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ADDICTION SPECIALIST medical doctor on importance of using proper terminology


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I talked to him on the phone the other day and he mentioned "Benzo Injury Syndrome."

 

There was talk for awhile about trying to get it rebranded as "Heather Ashton Syndrome" or something like that. Withdrawal may be an applicable term for a short period of time but it is pretty commonly accepted in the benzo community that after some time reinstatement will only give partial relief or no relief at all. At that point I don't know how anyone could argue that it is "withdrawal".

 

Rebranding it would definitely help the cause.

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I talked to him on the phone the other day and he mentioned "Benzo Injury Syndrome."

 

There was talk for awhile about trying to get it rebranded as "Heather Ashton Syndrome" or something like that. Withdrawal may be an applicable term for a short period of time but it is pretty commonly accepted in the benzo community that after some time reinstatement will only give partial relief or no relief at all. At that point I don't know how anyone could argue that it is "withdrawal".

 

Rebranding it would definitely help the cause.

 

This makes sense. Someone on the forum suggested that "recovery" is what follows "withdrawal."

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I get so mad about the word withdrawal. I think that was a huge error to use it this long. You go into a doctor 2 months out and say you're in withdrawal, and he's going to immediately dismiss you, because that isn't 'possible.' Brain Injury; it's accurate, its scary, but not as scary as brain damage.
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FG, thanks for your effort on the terminology subject...

Will check out the links I dont recognise when I have more data to spare..

:)

 

I guess I tend to use the word Benzo (or often in my case opiate/antibiotic) “Damage”..

 

I did use the term “Iatrogenic Harm (medication)” on some ins. papers recently, -my (good) Dr gave a little smile when filling out her part, but im still waiting to hear from the bureaucrats.. 

Im not sure everyone is in a position to “play” with them like this, but im happy to take one for the team... -if it comes to that... 

 

 

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This makes sense. Someone on the forum suggested that "recovery" is what follows "withdrawal."

 

This has been brought up in the past but it simply doesn't make sense.

 

We use the term "withdrawal" not to describe that we are taking the drug away but to describe the aftermath of taking a drug away. If you are in "recovery" you have to be recovering from something. Recovery is not the right word.

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I wonder if it might have been an especially ironic smile coming from your doctor, since iatrogenic means 'harmed by doctor (or therapy)"? So even though she probably wasn't the one who "harmed' you, it might have felt a little strange for her to be signing it.

 

Or maybe she just thought the usage was both apt and saucy.

 

quiet

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I guess I tend to use the word Benzo (or often in my case opiate/antibiotic) “Damage”..

 

Yep, benzo/brain/cns damage are all accurate as far as I am concerned.

 

There is a good reason why doctors don't believe that it is withdrawal after a certain period of time, but I haven't been met with outright denial yet when I framed it as cns damage.

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This makes sense. Someone on the forum suggested that "recovery" is what follows "withdrawal."

 

This has been brought up in the past but it simply doesn't make sense.

 

We use the term "withdrawal" not to describe that we are taking the drug away but to describe the aftermath of taking a drug away. If you are in "recovery" you have to be recovering from something. Recovery is not the right word.

 

The person on the forum suggested we aren't describing it accurately.

 

I think that as we are tapering we are withdrawing. Merriam-Webster shows both usages for withdrawal:

 

(1): the discontinuance of administration or use of a drug

(2): the syndrome of often painful physical and psychological symptoms that follows discontinuance of an addicting drug

ex: a heroin addict going through withdrawal

 

For recovery:

 

(1): the act, process, or an instance of recovering

 

I'm recovering from the mis-prescribing of Xanax. I went through withdrawal when I was tapering. I don't have a problem with that usage. It is being used as #2 above. I'm not set on it either. Whatever communicates the issue most clearly is what should be used.

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I wonder if it might have been an especially ironic smile coming from your doctor, since iatrogenic means 'harmed by doctor (or therapy)"? So even though she probably wasn't the one who "harmed' you, it might have felt a little strange for her to be signing it.

