"The Horrific Effects of Tranquilizer Detox" (a.k.a. benzo withdrawal)
In case anybody is wondering what the benzodiazepine withdrawal I've been suffering with since 2006 (and getting little support for until a couple of months ago) is like, I just happened across this very good 2008 article from ABC news. (Hmm, I wonder why this info has been in the mainstream media since 2008 but hasn't received any publicity?) As I write this I'm suffering from severe muscle pain/cramps (even my teeth are throbbing), getting worse, not better, caused by a minuscule dosage reduction (part of the endless tapering process) I made about three weeks ago and anxiously waiting for my next dose in an hour, trying my hardest to resist taking a narcotic pain killer before then.
All I can say to the rest of you is, beware of these drugs (Ativan/lorazepam, Xanax, Klonepin/clonazepam, and the like). If you start taking them regularly for any length of time, you will develop a tolerance (it took me nine months to notice), and, unless you and your doctor agree to keep increasing your dosage beyond the legal limit for the rest of your life, it will very likely ruin your life as it has mine. (See my "Benzodiazepine Addiction" link at the left for more information.) And if your doctor tries to put you on any of these meds for an extended period of time, run the other way and find a knowledgeable doctor who's not in the pocket of the pharmaceutical companies. (After five years of searching desperately for help, I have finally found one in my metropolitan area, a city that's home to a major national medical teaching hospital, so as my previous primary-care physician told me just before I checked myself into the emergency room because I couldn't find any doctor to help me, "Good luck with that." Yes, that is an exact quote. Except I actually mean it.)
All I can say to the rest of you is, beware of these drugs (Ativan/lorazepam, Xanax, Klonepin/clonazepam, and the like). If you start taking them regularly for any length of time, you will develop a tolerance (it took me nine months to notice), and, unless you and your doctor agree to keep increasing your dosage beyond the legal limit for the rest of your life, it will very likely ruin your life as it has mine. (See my "Benzodiazepine Addiction" link at the left for more information.) And if your doctor tries to put you on any of these meds for an extended period of time, run the other way and find a knowledgeable doctor who's not in the pocket of the pharmaceutical companies. (After five years of searching desperately for help, I have finally found one in my metropolitan area, a city that's home to a major national medical teaching hospital, so as my previous primary-care physician told me just before I checked myself into the emergency room because I couldn't find any doctor to help me, "Good luck with that." Yes, that is an exact quote. Except I actually mean it.)