gave me my life back. I'd been disabled, mostly housebound and bedridden for 20 years, supposedly by 5 "incurable" diseases and was getting worse daily. I finally realized brain and body were addicted (though I took them "as prescribed") and tapered off. To my astonishment, I began to recover my health! I ultimately got 80% better, was able to go back to writing, performing, exercising and socializing. I literally went from crawling - my blood pressure was so "incurably" low some days - to dancing. We DO heal - but ye gods so many of us suffer miserably before that happens!
I get on and off them every couple of years with no issues. In fact, every person I know except one had no issues, and the one described two weeks of restlessness and insomnia. These drugs are lifesavers for so many. Live with the issues that may come about from sudden withdrawal. Frankly, I do not believe that you were in a normal state when getting off these drugs, in other words, it wasn't the drugs but rather the change you went through at the wrong time. Such is the nature of anxiety disorders for many--stop blaming the pills for everything and anything.
maybe they are just getting used to again living with the hell that an anxiety disorder brings that made them use these needed medications to begin with.
@@BenjaminGolden-c5u I HAD zero anxiety, just insomnia for a very good reason. Would you perhaps believe the manufacturer of the drugs?
"In the early 1990s, Upjohn finally admitted: “Certain adverse clinical events, some life-threatening, are a direct consequence of physical dependence to Xanax. These include a spectrum of withdrawal symptoms; the most important is seizure . . . studies of patients with panic disorder showed a higher rate of rebound and withdrawal symptoms with Xanax.... Other symptoms, such as anxiety and insomnia, were frequently reported during discontinuation."
“Withdrawal reactions may occur when dosage reduction occurs for any reason . . . withdrawal symptoms including seizures have been reported after only brief therapy with Xanax at doses within the recommended range for the treatment of anxiety. . "
There are 500,00 people in an online benzo withdrawal group, Benzo Buddies, and over 50 Facebook benzo withdrawal groups.
You've been very lucky, and I'm glad you're in the minority who experienced more benefits than harm. Count your blessings -- and stop shaming and blaming those who had the courage to quit and suffered the tortures of the damned. You re invalidating the lived reality of hundreds of thousands of people.
@@Michael-te7fj no because people completely heal around year n a half two years, an go on with life just fine without this drug . Matter of fact, many people have better lives after healing from this drug. There's a huge diffrence between anxiety an nervous system an brain damage.
@@BenjaminGolden-c5u Why would we lie? Did you watch the film? People whose lives were destroyed by the medication got help and tapered off - and faced the trauma, grief, anxiety, pain or insomnia that led to their taking them. In doing that, they got their lives back. It's lies and secrets that keep people dependent on medications.
I know it's terrifying to discover your "nice safe" sleeping pill or anti-anxiety medication can be dangerous - I've been there. But I used that knowledge to help me taper OFF them - and I'm SO glad I did! By doing that I quit successfully, recovered 80% of my health and celebrated 7 years benzo-free, and 6 years off all psych meds and prescription drugs.
You can't get clean and sober by lying to yourself or others - only by facing the truth. The drugs numb and sedate - and you can't heal what you can't feel. I found healthy ways to manage insomnia and pain, like journaling, dancing the challenging emotions, Chi Gong, somatic tracking and pain reprocessing to heal the dysregulated nervous system, etc.
I've escaped from Benzo Oz and broken out of Pharma Prison! And found wonderful resources in addition to these wonderful "Medicating Normal" videos that helped me STAY off them, and would happily recommend them to anyone who wants them.
Thank you for producing this film. I just watched it and will be recommending it to everyone I know.
The systems all wrong, it's all about making money not to repair or restore health.
A really well balanced explanation.
At all. Doctors are guilty of prescribing this very dangerous drugs without warning of the dangers. Benzodiazepines withdrawal can be lethal, so this pharmacist saying that doctors need to prescribe more benzos in order to make hands meet is not a well balanced explanation.
anything but well balanced. millions have taken these drugs for decades and have been perfectly happy with their results.
This is greatly needed information 🙏🏼
I was on Clonazepam for about 18 months, coming of them has been hellish. I had panic attacks so severe I thought I was going to die, insomnia, strange ringing in my head, sexual dysfunction, RLS so bad you feel like you're being tortured. I've gone through all this thanks to my GP not tapering me off the Clonazepam properly. And to top things off I now have Benzo Belly.
so very sorry for your suffering, Mario.
ehat is benzo belly.iv been on benzos 28 yrs
hi Mario, did the ringing in your head ever go away??.. and not return??.. thankyou..
@@stan427 I still have it but it's bearable.
@@paulettelamontagne6992 it's a whole range of gastrointestinal effects
My mum has been on these for 29 years I need to make people aware these don’t work !!! It’s cost her an normal life and cost me mine xx
It is the toll it takes on your family/caregivers that is beyond words. Now, we heal and show up for THEM.
Those pills took 12 years of my life, but I have been off them for over 2 years now. Withdrawals sucked big time, but it is doable. Those pills can give some people hallucinations, and make some people aggressive (mass shooter toxicology reports). I call them soul suckers. Well, life is measurably better now that I am free of them. Hope your mom gets her life back, and I hope you do as well.
@@shineyshine2008 So happy for you! YAY! 2 years off for me as well after 18 on prescribed for sleep. Boy, do I miss restorative sleep. Researching and doing all I can to get it back. It’ll come, it will. With time and patience and faith. All the best to you in your continued healing. ❤️
We will never get out life back the damage has already been done we just have to hopefully get a little something back I'm angry at how anyone could keep her on these with a young child as well I will fight for what's right and hopefully get some understanding of it all xx
If depends. They do work..they just can't be abused..librium is a miracle to assist on stopping drinking..I've used it many times. Too bad I've returned to the sauce.
