2014 Study: Handgrip strength and balance in older adults following withdrawal..

Check out this recent study which reports on the grip strength and balance of 89 chronic, elderly users of temazepam, zoplicone or zolpidem:

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25416480

 

 

My favorite part:

 

CONCLUSIONS:

Withdrawal from long-term use of benzodiazepines can rapidly improve muscle strength and balance. Our results encourage discontinuing benzodiazepine hypnotics, particularly in older women who are at a high risk of falling and sustaining fractures.

Yes, I agree. I'm technically not "older", but I'm already 50, and I'm severely dizzy, and I'm glad that I stopped when I did because I've had so many near-falls. I still have good reflexes. But it's dangerous to be dizzy when you're older -- especially if you're a skinny gal like me with bone density issues.

Unbelievable - they still don't get it, except in bits and pieces. I guess this is progress?

At least they acknowledge the effect of the meds on hand grip and balance!

Progress I guess. Ultimate acknowledge will start in the elderly, (has already) and through the Alzheimer's and Dementia studies. Once people decide to quit and doctors botch their tapers and recoveries, I guess it will gradually spread to the rest of us. Maybe through more celebrity deaths, and the realization that the benzos are the common thread, as well.

 

Sorry fro my botched sentence structure !! Must be the withdrawal - actually feeling good today, after a very slow start.

Yes, the more the info gets out there, the better chance there is that people understand the magnitude of the issue.

Yes, the more the info gets out there, the better chance there is that people understand the magnitude of the issue.

 

That's a great way to put it, Lapis.

Just trying to stay positive here! However, the truth is that it all falls woefully short. I'd like to see all of the info out there in the public realm and available to doctors, pharmacists and other medical professionals. The goal should be to prevent what we're going through. It just shouldn't happen.

It makes it tougher to explain to the layman, family, friends ..... they hear the story of how the healthcare industry has bungled this and it is hard to believe. You would think it would be impossible for a problem this huge to stay under the radar for 35 years. I have trouble believing it myself, and of course that throws me into a cycle of doubt. What if it's all in our heads? I've lost 15 years of my life to this ..... might I lose another 5 chasing imaginary healing? Thank goodness for the success stories !!

Oh, I'm with you there! Of course, we have no way of knowing what percentage of people have difficult, painful and long-standing withdrawal effects out of the total number that do come off these meds. No one is studying that, I'm sure, and there's no accurate way of doing so.

 

In my life, the education happens one by one by one, i.e. the doctors directly involved in my care, my family and friends, my physiotherapists, etc. I've tried NOT to be antagonistic or to lay blame. It doesn't help. I'm looking for support, information and continued care from all involved. And I'm trying to share little bits of important info when I can. It helps to have articles like that from the British National Formulary (Nov. 2013), or an excerpt from and Ear, Nose and Throat textbook which describes benzodiazepines as "vestibular suppressants". I'm DIZZY! There's no doubt why! My vestibular system was suppressed for years by these pills. Now my brain is trying to do "vestibular compensation". It's logical. And it's torturous.

 

PREVENTION is the key.