f you have health insurance, call your provider, and request a list of a dozen or more psychiatrists in your area that are covered
and report her previous provider.
Wasn’t aware that you could do that, but ya, that too
Thank you for all this info, taking it all in and thank you for the positivity as well considering all you have said and your wealth of knowledge and experience. Just curious how long did it take u to find a new doctor/prescription?
Another huge wealth of knowledge and experience, I appreciate it so greatlyThe FDA has changed their recommendations regarding old people. The recognize that long term benzo use causes dementia. It used to be they would just leave people on the medicine to not agitate them. Now that they have clear evidence the medicine is CAUSING the problem, they have federally advised that high-risk older patients and those showing any signs of dementia must be discontinued off of benzos and is chasing after doctors the same way they did opioids for a period of time.
The doctors perceive the liability between the high-risk patients and the high-intensity regulators and run away ( I have seen this happen to 3 older friends, my mother is one of them. so this hits home ).
I would: 1) take stock of what medication she has left and stockpiled, and see if there is enough to taper that. 2) contact other doctors and candidly explain the situation, that you would like to proceed with an Ashton manual taper on diazepam 3) find whatever dr agrees and help her through the transition. it won't be painless, but it will be much easier to come off of. 4) follow the Ashton manual and i would say start at 5%
until then - it is wildly irresponsible of her medical professionals to try and attribute seizure activity in a bzd withdrawal patient to "probably SSRIs" sure, it could be, or it could be the onset of a seizure that might do real brain damage or kill her. They know this is one of the most active symptoms of benzo withdrawal. I have been through both bzd and SSRI withdrawal, and whereas SSRIs feel like getting hit with a 9V all over, Benzo wd feels like getting your fingers jammed in a 110v socket. forever. if she begins having symptoms of this intensity(intense shaking, hallucinations, bp over 180/100, extreme muscle contraction, prolonged brain zaps/lost time/brain resets, auditory hallucinations) - she needs hospitalization, end of story. any place worth being at will have sympathy for her situation, probably want to switch her to librium or diazepam - or at the worst fill more xanax and try and get her a good referral.
Benzos cause progressive damage to the GABA receptor system. it's part of your brains electrical axis (GABA and glutamate) and controls muscle contraction/relaxation and actual mood activation/relaxation. the receptors are all over your entire body. if you can't control this, you essentially have epilepsy. People who abuse high dose research chemical benzos over long periods sometimes destroy their seizure threshold to the point they have to take phenobarbital or a similar heavy anti-seizure medicine round the clock after getting off. It's nothing to take lightly, and your mom is a trooper for dealing with what she has without too much complaint because I would be crawling the walls and demanding justice at that point.
Kindling (sedative–hypnotic withdrawal) - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
^^^ That link explains a lot. I am really so sorry they are doing this to her. I would look for a medical attorney in the area, and just ask for a consult and see if any of it merits action. they are usually willing to consult for free. sadly, it might be the case that there is only a case worth pressing if something worse ends up happening. I really hope that is not how this situation ends up.I am really sad our doctors are doing this to our old people when their advice is what put them here in the first place.
Any doctor advising a patient on titration should have had to experience that titration themselves.
a lot to process and a lot to consider. Im going to share all this info with her immediately and the facts and reasons are staggering… overall would you say be it your mom or yourself.. do u think it’s best to stay on this medication throughout life or to go off of it? I’m just wondering what is even best.. her being 50 it feels like it’s not the best case for her body to adjust to, let alone her mind rn as she’s going through so much more as im sure u know from yours
Thank you for your condolences about my uncle, that means a lot. And yes I really find this is a valuable source. I’ve read a lot more than i post. It can sometimes be difficult to use on my phone, my generation is more used to apps as we no longer have a functioning computer.
Keep us all posted!!Wow… thank you. This insight was very helpful in suggestions as well as validation as i was reading these out loud to her. She was really glad to hear and nodding in agreement lol. We are in the US, she’s never really drank, it used to make her tired or woozy but we’ll look into it as well as a hunt for another doctor. Are there even any in the US prescribing this anymore??I’ve always seen movies and tv shows from the 90s or 2000s w people randomly carrying said scripts in their purse lending them to a friend like it was a cigarette i.e. xanax, valium, addivan, but it definitely seems very taboo now. We have considered the emergency room but afraid of the stigma and judgment over it and ofc rn there is much heightened anxiety… literally when she first was put on this medication at all, she didn’t know what a panic attack was and had went to the emergency room by ambulance and thought she was having a heart attack. They sent her over to psychiatric and thus began the noticing how people in the medical field change their tune and starting saying it’s all in your head. I’ll keep you updated
Report to who? Im so sorry if you mentioned it already am a bit overwhelmed
Wow i wish our moms knew each other for support lol… kuddos to her for getting through that and moving forward to find another doctor that met her needs. So do you personally believe that your mom is better off taking them than not? I have to admit a lot of the stuff about dementia has scared her and i.. but we have been scared anyways with this weening off withdrawal experience and yes one of things her therapist said was they were stopping giving out this med to patients cuz of “abuse” which is really a shameKeep us all posted!!