Heroin is also okay if you just use it for 1-2 weeks and then stop. Same with crack, cocaine and most class A drugs out there. Hope you get my point here. The short terms use argument is ridiculous. When you take a pill that totally removes the worst chronic anxiety you can think of, are you going to stop taking that drug? Think not. That lead to me taking Xanax for 23 years, all prescribed from doctors.
I agree 💯
Uh. Heroin has MAJOR Anti anxiety effects, fentanyl especially
Except it numbs your emotional and spiritual pain
It takes it away for a while and multiplies the anxiety by 10 when you leave it. What's the point?
Yeah people can decieve themselves into thinking they can just stop taking it. It's never that easy.
It’s a dr’s obligation to tell a patient that these poisons are for short term use and a dr. that abuses this protocol should have his / her license revoked . Tougher laws should be enforced against these pill pushers .
This is an epidemic especially in the US and UK .
These criminals are licensed to do such harm to do many .
They should be in prison. They are worse then drug dealers.
It' not an epidemic and stop promoting hysteria. These are great medications and very few have problems with them. If you examine the "testimonials" on this thread, that is if you could, you would find there are many type on alcoholics that blame the drugs, and people with ongoing psychiatric disorders that need these medications but don't want to admit it. They tend to be somewhat unpleasant and most people would prefer to feel normal without them but sadly, many, many people do not feel better. Some get off them and profess to feel better and perhaps they do because they don't want to be on a drug, and anxiety and depression are often cyclical. I would argue that many get off them when they are feeling a bit better to begin with. There is no money in prescribing these drugs and doctors do so at great risk for their license. What you are doing, and I trust you mean no harm, is actually quite cruel and people like you promoting hysteria makes these chemicals very difficult to get for those that need them. I want you to really think about that. You don't know me, you need not agree with me, but this stranger is telling you you are absolutely uninformed and what you are doing is promoting dogma that is quite cruel and dangerous that affects a vulnerable population that benefits from these drugs. We are not speaking about morphine or other opioids which are an entirely different matter.
In addition, I am not a believer in nanny-state medicine. Adults should explain the risks, and they should then make their own decisions. Gone are the days when one had to go to a library to do research. If you live in the U.K, you are used to nanny-state medical treatment. In the U.S., we have not been nanny-state in our treatment of diseases in over sixty years, patients are expected to be informed. That said, for some reason when it comes to drugs, we are nanny-state of the worst order. Brilliant people that research every aspect of medical diagnosis and get five opinions, somehow when it comes to drugs are seemingly incapable of thinking. Sixty years ago it was the opposite, patients made their own decisions about drugs, and the doctors were the deciders about medical treatment. I can recall as a child, when someone got cancer, I would hear, is the doctor going to tell them that they have cancer? Imagine that, people used to die without being told and oddly enough, we were such a nanny state in those days about medical issues we as patients didn't feel empowered to ask these questions. I say, let's get the patients out of the nanny state reliance on physicians for drugs, after the patients are informed once and understand the risks, it should be their decision if they are adults.
they are not just for short term use. the doctors are not pill pushers. they provide a service and the drug companies want them not to prescribe this old class of drugs which are cheap so that they can introduce new expensive ones to the market. you're out of line in spreading misinformation that the drug companies love that people like you are unwittingly doing their fear mongering for them. I agree with the last comment one-hundred percent.
It's an epidemic. And you guys are not going to tell me that those psychiatry dudes aren't pill pushers. I've seen way too many people ending up in an absolute desolate state or simply dead (overdosed by shrink, suicide, extended homicide).
So, the fear mongering is more than necessary. But you can enjoy your drugs and your trip as long as it lasts. 😂 Enjoy hitting the floor, when coming down.
I have experience in this field, because my mom was destroyed by the drugs (no mental illness, my dad died, a lot of suicides in my environment, I was misdiagnosed, too, because of my autism within 15 minutes and everything that I said ripped out of context, I took the drugs, I know the effects and can just advice people to stay away from those braindead drug dealers).
No, those guys aren't brilliant, they are incapable to answer the most simple questions, it's all a profession of total BULLCRAP. But you can believe in BULLCRAP if it makes you happy and support mass murderers, because that's what they are at the end of the day.
For the record: my autism causes me to give zero f**** about your opinion. You can be happy that you have one, for some people that's the only thing they have: an opinion based on hear-say. 🤡
I was on them for 40 years. Withdrawal almost killed me many times.
Wow. That's the longest I've seen.
How are you doing to this day?
@@FabelousMe I don't think I'm going to survive.
@@sandywhat2429 Stay strong mate. If you do not know already, there's a forum called "BenzoBuddies" with tons of people experiencing tons of withdrawal. Maybe that will help you, it definitely did for me.
@@FabelousMe They can't help me. All sorts of damage has been done here. Medical harm.
@@FabelousMe Not everybody comes out of this alive.
I'm so glad i didn't get addicted to xans. my first experience was me taking two b707 blue xans and i started throwing up in the car w my gf. scared tf outta me and idk if they was fake but it scared the hell out me and i never touched that shit again and even blocked the dude who sold me the bars. seeing everyones comments on how horrible all this shit is makes me wanna take my heart out and give it to you bc i couldn't even imagine the hell you're going through.
So glad you were smart and didn't take any more. They took 12 years from me. I hurt good people. I let myself down so many times. I'm great now, but I want to box the doctor who gave me those as a teen.
no one gets addicted in the morphine sense. many need these drugs and when they stop taking them, for years they blame their condition on the drugs they took rather than facing the fact that anxiety disorders can last for decades or a lifetime in many people. most people do great on these drugs and take them as needed for periods of time, or even for life without incident.
For those with anxiety its like a miracle drug at first, then after your tolerance builds you start to get interdose withdrawal symptoms. The anxiety comes back twice as bad and finally when you decide to get off it your most likely in for a month or few of panic attack hell. Honestly after being off them completely for a while now I feel as if my baseline anxiety has increased.
