LETTER TEMPLATE FOR WRITING TO AUTHORITIES -- PLEASE USE!!!

Good afternoon Buddies,

 

I have written a generic letter template for Buddies to use to write to their congressmen, health system administrators, psychiatrists, doctors, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Pharmacists Association, the FDA, drug companies, anyone who is in a position to start turning the tide on benzos. I encourage you to use it.

 

I have already written to some of the above-mentioned people/organizations using this letter, or something very similar to it. I spent a good deal of time working on this letter, so if you are going to use it, please respect that. Try not to make too many changes or put in inappropriate information or language. Try to keep it as rational and straightforward as I wrote it.

 

Good luck.  I would be pleased to hear of people using the letter, and especially pleased to hear if you get any response.

 

(Insert Date)

 

(Insert Name, Title)

(Insert Organization Name)

(Insert Organization Address)

 

Dear (Name):

 

I am writing to make you aware of the nightmarish time that I, and thousands of others like me, have withdrawing and recovering from prescription benzodiazepines, such as Xanax, Ativan, Valium and Klonopin. We are an unrecognized, unsupported group of people worldwide, from all walks of life, suffering in silence.

 

We desperately need to be heard by medical authorities, regulators, policy makers and the media. We urge the (Insert Organization Name) to address this issue.

 

Benzodiazepines, usually prescribed for insomnia or anxiety, are being prescribed way past the 2-4 weeks recommended on their FDA labeling. Most of us have taken these drugs for many months or years, under doctors’ orders, and had no idea the havoc they were wreaking in our bodies. Nor, did we have any clue what hell would be unleashed when we tried to get off them. Our doctors never warned us.  We became accidental addicts.  Many of us have lost jobs, houses, spouses, family, friends, and large chunks of our lives to benzodiazepine withdrawal.

 

This is a real problem, and will only get worse as prescriptions for benzodiazepines continue to skyrocket year after year.

Many of us first realized that we were not alone in our withdrawal suffering when we did Internet searches on the side effects of our particular benzodiazepine. It is then that we found a brave community of fellow “addicts” at “benzobuddies.org”. There are many on-line support communities for those withdrawing from benzodiazepines. Sadly, there are no real-life organizations to support us in the United States. The United Kingdom has many.

 

The physical and mental symptoms of benzodiazepine withdrawal can be life-threatening.  They include seizures, sensitivity to sound, light and touch, nausea, vomiting, dry heaving, extreme weight loss, sweating, shaking, dizziness, headaches, head pressure, heart palpitations and racing, total insomnia, buzzing, burning, tingling and shocking sensations on our skin, nerve, muscle and joint pain, brain sizzling, stuffiness and loud ringing in our ears, muscle twitching and jerking, urinary and bladder pain, chest tightness, air hunger, lumps in our throats, trouble swallowing, cognitive deficits. Feeling like every cell in our bodies are exploding simultaneously. Just feeling sick, sick, sick, like we have the worst flu, all the time.

 

Some of us must go on other medications to ease the suffering, such as beta blockers to slow our heart rates, tricyclic antidepressants to get a few hours’ sleep, Gabapentin for the nerve pain.

 

The mental symptoms are absolutely bizarre, way worse than the physical ones. There aren’t words in the English language to quite capture them, because many of us have never experienced such horror. Feelings of akathisia, like we want to jump out of our skin, agoraphobia, monophobia, like we are being chased by lions, just sheer terror connected to nothing. We suffer multiple panic attacks (some of us have never had them before going off benzos), sometimes more than one per day. Many of us cannot leave the house or drive a car for week or months.

 

For many of us, the symptoms just keep coming and coming for months on end. Total recovery can take between one and two years.  It is an absolute nightmare! I’m sure the experience will haunt many of us for years.

 

We have legitimate fears that we won’t recover. That our children are being affected. That we will lose our spouses, jobs, children, houses. That we are losing our minds. Or, that we have permanent brain damage. We become depressed from being stuck in our houses, not participating in our lives, not knowing our futures.  The suffering is so immense that many of us talk about wanting to die.

