Benzos Cause Brain Damage!

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/side-effects/201011/brain-damage-benzodiazepines-the-troubling-facts-risks-and-history-minor-tr

 

...go to the above link to read this important article about how the use of benzos causes brain damage....

 

here is a snippet of the article:

 

"Brain Damage from Benzodiazepines: The Troubling Facts, Risks, and History of Minor Tranquilizers

Psychiatrists have long known that benzodiazepines can cause brain damage

Published on November 18, 2010 by Christopher Lane, Ph.D. in Side Effects

 

Last week, Britain's Independent newspaper published a bombshell for psychiatry and medicine: the country's Medical Research Council had sat on warnings 30 years earlier that benzodiazepines such as Valium and Xanax can cause brain damage. As 11.5 million prescriptions for these drugs were issued in 2008 in Britain alone, I focused on the consequences of the cover-up for the millions affected."

 

...what are we to believe?  ...do you agree?

 

-sam-

Honestly,

I don't think so. Best to stay away from negativity.. I mean, it's good to read and study.. so on.. BUT don't dwell on it too much, Sam.

People heal, and feel better than before.. that's proof.

 

S#

I imagine if one were on a high dose of a benzo for a long time, damage could occur that might take years to heal.  Even in the study cited, it was 3 out of 20 people (pretty small sample imo) who showed a difference in their brain.  I wouldn't worry about it.  As Sigma pointed out, most people heal.

Yeah, I agree with sigma.  If this was a study that found out once again that benzos do not cause brain damage, that wouldn't be classified as news and would probably go on relatively ignored.  The only positive thing to come out of such an article is that it would scare doctors a little and perhaps they won't so readily prescribe these pills as the first course of action against anxiety or sleeping issues.  I am a worrier by nature, but this article doesn't concern me the least bit.

Psychology Today posts a lot of articles to sell magazines so they can make money from advertisements. Not everything they publish is fluff, but they are sensationalist. It's not a serious medical journal. I'll go with Dr Ashton. There is no definitive proof that benzos cause lasting brain damage.

Psychology Today posts a lot of articles to sell magazines so they can make money from advertisements. Not everything they publish is fluff, but they are sensationalist. It's not a serious medical journal. I'll go with Dr Ashton. There is no definitive proof that benzos cause lasting brain damage.

 

...great insights...everyone.

 

..thank you...i will relax now.

 

-sam-

Hello,

 

Was on xanax, prozac and klonopin and when you combine that total years of being on these meds, has been well over 20 years.

 

Because of tolerance issues(which I didn't understand at the time) I had several tests done, including two brain scans. When the tests came back, they confirmed, that all brain functions were normal and no lesions were found.

 

I'll go along with what Dr. Ashton says too.

 

 

 

Hi,

 

 

This article is  bombshell in my opinion. I have been waiting for an article like this. I read the cited in the Independent. It was informative, but the obscurity of the publication left much to be desired in terms of credibility. Psychology Today is a mainstream publication. This is what we need to turn the tables on this situation.

 

These criminals will pay in the end.

 

Leben

Sam,

 

For your own mental health, you need to put this in perspective. Even if benzos cause brain damage, which I believe they can, your brain has the capability to rewire itself and work around the damaged neurons. This is the basis for the concept of Neuroplasticity. So don't worry, your improvement over time is almost inevitable. Improvement, in a sense, is what the brain does.

 

Fish oil has been proven to enhance the process of neuroplasticity, as has mental exercise and retraining through experience.

 

Therefore, don't sit around. Train your brain. I feel like alot of benzo users fall into this trap of sitting around and waiting. There are ways that you can enhance recovery.

 

I have seen much improvement since adding fish oil into my diet in January and also by getting back into using my mind (reading, etc.).