This comment scares the hell out of me... dude I'm on high dosage of benzo for a very VERY serious anxiety issue... I hope it's not that way for everyone. I hope to be off mine soon with little to no anxiety.
I do however make it a habit to skip dose when I can just to see where I'm at with a potential addiction. So far, I don't withdrawl but the anxiety is crippling.
@@mayhem-method-5450 if you ever taper...you MUST, MUST taper extremely slowly... extremely !! Even then, during a long long long taper it will be incredibly horrendous and beyond hellish issues... the insomnia can be ruthless.
Anxiety means your mind is fully alive again. There are other ways to cope than by downing these pills. They will blunt your psyche, deaden you. Better to be fully alive than dead inside.
@@blairsterling6141 What if you just have random panic attacks a couple times a week and you don’t take them daily?
When I told my Doctor I no longer needed Ativan after 8 years of taking it daily, he got upset.
How did you do? Did you taper or go cold turkey?
If you think you can handle. You might be able quit without seizures and stuff@lalouloune6156
Good explanation but what do you suggest doing? You can't just rip people off of these drugs suddenly. That's as dangerous as anything else a slow taper but once pharmacists start talking like this some politician will hear it and use it as a talking point and next thing you know people will start losing their prescription suddenly and they'll start dying of seizures. I agree but for those that have been on them for years you need to go with a really really slow taper like over a year or two according to my physician
PRACTICING PSYCHOLOGIST HERE: Why cant scientists come up with more safer medications for mental health? More research is needed because trust me in my work experience, anxiety clients are increasing, panic disorder is increasing, so people besides therapy do need meds . I hope safer formulas are developed soon, the world will be needing it more!
Just a quick note here , most if not all medications are accidentally discovered , they cannot design medications to target specific areas of the body or brain , so when pharmaceutical companies try different compounds they assign the effect of the medications to the medication rather than assign the medications to the symptoms , most if not all mechanisms of action are not known or understood but only proposed ideas that are unproven
Last thing this world needs is more brain drugs. They've caused enough damage
This is rich. In the years I was prescribed temazepam, I never once had a pharmacist warn me about the continuouse refills I was getting. Not once.
Warn you about what? Respectfully, how old are you? A doctor needs to inform you once and ensure you have informed consent about the drug he prescribes, and after that, it's up to you. You went for the refills for years, you couldn't read a damn paragraph and take responsibility JUST ONCE instead of complaining that a pharmacist never "warned" you about refills. I don't know you but I have a hard time believing that you didn't know there could be risks when taking a medication that is marketed as a sleeping pill. ...and the risks are minimal if you tape off them and if when you start, you are informed about staying on them and getting off them, and despite what the hysterics on this tread claim, is relatively simple for most if they follow a taper schedule. I hope the restoral helped you--it is, after all, designed to help you and if you took it for years, apparently it did just that. Be an adult and stop blaming others. ...and it's not the business of the pharmacist to get involved in this matter. If you ask, then they can offer an opinion although their are limits on what is ethical for them to do so as they have not examined you individually.
@@BenjaminGolden-c5u dude, i agree. people have to take personal responsibility for not only their medical decisions, but also their prescription drugs.
@@BenjaminGolden-c5u Judgy much? Guess you've figured it all out for the rest of us. We can just ignore our symptoms and physical and mental experiences now that you are here. Thank god.
I tore many ligaments and tendons due to benzos induced muscle weakness.
They Should NOT BE PRESCRIBED PERIOD!!!
Thats not true, all a person has to do is use them responsibly....they are for short term use only...and when you are actually having a panic attack...even so let's say a person has to take it everyday if that person is than able to function and enjoy their life again let them....there's a good and a bad with everything. For some benzos can be life savers
Exactly. I suffer from CPTSD and severe panic attacks. I can't even go into public without having one. If I didn't have klonopin (.5mg) I wouldn't be able to function. I used them AS NEEDED and don't have to taper off... so not sure what this guy is talking about. Lol I get prescribed 60 at a time and that lasts for about 3 or 4 months. Like I said, as needed. It's all about responsibility.
@@jessicaaustin3 I'm afraid benzos cause rebound panic anxiety and depression plus u suffer withdrawals and dependence , I honestly thought they were harmless but they are not , trust me , find something else other than these very damaging drugs like meditation breathing and therapy or beta blockers , or breathe into a bag , honestly benzos even at low doses are terrible I promise u xxxx
It all depends of being responsible, I’m on clonazepam and I only take it when I need it. Ppl get addicted to it and having a lack of selfcontrol, then blaming the drug,. ITS NOT THE DRUG ITS YOURSELF!
@@roman4892 It’s wonderful that a Benzo, once in a blue moon, can be helpful. Agreed.
To say that a lack of self-control is why folks struggle with benzos inter-dose withdraw and tolerance is highly irresponsible and simply untrue. If you do your research and know the physical and psychic effects of this class of drugs, including the area of your brain responsible for executive function and decision-making, you’ll be better informed. Benzos can absolutely “creep up” on you without warning causing catastrophe. I wish you well.
My granddaughter was given a benzo laced drink at nightclub, she got so sick on us, er trips 2x, n drug test showed benzo, cocaine, n cannabis, which I know she smokes, but the other girls with her, we’re not effected at all! I thank God she’s alive! Her body was locking up, so horrible, she couldn’t move or talk! This happened this past Saturday, today is Tuesday, n I’m still in shock, crying, but thankful she’s still here! 0:18
Revelation 12:9
And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Revelation 18:23
And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.
?
