Doctor Wants To Taper Me Off Benzos!

Here's a little background. I started having panic attacks at the age of 17. I was first given a month supply of .5mg Xanax tablets in the emergency room (I doubt that you'd find an ER that would prescribe a benzo now, at least in my area). The Xanax was very effective with my panic attacks, I think half of it might have simply been the fact that I was simply told the pills would help me (placebo effect I guess) but I'm sure half of the benefit was indeed that the drug was actually doing what it was supposed to do, mainly slowing my brain's thoughts. Anyway, when I ran out of pills a month later, my father contacted the ER doctor that had prescribed them but was told he wasn't allowed to write another prescription. My father asked what kind of doctor to see to get more and the ER doctor responded that I should be treated by a psychiatrist. So, we looked at advertisements in the Yellow Pages (no internet back then) and found a shrink that listed panic attacks as a specialty so we both picked him. I happened to pick a doctor who believed benzos that believed benzos were a "miracle drug" and also that there was no maximum daily dosage. One of his other beliefs was that each time I had a single panic attack, my recovery would be set back by a year. Well, even on Xanax, I would still have a panic attack every few weeks. So, when I'd go back to the doctor every 6 weeks he would ask if I had any panic attacks since my last appointment and I'd answer honestly that I did have one or two attacks. Since he thought this would set my treatment back by a year, he would increase my Xanax dose sometimes as much as an additional 2 mg per day. It didn't take long before my daily dose was at 24 mg! Yes, you read that correctly, 24 mg per day. A doctor prescribing that much would lose their license now. So, for about a year I was taking 24 mg per day. Then I happened to find a book about panic attacks that talked about drug treatment. The book said that the FDA recommends a maximum dose of 12 mg. So, I freaked out. I had been told that Xanax was potentially habit forming and that you couldn't stop taking it cold turkey and had to slowly taper your dose. Keep in mind that Xanax wasn't a household drug back then in the early 1990's. When I came back from college after my sophomore year I switched doctors and I specifically asked her if we could work on lowering my dose, so that's what we did. Things were different in psychiatry back then also. I would get a full hour of treatment when I went in. Shrinks didn't do this crap of a 5 minute "med check" like they do now. I think a lot of the crappy work we see in psychiatry was a result of insurance companies dictating how much they would pay for and most refused to pay for a full hour of treatment. I've only found one psychiatrist in my area that does hour long appointments but she doesn't accept any insurance and it costs $325 for one visit. It's sad that in modern medicine people with mental illness frequently have limited financial means but quality treatment that we need is cost prohibitive. Anyway, I digress. So fast forward to today, I'm now taking 4 mg per day of Klonopin which is almost identical to Xanax and 15mg of temazepam which I took at night for sleep. My doctor wants to get me off of benzos. We're starting by stopping the temazepam completely. I haven't had any withdrawal since ceasing temazepam last week. I'm just wondering how difficult it will be to cease Klonopin after 26 years of taking Xanax daily, at times a very high dose, and then a year of Klonopin. So, that's 27 years of taking benzos. The thought of not having benzos is simultaneously exciting and frightening to me. I'm wondering if anyone else has had success after taking high doses like me and then being able to quit entirely. I've felt like benzos have held me in bondage for most of my life, 17 years without them compared to 27 years with them. So, I'm excited at the prospect of no longer being held captive by those pills. All of my other medications I can miss a few days and not notice any problems but the benzos have been a requirement multiple times every day. However, I'm scared to death that I will go back to having 5 or 6 full blown panic attacks every day like I did before. My current shrink was telling me of some of the horrible problems caused by long term benzo use. I do know that my studies at the university level suffered. In high school I had a grade point average that was a little over 3.5 but I got mostly C's and a few B's in college. I noticed that my thinking wasn't as sharp as in high school I was able to do mental arithmetic pretty well. My brain worked like a calculator even going back to the 7th grade. Unfortunately in college, I no longer had the ability to do what I could do when I was as young as 12 years old. I'm also very accident prone which my shrink said is a tendency for people using benzos long term. I just don't know how well it's going to work out for me.

 

Many doctors these days seem to be riding the Train of Non-Medication. I saw one a while back when my regular doc was on vacation. He would not give me a refill on my Diazepam. Nor would he tell me why, just ignored that issue. So I waited, impatiently, for two hours, between the waiting room and trying to get someone to be reasonable. I have panic attacks too. I was not leaving until this clown gave me my prescription. And I did get it. And I told my regular doc when I next saw her what happened, and she confirmed that he was very against giving stress medications.

