Posted by Squiggles on October 27, 2002, at 13:54:59
In reply to Re: True extent of benzo withdrawal? » Squiggles, posted by viridis on October 27, 2002, at 12:42:21
Viridis,
You raise some good points; given the severe
withdrawals from benzos (and here we are speaking
of long-life benzos - Valium and and medium-life
Klonopin) it seems to me unwise to withdraw,
unless the side effects are undesirable, or
the dose has not been raised enough to avoid
withdrawal.Regarding the 70-yr old woman who had severe
withdrawal, upon discontinuation from her dr.,
i would say the dr. did not know how to get
her off, whatever the reason she was gotten off
(perhaps respiratory problems), and she was
darn lucky to be hospitalized for withdrawals.As for my case, i would not have tried to get
off Klonopin had i known what it would entail.
My problem is that I sincerely do not know WHY
I was put on it. Also, the fact that i finally
was able to live without 2-5 panic attacks a
day from the Xanax dose for so many years (which
was really destructive), encouraged me towards
better health. I did not know it would be so hard.One more thing: I am still not sure if my diagnosis
of bipolar was ever correct. And the reason for that
is that when i was dx'd as bipolar i was prescribed
Valium, but since it was such a popular drug then,
(20 yrs ago), it was neither monitored nor withdrawn
with any program. So, as far as i remember, i just
took the stuff whenever, and very haphazardly. It was
a time of great stress at school, and socially, and
personally (marriage, moving, thesis, harrassment at
university, overload of academic work) and i had
a kind of nervous breakdown.The symptoms (like severe anxiety, panic, temper
outbursts, blood pressure changes, progressing
to severe depression, depersonalization, and 5-day
insomnia) were very abrupt symptoms. And though
lithium got rid of the depression in 5 days, i still
do not know if the lithium treated Valium-withdrawal
or bipolar depression.And so, I tried to get off these drugs. But it
seems to me that whether there was an incorrect
diagnosis or not, it is now too late - too late
because these drugs have actually changed my
brain; nor do i know of any doctor who would undertake
this challenge to see if indeed there was no endogenous
mental disorder in the first place.Squiggles
poster:Squiggles
thread:124171
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021025/msgs/125445.html