 

Leben

Do benzodiazepines cause structural brain damage? These results have raised the question of whether benzodiazepines can cause structural brain damage. Like alcohol, benzodiazepines are fat soluble and are taken up by the fat-containing (lipid) membranes of brain cells. It has been suggested that their use over many years could cause physical changes such as shrinkage of the cerebral cortex, as has been shown in chronic alcoholics, and that such changes may be only partially reversible after withdrawal. However, despite several computed tomography (CT) scan studies, no signs of brain atrophy have been conclusively demonstrated in therapeutic dose users, and even the results in high dose abusers are inconclusive. It is possible that benzodiazepines can cause subtle changes which are not detected by present methods, but on the available evidence there is no reason to think that any such changes would be permanent.

 

http://www.benzodocs.com/ashtonmanual/bzcha03.shtml#33

 

 

On the bottom of this post is a link of the original hidden documents. These are the documents Psychology Today and the UK paper were referring to. They are very real and I'm quite sure Professor Ashton wouldn't have been aware of these findings. Or perhaps, she couldn't do anything about the fact that the meeting regarding the test results from a Dr. Malcolm Laders scans went purposefully unrecorded through the Department of Health in the UK. It's no secret her funding was unapproved to study long term effects of benzodiazipines. I'd posted this information on Namaste Girls original thread regarding this. I've read all of the documents. It shows the doctors lack of understanding on how benzodiazpines work, and this misinformation has been passed down through the generations of many medical doctors. Our experiences here confirm that.

 

At the end of these documents are the radiology reports of random men and woman of different ages that were still on or off of benzodiazipines while being scanned. I don't know if there are more scans that illustrate the findings that weren't enclosed in the documents, or if the enclosed scans were the extent of the scans that were done. Some showed nothing. Some did show the shrinkage of the brain and other structural changes. Who knows if these structural changes are something we feel, or if what we feel is merely from the functional changes of the GABA receptor felt through symptoms regardless of structural changes. There are too many people that heal 100% or feel healed 100% and these structural changes may not be anything a person could ever notice. There is so much we don't know about the human brain.

 

Some prefer truths and don't find this information negative. As well, this type of finding could provide what the benzodiazipine community needs. This may be the evidence to get "legal action" since we can't prove withdrawal and it seems we can't prove proper "informed consent" was given.

 

http://www.benzo.org.uk/amisc/mrc82.pdf

I was just wondering, since this is such an important topic.

 

The last revision of the Ashton Manual was 2002 - 9 years ago.  I wonder, what else is going on?  Is she retired? I see that they've not renewed any more funding for research and that sucks but aren't her colleagues following in her research, trying to get more grant money?  And what about the US - why are we so freaking  unwilling to do research of our own?  I don't mean to be negative but studies, journals, and such are usually updated every few years with information. I agree inflammatory magazine articles aren't reliable sources of information, but is this it?  With Millions of people on benzos world wide, suffering and crippled, is this the best we can hope for?

 

I know there are more important disorders like cancer, Parkinson's, ALD etc. that are life threatening but are we just going to rely on nearly decade old data, which will become older and older and that's it?  I know people will say, "oh, there's no money in it for the drug companies" but what if there was more research and maybe a therapy that could  be developed that could speed healing?

 

Just feeling frustrated.

 

Sara

 

 

 

I was just wondering, since this is such an important topic.

 

The last revision of the Ashton Manual was 2002 - 9 years ago.  I wonder, what else is going on?  Is she retired? I see that they've not renewed any more funding for research and that sucks but aren't her colleagues following in her research, trying to get more grant money?  And what about the US - why are we so freaking  unwilling to do research of our own?  I don't mean to be negative but studies, journals, and such are usually updated every few years with information. I agree inflammatory magazine articles aren't reliable sources of information, but is this it?  With Millions of people on benzos world wide, suffering and crippled, is this the best we can hope for?

 

I know there are more important disorders like cancer, Parkinson's, ALD etc. that are life threatening but are we just going to rely on nearly decade old data, which will become older and older and that's it?  I know people will say, "oh, there's no money in it for the drug companies" but what if there was more research and maybe a therapy that could  be developed that could speed healing?

