
Credit: Matt Becker, CC BY 3.0
Stevie Nicks, the former lead singer of Fleetwood Mac, is very public about how prescribed benzodiazepines, taken as directed after becoming sober from cocaine, were devastating to her health, life, and career. Nicks says the last time she used cocaine on stage was during a concert at Red Rocks in 1986. It was a turning point for her. Afterward, she went straight to the Betty Ford Clinic. But in an attempt to help herself, she encountered a problem far worse than her cocaine problemāshe became physically dependent on a benzodiazepine prescription. Fresh out a rehab, she reluctantly saw a psychiatrist:
I went to see a doctor just to check in with somebody and let everybody know that I was OK. I guess when most people go off cocaine they have a very hard time. I wasnāt one of those people, but he didnāt know that. So he suggested that I go on this drug for my nerves, and I just said OK to get everybody to leave me alone. Well, what a big mistake. I really wonder where I would be now, what I would have done if those eight years were full of creativity and love, and good things instead of full of nothing.
That psychiatrist would be the one to put Stevie on the benzodiazepine called Klonopin.
Nicks has described Klonopin as a āhorrible, dangerous drug,ā and said that her eventual 45-day hospital detox and rehab from the drug felt like āsomebody opened up a door and pushed me into hell.ā
“The only thing Iād change [in my life] is walking into the office of that psychiatrist who prescribed me Klonopin. That ruined my life for eight years.”
“The only thing Iād change [in my life] is walking into the office of that psychiatrist who prescribed me Klonopin. That ruined my life for eight years,ā she said. āGod knows, maybe I would have met someone, maybe I would have had a baby.ā
āI was really sick,ā she says. Even though her years of cocaine abuse left a large hole in the septum of her nose, she claims that the Klonopin did far more damage:
It was not my drug of choiceā¦Iām not a downer person. I was looking for things that made me want to clean the house and shop, write songs and stay up for four days. I was sad and I was sick. I didnāt really understand right up until the end that it was the Klonopin that was making me crazy. I really didnāt realize it was that drug because I was taking it from a doctor and it was prescribed. It just hit me really hard that that was the foundation for why I was completely falling apart.
Stevie says she took the Klonopin for eight years, learning way too late that Klonopin is a dangerous drug that can also carry adverse effects like depression and weight gain:
My womanās vanity could not deal with that at all. After being a rock ānā roll sex symbol for all that time, and then all of a sudden to be ālittle fat girlā was just so unacceptable to me. I could see the disappointment in peopleās faces when theyād see me walk inā¦
Writers do not thrive on drugs like Klonopin and Prozac. It takes your soul; it takes your creativity; it takes your love of running home at night and getting out a typewriter or getting out your paper and pencil and writing something that you love. It takes that away. You donāt care anymore. So Street Angel [the album] was all about just not caring. And thatās horrible to me. One of the few things that Iāve never not done in my life is not care. And I didnāt care for a long timeā¦
Doctors are dying to put you on drugs: āFeeling a little nervous? Here, letās mask everything so you donāt have a personality anymore.āā¦The overwhelming feeling of wellness and calm equals blah, nothing. My creativity went away. The fabulous Stevie everyone knew just disappeared. I became what I call the āwhateverā person. I didnāt care about anything anymore. I got very heavy. One day I looked in the mirror and said, āI donāt know you.ā And I went straight to the hospital for 47 daysā¦
It took 47 days for Nicks to detox from the prescription drug, and longer to recover from the damage:
ā¦and it was horrible. My hair turned gray. My skin molted. I couldnāt sleep, I was in so much pain. Legs aching, muscle crampsā¦The rock star in me wanted to get in a limousine and go to Cedarās Sinai and say, āGive me some Demerol because I am in pain.ā And the other side of me said, āYou will fight out this 47 daysāā¦
That doctor ā heās the only person in my life I can honestly say I will never forgive. All those years I lost ā I could have maybe met somebody or had a baby or done a few more Fleetwood Mac albums or Stevie Nicks albums.
Nicks told Rolling Stone:
So Iāll never forgive him. If I saw him on the street and I was driving ā well, I donāt have a driverās license and itās good, because I would just run him down.
