Does CT from benzo cause permanent damage in my brain?

Anyone? Can I heal from benzo use as someone that did a  taper?

Yes.  I completely healed from my cold turkey.

 

It is very possible.  Sometimes a cold turkey makes symptoms more intense and WD last longer, but not always.

 

You WILL heal.  Everything is TEMPORARY and REVERSIBLE.

 

It just feels permanent, but it's not.  I thought the same thing too, that I was permanently damaged. You're not!

That was always my question too

Out of fear I can’t believe sometimes that it’s temporary but I think it really is temporary but I don’t know how long it’s going to take

Thank you thEwAy2 for your reassurance

I really need it sometimes

My fear of being damage in my brain for ever is torture! But I have noticed some healing though. Slowley. I am 15.5 months off Valium I had over 100 symptom and now around a handful specific symptoms and I feel so sick by the w/d in itself. Waves and windows but never 100% free from symptoms just less intense. Hit by a 6 weeks brutal wave in month 13 thought I was gonna die

Of course it will, the brain is a fantastic thing.

 

I'm two and a half months off a CT and I was really sick, to the point my eyes were changing colour before I came off them. I genuinely had no intrest in tapering, I knew the risks and went CT anyway because I figured I was sick anyway, I just wanted them out of my life. The symptoms intensified for a while, but they've settled down for the most part and I'm living my life as I was.

Yes.  I completely healed from my cold turkey.

 

It is very possible.  Sometimes a cold turkey makes symptoms more intense and WD last longer, but not always.

 

You WILL heal.  Everything is TEMPORARY and REVERSIBLE.

 

Thank you so much.  I really needed to read this just now.

 

It just feels permanent, but it's not.  I thought the same thing too, that I was permanently damaged. You're not!

I have been on BB for almost 7 years now. And IU can tell you that everyone heals. It nay take some a longer time, but in time we all do heal.

 

All you have to do is hang tight. Manage your symptoms and learn some new ways to deal with them. Just keep on going.

 

 

My cat, Bear, needs some attention and  love. He is a huge hunk of Cat Love.

On benzos: NEVER give up. Better days are coming.

east

NO!

 

Look at it this way. There are millions of people who take a benzo and most people can come off a benzo without any problems and they c/t. I know 5 people who c/t and they didn't have one symptom. If everyone who c/t a benzo had permanent brain damage Benzo's would not be approved by the FDA. Sadly the people on BB are the minority not the majority.

NO!

 

Look at it this way. There are millions of people who take a benzo and most people can come off a benzo without any problems and they c/t. I know 5 people who c/t and they didn't have one symptom. If everyone who c/t a benzo had permanent brain damage Benzo's would not be approved by the FDA. Sadly the people on BB are the minority not the majority.

 

 

 

I think it needs a black box warning at least and the form of consent for prescribing this poison to people

NO!

 

Look at it this way. There are millions of people who take a benzo and most people can come off a benzo without any problems and they c/t. I know 5 people who c/t and they didn't have one symptom. If everyone who c/t a benzo had permanent brain damage Benzo's would not be approved by the FDA. Sadly the people on BB are the minority not the majority.

 

 

Agreed. That is how I understand it too. But the problem is the low percentage of people who DO have awful withdrawals. In the medical world, we do not exist and that is an insult to us all. After almost 7 years of learning about benzos and coping with WD I do feel that perhaps only 2% of people have awful withdrawals. But we 2% matter!!!!! And we do not get the support and knowledge we need unless you happen to find BB. So many people do not.

NOTE: Before you proceed, you should know that the following is a block of text from Baylissa Frederick – it is not from ThEwAy2’s personal experience. (Admins)

 

---

 

There is a quote by Dave Brown that says most people give up when the odds seem insurmountable and the true heroes in this world are those who don’t. I genuinely believe that anyone who is going through or has been through withdrawal is a true hero/heroine, and I want to remind you of this today.

 

In withdrawal, you spend so much time managing symptoms and finding ways of coping, it is easy to overlook the immense strength, resilience and courage you happen to find each day. It’s difficult for someone not experiencing withdrawal to appreciate just how much guts and gumption it takes to get through it.

 

But you know what it feels like to wake up in pain, every day, and nothing seems to be changing. You know what it feels like to hold on for dear life, while the symptoms rage. You know what it feels like to feel fear in the depths of your gut and to wonder if you will ever heal. You know what getting through withdrawal entails and yet you wake up every morning and you keep going. It takes someone truly heroic to do this and not give up. YOU are that person.