If they help you, do not feel ashamed. I believe many medical problems people have are a result of chemical or hormonal imbalances. The medical profession, as well as the education system want us all to believe that we're all the same. Everyone is different in some way. Don't short change yourself by the unified health profession. There are still some well meaning docs out there, but tougher to find. I wish mine would fire her worthless staff members, they are the most worthless I have ever seen in the med profession. Small town laziness, basically.

 

Glad to hear you're getting off those things...my dad took Xanax for over 20 years and I'm convinced he was addicted.

 

I used to be on Valium and klonopin. Everyday for three years. And my doc was just going to cut me off. I was more educated about the medication than he was. I informed him that I would go into withdrawal and that it was one of the most dangerous forms of withdrawal. I had to get the Department of Health involved. He listened then. Quack.

 

From what I've read. Valium is a pretty bad withdrawal.
I'm okay sometimes if no stress at all, but if I get stressed I need them. Panic attack and I need 2 or 3.
I also take Citalopram. Supposedly safe, non addictive, yada yada. I tried to get off of those a while back so I could take a far more effective pill for a medical condition I had, instead of the lesser effective liquid type that won't jibe with Citalopram. So I quit taking Citalpram...about four days later I had a day long panic attack that I thought was going to lead to another stroke! Really bad...so just because the docs think they're safer than "druggie" pills, don't believe it!!!

 

Yeah, exactly. Most doctors don't care. Or just don't even know what they're talking about. I'm not on anything now. But I get panic attacks sometimes. I'm trying to change my diet to help. It has worked in the past. I wish I wouldn't have started eating garbage again. I used to eat a 90% raw food diet. It worked. I felt amazing and any form of anxiety vanished. But I started eating a SAD diet again and it came back. But if I have to, I will get on medication.

 

Its almost a month later how are you doing ?


I had an 8mg a day habit for a long time and I made it back. Hardest thing I ever did but it is possible.

Hardest part was thinking I would never feel normal again and being in the horrific place during withdrawal.

 

Not a year but is a setback cause nothing causes a panic attack better then the fear of the next one so the longer one goes without one the better. You need to forget what its like.

I was up to 14, 8mg of the Xr plus 3 bars a day. Cut me off when they changed the Rx system. Then new dr and double doctors...

I have been off those things 7 years, I never have panic attacks anymore, anxiety still sometimes but no more panic attacks and ERs for me. I was an anxiety attack ER frequent flyer, they knew me.

Its over.

 

Well Done......



Cheers Glen.

 

What doctor doesn't want us off medication? That's the real question.

Only the folks with the "inside scoop" are supposed to get drugs (Illegal trade/power)
The rest of us, tough shit.
I have PTSD and was told I'm going to have to switch to something besides Valium, or go to a hearing with a Specialist to be approved for further use of Valium.
Perhaps I should ask which specialist I need to see to have experiments performed while taking psychedelics!

and...they wonder why everyone is doing Heroin these days...availability, that's why. Dumbfuck Docs/Politicians.
Politicians who live in D.C. where MJ is legal...imagine the fuck outta that!!

 

Maybe it's too late for you, but as this info may be useful for other people...
I've been on benzo (clonazepam) for a few years and now am free of it, but it haven't been easy to stop it. You must taper down slowly, otherwise you get really sick. I still have to find a doctor or psychiatrist who is knowledgeable about stopping benzos. But, there is a very good ressource on the internet, it's called the Ashton Manual, and in fact it's the only ressource I ever found (and believe me I've looked toroughly) : benzo.org.uk : Benzodiazepines: How They Work & How to Withdraw, Prof C H Ashton DM, FRCP, 2002 That doctor (she's now retired) seems to be the only expert on that subject in the world... I used her information to free myself from benzos and was able to do it. I still had to find a doctor interested in helping me with the taper (who would prescribe the lowering doses).

 

I have been on two benzos for almost 20 years I know I'm addicted but what haven't I been addicted to.

 

If you cut your hand, you bandage it and if the pain is serious you may take painkillers for the first few days. After a few weeks the bandages will be removed and life is back to normal

However with anxiety or panic attacks, people seem to see no problem with taking pills for months, or even years, by which time you end up as an anxious drug addict.
Millions of tablets are prescribed every year and every year the number of people suffering from some sort of mentally related illness continues to increase.
Something is clearly wrong with the current thinking and treatment of these problems.

Patients already taking these drugs for more than a few weeks need professional help in weening off them and looking at alternative methods of returning to a normal life.

The current situation where doctors allow addiction to happen, different doctors give different advice and others seem to think that long term medication can be stopped overnight are just producing a shambolic mess. Meanwhile the patients have more to be anxious and panicking about.

 

See if your doctor can put you onto paragraphs

 

Make sure the taper is in small increments, and spread it out as long as you can. Sudden Benzo withdrawal is horrific