 

Or maybe she just thought the usage was both apt and saucy.

 

quiet

Probably both, and a little humouring roll of the eyes.. :)

 

Your right, while she knew my hx, and I had seen her while other Drs were away over the yrs, she took me on when others gave up.. (opiates)

It was her casual little comment of “Be careful with these (V), -Some people have more problems than with opiates..”, that prompted me to discontinue...  Its been a journey for both of us...

 

The bulk of the damage was done in hospital, -discontinuation was not their problem, apparently.. :(

 

Cheers..

 

***

FG, yes I noticed the same... and frankly I was helped more once we were talking damage, not WD as such...

 

 

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The person on the forum suggested we aren't describing it accurately.

 

I think that as we are tapering we are withdrawing. Merriam-Webster shows both usages for withdrawal:

 

When we say "withdrawal" we are generally talking about the symptoms we get from cessation of the drug. We also withdrawal from the drug when we taper, but most people are referring to symptoms.

 

We are recovering, but that isn't what is important. The important thing is what we are recovering from. If you tell someone "I'm in recovery" they are going to ask you "recovery from what". The illness that we face needs a specific name.

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How about something to identify what happened to us...it gets technical sounding...but let's face it, this subject is not exactly easily described in a few words/initialism. I do like the idea of somehow including Heather Ashton's name in it.

 

After all without Heather's selfless contribution to the Benzodiazepine area of medicine, I doubt we would be having this conversation right now.

 

GABA-BZ Receptor Injury Syndrome

 

 

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I talked to him on the phone the other day and he mentioned "Benzo Injury Syndrome."

 

There was talk for awhile about trying to get it rebranded as "Heather Ashton Syndrome" or something like that. Withdrawal may be an applicable term for a short period of time but it is pretty commonly accepted in the benzo community that after some time reinstatement will only give partial relief or no relief at all. At that point I don't know how anyone could argue that it is "withdrawal".

 

Rebranding it would definitely help the cause.

 

I don't like the terms withdrawal or recovery for this. I've had some pretty nasty symptoms even with doing the slow, symptom-based taper.  I had hard time explaining it to people because so many assumed I had to be off benzos (which I wasn't) in order to experience "withdrawal". Also, when I called a helpline once, the guy on the other line started "correcting" me when I sad I was experiencing withdrawal symptoms on the same dose. I felt like I wasn't allowed to feel withdrawal symptoms on the same dose. I felt that I only "had the right" to feel them when decreasing the dose. I just felt so frustrated phoning for help and getting those kinds of replies that I almost stopped talking about benzos when calling a helpline or someone I know.

 

I prefer "withdrawal-like symptoms" or "withdrawal state" to just plain old "withdrawal". I think Prof. Ashton got it right when she spoke about the emergence of withdrawal-type symptoms while in tolerance. Personally, I think this is the part where I felt most people I tried to explain this to just didn't quite comprehend it.

 

I prefer the word "healing" to "recovery" since I feel that the word recovery has the addiction baggage, and it's often used in "addiction & recovery" context. Sure, a person can recover from cancer or surgery, but when talking about any kind of drug (whether legally prescribed one or not) and using the word "recovery", most people will just jump on the addiction language bandwagon without even fully realizing that they are doing it. It's so ingrained into our society to think like this.

 

I like benzodiazepine associated disability (BAD) that the w-bad.org folks came up with. That's perfectly fine description by me. If it walks and quacks like a disability, then it is one, no matter how long it may last.

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What about the “Benzo.... Discontinuation Syndrome” ??

I guess I ask, -wtf is a “syndrome”..??

 

Dr Wright talks about this in the video.

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What about the “Benzo.... Discontinuation Syndrome” ??

I guess I ask, -wtf is a “syndrome”..??

 

Dr Wright talks about this in the video.

Ta... I will have to catch up... :(

 

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The person on the forum suggested we aren't describing it accurately.

