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Success after extremely difficult withdrawal :)


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I would like to inform site members of my wife's success after undergoing an extreme and prolonged benzodiazepine withdrawal. This site was so useful during her withdrawal that I feel it is important to let fellow members know that no matter how hard the process is success and recovery await.

She was prescribed Diazepam and Temazepam in late 2014 by her gp after a severe antibiotic side effects experience that led to a potentially dangerous neuropathy reaction.

As it soon became apparent the benzodiazepines were significantly more dangerous!

Due to incorrect advice from her gp, she, started to develop severe withdrawal reactions after just a few weeks of taking these terrible drugs.

Both she and I quickly became aware that the tranquilizers were causing a cascade of awful side effects and I assisted her with a slow taper.

She was taking the full dosage of ' medication ' between November 2014 and January 2015. She took her last tiny dose it April 2015.

During this time her ' side effects ' were extremely scary and high level and they manifested as extreme and dangerous weight loss, constant suicidal obsession and psychosis. These side effects were regularly denied by her various psychiatrists and gps, who just threw more and more medication in her direction.

After her last dose in April things grew considerably worse and all the above symptoms significantly increased in intensity along with new and terribly disturbing emergences of other symptoms...... a short list ( not exhaustive by any means follows ) :-

1. Severe prolonged psychosis ( interspersed with Windows of total normality ).

2. Massive abdominal cramps.

3. Inability to walk as her legs wouldn't work properly.

4. Constant physical shaking.

5. Aggressive outbursts.

6. Screaming for extended periods of time for no apparent reason.

7. Inability to talk ( even though she could write to explain herself ).

8. Swallowing food and fluids leading to loss of consciousness ( very scary ).

9. Seizures ( leading to coma and hospitalization in intensive care for 3 days).

10. Constant urge to commit suicide.

11. Severe insomnia.

12. Hallucinations.

13. Myoclonic seizures.

14. Urge to speak ' gobbledygook ' repetitively.

15. Cramps and constant movement of feet, legs, hands and jaw.

16. Appearing to age by at least 25 years and skin becoming loose.

17. Skin shedding and hair loss.

.......... there were many other bizarre and strange manifestations but I cannot list them all.

This awful situation lasted from April 2015 to December 2015 and both she and I felt there was no way out. The doctors were clueless and when one finally read the Ashton Reports he recognized the pattern and tried putting her back on 20mg Diazepam daily with the intention to try a slower withdrawal but this just brought back symptoms that had finished weeks/months earlier.

We ended up just avoiding all medics and seeking advice here and from The Bristol Tranquilizer Project ( who were absolutely brilliant!! )

To cut a long story short....... on the morning of 21 December 2015 my wife awoke to a complete break in her major symptoms....... I know this sounds almost impossible but that was how it happened ( I read others on here reporting similar occurrences but couldn't believe it possible ) It seemed like a miracle.....and it was!!!!

The worst of the withdrawal effects never came back after that ..... all, yes all! the symptoms listed above disappeared entirely.

Over the next few weeks months she regained her lost weight. Her psychological strength, in fact, returned to previous levels within a week or two..... hard to believe I know but absolutely true!!

So to conclude, hang in there no matter how bad it is and you will get better. Remember who you really are whenever possible and stay committed to the path of recovery.

 

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Hello Aaix,

 

Thank you for coming back after such a long time and posting this message of success. Your dear wife certainly endured some very scary and severe symptoms. 

 

I'm so happy that she finally woke up to wellness, that speaks to the resilience of the central nervous system and how it will work to regain balance.

 

I hope you and she are enjoying life, a life you both deserve.

 

pianogirl  :smitten:

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Hello Aaix,

 

Thank you for coming back after such a long time and posting this message of success. Your dear wife certainly endured some very scary and severe symptoms. 

 

I'm so happy that she finally woke up to wellness, that speaks to the resilience of the central nervous system and how it will work to regain balance.

 

I hope you and she are enjoying life, a life you both deserve.

 

pianogirl  :smitten:

Thanks for the positive words.

Yes life is good for us again and has been for some time...........

The nervous system is a complex thing, of that there is no doubt.

:)

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Huge congratulations and thank you for thinking of the many members here who are still struggling and in need of a chink of light :) :)

 

Love to you both :smitten:

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Wonderful! I'm so glad to read this. I pray the same for me; the suffering is so long and horrendous....You are a good and faithful husband to see her through this; it is a lonely and criminal thing that's happened to us...I need a miracle to survive this!
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Congratulations to your wife -- and to you, of course! It's wonderful to read about such stories of healing after what was clearly a terrible experience. I wish you both all the best!

 

I'm just wondering....When you mentioned "inability to walk", did she have dizziness or disequilibrium that was part of that inability to walk? It's a scary symptom that many people deal with, and it makes it nearly impossible to walk properly due to instability and overuse and fatigue of leg muscles.

 

 

 

 

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Congrats to your wife.

Question:

What is the Bristol Tranquilizer Project?

The Bristol Tranquilizer Project operate as an advice service for people suffering from benzodiazepine withdrawal. You can find their contact number online and they know their stuff. They're very useful for supporting people in respect of info and how to approach mainstream doctors.

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Wonderful! I'm so glad to read this. I pray the same for me; the suffering is so long and horrendous....You are a good and faithful husband to see her through this; it is a lonely and criminal thing that's happened to us...I need a miracle to survive this!

Both my wife and also I felt the same as no doubt you can tell. She didn't think she was going to get through but healing does happen and it can happen spontaneously and quickly some times ( as in my wife's case ).

Stay strong and hang in there ....... you're body will heal itself.

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Congratulations to your wife -- and to you, of course! It's wonderful to read about such stories of healing after what was clearly a terrible experience. I wish you both all the best!