I’ve been on Diazepam for 20 years. I was on the same dose up to two months ago, when after three sleeping tablets for chronic insomnia, of quite high doses, including 7.5mg Zoplidem Tartrate, never worked, my doctor doubled the dose to 30mg a day. I have excruciating tinnitus (torturous white noise), which anxiety exacerbates – it’s a vicious cycle of anxiety at the noise level and that heightening the level. It strikes at night more; hence the insomnia. In the UK, the government is forcing a blanket ban on taking everyone off benzodiazepines. The decision is taken out of the doctors’ hands. The government doesn’t know my suffering; my doctor does. The Diazepam doesn’t take away the tinnitus, it takes away the focus, so everything is lower. I can ignore it. Tinnitus is linked tinnitus suicide and I’m at risk. I wasn’t affected by tolerance. I’m extremely grateful to my doctor for treating me as an individual. I believe I’m in a clause that allows the continuation of my very valuable medication. Stevie Nicks never needed what’s know as Clonazepam in the UK. I do.
My daughter is hooked on Klonopin and she needs help also
And doctors say they aren’t aware of the PWS! I will never forgive my doctor either!
Hello, I have been on 12 milligrams of Klonopin or something equivalent such as Valium or Xanax, daily, for 45 years, for panic attacks. Other than alcohol, nothing else worked. I took it willingly. At the ripe young age of 69 I am slowly coming off of it. There is hope. I only wish more research were done on Benzo withdrawal. I have a good doctor. I’m not going to drive a car over him because it would have to be a rental car and I would be sued from all sides. Joking of course. I’ll repeat: there is hope. Exercise, listen to music you find uplifting, eat well, live well, keep a journal, enjoy nature, take a walk, a park, a river…etc. Don’t let anything get you down. As you leave this dance with the devil and start to feel again you will be glad to be alive.
Can you tell me how many milligrams you are on right now because Iāve been taking this Klonopin for 30 years and I was prescribed 4 mg a day. I am winging myself off this drug and now I am at one and 3/4 mg per day. can I have some feedback?
That was a amazing read. Im currently on a benzo called olanzapine. Why certain people don’t call it a benzo I don’t know but without it I can’t sleep. I’m hoping to stop it before things get to out of hand. This story about my favorite female artist just might be the key I need to stop. I have some kind of brain damage from a cocktail ine tion I received in a mental institution and that has messed me up for life but being on social security has been no fun either. I want to creat and be part of the world again. Thank you Stevie for your story you truly inspire me. I know lady Gaga also takes olanzapine and I hope she’s doing g ok. With all love and peace.
Olanzapine, which I was on for years, is fantastic for good sleep. Be careful of, or research, the side effects of this chemical, including weight gain and predisposition for diabetes.
I had been on 4.5 mg Klonopin for 12 years until the doctor started to ween me off it. I`m now down to 2 mg a day. So much has happened when I was taking that massive dose. My best friend was murdered, my mother died, several dogs that I loved more than the world had to be put down. I barely remember my mother`s wake and funeral. I took extra dosages to “get me through”. Now I`m mad at myself because I never allowed myself to grieve. I was on auto pilot. Same with my best friend. I was so heavily medicated I barely knew up from down. It is where I wanted to be at the time, in that hole of not feeling anything. I`m slowly getting my life back, but it`s been rocky. I just want to wake up one day and not take pills.
It’s been 5 years since being taken off Klonopin cool turkey at a clinic. I wouldn’t wish my experience on my worst enemy. As Stevie nicks says it was like opening the door to hell. I lost my job, went on disability and to this day have issues.
Never ever go off cold turkey.
I wish this had not happened to her. Hopefully, her speaking out has inspired someone to take action for change in their lives. American healthcare is too wrapped up in prescribing pills and/or surgeries. Not much compassion for mankind in those options. So many people go to their doctor, who carry their prescription pads on their bodies.
I can’t wait to see you in August here in Austin, Stevie
I never knew.
I just wanted to be better, my anxiety caused panic attacks,
imagine 13 years. only .01 mg nightly &
I never took the rest of my prescription. I only took it at night.