Well, it took me nearly 4 years. I could not do anything at all for the first 2 years! I will never get over the horrible symptoms from withdrawing cold turkey from Klonopin.
same could not drive my car for 2 years or watch tv for 2 years but now i can do that again after 2,4 years of of xanax 5 mg a day
@@MultiFixman I know! I couldn’t drive or watch movies. I couldn’t read. I would fall down randomly which was embarrassing! It was all too much for my heart causing congestive heart failure. Now, when I think or read about withdrawal illness, I shake and feel faint. I don’t think I’ll ever be the same.
@@corvettedm1 inot meeither will ever be the same again but its getting better for me but still vision problems alot totally brain damage is what it is
Well, why did you take them for two years? Respectfully, if you are an adult, either you needed them or you did not take responsibility for your actions. I see you note that you withdrew cold turkey. Although most people can do so without much of an issue or a very acute one, you brought it on yourself because the moment one has trouble cold turkey is the brain telling you to do it slowly.
@@Michael-te7fj You say "respectfully"...but there is no respect in your post; only self-righteous judging. This is a safe space for people to talk about their journey. You do not belong here. I "respectfully" ask you to leave and never return.
I have been taking benzodiazepines for 18 years. First was lorazepam, and now clonazepam for the past 10 years or so. The psychologist and psychiatrist who assessed my condition told me that my anxiety was so severe for so long during my childhood that I am "hard wired" for anxiety, and that there is no cure, only treatment of my symptoms. I take 1mg of clonazepam twice a day. I am going to try (with my doctor's supervision) to reduce my dosage to the lowest possible level and it stop completely if it is possible to do so. Otherwise I will have to remain on this medication for the remainder of my life, in order to not revert back to the crippling and paralyzing anxiety I lived with for decades. I don't want to ever have to suffer like that again.
God bless you on your journey to better health ❤
I suffer from severe anxiety as well ,Mines mostly my mind and really symptomatic, palpitations,heart racing 247 ,intrusive thoughts,rumination negative thoughts about fear and confinement ,,claustrophobic ,word ,name and image triggers …every sense of thoughts triggers my anxiety ..nervousness and furiousness ..like I’m battling my self to be a normal human all day everyday
@@Rudy_yah Also I have been on Venlafaxine (Effexor) for anxiety for over 20 years. It was the major lifesaver for me in terms of symptomatic relief from anxiety. I take 150 mg / day.
My mom is 87 yo, she’s been on benzos for over 40 years. She used to suffer from extreme panic attacks and it’s the only thing that helped. Her memory is excellent and she’s very healthy otherwise.
good for you that you feel no shame. take them as needed. by the way, i know of a woman that i am close to that had crippling and paralyzing anxiety also and never left home without a xanax as she took them as needed. her anxiety occurred almost always beginning in the late afternoon, every day. one day, she noticed she felt okay, and again, and again. doctors and i also theorize that the change of life hormonal changes were the reason why her nightmarish anxiety just stopped; around the same time, her debilitating migraines stopped too. It has been over 15 years now and she tells me, it's a miracle that after 25 years of sheer hell, that one day it just stopped and never returned, not for a minute. I ask her, is what she had anxiety as the common person understands it to be, and she says, I don't know what the common person calls anxiety but whatever it was I had, it was crippling and just stopped as if it never had happened. She still suffers from depression which is manageable but has no anxiety with it. Hope you get some relief in the future, and also, btw, I have read that men also at various stages of life sometimes have complete remission from anxiety disorders. one notable study i read a while back noted that fear of public speaking which is very common, often disappears with age with no known reason, it happens to people suddenly. best of luck sir, wishing the best for you.
2:40 yeah but a return customer is the best kind, it's a conscious decision to put you on medications that get you hooked, to ensure you'll be coming back.
I actually think all the negative rhetoric around benzos has more to do with the fact physicians would rather prescribe longer term SSRIs, than short-term benzos that could solve the problem more swiftly. As they say: 'Lose a patient, lose a customer'...
I had a paradoxical response to valium when given it in hospital when I was young. I'm not sure if it's because I was already stressed due to bring injured but they injected me to calm me down. Big mistake! I ended up going nuts and kicking, punching, biting, scratching etc etc. It made me considerably more difficult to treat at any rate as I had to be properly restrained first. 😬 My sister can't be given valium either because she has the exact same reaction. Total rage out.
Some people get benzo rage while taking it, others once they've quit, particularly if they quit cold turkey or tapered rapidly. One perfectly nice guy suddenly had the urge to off his mother! That's when he decided to quit. I had the rage coursing through my body once I'd quit, but I used kicking and punching and dancing to help get it OUT of my body. But oh! I wanted to hit something or something! I never had mental health problems before taking clonazepam - but after quitting I swear I got the sampler pack! Thankfully they all resolved, but what a Wild Ride it is! In a way you're lucky, your dramatic and immediate reaction kept you from taking these nightmarishly dangerous drugs, as addictive as heroin and 10 times harder to quit.
Were you give a major tranquilizer? What you describe is extremely unlikely with the benzo class of drugs. Very, very unlikely.
@thedancingdivaofdaviestree2320
Gosh! That's a lot of new info to know, and thanks for explaining. Sorry you had to go through that and glad you found your outlet!
@user-cg1qq2er8x
They definitely attempted to sedate me with an injectable tranquilliser, that bit I fully remember. My sister, who's a decade older and already very experienced with hospital treatment, was able to identify it and try to convince them not to use that one. It was the beginning of the 90's and they were the out of hours doctor so 🤷♀️🤣
@@Not_a_number_ user cg is right about the major tranquilizers. they are like thorazine and the drugs that old movies used to be made about. valium is sedating and can knock people out and is in the minor tranq. group and i can't see how it would case a problem, in fact, for surgery, they can use minor tranq. drugs in high doses to knock you out. no doctor today in their right mind would use a major tranq. to knock anyone out. they tend to use the drug michael jackson was abusing and similar compounds for surgery.
Just never start/ they r horrible!!!!!!