 

I think that as we are tapering we are withdrawing. Merriam-Webster shows both usages for withdrawal:

 

When we say "withdrawal" we are generally talking about the symptoms we get from cessation of the drug. We also withdrawal from the drug when we taper, but most people are referring to symptoms.

 

We are recovering, but that isn't what is important. The important thing is what we are recovering from. If you tell someone "I'm in recovery" they are going to ask you "recovery from what". The illness that we face needs a specific name.

 

Recovery is the only thing that is important.

 

I refer to it as being in recovery. If asked for what, I reply as I posted previously, as Dr. Wright suggested "Benzo Injury Syndrome."

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I guess I ask, -wtf is a “syndrome”..??

 

This is a start:

 

syndrome |ˈsinˌdrōm|

noun

a group of symptoms that consistently occur together or a condition characterized by a set of associated symptoms: a rare syndrome in which the production of white blood cells is damaged.

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I talked to him on the phone the other day and he mentioned "Benzo Injury Syndrome."

 

There was talk for awhile about trying to get it rebranded as "Heather Ashton Syndrome" or something like that. Withdrawal may be an applicable term for a short period of time but it is pretty commonly accepted in the benzo community that after some time reinstatement will only give partial relief or no relief at all. At that point I don't know how anyone could argue that it is "withdrawal".

 

Rebranding it would definitely help the cause.

 

I don't like the terms withdrawal or recovery for this. I've had some pretty nasty symptoms even with doing the slow, symptom-based taper.  I had hard time explaining it to people because so many assumed I had to be off benzos (which I wasn't) in order to experience "withdrawal". Also, when I called a helpline once, the guy on the other line started "correcting" me when I sad I was experiencing withdrawal symptoms on the same dose. I felt like I wasn't allowed to feel withdrawal symptoms on the same dose. I felt that I only "had the right" to feel them when decreasing the dose. I just felt so frustrated phoning for help and getting those kinds of replies that I almost stopped talking about benzos when calling a helpline or someone I know.

 

I prefer "withdrawal-like symptoms" or "withdrawal state" to just plain old "withdrawal". I think Prof. Ashton got it right when she spoke about the emergence of withdrawal-type symptoms while in tolerance. Personally, I think this is the part where I felt most people I tried to explain this to just didn't quite comprehend it.

 

I prefer the word "healing" to "recovery" since I feel that the word recovery has the addiction baggage, and it's often used in "addiction & recovery" context. Sure, a person can recover from cancer or surgery, but when talking about any kind of drug (whether legally prescribed one or not) and using the word "recovery", most people will just jump on the addiction language bandwagon without even fully realizing that they are doing it. It's so ingrained into our society to think like this.

 

I like benzodiazepine associated disability (BAD) that the w-bad.org folks came up with. That's perfectly fine description by me. If it walks and quacks like a disability, then it is one, no matter how long it may last.

 

Thanks for post.  I was only aware of Benzodiazepene Information Coalition (BIC); didn't know about w-bad until reading this. 

Does anyone know does Benzo Buddies have a sticky topic listing benzo organizations & possibly, any additional resources? 

Thanks, again.    :thumbsup:

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I talked to him on the phone the other day and he mentioned "Benzo Injury Syndrome."

 

 

I prefer the word "healing" to "recovery" since I feel that the word recovery has the addiction baggage, and it's often used in "addiction & recovery" context. Sure, a person can recover from cancer or surgery, but when talking about any kind of drug (whether legally prescribed one or not) and using the word "recovery", most people will just jump on the addiction language bandwagon without even fully realizing that they are doing it. It's so ingrained into our society to think like this.

 

 

That's a good point. I was going to include the word healing but didn't.

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While brainstorming a name for what is commonly called benzo w/d, I ended up at the following link.

https://benzo.org.uk/ashanswer.htm

 

I just realized it’s the Ashton Manual I was plagiarizing from. What a coincidence. lol

I think it's important the doctors become as educated as we've become on benzos/Z-drugs. Especially when explaining it to a patient.