 

Just feeling frustrated.

 

Sara

 

 

 

 

Actually, she issued an update/supplement this year, saraann:

 

http://www.benzo.org.uk/ashsupp11.htm

 

You'll see she specifically speaks to this question about permanent brain damage and long term effects of benzos.

I was just wondering, since this is such an important topic.

 

The last revision of the Ashton Manual was 2002 - 9 years ago.  I wonder, what else is going on?  Is she retired? I see that they've not renewed any more funding for research and that sucks but aren't her colleagues following in her research, trying to get more grant money?  And what about the US - why are we so freaking  unwilling to do research of our own?  I don't mean to be negative but studies, journals, and such are usually updated every few years with information. I agree inflammatory magazine articles aren't reliable sources of information, but is this it?  With Millions of people on benzos world wide, suffering and crippled, is this the best we can hope for?

 

I know there are more important disorders like cancer, Parkinson's, ALD etc. that are life threatening but are we just going to rely on nearly decade old data, which will become older and older and that's it?  I know people will say, "oh, there's no money in it for the drug companies" but what if there was more research and maybe a therapy that could be developed that could speed healing?

 

Just feeling frustrated.

 

Sara

 

 

 

 

Actually, she issued an update/supplement this year, saraann:

 

http://www.benzo.org.uk/ashsupp11.htm

 

You'll see she specifically speaks to this question about permanent brain damage and long term effects of benzos.

 

Thanks for the link Beeper - you're right on top of things!

 

There was some new info about how certain foods we eat contain GABA and that our receptors, including benzos, pain medication and cannabis, etc.  just haven't been sitting around for millions of years in humans (and other mammals) for no good reason- that the brains natural endorphins, GABA etc. served a purpose and than humans figured out how to enhance the effects by the use of drugs - therefore the deficit in the body's own natural responses by adding chemicals.  The article gave me a little more insight into the workings of the brain.

 

I just wish, like everyone else that there was more progress in the work towards speedier healing.

 

Again thank you Beeper - you're a great mod.

 

Sara

Yes, thanks for the link. I think that answers my question as to how many scans were done. If these scans by Dr. Lader that are being discussed in Ashton's Supplement are the sames scans as the hidden documents, they didn't do very many.

 

This is what she said in the link Beeper posted, "In 1982 Professor Malcolm Lader and colleagues reported the results of a small study using CAT (computerised axial tomography) brain scans in 14 long-term benzodiazepines users compared with control subjects. Two of the benzodiazepine users had definite cortical brain atrophy and there was a borderline abnormality in five others; the rest were normal. In a 1984 study by Professor Lader involving 20 patients, the results were again suggestive but there was no relationship between CAT scan appearances and the duration of benzodiazepine therapy.  

 

That's interesting. And then the later scans 1993, 1998, and 2000 were inconclusive. I wonder how many were done as well. They really didn't test that many people.

 

Ashton goes on to say they don't cause atrophy, yet these earlier scans in 1982 by Lader illustrate they did cause atrophy. Both are written in the same paper, same paragraph. That part is a bit contradictory.

 

I hear your frustration with the research Sarann. Why would they fund and research something they essentially deny is happening with this withdrawal and/or still don't understand.