 

I'm just wondering....When you mentioned "inability to walk", did she have dizziness or disequilibrium that was part of that inability to walk? It's a scary symptom that many people deal with, and it makes it nearly impossible to walk properly due to instability and overuse and fatigue of leg muscles.

She did suffer dizziness and disequilibrium but the inability to walk was more akin to neurological dysfunction, I would say and it manifested as extreme jerkiness and lack of the necessary coordination required for functional walking....docs wanted her to be referred for neurological assessment which was more a symptom of their ignorance than proof of their understanding..it was very weird. But more importantly everything listed totally healed eventually.

Hang in there

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Thanks for responding, Aaix! It's great that all those symptoms resolved for your wife, and it certainly provides hope to those of us still in the trenches.

 

I understand the suggestion of a neurological exam, and it's not a bad idea, in my opinion. It's good to rule out certain very serious things that benzodiazepine withdrawal can mimic. I saw a neurologist and was glad I did. Knowing that you don't have a long-term or progressive neurological illness is a good thing!

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Hi, I have severe swallowing difficulties and I'm terrified, sometimes it's a tight throat and others the throat simply "not responding", you mentioned she had: Swallowing food and fluids leading to loss of consciousness ( very scary )

may I ask if she had it 24/7 and if it was ever diagnosed?

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Hi, I have severe swallowing difficulties and I'm terrified, sometimes it's a tight throat and others the throat simply "not responding", you mentioned she had: Swallowing food and fluids leading to loss of consciousness ( very scary )

may I ask if she had it 24/7 and if it was ever diagnosed?

Sounds like a similar kind of thing. It seems to me that as her nervous system healed it went through stages of symptoms that lasted certain amounts of time before they healed ...... eventually it finished its work and normality was restored.

We avoided doctors pretty much at all costs given their ignorance in these matters so it was not medically diagnosed, although it was nigh on impossible not to have some significant dealings with that world....... ultimately it was all withdrawal and a diagnosis would have been inaccurate anyway, I'd say.

The terrible effects of withdrawal caused by these horrible drugs is reversible and the healing process eventually led to recovery both physically and even more importantly both emotionally and psychologically, thank goodness.

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Hi, I have severe swallowing difficulties and I'm terrified, sometimes it's a tight throat and others the throat simply "not responding", you mentioned she had: Swallowing food and fluids leading to loss of consciousness ( very scary )

may I ask if she had it 24/7 and if it was ever diagnosed?

Oh and it wasn't 24/7 except for a few days..... after a short period of time it stopped and the physical symptoms moved on as her healing progressed. At the time it wasn't clear that progression was occurring but in retrospect that is what happened.

These drugs are scary and weird but withdrawal does finish eventually, I assure you.

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Thanks for this story and providing hope, I really needed this today as recovery can seem but a dream some (most)  days!  I'm so pleased for you and your wife that this nightmare is over, go enjoy your life together  :)
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Thanks for this story and providing hope, I really needed this today as recovery can seem but a dream some (most)  days!  I'm so pleased for you and your wife that this nightmare is over, go enjoy your life together  :)

Thanks for the kind words. I wish you all the luck in the world with your recovery. You will get there. :)

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This is an amazing recovery story! So happy for you and your wife that she is well again now. I have extreme weight loss too and saggy skin. I look as if I have aged many years as well. It has to be a great feeling when the horrible symptoms start to subside! I'm hoping for a miracle as well. It is a tragedy that any of us have to live through this nightmare but will be the best feeling ever when it all ends! Thanks for sharing and I'm sure your support was a crucial part of her recovery. Having doctors who don't understand is bad enough and when your family isn't supportive it's devastating.
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Aaix, can you share with us the total time your wife was on the medication and what the dosages were, please? Was it about 5 months on the medication, and then 8 months of symptoms? Did she do a taper?
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Aaix, can you share with us the total time your wife was on the medication and what the dosages were, please? Was it about 5 months on the medication, and then 8 months of symptoms? Did she do a taper?

Approx 12 weeks on 10mg Diazepam/day and 10-20mg Temazepam/day. Doctor didn't warn her that changing dosage erratically was dangerous as she was advised to take as and when needed ( bad advice! ).

She was also put on Clonazepam at about 1mg/day for a short time during this period.

She tapered dosage over around 3 months.

The side effects were terrible and extremely scary within 2 weeks of starting the ' medication ' in late October/early November...... so it didn't take long for the penny to drop

Sorry I cannot be more exact but it was over 3 years ago.

The severe withdrawal lasted around 8 months.

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This is an amazing recovery story! So happy for you and your wife that she is well again now. I have extreme weight loss too and saggy skin. I look as if I have aged many years as well. It has to be a great feeling when the horrible symptoms start to subside! I'm hoping for a miracle as well. It is a tragedy that any of us have to live through this nightmare but will be the best feeling ever when it all ends! Thanks for sharing and I'm sure your support was a crucial part of her recovery. Having doctors who don't understand is bad enough and when your family isn't supportive it's devastating.

All the symptoms disappear be sure of that.

I found it hard to believe how quick her sagging skin and hair loss recovered once she got past the day I mentioned in my original post.....her weight came back quickly too....... We both found it amazing but that's what happened.

Hang in there these terrible withdrawal symptoms go away, of that there is no doubt.

:)

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Aaix, thank you for coming back to share you and your wife's incredible journey.  Something in your original post really jumped out at me.  You said that this whole nightmare started with:

 

"a severe antibiotic side effects experience that led to a potentially dangerous neuropathy reaction.

 

Could you elaborate a bit on that antibiotic experience?  What was the name of the antibiotic and did she experience these neurological effects before starting the benzos?  Thank you so much.

 

:smitten:

She

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