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  1. I was going on diazepam for years in my mid twenties to early thirties and on and off after that. I haven’t gotten a script in several years and got one from an acquaintance and I felt normal after years of almost no sleep and general worry, panic and the constant internal dialogue worrying myself to death. I recently started to find another prescriber after my doctor died a couple of years ago. I’m having no luck and feel like I must have them now to function at all. I sleep when on them.I eat and go into the world. Donovan retired from years of what my Dr. called benzodiazepine therapy for the aforementioned spans of use. Idk what to do. Antidepressants have at least as bad of a problem according to new research in Britain and elsewhere and present their own unique challenges and symptoms. I hear in Britain that they are setting tapering or withdrawal clinics up and as someone who’s tried several… they don’t do much of anything for me. I’m 54 and starting to feel hopeless.As a WNC resident in limbo who needs a Dr. sympathetic to my perceived needs and give it a shot and I’ll come off again as in the past… I think. This is ridiculous and after the Sackler family got away with the opioid crisis and incidentally are responsible for Valium.., I think the fda is to blaim. People who been habituated to benzodiazepine should have access to the drug and newer patients be evaluated with the new guidelines for future generations.

  2. The Mental Health system is rotting from the inside out. I had been under the care of this particular mental health facility for a year, but it goes back 35 years. That’s when they gave me my ‘life sentence’. But under the care of this particular one it was their own licensed Drug & Alcohol Addiction Specialist who informed me is was ‘just fine’ to cold-turkey off Klonopin never mentioning one word about possible withdrawal symptoms. I’d been on Klonopin for over ten years, the last eight in tolerance withdrawal, and sporadically prescribed benzo’s for decades before. As my mind slowly began descending into madness I can only describe as terror-filled total insanity praying for death for every day until they melted into weeks. I had no hope of ever knowing what ‘reality’ would ever feel like again. Every step of the way my mental healthcare workers never believed a word I was telling them. Instead they blamed me for my symptoms, something they’re experts at. Nor did they never ask me why I ended up in the psychiatric hospital and Emergency Room during my withdrawal. I filed a recipient rights Neglect of Care case against them where they blatantly lied in their defense therefore, my case was DENIED. So where in the hell are we suppose to go for ‘mental health’ if they refuse to help us as our central nervous systems are being rammed through the meat grinder and we’re being slowly mentally tortured to death? Where?

    As for that ‘life sentence’ given 35 years ago? Now that I’m completely drug free there is no sign of any mental illness. I had just donated my entire life to Psychiatry that stole everything from me it could steal over those years, including my memory, my house, and my children. Today, knowledge is the best medicine.

  3. Good doc in Dudley,ma cut me off cold turkey offered me Suboxone I refused the treatment and unfortunately took the illegal root to get them. I blame him for leaving me without any education or any coping skills.I will take responsibility for the illegal root.

  4. I’m doing a slow taper with Valium 10mg. I try every 7 to 10 days 0.5mg .sometimes I stop for awhile. Maybe a 2or 3 weeks. Then start up again. It as been a roller coaster ride. I’m using seroquel 50mg to sleep at night. Praying.meditation .walking. but it is tough that sometimes I don’t think I can do it. But you can’t stop.

    1. Sim, at the beginning of June I got out of a rehab facility that I went into. I had to tickborne illness but was misdiagnosed for decades. I always took Ativan as prescribed. In the facility they took me off of Ativan initially going from 3 1/2 mg to 2 mg which surprised me. After that it was a .5 mg per week decrease. If you have to go more slowly, don’t be alarmed about doing so. Had I known a little more I probably would have tried to stay in the facility A bit longer, as even one month is pretty fast after 21 years of use. I have heard many good things about the Ashton detox model. Take it easy and don’t beat yourself up over any of it. Blessings, Gail

  5. As a PhD in Biopsychology I know all too well the long term withdrawal effects of Klonopin which I used as prescribed for over 30 years. It is unfortunate that sites like http://www.cesspoolofmadness.com makes fun of and ridicules people dealing with the horrors of Benzodiazepine use and tapering. BIC should file a complaint against this website. I did.

  6. Do we have encephalopathy from these Benzo class type drugs ? I too went into a detox after years of tolerance from Klonopin and have insufferable electricity/ vibrating, from my feet , both legs and torso and head , EVERY OTHER DAY for 2 years now. All because I didn’t know better and that a fast taper would harm me like this. I am grateful for the every other day break , but it always returns. I think I’m the only one in our groups that has this every other day. I wonder it means and if I’ll ever truly heal. Drs have flat out told me there’s nothing they can do for me. A neurologist who knows nothing about this condition, I feel it’s dangerous to anyone suffering like this. If I was suicidal , something like that , from a dr could push one over the edge without any treatment plan and leaving you to figure this shit out on your own with cognitive issues to boot. It’s the most outrageous and complex situation to be in .. thank you for reading my note.