This is crock of shit. I am better now than I have ever been. My brain is as sharp as a knife. I can remember names and the most intense things I could never do even before benzos. I also sleep better now than before benzos. Like ie.  if I see someone I have only met once I can remember their name and really intricate details of what they tell me. I could never do that while on benzos or in cold turkey or taper and early post benzo. No offense to Ashton or anyone, but Ashton and many Brits are on a crusade to ban benzos and I don't think they should be banned per se cause this is communistic behavior. Prohibition will never work and then people start getting these drugs in an unhealthy way on the black market.  I will say that there needs to be MUCH more education on the prescribing doctor's part. And I personally think benzos should be given 1-3 nights max and no more.  It is not good enough to put in fine print the dangers of these drugs. A DOCTOR NEEDS TO BE VERY ACCURATE AND THOROUGH IN HIS APPROACH BEFORE GIVING THESE POISONS OUT LIKE CANDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I really don't believe in the quackery that is psychiatry anyway as there is no proof still of a chemical imbalance and even if there was.There have been no tests done on healthy subjects to prove that these drugs make any long term impact on mental illness. If anything it makes your issues much worse. I would not be to caught up in this article. People flaw data constantly to make a point for their agenda. I would just believe in the miraculous power of the brain to heal itself with the right fuel/food.

From a survivor,

Rev

 

When you all think damage exactly what damage are we talking about like for instance can some one be stuck in a state of d/p d/r forever or are you talking cog fog ?

Shan, I don't think revolutionblue understood the article or read the documents they were referring to. I read the documents. They are not discussing so called mental illness nor are they discussing the effect structural damage would have on symptoms.

 

The results in the documents merely showed on some of the people that were scanned structural damage. Atrophy in areas. Structural damage = physical changes you can see. EG: atropy, which is shrinkage.

 

As far as what that does? Who knows, they didn't even get into that in the documents. There was no referrence to, do "structural changes mean memory loss? or cog fog?" etc.

 

So no one can answer that question. It may be something we can see with the eye, but cannot feel. I don't know.

 

A big part of benzowithdrawal and our symptoms is "functional damage" from the change/injury of the GABA. receptor. I don't know what we would feel if anything through shrinkage. There was 14 people tested, 2 with definite changes, and 5 with borderline abnormality and the rest were normal.

I've had DR/DP for 30 years, since I was a kid and never knew what it was, I just got on with things.  The day after taking drugs MDMA, meth, cocaine, PCP I would get it much much worse than usual.  When I CTd benzos it was exactly the same feeling as that, it just lasted 6 months instead of a few days.  I have no idea what the benzos did to me, but I can say it was on par with the street drugs in terms of intensity.

 

I'm pretty sure that with all the years of drug use I have there are some permanent changes, what their effects are I do not know, but as time goes on I start to feel more and more like myself.  Not the self I was before drugs or benzos, but the me now.  We all change over time, there is no way to stop that, every time we dream, our brains change a little, every time we experience something, we are changed.

 

As frightening as it might be to image "brain damage" we should avoid letting it consume us.  Maybe it is like a scar, a mole, a blemish on the skin, it's damage but we don't feel it.  Perhaps it's like a stiff shoulder, or healed broken bone, it's good to a certain point then it stops working properly.

 

The best thing everyone can do, and it's been said countless times, is to, for the time being, deal with the situation now as best you can.  Do what you can to be "normal" learn to live with our less than ideal situations, because in all honesty there are people far far far worse off than us and if they can manage to get by we certainly can.

As frightening as it might be to image "brain damage" we should avoid letting it consume us.  Maybe it is like a scar, a mole, a blemish on the skin, it's damage but we don't feel it.  Perhaps it's like a stiff shoulder, or healed broken bone................

Well said, and that's how I see it.  I was glad it was made public as it is possible evidence for a future suit for people, but it doesn't have to be all consuming. Those are good points for people unnerved by the documents, perhaps helping them to be objective with the information, and just that.

As far as brain damage. I have a friend who was out snowmobiling and he wrecked. He was thrown, and a limb went through his head. He was hospitalized for two years. He described a few symptoms that resembled withdrawal, but more physically. I can't speak for what terror he felt, but he's completely healed and living life today. I couldn't imagine what he went through, and when he talks about it.. he gets shaky, but overall, he says he's just fine.

People experience much worse things than withdrawal. I know that's hard to imagine, but they do. Psychosis is worse IMO than withdrawal. I guess we all have a different take on it.

 

S#