Nicole Lamberson, PA

Nicole is a Physician Assistant residing in Virginia. She obtained a BS at James Madison University in 2000 and then went on to complete the Master of Physician Assistant program at Eastern Virginia Medical School in 2004. She practiced in an Urgent Care and Occupational Medicine setting until severe illness from benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome left her unable to work.

In 2005, she was prescribed Xanax for “work-related stress”. Over the course of five years, she developed many classic symptoms of benzodiazepine tolerance withdrawal, which multiple psychiatrists misdiagnosed as mental illness. This resulted in prescribed polypharmacy to “treat” the troubling symptoms of tolerance, including two benzodiazepines prescribed simultaneously, a Z-drug, an antidepressant, and an antipsychotic. In late 2010, after discovering a magazine article authored by a journalist experiencing similar symptoms from his prescribed benzodiazepine, Nicole was prompted to research further and made the connection between her own troubling symptoms and the medication. This was followed by her immediate decision to withdraw. Unfortunately, lacking the proper guidance or information at the time regarding the absolute need for a slow taper, she was negligently cold-turkeyed in a detox center. This ultimately resulted in a severe and protracted withdrawal syndrome that persists to date.

When symptoms allow, Nicole writes about benzodiazepines and their potential to cause severe and/or protracted withdrawal syndromes and volunteers her time helping with ongoing benzodiazepine awareness initiatives including Benzodiazepine Information Coalition and the Benzodiazepine Action Work Group of the Colorado Consortium. Nicole also co-founded The Withdrawal Project and she does marketing, distribution and outreach for Medicating Normal-The Film. She is an associate at the International Institute for Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal. She hopes to continue to use her lived experience to advocate for more education and awareness around benzodiazepine risks and harms as well as for changes in prescribing and withdrawal practices. Nicole currently serves on the American Society of Addiction Medicine’s patient panel that is advising on the development of a clinical practice guideline on the safe tapering of benzodiazepines for the FDA. Nicole is also acknowledged for her contribution to The Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines, a comprehensive resource describing guidelines for safely reducing or stopping (deprescribing) antidepressants, benzodiazepines, gabapentinoids and z-drugs. Other interests include the primal lifestyle.