Advise re sister's 2 week cold turkey at a drug rehab.....

My sister has been taking Ativan for 20 years, up to 3 a day. 3 mg?  I forget.  Her psychiatrist advised her to get off (duh) as she was becoming more and more anxious.  Obviously into tolerance withdrawal.  Sent her to a drug rehab place near her home in NJ where they are tapering her to 1/2 a pill yesterday.  This is day 12 of a 14 day process.  I told her that this was insane.  She ended up in emerg this morning, after a $1000 ambulance ride, shaking uncontrolably, and they handed her 2 Ativan.  Honestly she is NOT a person that will be able to do any kind of taper, however slowly, with or without help, I do not think.  I live in Canada, but even if I lived next door she probably would not be able to do this.  What will happen to her if she just keeps taking this horrible stuff for the rest of her life?  She's going to be 65.  She also takes trazodone at night tho I don't know how much.  100 to 200 mg.

Oi!!!!  Any thoughts?  Any place in NJ that can handle a loooooong taper?  She doesn't have the smarts or fortitude to do this herself, sadly.   

Wow. Calendula, I am so sorry to read this. Her story is similar  to mine. I took benzos for thirty years nightly and was forced to go CT by a doctor who finally "got it." (Or sort of did.) Your description of your sister sounds like me too. I know now I would NOT have been dedicated enough to taper. I was that messed up from benzos. Thus, me going CT was the BEST and hardest thing I ever have done. The only symptom I didn't have (and I am still not truly sure of this-) was seizures. I lost consciousness several times and who knows what happened during those times. That first month, I hallucinated, was extremely paranoid and had perhaps 50 other unpleasant symptoms.

I was 6w2 when I started this long journey back to health. Older women actually seem to have an advantage when it comes to benzo wd. We have learned so much more than, say, a 25 year old. But being older does make withdrawal maybe a bit mnore complicated. No one really knows about this.

I am at a loss trying what to tell you here. I do think its wonderful that you care enough to find BB and try to help in some way. Is there any way she cold come stay with you, and slowly get off benzos? I know that is asking a LOT and don't feel guilty if your answer is no. We want to help our siblings, but sometimes, they just have to learn their lessons alone.

If she continues to take benzos, she will go through what I did, and this I am quite sure off. Over the years, my overall health went downhill. In the last 12 years I took benzos, I began to fall. A LOT. I broke several bones and required perhaps 6 surgeries to correct these fractures. Benzos badly affect one's balance and that is why I began falling. I saw specialists and was told I might have M.S. or some other disease. Not one doctor saw that my psych drugs were causing my falls and weakness. I lost a lot of weight, and gradually became sicker and sicker, and never once did I guess that the benzos were causing my problems. Well, now I do.

Interesting that a Canadian doctor wrote an article that truly helped me deal with my own journey off benzos. This can be found if you search for Janet Currie, Manufacturing Addiction' (I think that was its name). She described every single thing that did happen to me while on benzos. If you need help finding that, write to me on this thread, please.

I wish you and your sister all the luck in the world, and I am so glad you care enough to try to help her.

east

Thanks so much for your lengthy reply, East!  With over 9,000 posts, you've been busy!  It's wonderful that dedicated people like you are so attentive to such terrible suffering.  Having gone through this hell myself I know how important this forum is for everyone.  Good for you!  I'll try to do more here myself.

The article by Janet Currie is excellent.  Manufacturing Addictions by Janet Currie.  Google it folks, print it out and hand it to your doctors, hospitals and anyone else you can think of.

You may be right, c/t could be the best thing for my sister as she really doesn't have it to do a long term taper.  It seems that some long term facility is in the works so that may be a partial answer.  She's having a hard time understanding that the overwhelming anxiety and physical shaking is part of the deal.  And, having taken this stuff for more than 20 years has been extremely detrimental to someone with little self esteem and other mental health issues.  If anyone is interested I can keep posting as to her progress.

Btw,  I think my husband would LEAVE me if I were to have her here with us.  Having gone thru many years of misery with me it would probably cause him to run screaming into the hills.........

These drugs ruined 5 years of my life.  I remember when I was giving birth to my second daughter.  I started casting about mentally. " Hey, wait a minute!!  This is horrible!  Get me out of here.  How can I get out of this?? "  But then I realized there's nothing to do other than push through.  No options.  So you do it.  Keep at it, folks.  It can take a very long time, or not so long.  You'll eventually get there.  Now I have to convince my poor sister.

Thanks so much for your lengthy reply, East!  With over 9,000 posts, you've been busy!  It's wonderful that dedicated people like you are so attentive to such terrible suffering.  Having gone through this hell myself I know how important this forum is for everyone.  Good for you!  I'll try to do more here myself.

 

The article by Janet Currie is excellent.  Manufacturing Addictions by Janet Currie.  Google it folks, print it out and hand it to your doctors, hospitals and anyone else you can think of.

 

You may be right, c/t could be the best thing for my sister as she really doesn't have it to do a long term taper.  It seems that some long term facility is in the works so that may be a partial answer.  She's having a hard time understanding that the overwhelming anxiety and physical shaking is part of the deal.  And, having taken this stuff for more than 20 years has been extremely detrimental to someone with little self esteem and other mental health issues.  If anyone is interested I can keep posting as to her progress.

 

Btw,  I think my husband would LEAVE me if I were to have her here with us.  Having gone thru many years of misery with me it would probably cause him to run screaming into the hills.........

 

These drugs ruined 5 years of my life.  I remember when I was giving birth to my second daughter.  I started casting about mentally. " Hey, wait a minute!!  This is horrible!  Get me out of here.  How can I get out of this?? "  But then I realized there's nothing to do other than push through.  No options.  So you do it.  Keep at it, folks.  It can take a very long time, or not so long.  You'll eventually get there.  Now I have to convince my poor sister.

That was a great piece by Miss Currie Calendula! However, I believe she didn't go far enough. A few of her statements:

1. She considers “long term use” as “more then several months” which I believe we can all agree can be shortened to 2 months or maybe even one. Yet she did state anything over 2 weeks should never be recommended.

2 She states many people become addicted within “a few months” which I wish she had said “within a few weeks” instead.

3. She states the wd or suffering can last for weeks or even months. I wish she had stated “years” instead. Besides those minor issues it is a great piece. It seems Canada along with the rest of the world isnt escaping this “for profit/intentional torture fest with clueless Drs” charade. Thanks!

Wind, none of that really matters. The day I found her article was a huge milestone for this little old lady. To see my own story in print was, well, very enlightening. At that time I was still assuming I had gone stark raving mad. To read that frequent falls and fractures are common in women who take benzos was truly amazing to me. Reading her piece did more for me than almost anything else at that point.

Calendula, your sister is in a very difficult place right now. She hasn't enough control over her own body and mind to be rational right now. A long term situation MIGHT help her better, but she terribly young to do this. Benzo withdrawal is not easy for some, and if one takes longer than a month taking them, you may go through a bad withdrawal. We all know this! And your sisters current ability to understand and be logical is badly flawed.

Does your sister have internet access? If so, have you suggested she sign up for BB? That might be helpful. Does your sister have other medical problems? How is her overall health?

Yup, over 9000 posts in 7 years. When I found BB I started  the real journey into healing from benzos and SSRIs. None of this was easy. For overm a yearn I "