Email from John Ashton (Heather Ashton's son)

Back in Oct of 2019, when I was in the thick of withdrawal, out of desperation I tried to email Dr Heather Ashton one night to see if she'd be willing to get on the phone with me for a few minutes. I didn't realize that she had already passed away like a month earlier. I received a response from her son John, which I thought was super cool of him. I just posted my success story, and remembered that I still had this email buried in my inbox, so I wanted to post it here for you all to see. It's funny that he says a taper should take "6 months", which I now think is pretty ambitious for just about anybody. I'm glad that he at least says that it can "occasionally take over a year". He's right about the patience. I also really like what he says about the symptoms not doing any permanent harm. Anyway, here's his email:

 

Dear ****,

 

I'm so sorry to have to tell you that my mother died last month, after a long illness.

 

I suspect she would have advised you on these lines:

 

- don't get too hung up on the precise fine tuning of your taper

 

- above all, if you are having problems, slow down (and if necessary even consider going temporarily into reverse, to find a platform dose that takes the edge off any withdrawal symptoms, from which then to come slowly down). You can go too fast but never too slowly

 

- you should allow at least six months to complete the whole process, and be ready to go beyond that if you need to. The whole thing can occasionally take over a year. You need great patience

 

- any withdrawal symptoms you are experiencing, awful as they are, are unlikely to be doing you permanent harm. They should recede gradually - though this can take a very long time

 

- there are no short cuts (eg via alternative medication). Do not listen to anyone - even if medically qualified - who tells you there are

 

- it is essential to proceed under the close supervision of a compassionate and competent doctor. They do not need specialist knowledge - a good general practitioner can provide the necessary support. But they must commit to reading my mother's manual (linked below) and following the gradualist principles it sets out

 

- if your anxiety and depression predate your use of Klonopin, or if other complicating factors are in play, you should get these thoroughly assessed - again under the guidance of a doctor to whom you have entrusted your overall care - before proceeding further

 

- explore all sensible non-medicative options as well, eg diet, exercise, accredited talking therapies and relaxation techniques.

 

I hope this is helpful in some way. I should point out that although I am broadly familiar with my mother's work, I have no medical qualifications of my own. So if you choose to act on any of the above, please do so on your own responsibility.

 

My mother would have had great sympathy for you in your ordeal. In the hope of offering a little solace, she might have assured you that you are not alone - far from it - and that all her work convinced her that for nearly everyone in your position, there is light at the end of the benzo tunnel.

 

With best wishes as you move, I hope, towards it

 

John Ashton

Thank you for sharing this with us, hearsaybenz.  Clearly, Professor Ashton raised a perceptive and compassionate son.  I especially like the closing  … ‘… there is a light at the end of the benzo tunnel. With best wishes as you move, I hope, toward it.’

 

 

Thanks for sharing.  It's good to see John carrying the torch.

Hi Hearsaybenz, thank you for sharing his email. I find it very kind of you that you came back to post this.  Also, congrats on finishing your taper!

Thank you for sharing this remarkable email!

I appreciate that you shared your email from Professor Ashton's son, John. Very kind of him to respond to you, and he certainly knows well Heather's work and legacy. Advice we can all use, on our benzo freedom journey. For you, the journey has come mostly to an end, as you are living your life. I know I will finally be ending my taper this year, that gives me hope. Some things that stood out for me in John's reply to you. Not getting hung up on the precise fine tuning of your taper. This is especially true if you are using Valium, or alternatively, Librium. The extremely long half-life makes them more forgiving, but some on here do try to 'fine tune' it. Colin even mentions that Valium is self-tapering. So, my cuts aren't precise, they are approximate. I set up 14 days worth of cut pills. I have one bottle with 2.5 mg (half a 5 mg). Not hard to get even. The other has .75 mg, which is half a 2 mg with approximately .25 cut off the end with a single-edge razor blade. I know they aren't all even, but it all evens out in the end. One does not need to be precise about doing an every 10 to 14 days cut. I've dragged it to 16 days, to 3 weeks, a couple times 4 weeks. People forget that those taper schedules in the Manual are guides based on patient experiences. They are meant to be adapted and adjusted accordingly. I also like his comment about shortcuts, somebody needs to tell the doctors that. They think if they ply you with antipsychotics or high doses of gabapentinoids, you can reduce and stop your benzo in a month or two. John's emphasis on not listening to anyone who tells you there's a shortcut, and offers it to you, is sound advice. This email should really be stickied, it's invaluable advice we all can use.

 

I read about your NAD+ experience. You and Nov3 both had setbacks. ramcon1 has posted his research on NAD+, and just a single dose of the nasal spray set him back. He has his theories as to why it was a disaster for him personally, and why it might not work for others. I am experimenting with the nasal spray, after reading everything here, and on Reddit, about it. I cautiously started with a single 12.5 mg spray, and worked myself up to 50 mg daily (by increasing 12.5 mg per week), at 25 mg twice in the am. I have not had any adverse effects. But I know on this forum, that something that helps one member, can be a disaster for another. I have started noticing subtle benefits using the NAD+, I should be at the peak of my w/d symptoms, almost a week out from my last cut, but.... I'm not! If anything, once I worked up to 50 mg, and am finishing my second week at that dose, I noticed my symptoms were a little less intense. The one symptom I noticed has been going way down, is the hyperacusis and ear pressure in my left ear. I plan on starting a discussion on me being a guinea pig with NAD+ nasal spray, I was waiting to see if it would harm or help first.

This is amazing!  Thank you for sharing- I love how he emailed you. 

 

 

Thank you for sharing! It was very kind of John Ashton to email you back and to include what he knew his mother would say. John undoubtedly provided much comfort for his mother...and Heather no doubt was a loving parent. Anyone going through benzo w/d can be thankful for Dr. Heather Ashton's dedication/big heart  to a cause that is so misunderstood/ignored.