 

If no one acknowledges your strength and courage, that’s okay. But you must do so. You are the only one who fully knows your daily trials and what it takes to face and overcome them. May the strength that lies within you, which is more powerful than the worst aspect of your withdrawal, that has taken you this far, continue to propel your valiance. To be on this journey means you are strong, indestructible, amazing and deserving of utmost respect. Hold your head up high.

The above post is from baylissa.com/blog  I don't have edit or delete rights.  This is not my work!

That is a great quote. Trust Baylissa to say something so reassuring. Thanks for posting it.

Yes.  I completely healed from my cold turkey.

 

It is very possible.  Sometimes a cold turkey makes symptoms more intense and WD last longer, but not always.

 

You WILL heal.  Everything is TEMPORARY and REVERSIBLE.

 

It just feels permanent, but it's not.  I thought the same thing too, that I was permanently damaged. You're not!

 

I definitely feel permanently damaged at 21 months out from a C/T. I have terrible anhedonia and feel disinterested in everything. I just want to feel normal again.

NO!

 

Look at it this way. There are millions of people who take a benzo and most people can come off a benzo without any problems and they c/t. I know 5 people who c/t and they didn't have one symptom. If everyone who c/t a benzo had permanent brain damage Benzo's would not be approved by the FDA. Sadly the people on BB are the minority not the majority.

 

 

Agreed. That is how I understand it too. But the problem is the low percentage of people who DO have awful withdrawals. In the medical world, we do not exist and that is an insult to us all. After almost 7 years of learning about benzos and coping with WD I do feel that perhaps only 2% of people have awful withdrawals. But we 2% matter!!!!! And we do not get the support and knowledge we need unless you happen to find BB. So many people do not.

 

 

Do we ever get over the horrible withdrawal depression and anhedonia? It seems like it's going to last forever.

You will heal from this. But healing from benzos will not heal whatever was troubling you prior to using benzos. You will have to deal with that stuff later on.

I agree. I would guess perhaps 2% of people have awful withdrawals. And yes, that 2% matters a lot. Why this is not known in the medical community (which I am a part of) I do not know. That remains a mystery to me - and all of you.

 

For some reason, a few people heal much slower. It might be due to how long one took benzos, but it might not be. It might be related to how you got off benzos. Supposedly cold turkeys cause more difficult withdrawals. But I have read so many posts from taper people struggling just as bad as we CT people.

 

There is just so much confusion and lack of knowledge about this stuff. Its hard to know who to trust. A brain in withdrawal is already super sensitive and not knowing who to believe makes it much more difficult.

 

I chose to believe in the positive side of it all, no matter how awful I felt. I did that quite consciously, as it was something I had learned in CBT therapy. (Turned out that I never needed therapy: my problems, for the most part, were caused by the drugs I took!)

All of you have the same choice. You have to decide who you believe, and what you can accept as the truth.

east (BIG hug to all of you...my smiley faces are not working!)

You will heal from this. But healing from benzos will not heal whatever was troubling you prior to using benzos. You will have to deal with that stuff later on.

I agree. I would guess perhaps 2% of people have awful withdrawals. And yes, that 2% matters a lot. Why this is not known in the medical community (which I am a part of) I do not know. That remains a mystery to me - and all of you.

 

For some reason, a few people heal much slower. It might be due to how long one took benzos, but it might not be. It might be related to how you got off benzos. Supposedly cold turkeys cause more difficult withdrawals. But I have read so many posts from taper people struggling just as bad as we CT people.

 

There is just so much confusion and lack of knowledge about this stuff. Its hard to know who to trust. A brain in withdrawal is already super sensitive and not knowing who to believe makes it much more difficult.

 

I chose to believe in the positive side of it all, no matter how awful I felt. I did that quite consciously, as it was something I had learned in CBT therapy. (Turned out that I never needed therapy: my problems, for the most part, were caused by the drugs I took!)

All of you have the same choice. You have to decide who you believe, and what you can accept as the truth.

east (BIG hug to all of you...my smiley faces are not working!)

 

I try hard to be positive, but it's difficult when your brain feels hard wired to buy into the negatives. I gravitate towards pessimism without even realizing it. I started medication because of some VERY minor anxiety that I had related to starting graduate school three years ago. I didn't have any tolerance withdrawal symptoms or any negative symptoms until I got off the meds, and then I was hit with a storm of depression and cognitive fog.

Yes.  I completely healed from my cold turkey.

 

It is very possible.  Sometimes a cold turkey makes symptoms more intense and WD last longer, but not always.

 

You WILL heal.  Everything is TEMPORARY and REVERSIBLE.

 

It just feels permanent, but it's not.  I thought the same thing too, that I was permanently damaged. You're not!

Did you deal with muscle tightness around the skull area?

Hellbutrin,

Being negative and scared is a hallmark of BWD. I was just like you. So are just about everyone on this forum. There is something about benzo WD that makes you doubt yourself, to not trust yourself like you normally do.