Every medicine they give you will make you sick after using it for a while. I have a friend who got really sick from not being able to afford the "safe" anxiety meds.
Exactly short term use only. Benzos are nasty. They do have their purpose but for short term use only and if absolutely necessary. Other then that they should not be prescribed like candy.
I was on benzo Xanax for 10 years. I taper off myself it took 9montha to slowly taper off alittle at a time every 2-3weeks unti I felt stable enough to cut dose smaller. After that, it was terrible physical and mental pain, I was sick withdraws I think it seem like for 6 months and took 2 years to feel normal again. Long time for brain to heal from benzos. Not worth the mental and physical torment one has to deal with while the brain heals itself. Plus after being on it so long, my anxiety got worse over time. My dr even told me after her hearing my plan to self taper off, she smiled and said good luck.. yeah.. now I’m wanting to take something but not benzos. I don’t even know if it’s just as bad to take a ssri. Been off benzo for 7 years. Still have memory problems bc of it.
Ssris are horrific too!
Thank you! Thank you for being a voice! It seems, no one believes us! You are an amazing person, pharmacist and have compassion and caring for patient's! Very much appreciated! God bless you! 🙏🙏
I was a clonazepam prescribed user for about 20 years and now I am two years benzo free. I began to really feel better around the 15 to 16 month mark...the first 9 to 10 months were difficult. The dr. that prescribed me the benzo was derelict in many ways but that is another story.
I watched a video of a Stanford dr where she said they are not trained to taper people off. Total BS!!!! I think the pharmacist is most likely correct in regards to number of patients BUT prescribing drugs as powerful as a benzo requires, mandates more precautions... they are medical professionals and are required to know the affects of these drugs....They are guilty of malpractice if they are not aware of the dangers of long term prescribing. I dont care if they see a patient for five minutes or an hour, if you harm someone the time spent with the patient is irrelevant. This argument shifts the blame from the dr. to the insurance company. Same argument they try to make by saying they are not trained to get people off the benzo. This too shifts the blame to the medical school.
When are these doctors going to accept responsibility for their actions????
They are not trained in deprescribing. I know that is hard for you to believe but they are not. Blame pharma funded academia for that.
@@MedicatingNormal That is one of my points, I know my definition of training in the engineering world. I have a BSEE and an MS Engineering, I attend workshops, conferences and I am always studying new technology. I guess I am surprised a medical doctor with four years of undergraduate, four years of medical school and several years of post medical school studies cant develop a taper plan for a benzo user. And somehow I am to believe that a person of this intelligence with years of study, access to medical journals, literature written by other medical professionals, and medical conferences et. al. cant develop or implement a taper of benzodiazepines. Apparently, they arent that smart after all. Maybe that is why the POS dr. that prescribed me a benzo for 20 years, i.e., long term never offered to help me.
I, as well as thousand of others, successfully tapered off a benzo with the help of other benzo users on the benzobuddies.org forum. WTH - like i said it is not hard to plan a taper. Now that I have successfully figured it out myself. Sure I could of done my taper better but I managed to adjust my taper for a successful outcome.
I am sure you are part of the Benzo Information Coalition! I read your blogs often. I most likely have met several of you. You know as well as I do a taper plan is not that difficult to plan and implement. Its no so easy for the patient.
Blame big pharma funded academia is your solution? Wow, big pharma mostly lied, falsified and distracted with their marketing the dangers of these drugs years ago as these drugs have been around since the later 50's. Now you want to lay partial blame on them for not funding studies to educate medical professionals. WOW!!!! As we say in the south "that dog wont hunt!"
To summarize, medical professionals are not trained by medical schools for deprescribing or tapering and its Big Pharmas fault the medical schools cant train MD's. Come on, you know better! MD's need to get involved and figure this out. Benzobuddy members have, I have!
PS: I am enjoying this conversation and maybe other readers will as well.
When are you and others of your ilk going to act like adults? You did or should have known what these medications are before staying on them for decades. Do you want a nanny state. It's not too difficult to read a few paragraphs about how to get off them in twenty years or however long you took them.
These medications help millions and if you couldn't see fit to control yourself or read, stop the slander that is already prescription drug hysteria. Instead, why don't you advocate for people to be responsible when being prescribed something. Yes, you can make the case that for the first week, maybe month, one can just listen to the doctor but after that, it's a judgment call that You should have made and it is indicative that you dare to say when are these doctors going to accept responsibility for their action? Only the brave ones dare to stand up to the zealotry and give people that suffer terribly these lifesaving medications. Stop the virtue signaling and look inward.
@@BenjaminGolden-c5u you have no idea of the circumstances of people, so before you make a blanket statement like that maybe you think a little harder, show some empathy. I was an engineer and I had just come through a very difficult situation. I could not sleep, do you know how the brain works when you dont sleep. Well, you cant think, you are incapable of making decisions. People are in all kinds of situations. Thankfully I came through this and now I am very healthy. people like you disgust me, you have no idea of what you speak.n
I legit thought he was eddie murphy for a sec
So what's the problem? If the medication helps you why the stigma? It's your body and as long as you've never abused your recommend dosage and you're a high functioning person without issues on the medication, why would you NEED to come off?
It's just an opinion. I disagree.
The problem appears in case they don't help. People don't get informed consent and get addicted to drugs. Some are told, that the negative effects will go away. Or they develop unbearable side effects after a time. And then they are addicted and the withdrawal is hell plus no help coming off of them. Then they are trapped. This is fraud. In case they work, you are lucky. In case they don't, you are doomed. I disagree with your one-sided perspective. This has nothing to do with stigma.
There is no explanation of this withdrawal it’s pure hell long lasting effects
I was on them as a minor and developed an addiction eventually. They are terrible.
Your not mentioning the lives of people whos anxiety disorders especially PTSD have beeen saved from suicide by benzos. Anxiety Kills Depression rarely studies show..