 

It’s time that the medical and regulatory communities take their collective head out of the sand and realize what a huge problem prescription benzodiazepine addiction/withdrawal has become. The U.S. Army recently recommended against the prescription of benzodiazepines to treat PTSD.

 

I would welcome the opportunity to speak with you directly to describe my ordeal.  I look forward to your response, or phone call at (your phone number) Thank you for hearing my concerns.

 

Sincerely,

(Your Name)

(Your Address)

 

I sent it to my senator and my congressman.

This is an excellent letter, KickinIt!! I'm going to send letters out when I'm a bit stronger. Have been going through some really tough times lately. I have no doubt in my mind that I'll use this template to address this terrible problem that has been going on for decades with no stopping. Thank you!!  :thumbsup:

Thanks for spending time writing this. It's an excellent letter.

I will start sending it out.

 

The new Drug Czar might be receptive. Can't remember his name, but he's trying to change the culture from being criminal to treating addiction as an illness. His focus is herion, but I think he would be open to doing something about Benzos.

 

Ill try to find out his name.

 

Thanks again,

Korbe

Excellent Kickin....I'm going to bombard everyone , thank you.

Thanks kickin  I will be sending copies off 

 

 

Love Nova xxx  :smitten:

Im so pleased that you guys are going to use it! Feel free to share on other forums. If we are not part of the solution, we are part of the problem.

Im so pleased that you guys are going to use it! Feel free to share on other forums. If we are not part of the solution, we are part of the problem.

 

Part of a revolution will be neccesary I reckon...Benzo Panthers ..oops.

 

Got some work for you Kickin.....if you are interested.

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=146834.msg1979065#msg1979065

Director Michael Botticelli

Office of National Drug Control Policy

Executive Office of the President

Washington, DC 2050

 

Phone: 202-395-6700

 

This is the address for the new Drug Czar. Saw him on 60 min Show. He sounds like he's on the right track to help people who find themselves addicted to a drug. He a recovered alcoholic so he knows what it's like. I think he would be open to learning about our struggle. He certainly has the power to do something about it.

 

I couldn't find the e-mail for his office. I will have to call the office to get it. Perhaps some of you may have more luck.

 

I will send a letter and/or e- mail to him after Christmas. Hope some of you do too.  As they say the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

 

Happy Holidays to all my Buddies

 

Korbe

I am so pleased to see some of you taking action in the US. 

 

I was reading more newspaper articles about benzos here in the UK.

 

What has happened here is that the authorities are clearly worried about the possible link with Alzheimer's.  I am well aware that this link has not been proven but it is a really good argument to present to those in authority.  How much will it cost if a substantial number of people on benzos develop Alzheimer's.  The authorities can't say it won't happen.  The possibility is there.  Helping people to get off the drugs would surely be cheaper than caring for lots of Alzheimer's sufferers.

 

So now, in the UK, doctors are now trying to get patients off benzos but of course they don't know what they are doing so they cold turkey or taper too fast and then they have no idea what to do about the withdrawal symptoms.  It is a mess.  The few charities that are available are facing increasing demand and are finding it difficult to cope.

 

I think you have written an excellent letter. 

 

Best of luck.

 

Fiona 

 

 

 

It's an excellent letter! Good job! The only thing I'd change is the use of the word "addict" since that connotes drug-seeking behaviour. Another term might be "physiologically dependent" and/or "iatrogenically dependent", which clarifies that the dependency is caused by the medication rather than misuse or abuse. The dependency is caused by the action of the drug itself within the body.

 

I also think it might be an idea to add links to some of the medical literature on how benzodiazepine work and their effects, including articles by Dr. Heather Ashton, Dr. Malcolm Lader and others. The recent studies linking benzos to Alzheimers, as well as falls, fractures, and car accidents might be good too. Literature can add legitimacy and useful resource information.

 

Great initiative, KickinIt!

Thanks for spending time writing this. It's an excellent letter.

I will start sending it out.

 

The new Drug Czar might be receptive. Can't remember his name, but he's trying to change the culture from being criminal to treating addiction as an illness. His focus is herion, but I think he would be open to doing something about Benzos.

 

Ill try to find out his name.

 

Thanks again,

Korbe

 

Margaret Hamburg??