I am so sorry this happened to you. You did not need this on top of all the other things you are dealing with. But like everyone else here, it DID happen and now you have to deal with it.

 

I had to force myself to think more positively. Like you, I would slip back into being negative, because I felt so awful. The place I faked it on was here on BB. I could do that because when you are typing, you can go back and correct any negativity. Because back then I wrote so many posts, and in almost everyone of them I managed to sound positive, I was somehow re-training my brain to BE positive.

Over time, doing this does retrain your brain and you do begin to FEEL more positive. There is a lot of research on this out there, if you want to know more.

No doubt about it - benzo WD can be an enormous challenge for some people.

east

NOTE: Before you proceed, you should know that the following is a block of text from Baylissa Frederick – it is not from ThEwAy2’s personal experience. (Admins)

 

---

 

There is a quote by Dave Brown that says most people give up when the odds seem insurmountable and the true heroes in this world are those who don’t. I genuinely believe that anyone who is going through or has been through withdrawal is a true hero/heroine, and I want to remind you of this today.

 

In withdrawal, you spend so much time managing symptoms and finding ways of coping, it is easy to overlook the immense strength, resilience and courage you happen to find each day. It’s difficult for someone not experiencing withdrawal to appreciate just how much guts and gumption it takes to get through it.

 

But you know what it feels like to wake up in pain, every day, and nothing seems to be changing. You know what it feels like to hold on for dear life, while the symptoms rage. You know what it feels like to feel fear in the depths of your gut and to wonder if you will ever heal. You know what getting through withdrawal entails and yet you wake up every morning and you keep going. It takes someone truly heroic to do this and not give up. YOU are that person.

 

If no one acknowledges your strength and courage, that’s okay. But you must do so. You are the only one who fully knows your daily trials and what it takes to face and overcome them. May the strength that lies within you, which is more powerful than the worst aspect of your withdrawal, that has taken you this far, continue to propel your valiance. To be on this journey means you are strong, indestructible, amazing and deserving of utmost respect. Hold your head up high.

 

 

I'm going to print this out and read it daily.

Thank you so much for passing this along. 

5 1/2 years out from a forced cold turkey after 29 years of use and I'm pretty much sure I will never be healed.

Wow! Some really positive, reaffirming replies here. Eastcoast... Thank you for your amazing encouragement. We need positive reinforcement when going through a time where we feel lost in the wilderness.

Hellbutrin,

Being negative and scared is a hallmark of BWD. I was just like you. So are just about everyone on this forum. There is something about benzo WD that makes you doubt yourself, to not trust yourself like you normally do.

I am so sorry this happened to you. You did not need this on top of all the other things you are dealing with. But like everyone else here, it DID happen and now you have to deal with it.

 

I had to force myself to think more positively. Like you, I would slip back into being negative, because I felt so awful. The place I faked it on was here on BB. I could do that because when you are typing, you can go back and correct any negativity. Because back then I wrote so many posts, and in almost everyone of them I managed to sound positive, I was somehow re-training my brain to BE positive.

Over time, doing this does retrain your brain and you do begin to FEEL more positive. There is a lot of research on this out there, if you want to know more.

No doubt about it - benzo WD can be an enormous challenge for some people.

east

 

You are so encouraging. It brightens my days when I read your posts.

 

I still have a feeling that I will have a anhedonia permanently. I haven't seen reports of this going away for anyone that is afflicted with it. It's been two years and I haven't seen any change or deviation in this. I'm not sure how the brain works with anhedonia, but I find it difficult to imagine that it will go away on it's own. Most of the reports that I've read say that anhedonic depression is the most difficult to treat even if you try to get on other antidepressant medication. Pretty scary stuff.

Even though I'm on a god-awful amount of bp pills (I drank the Kool-Aid!!), I feel as if this will all fade away. I've experienced so many changes for the better. I had almost all the Wikipedia benzo symptoms, I've been to the ER about 7 times, and I've been hospitalized 3 times since benzos came into my life. I've made MANY mistakes (and I'm older!).

 

It just takes patience (which I have very little of), a good diet, some exercise, lots of prayer, and TIME. The brain does heal. For some of us it takes longer. 

I have been on BB for almost 7 years now. And IU can tell you that everyone heals. It nay take some a longer time, but in time we all do heal.

 

All you have to do is hang tight. Manage your symptoms and learn some new ways to deal with them. Just keep on going.

 

 

My cat, Bear, needs some attention and  love. He is a huge hunk of Cat Love.

On benzos: NEVER give up. Better days are coming.

east

 

So you have not seen anyone who took longer than 7 years or did some take longer?