Please post the studies you are speaking of. Here is a list of benzo research showing their potential for harm: medicatingnormal.com/benzodiazepines-anti-anxiety-meds/
@@MedicatingNormal "The first study found that at week 8, Xanax was no better than placebo for panic attacks." With all due respect that's the worst bullshit I've ever heard. How much Xanax have the authors of that study been taking? I guess none. I've been taking Xanax for 23 years and that's because they WORK, and that's why I wasn't able to stop until recently. Xanax is extremely efficient in anxiety "treatment" due to it's chemical properties. There's so much bogus "research" out there made by people on auto pilot. Good research should be non bios. Xanax is NOT a very healthy option for anyone but it does work like nothing else against panic attacks and general anxiety, if someone claims something else it just makes them look stupid. Xanax and benzos in general gives terrible withdrawal symptoms and I'm working my way trough them right now. Let that be a warning to those who use them long term. The effects are as real as the side effects.
I was on Klonopin for 10 years, my withdrawal symptoms lasted a year it was unfathomable
I recommend Microdosing mushrooms, it has really helped me on anxiety, panic attacks,bipolar disorder,insomnia,depression PTSD and ADHD,schizophrenia……
Smith_tripsz12
*****
He sells all kinds of anxiety products like Xanax,Valium,opioids,king palm,shrooms,dmt,lsd,changa,ayahuasca,salvia,chocolate bars,golden teachers,psilocybin,indica,ecstasy,ghb and lots more::::::::
@@mikewillam2041 what is that and how to get it?as I've insomnia.and been relying on meds now
@@aquarius113 just check him on insta he will help you with your insomnia
took effexor for two days for anxiety, stopped taking it after reading about all the side effects. i will never take psych meds again.
Some much needed honesty. Thank you sir.
So much bs. the drug companies must love this dude as there is no money in benzos and if they were pushed off the market, they could peddle their expensive drugs that cost dollars rather than cents.
@@Michael-te7fj These drugs are not meant to be used long term. Valium was the drug that was prescribed (way too long), to the Las Vegas Shooter. He is responsible for the largest mass killing in US history. All psychotropic drugs should be used only in emergencies, and while under close medical care, and with no access to firearms.
I was on xanax for 4 months on the lowest dose once a day and while the withdrawal wasnt unbearable, it was still incredibly unpleasant. It was a long week of stiff muscles, little sleep with random anxiety attacks during the night, delusional thinking, constant on edge feeling and general inner feeling of strong anxiety, headaches, inability to focus or concentrate on anything, deep depression, and feeling hopeless. I didnt have any seizures thankfully but that might be because i already take gabapentin and have been for years. After a week it got significantly easier from there and i can say it was 100% worth it to get off of xanax before just increasing my dose everytime i built a tolerance. If you want to get on benzos for your anxiety DONT. Eventually youll build a tolerance and be much worse off than if you didnt take them at all.
in Spain benzos are always prescribed in combination with antidepressants SSRI: primary care physicians prescribe that combination forever... very easy.
anacionqtfixo it’s better to keep it legal
SSRI's caused me permanent sexual dysfunctions.
I have PSSD (POST SSRI SEXUAL DYSFUNCTION)
My life is ruined.
@Donkey Bellerin bmj.com/content/368/bmj.m754.full
"Symptoms include genital numbness, decreased sex drive (libido), erectile dysfunction, failure to become aroused or orgasm, pleasure lessor weak orgasm, and premature ejaculation. The sensory changes may extend beyond the genital area to a more general dampening of reactivity, sometimes termed emotional numbing."
@@vinpavon9209 have you tried testosterone replacement?
@@SunnyCarnivore Yes I tried testosterone and many meds and supplements but nothing works for Pssd.
There comes a time when your only options seem to be either panicked or tired. Klonopin has crippled me and left me bedridden. Going off cold turkey feels like a seizure or heart attack can happen any second. I want to feel awake and alert and be able to lose weight and walk again. You know what I wish I had instead of Klonopin? Speed. I want speed! I want to wake up and live!
Lol I flippen hear ya
I'm here cause Larry David trust pharmacists more than doctors
Cofey was here
23 years for me...klonipin taken as prescribed...tapering now n terrified...I was cut off cold once n nearly died..
You will get thru this Shana - it is certainly more than challenging but you will make it
Wow! I was taking a .5 or a .25 of Klonopin for about a year. Took me 7 months, go as slow as you can and take your time.
@@joqiii3 I was taking 0.5mg 3x a day...I've tapered down now almost done...ready to jump off soon..thank you for replying
@@NoName-pu5ls you are so lucky girlfriend! Sending you positive vibes...I think you will do just fine after the jump.
Same here. 23 years on Xanax. Been off now for 4 months. Terrible withdrawals. The tremors and coordination problems are the worst. I've actually had them for a year now. Head is shaking, muscles are extremely tense, teeth grinding, body jolts, brain zaps, heart palpitations, insomnia, heatwaves, anxiety, inner tremors, lip tremor etc etc. The inner tremors is best described as having an engine going on neutral inside constantly. At night they keep me awake.
I'm taking klonopin 1 mg twice a day for about a month now. I don't think I can get off them, sucessfully without insomnia, anxiety, irratability and God knows what else nightmarish sympthoms.
If I try to reduce even tiny tiny amounts of Klonopin I have incredibly bad, horrible insomnia..