Somehow, I realized my vision, memory and twitching was absolutely from this medication. And then
my fight to get off this poison was a nightmare.
I tapered down to .05 for 6 months
then to half of that only for a week, my mistake i didnt want to be on it anymore, im now told i should have done .25 mg for another 3 months, therefore
much to my surprise…
I was in a state of depersonalization, as I read later. nothing was real. Paranoia, muscle spasms, heart racing, body temperature increase and decrease. no sleep… I did everything I knew in my soul to get through.
my one thought was that I knew I didn’t feel like that when I went on this medication, so this was a temporary feeling, I prayed and meditated.
practiced deep breathing. I couldn’t drive, sleep or eat. I made myself drink water and eat chicken noodle soup for 3 weeks. There was so much more to this month long withdrawal. which is the worst of it. every day after that is better and better. I know after taking this for 13 years for anxiety.
My words to anyone who wants to be off of their prescription. Absolutely, taper and be strong, have a plan, exercise, even just a walk. Expect to feel detached and know it’s temporary. Drink lots of fluids and vitamins, every day will get a little better.
Just know your body will recover and you will be better.
God Bless all
My journey to come off Klonopin has just begun and itās a nightmare so far. I took .5 mg at bedtime for over 20 years. My neurologist originally prescribed it for Restless Leg Syndrome in 2001. My Current Dr was totally shocked I had taken this dangerous āaddictiveā drug for 20+ years.
The hardest part of detox is the lethargy from lack of sleep and the overall zombie effect, often referred to as depersonalization. I feel like a wobbly, walking waste case. I did 2 weeks at approx. .375 mg (cutting tablets) now on .25mg dissolving tablets. Dr wants me to stay at this level for 2 months.
Hope he knows what heās doing, because I really feel Whacky.
Roche Pharmaceutical should be sued over development of this poison!
my wife has taken this junk for like 30 years it was ruined our family she will not stop taking it it should be fucking out loud like crack her hair when her cocaine or anything else that’s damaging to you and a family nobody should be on this longer than 2 weeks
I’ve been forced down to 0.5 milligram once a day with no warning. Only prescribed 0.5 mlg. 3 times a day as needed.Have’ nt slept for 3 days. So tired, feel like pulling hair out and I’ve chewed on 5 fingers and wearing Band-Aids on left hand,
all fingers, after 5 yrs. Too much, too fast
I believe the Author meant to write Cocaine, not Klonopin here:
āI guess when people go off Klonopin (cocaine) they have a hard time.ā
Itās well-documented that Stevie did NOT have an unusually challenging time getting off cocaine.
Stevie, like so many dealing with the unimaginable horror of Benzodiazepineās āGotchaā moment and then rapid descent thereafter, was unprepared as to what she may experience at Home and going forward after she left the rehab facility for cocaine.
She might surely have have had some understanding of what may come, allowed āitā all, help onto her deep understanding that I am healing and this discomfort is Temporary.
She would have endured with grace and grit while remaining steadfast and hopeful in her Recovery.
No, no might. She would have.
The majority of Us would have.
She was drug-free and healing, ready to return to Love and her music.
She was also terribly weary and working Stevie-Hard to hard at finding her way back to Love.
Of. Course. She. Was.
Not at all her natural disposition. Other people missed the āoldā ( on cocaine) Stevie and they suggested (pushed) her to see a psych doctor. Our Gypsy Goddess was simply trying to get her bearings and come back to Herself after all the work and healing she devoted herself to in rehab.
Stevie Nicks is a Warrior and my spirit animal.
Eternally grateful to Stevie for inspiring me along my way, as a person and as a musician. Rediscovering
her Music held me on my Journey.
Thank you, Ms. Stephanie Lynn, you will continue to walk alongside me as we handle the Seasons of our lives.
Can we? ā¤ļø
Thank you for making this story public. It is horrible to take a drug as directed and not know the devastating effect it has on my life. It made me think I was dying, want to die and try to make that happen.
L.Cooper
I AM ON A DRUG SIMILAR IN THAT ONE HAS THE SAME EFFECT
SOMETIMES I JUST LOST