It's the benzo.
Burning pain and irritation is caused by these horrible drugs. They work on the nervous system. I had all of that and more. It vanished after 20 months off the drug. I've had it again in this relapse from Keflex. Stunned, and very angry that an antibiotic triggered a setback. Why we get attacked there is maddening, but it happens. It's horrible. But, it does go away. I'm waiting once again for this vexing pain to stop. I've had 50 sx return and most are gone, but the urethra, rectum, butt cheek pain persists. Today it is less intense so I hope it's on it's way out. Very troubling and crippling.
I flew to California Pelvic Pain Clinic run by the author of Headache in the Pelvis in 2006 while still on Ativan. The top urologist at Stanford, co-author, confirmed I never had interstitial cystitis. He said the burning was coming from "something else." Yep, benzos. There I learned self massage and relaxation for pelvic floor pain. Good to know, but until the drug is out of your body and time passes in withdrawal, the technique did very little to help. Time away from benzos is the only cure. Believe me, I tried everything under the sun. Everything.
Remember, benzos are muscle relaxers. Once tolerance happens, or reduced or taken away, the muscles can spasm and feel like cement. This causes swelling and/or entrapped nerves as well as trigger point knots everywhere. If the pain is chronic you can be assured it's from the drug. Most likely the pudendal nerve is affected or inflamed. As are other nerves in the pelvis. Interstitial Cystitis is actually Pudendal Neuralgia in many cases. Or, a staph infection that goes undetected in urinalysis. Urethral Syndrome can be a localized staph infection treatable with silver gel.
I highly recommend Trigger Point Therapy Workbook. It is invaluable for self treatment of any pain problem. There are illustrations to guide you as to where your pain is coming from and how to deactivate those tight knots. But, again, the drug is the cause. If it goes on too long the pain can spread to the rectum, as it did for me. Horrible. Then, into the butt cheeks, thighs, hips, abdomen.
Avoiding inflammatory foods like wheat, nightshade veggies, and dairy may help. Avoiding high glutamate food may help. Avoid gassy foods as the colon is very connected to pelvic floor pain. But, ultimately, it is just time away from drugs. Once off the Ativan my burning got worse for a while. And, turned into pain...it was nasty. I felt like I was sitting in acid and like a car ran into my crotch. The rectum stopped functioning and felt like a jackhammer drilling into my bones. But, it all went away. It takes time. Hard to believe a drug could do this.
I wasn't on Benzo Buddies when I was ill from Ativan withdrawal. I was on Benzo Friends. I was the only member with this burning crotch. Plus, 75 other crippling sx. I felt very hopeless and alone. I even wrote to Heather Ashton and she scared the hell out of me. She said she never heard of this and that it probably wasn't the Ativan. Well, she was wrong. She put horrible fear into my fragile mind and that was awful and unappreciated. It was the Ativan. 100%. It all went away after 20 months off that poison.
Ativan is a horrible chemical. All benzos are horrible. Your pain will go away.
Denise