@@blairsterling6141I "sleep" for like 15 min. Wake up ..jolt up I should say. Look and see thr time and this happens all night. So now I get up and do something cause it was driving me crazy. Sleep when ya can...whenever u can. Sleep is so crucial to keep ya somewhat sane through this
Got prescribed Lorazapam for some chest pain and costocondritis, tried two pills out of the 9 in the bottle and honestly they have fucked up my neurotransmitters and my mood for the past 3-5 days, never again will I have a Benzo I should of not tried them ever
I have costo too :( anxiety really drives it worse, the sternum pain omg
akathisia is torture
Reading the comments I am amazed that people have been taking them for so many years. In my country they are used in extreme cases. Severe Panic attacks or drug related withdrawal anxiety. Even so, for very short periods, generally no more than a week or two.
Which country? In my country they give them out as candy
@@leatroharajic9032Australia gives them out like candy too
Türkiye'de sorry
It's a shame that you live in a nanny state because despite the hysterics on this thread, most people do just fine on these drugs. In fact, I do not think they should be prescription. Some countries they are not and they are not misused. They are unpleasant drugs to be on, and virtually no one other than kids experimenting will stay on them unless they feel they work for their anxiety or depression. I don't know what country you are from but it's a shame that you are not encouraged to take control of your own health care decisions. In the U.S., we are much more empowered in doing so, except sadly for some reason when it comes to pills, we become a society of adults acting like children as if we can't be informed, read a paragraph or two, and decide for ourselves what is best.
i agree with the last guy. give them out and let the patient weight out the pros and cons.
Glad I am completely done with all drugs but paws still lingers after 8 years off of pharma
I too was on this drug for almost 2 years and finally got out of it by maintaining proper vitamin D levels which was the shortage in my case. I found the shortage myself and corrected it and slowly came out of the benzodiazepine. It could possibly be a shortage of any other mineral or vitamin which has to be evaluated. Great message Sir !!!
He's right and benzo prescriptions are out of control. I got a prescription for Ativan (lorazepam) after recurring panic attacks sent me to inpatient care. I had never taken any benzo before being admitted.. While hospitalized, they had me on the same dose of klonopin daily and they also were giving me 2 mg Ativan whenever panic attacks hit. The first time they gave me to 2 mg of Ativan I was like what the HELL is this!! They had me take that same 2 mg dose again and it made me feel so weird and woozy, I told them this is way too much I can barely stand and I feel weird, I don't want this much. So they lowered it to 1 mg Ativan. After I was discharged, my regular psychiatrist started prescribing me 1 mg pills to take as-needed. I avoid taking them as much as possible but limit myself to a maximum of 1 mg a week. Sometimes I go several weeks or even a month without taking any, so I'm pretty confident in saying I'm not addicted, but I definitely agree that chronic and long term habitual use is a problem. My psychiatrist at one point was telling me to use them to sleep during a manic episode, and also during mania told me to take 3 mg a day, which was MADNESS and even in my altered state I knew from my own research not to do. Reading the horror stories of people going off these drugs after chronic use was enough to make me understand that I should never be taking these more than once a week. Doctors need to be a lot more measured in how they advise patients like me to take these drugs, and thankfully I had the wherewithal to know better on my own. Therapy has helped me better control my anxiety and respond to panic attacks so that I neither need to go to the hospital, nor rely on habitual use of benzos. Every once in a while I'll still catch a severe panic attack that knocks me off my feet and I'll take one, but I know to steer clear as much as humanly possible. Stay safe everybody ❤
Ativan shit all over 12 years of my youth. Benzos are bad drugs. Look up mass shooter toxicology reports. Lots of driving accidents can be blamed on benzos too, but unlike booze it won't be as easy to detect. They are silently fucking up our society, and so many lives. Dumbass rappers go on about xanax and shit, ignorant or callous to the lives those pills ruin. Good luck.
@@shineyshine2008 I can't imagine driving while on a benzo. But I only take it when I'm actively having a severe panic attack, so anything I was already doing before immediately stops when those bad panic attacks hit. I take 1 mg and lay down or sit still and take deep breaths. Scary shit!
What the hell did you expect them to do for you in a hospital? They gave your the proper medication and if you should need it again, take it and ignore the shame the people in this thread are throwing around.
@@BenjaminGolden-c5u you're right. shiney is lucky to have received a benzo and not other drugs that are far worse. when in a mental hospital, expect to be sedated at first for sure.
I don’t know why, but I tore many ligaments and tendons due to muscle weakness.
My husband had bad anxiety. He was prescribed klonopin by psychiatrist. Well the combination of the alcohol, klonopin, and seroquel which l knew nothing about aided his suicide.
Thats brutal.
Sorry Ms. Carr. Hope your life has lots of sunshine now.
alcohol is generally the culprit. non-drinkers tend to take benzos without incident. let's be clear, alcohol is rough stuff, and alcoholics have a tough disease and a host of different problems than those with anxiety disorders that don't drink or don't drink often.
Awful. So sorry
Benzodiyazepan ativan
l bought 5 months symptoms 6 years,, 💔😭 it takes more
Took as prescribed for 16 years ,then was forced ct 4 years ago ,not sure I’m going to make it ,my sx are brutal 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
The doctor’s don’t care about withdrawal… it’s the patient’s problem. Incredibly negligent.
This is so true!!!.. I've been addicted to Xanax for years and have had many siezures due to Xanax withdrawal!!!
Me too..I had horrendous seizures.. a bad doctor sent me to the hospital then, and he made me much much much worse on other psyche drugs... I went downhill for 3 years before seeing another, better doctor to help me ween off some of the drugs...only some..the benzos I still take --- almost impossible to taper off those poisonous drugs
Get on a taper plan with Valium if you can, but try to avoid ever cold turkey xanax withdrawal. I just went through that the last month and I honestly don't know how I made it through. I didn't sleep for a month so my phychosis was deep. I was insane that month and was suffering in the profound way possible. I had to have my family watch me on rotating shifts because I would have ended it if I would have gotten some alone time.
