Can quitting benzos cause illness or disease?

The most concerning symptoms I’ve been dealing with the past 3 weeks has been this feeling of a knot in my stomach, strained breathing, lack of appetite, diarrhea, rapid weight loss, and constant high blood pressure.

 

I’m beginning to wonder if this isn’t w/d’s, but symptoms of another illness. Like, I just got back from a mild walk, and and I’m huffing and puffing, and my stomach feels so tight. I’ve barely managed to finish meals the past few days.

 

It can’t just be the benzos, could it?

This process keeps us off balance and fearful so its important to push back on these thoughts because it just makes us feel worse.

 

I feel you would benefit from reading this thread, its called: Benzo Lies That Have Been Busted

 

From chapter 3 of The Ashton Manual

Heart and lungs. Palpitations, pounding heart, rapid pulse, flushing, sweating, and breathlessness are usual accompaniments of panic attacks, but may occur without panics. They do not signify heart or lung disease but are simply the expression of an overactive autonomic nervous system. Slow deep breathing and relaxation, as described under panic attacks, can do much to control these symptoms. Do not worry about them: they would be accepted as normal if you were running for a bus, and will do no more harm than if you really were!

 

Digestive problems. Some people have no problems at all with their digestive systems during or after withdrawal, and may even notice that they are enjoying their food more. Others, perhaps more prone constitutionally, may complain of a range of symptoms associated with "irritable bowel syndrome" (IBS). These can include nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, constipation, abdominal pain, flatulence, gaseous distension and heartburn. Quite a few have found these symptoms so uncomfortable that they have undergone hospital gastrointestinal investigations, but usually no abnormality is found. The symptoms may be partly due to overactivity in the autonomic nervous system, which controls the motility and secretions of the gut and is very reactive to stress, including the stress of benzodiazepine withdrawal. In addition, there are benzodiazepine receptors in the gut. It is not clear what the functions of these receptors are or how they are affected by benzodiazepines or benzodiazepine withdrawal, but alterations in these receptors may play some part in increasing gut irritability.

The most concerning symptoms I’ve been dealing with the past 3 weeks has been this feeling of a knot in my stomach, strained breathing, lack of appetite, diarrhea, rapid weight loss, and constant high blood pressure.

 

I’m beginning to wonder if this isn’t w/d’s, but symptoms of another illness. Like, I just got back from a mild walk, and and I’m huffing and puffing, and my stomach feels so tight. I’ve barely managed to finish meals the past few days.

 

It can’t just be the benzos, could it?

 

Sounds like benzo withdrawal to me.

This process keeps us off balance and fearful so its important to push back on these thoughts because it just makes us feel worse.

 

I feel you would benefit from reading this thread, its called: Benzo Lies That Have Been Busted

 

From chapter 3 of The Ashton Manual

Heart and lungs. Palpitations, pounding heart, rapid pulse, flushing, sweating, and breathlessness are usual accompaniments of panic attacks, but may occur without panics. They do not signify heart or lung disease but are simply the expression of an overactive autonomic nervous system. Slow deep breathing and relaxation, as described under panic attacks, can do much to control these symptoms. Do not worry about them: they would be accepted as normal if you were running for a bus, and will do no more harm than if you really were!

 

Digestive problems. Some people have no problems at all with their digestive systems during or after withdrawal, and may even notice that they are enjoying their food more. Others, perhaps more prone constitutionally, may complain of a range of symptoms associated with "irritable bowel syndrome" (IBS). These can include nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, constipation, abdominal pain, flatulence, gaseous distension and heartburn. Quite a few have found these symptoms so uncomfortable that they have undergone hospital gastrointestinal investigations, but usually no abnormality is found. The symptoms may be partly due to overactivity in the autonomic nervous system, which controls the motility and secretions of the gut and is very reactive to stress, including the stress of benzodiazepine withdrawal. In addition, there are benzodiazepine receptors in the gut. It is not clear what the functions of these receptors are or how they are affected by benzodiazepines or benzodiazepine withdrawal, but alterations in these receptors may play some part in increasing gut irritability.

 

Thank you. I actually have that page bookmarked. I read it a lot, trying to calm myself down. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

The most concerning symptoms I’ve been dealing with the past 3 weeks has been this feeling of a knot in my stomach, strained breathing, lack of appetite, diarrhea, rapid weight loss, and constant high blood pressure.

 

I’m beginning to wonder if this isn’t w/d’s, but symptoms of another illness. Like, I just got back from a mild walk, and and I’m huffing and puffing, and my stomach feels so tight. I’ve barely managed to finish meals the past few days.

 

It can’t just be the benzos, could it?

 

Sounds like benzo withdrawal to me.

 

It’s so crazy to me that everything I’m experiencing is because of that cursed pill.

Oh it's benzo withdrawl for sure.  You can chase other phantom illnesses forever but those drugs are the devil and I have well over 100 sx including those in the beginning.

Oh it's benzo withdrawl for sure.  You can chase other phantom illnesses forever but those drugs are the devil and I have well over 100 sx including those in the beginning.

 

Good grief! I think I’ve only had a couple dozen s/x at most. That is nuts!

You should be fine,  those will go away before long.