 

My suggested name for this syndrome/injury/damage from a pharmaceutical, will force them to be familiar enough with this subject to then be able to explain it to their patients.

 

GABBA-BZ Receptors Injury Syndrome

 

Maybe I'm asking for too much...? Too lengthy?

 

Under the subheading; Clarification About Brain Injury, By Professor Heather Ashton, August 29, 2002, I saw the following (GABBA/BZ Receptors) and liked it right away. It was what I was looking for.

 

Interesting GABBA/BZ was placed under the subheading, Clarification About Brain Damage….because that’s exactly what this is, in part, as far as I’m concerned.

 

I used the word injury in my suggested name for this nightmare, instead of damage, because some do claim to fully recover from  this ordeal.

 

Also with a bit of research on the word injury, it apparently can mean damage…........

this Wikipedia article on Injury that I dug up, sounds like what I was looking for. Toxic injury from a pharmaceutical drug.

 

Maybe it should be called:

Benzo Toxic Brain Injury

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Injury

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While brainstorming a name for what is commonly called benzo w/d, I ended up at the following link.

https://benzo.org.uk/ashanswer.htm

 

I just realized it’s the Ashton Manual I was plagiarizing from. What a coincidence. lol

I think it's important the doctors become as educated as we've become on benzos/Z-drugs. Especially when explaining it to a patient.

 

My suggested name for this syndrome/injury/damage from a pharmaceutical, will force them to be familiar enough with this subject to then be able to explain it to their patients.

 

GABBA-BZ Receptors Injury Syndrome

 

Maybe I'm asking for too much...? Too lengthy?

 

Under the subheading; Clarification About Brain Injury, By Professor Heather Ashton, August 29, 2002, I saw the following (GABBA/BZ Receptors) and liked it right away. It was what I was looking for.

 

Interesting GABBA/BZ was placed under the subheading, Clarification About Brain Damage….because that’s exactly what this is, in part, as far as I’m concerned.

 

I used the word injury in my suggested name for this nightmare, instead of damage, because some do claim to fully recover from  this ordeal.

 

Also with a bit of research on the word injury, it apparently can mean damage…........

this Wikipedia article on Injury that I dug up, sounds like what I was looking for. Toxic injury from a pharmaceutical drug.

 

Maybe it should be called:

Benzo Toxic Brain Injury

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Injury

 

Good post. I think I still like Dr. Wright's "Benzo Injury Syndrome." When I have a massive panic attack, my heart is strongly affected. So, I like that the name isn't restricted to "brain injury." Plenty of people have benzo-related problems that are located outside the brain, so BIS seems to work well. Wright even mentions at one point that the receptors that are affected aren't solely located in the brain, they are throughout the body.

 

Thoughts?

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Good post. I think I still like Dr. Wright's "Benzo Injury Syndrome." When I have a massive panic attack, my heart is strongly affected. So, I like that the name isn't restricted to "brain injury." Plenty of people have benzo-related problems that are located outside the brain, so BIS seems to work well. Wright even mentions at one point that the receptors that are affected aren't solely located in the brain, they are throughout the body.

 

Thoughts?

 

Funny you should say this. As I was in deep thinking on the subject while cleaning dishes...great time to think lol...I thought the same thing. This is not just a brain injury.

 

I prefer my first suggestion for that very reason. Because if I'm correct, benzodiazepine receptors are just about everywhere in our bodies....feels like they are everywhere. :-[

 

Benzo Injury Syndrome as Dr. Wright apparently suggested would be great.

 

How about Benzo Injury Gift......BIG

When a patient gets hit by benzo w/d, they will feel like they got hit by something big. Sorry I couldn't resist.

 

It definitely needs to change from what we are currently referring to it as..w/d. I hate using that phrase...benzo w/d. And I'm not wild about using the word recovery in a chosen name because...

 

....seriously, how long does it take to recover from something in general...not very long. Certainly not several years or even over a decade in some cases, such as we have seen on BB, sad to say.

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