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Want to prevent suicide? Stop ignoring benzo patients


[Ms...]

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Hi Janice,

 

That was a great piece of work. I'm glad your organization exists and I hope you're having some influence. It seems anecdotally that physicians are becoming more aware. Even my doctor told me, after I'd been in withdrawal for 5 months or so, that "benzos are terrible drugs". I kind of looked at her in disbelief. It was clear she'd never bothered to learn about them the entire time I took the drug.

 

I had a research question. I've heard doctors say that they believe benzo withdrawal lasts one month. I've been looking around for the source of this and can't find it anywhere. I've also been looking for numbers to verify the ones that Dr. Ashton quotes in her studies, that 30% of people become physically dependent after long term use of benzos and that 10-15% of these experience a post-withdrawal syndrome. I'm suspicious of these numbers, so I was trying to find their original source. Unfortunately, the citations Ashton uses for these don't appear to be on the internet. I suspect they come from randomized clinical trials, in which case they are likely an underestimate and another study needs to be commissioned to find out the true prevalence. I have access to the local university library, but they don't seem to have it. Any ideas about where these numbers come from originally? 

 

Thanks. And again: great article!

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Excellent article.  Will leave a copy at the medical industrial complex in my community.  Maybe it will be read by a prescriber that has a conscious.

 

Sweet pea

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I had a research question. I've heard doctors say that they believe benzo withdrawal lasts one month. I've been looking around for the source of this and can't find it anywhere. I've also been looking for numbers to verify the ones that Dr. Ashton quotes in her studies, that 30% of people become physically dependent after long term use of benzos and that 10-15% of these experience a post-withdrawal syndrome. I'm suspicious of these numbers, so I was trying to find their original source. Unfortunately, the citations Ashton uses for these don't appear to be on the internet. I suspect they come from randomized clinical trials, in which case they are likely an underestimate and another study needs to be commissioned to find out the true prevalence. I have access to the local university library, but they don't seem to have it. Any ideas about where these numbers come from originally? 

 

Thanks. And again: great article!

 

My guess is the month thing is being pulled out of thin air. Often like the taper rates they suggest... If there's some sort of research on it it's likely the research ended at 1 month and a certain percentage had recovered, which I would expect anyway.

 

 

Thank you all for the kind comments! I'm glad you find this useful.

 

 

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My guess is the month thing is being pulled out of thin air. Often like the taper rates they suggest... If there's some sort of research on it it's likely the research ended at 1 month and a certain percentage had recovered, which I would expect anyway.

 

 

Thank you all for the kind comments! I'm glad you find this useful.

 

Thanks again MsAtomicBomb. My own psychiatrist mocked me when I said that benzo withdrawal caused suicides. I felt he was being extremely unfair and cruel during that appointment. I stopped talking about benzodiazepines to him because I felt like he had the capacity to make my life even more miserable than it actually is. Thank you.

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WOW!!!!! This is an EXCELLENT article. I think it is the best I've read in the Benzo Coalition.

 

If this article doesn't get physicians' attention to WAKE UP, nothing will. It goes to the heart of the situation, that is the unbearable pain and unending torture, both physical and mental, that can lead to suicide for so many people. And suicidal ideation is very common (I've thought about it many times as I'm sure others have done). Would we think that way normally? NO.

 

This article really ought to be in every medical facility so that doctors and nurses see it. We're in a world of trouble with benzos, and it's high time that's recognized.

 

VERY GOOD!!!!  :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

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My guess is the month thing is being pulled out of thin air.

 

I believe that pharmaceutical companies are only required to study the effects of drugs for 30 days after cessation. I would bet that it has something to do with that.

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