Posted by J. Wesley on December 24, 2002, at 14:20:27
In reply to Re: Squiggles and K withdrawals » J. Wesley, posted by Squiggles on December 24, 2002, at 11:12:58
> J. Wesley,
>
> I am infact comforted by your concern. I will
> be happy to answer your questions, because
> i feel i was ill enough to die.
>
> My husband was the one who told me to up the dose
> when he saw me in that state, which i did, first
> 0.250 and then 5.0 and eventually 1.0 and after
> 1.50 - that is what i am at now.
>
> My mother came and she was very concerned about
> my state and actually dragged my dr. to the phone
> from another job she was doing. My mother described
> the symptoms and my dr. said i had withdrawals.
>
> In the meantime i did not get better, and i was
> so frightened i went to emergency; i got some
> movement tests and the young dr. could not find
> anything.
>
> Then i called a private doctor, who saw me and
> thought maybe the spine had something to do with it
> and definitely the withdrawal. She ordered an
> Electroencephalogram, an X-RAY for the spine and
> a nerve (for hands) test.
>
> The EEG was OK though the nurse told me i may have
> looked up a neurologist and also i went quite late
> after the event - if it was a seizure it may not
> have shown. The neurologist told me i did not have
> carpal tunnel, but the nerves in the hands were ok.
>
> When I saw my dr. he asked what i thought it was --
> and i said i thought it was encephalopathy and he
> asked why and i said i read it in The Merck.
>
> Anyway, he said if i wanted to get off i would have
> to wait another 6 months ( which i dared not do
> after that experience); and i asked if i could bring
> it up again to 1.50 and he said that was fine if i felt
> more comfortable.
>
> So, i had to raise the dose to stop the most severe
> symptoms, but the remnants of that are still with me
> though fading.
>
> I would not blame my dr. - I think many drs. are
> unfamiliar with these drugs. I mean it is hard
> to believe that 1.0 mg (after 15 yrs may be different
> though) could cause such distress and misery.
>
> Squiggles
________________________________Sounds like a lot of speculation is going on. Not to suggest that the speculation is wrong, because whatever happened to you seems to be improving, though it is hard to know how increasing the klonopin helped, even though you did seem to get some relief with it's reintroduction.
It's obvious that something happened to you, but it's very difficult to tell what exactly happened. My concern lies in the slow recovery with the increase in klonopin. If it was only a withdrawal problem associated with the klonopin, the increase in klonopin should have brought about a much quicker resolution to your symptoms. This leads me to suspect, for whatever reason, you must have had some type of event that caused damage to your CNS.
It's impossible to know whether that event was a result of withdrawing from klonopin or some event unrelated to the withdrawal. I'm not a doctor, but am well versed in the benzo's and many other drugs and medicine in general. Just don't ask me about biochemistry, please. IMO, the slow return to *normalcy* indicates that there was some insult to your brain, and your natural healing process is what is bringing you back to relative health.
It's a shame that you weren't able to have a neurological specialist overseeing your medical care immediately following the onset of your initial symtoms. The specialist could have ruled out many of your speculations with brain imaging techniques and other tests, and quite possibly found a cause. I agree that the typical doctor doesn't have the skills to adequately evaluate your symptoms, nor do they truely have time to understand the intricacies associated with the use of the benzo's. So no blame should be cast upon them. But they should have known this was out of their league and asked for a consult with a specialist.
I don't know what your situation is, but if you have the resources, and are so inclined, I would encourage you to try to find a neurological specialist and explain your story, express your concerns and ask for a full neurological workup, including an mri. Since you are still having some symptoms, it may not be too late to discover the cause. Also, if there was a serious insult to your CNS, often the damaged area remains, but other parts of the brain adapt and pick up those fuctions that the damaged area can no longer fulfill. These damaged areas can often be picked up with different imaging techniques and other tests.....I'm sure you know all this.
On the other hand I could be way off base. It could be something as simple as withdrawals. However, your typical doctor is quick to dismiss what could be serious problems when they know you have any of the brain disorders.
In a nutshell, my concern for you is that if your problems were related to withdrawal from klonopin, reintroducing it should have brought about a much quicker response to your symptoms. Since that doesn't seem to be the case, I wouldn't look at the reduction in klonopin as the only causative factor, despite what inexperienced doctors may have to say about it.
Wishing you good health,
J. Wesley
poster:J. Wesley
thread:132986
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021223/msgs/133103.html