@@brettwilson7680 ...I am with you in heart and spirit....back in 1996, a doctor did NOT ween me off Xanax. Abruptly cut me off. I had seizures and severe severe insomnia...He put me in the psyche ward...somehow I hung on but he told my parents lies. That I was psychotic and would never be able to work again. He said I had a " thought disorder "...what the hell is that. ??? He forced antipsychotic down my throat, and said he would send me to the state psyche facility. He cussed at me constantly and never blamed himself for abruptly cutting me off Xanax...the seizures nearly killed me. He was an awful man. Evil man. I never recovered fully, and still have trouble sleeping, and need to take anti seizure Clonazepam... I had a great career and proved him wrong.....I knew in my heart and soul that it was the Xanax that sent me beyond hell for years and years.
Peace to you brother...hang in there....try to find something to sleep...it is essential.. ✌ 💙
@@blairsterling6141 No doctor should ever cut someone off Xanax cold turkey, far to dangerous, yet we both had it happen and so do so many others. It's been a month and 3 weeks since my last Xanax and things got quite a bit better on the month mark. It's when I first got 3 hours of sleep is why. The deep phychosis I was in abated a little bit after that. I had intrusive thoughts to the extreme every day and every moment that first month, they have eased up tremendously as well. I can tell my brain still has a lot of healing to do though, but at least now I feel there is a light at the end. I had extreme insomnia this whole month up until two days ago and that's when I seen a phychiatrist who prescribed me Seroquel and Lexapro. I slept like a baby after taking it that night. What a dream that felt like. I don't want to stay on it for long but I'm glad it works. All the blessings of life to you!! Im glad to hear that it does get so much better, your living proof.
@@brettwilson7680 ...Brett. it is our duty to spread the truth.
The brain quickly become dependent on Xanax. Within a 5 to 10 days. The best is to never take one pill. See a talking therapist to address worry and panic. Rebound off of Xanax makes people WORSE.. and as you say, no doctor should abruptly take away the drug. A gradual weening program must be planned out. Maybe for a year to 18 months. I am glad you are sleeping. That is what my major problem was. I went 20 days without sleep !! I hear Seroquel does help people sleep. Be careful, because it is an antipsychotic and can cause serious neurological damage if on high doses...and sometimes on smaller doses. Lexapro can help sleep too. I tried it, but it caused ED and sexual malfunction. Over time, the brain will heal. Especially with aerobic exercises, and good eating habits. Sleep is essential. Any of these damn psyche drugs need to be tapered slowly if a person wants to get off the drugs. I am happy you wrote about your experiences.
Please tell others so the truth is spread....maybe someday the cruel doctors will wake up and realize that these drugs are highly dangerous... also check out the B.I.C. Benzodiazepines Information Coalition.
Be patient and determined. You shall overcome the hell you have been through. ✌ & 💙
Isn't it scary how much more a pharmacist generally knows about medications vs a prescriber? Our system in the west needs a major overhaul
its because benzos work for anxiety and SSRis do not work
SSRi's can definitely have anxiety reducing effects. Benzos are just better at it
I'll take anxiety over those pills any day. I lost 12 years to them. If something makes you anxious either avoid it or learn coping methods. I prefer anxiety to being a zombie.
Benzo work but at a heavy cost. They literally change the way your brain functions.
I take it for years now. I know side effects but I have no other option, I live with pain everyday. I appreciate you care and I support you. I feel chest pain when I don’t take it too. This medicine helps me with my pain and go to work
I took a really stressful job in sales during my early twenties and got on Klonopin which lasted well over a decade. Took a long time to wean off and even longer to convince myself I didn’t need it. I found Kratom and Blue Lotus flower and I probably don’t need that either but I prefer not being dependent on pharmaceuticals and doctors in order to function at work.
M, do the Kratom and Blue Lotus work as well?
How do you take them?
Kratom is great. It works really well for me 😊
Take them as you need them I say and don't worry about "dependency." It's called a drug working. If you get better, the second you are no longer anxious, you will no longer want to take these drugs. They do not cause opioid type addiction whatsoever.
Opioids and kratom can be used to calm you down since they are also sedatives
God bless everyone in the comments there will be better days
I wouldn’t wish benzo withdrawal on my worst enemy
I had no idea, i was using a month and only. Have been off the last few days and feel like death.
@@alanperez7657 stay strong bro you can get thought this
@Crazed Donut✊🏼✊🏼🙏🏼
I just got out of the emergency room , they put some in an iv and sent me home afterwards to treat anxiety and fast heartbeat, will I be experiencing withdrawl? That was the only time I’ve ever been given a benzo
Nothing but a vicious cycle
this should be a bigger story
We have a full documentary about it. This is just one of the clips that didn't make it into the film. Catch an upcoming screening here: www.medicatingnormal.com/watch
This drugs are life destroying, especially when take these drugs mixed with food ( unknown doses ) for long term use ⛔
Most meds don't fix someone it's about profits.
Same as saying a drug dealer has to eat and survive
Bedankt
I take Etilaam 0.5 for 7 years now . I want to quite and when i quite I get anxiety how do i know if that's my natural anxiety disorder or withdrawal effects
Whats the excuse in Canada?
besides the stuff i wanted them to listen to i've been suffering from severe ocd all my life and i found out that these are the only things that work, so as they never informed me about anything i thought i had to keep taking them for the rest of my life.
but i stopped taking them just to see how that goes and for some reason i have no signs of addiction to them at all and also for some reason the ocd stays away.
i guess they showed me a way of living without ocd so now i'm kinda used to it, and as long as i have some i feel like Ok i can always take some when needed and feel ok again.
I took Lorazepam 1.5mg daily for 5 months. Tapered off the entire dose over a further 3 months, basically by reducing each 0.5 of the dose by a quarter each week. Had no withdrawals whatsoever. This drug literally saved my life and I would take it again in a heartbeat.
Very well said Ivan! I have been going thru PAWS for 5 years now but getting better! Get video and explanation!