I'm not a fan of the alcohol "buzz" myself either, but I think a beer or two may help, at least for a few hours.
And yes, doctors still do prescribe benzos. Hell, actually a lot of people in addiction treatment with legit anxiety disorders are often prescribed benzos, because there's not much else that does as good a job as they do when it comes to anxiety/panic attacks.
BUT with that said, yes a lot of doctors think benzos are the next "pain killer" epidemic. It's ridiculous, fear mongering & anti-drug propaganda.
It's still not a bad idea to keep trying other doctors.
My mom was on clonazepam for 30 years. During that time, we moved & she had to find another doctor to give her her meds and she was in withdrawal for several weeks. I have no idea how she did it. But she was eventually able to get back on it.
Chamomile has a compound called Apigenin in it, that can help. Definitely worth looking into this as well.
Keeping your mom in my thoughts!
because even my aunt used to get it for anxiety and just have it all the time offering extras while we’d be out shopping when me and my cousins were little like it was nothing or like a shot of vodka to take when she’d be stressed out or whatever. I recall it so distinctively but that part of my family has all moved away since my uncle passed and we don’t talk (
Update as of Friday afternoon; i am so grateful for everyone who has been posting here for me and all your thoughts concerns and shared research. Right now my mother has seven .25 mgs left. She has been spacing last months script out to extend into this month hoping for the doctor to show mercy and prescribe it again but he refuses but her therapist has told her in confidence of another client with the same issue who called and got this prescription filled and paid out of pocket. We’ve googled the place and all the reviews are shady af.. and my mom got an appointment made for February. We don’t know for sure if they are going to prescribe this and putting the cash aside for it is also going to be a big sacrifice in other areas which really sucks. We were shocked that they called back so promptly and they said she can call back to see if there’s cancellations about a sooner appointment. Everyday her symptoms and wd has been so bad that she considers going to the ER except for the couple hours after she takes half a pill. We’re not sure whether to continue that way as nothing’s improved all month. Im still considering that we should make more calls and have some backups ready in case. So we’re gonna try as many suggestions as you all have given and i will keep updating and reading. Hope everyone’s having a great day/night.
My mom passed away last year on Mother's Day. She was going on 71 & still took 2-3mg of clonazepam daily. Some times less.Wow i wish our moms knew each other for support lol… kuddos to her for getting through that and moving forward to find another doctor that met her needs. So do you personally believe that your mom is better off taking them than not? I have to admit a lot of the stuff about dementia has scared her and i.. but we have been scared anyways with this weening off withdrawal experience and yes one of things her therapist said was they were stopping giving out this med to patients cuz of “abuse” which is really a shame
How about a list of the other medications? Let's check them out for ya. Some of the weirdest and benign of substances that you would not even normally consider can interact with each other. I don't mind checking and researching for you I assure you.
And maybe some more details re: the pre-existing conditions if you're up to it and don't mind.
Fucking hell. That sounds like me on a good day of late at age 56
, no drugs, no booze. Next few years could get interesting but then I'll not remember this thread or post let's be honest. Mind you: probably not strictly true. I can vividly and in fine detail remember things from like 30 years ago at very least. But I cannot remember if I put the butter back into the fridge tonight after dinner!
I haven’t researched the topic much tbh, so I’ll defer to you.
In my country benzos are over the counter......so there's not that fear of losing ur prescription...
If this is for recreational purposes be prepared to be underwhelmed or lower you expectations. This shit merely induces sleep and acts for a period of three hours by which it is hoped that your body has taken over naturally. But this shit is also well known to have people doing the strangest of things. There are more than one rather amusing g posts around here. Just search for Zolpidem. I recall somebody cooking up an entire batch of things that resembled pop tarts and not remembering doing it until the next morning. Also personally knew some person who thought it was a good idea to take them to tide them over during a long haul international flight, mixed with some drinks, started making shit with passengers and cabin crew alike, and was promptly arrested upon arrival. Never remembered anything of what transpired on the flight.
Have you tried her normal dr.
It feels similar to Valium for me, I’m happy with em, though I took em two hours ago, I don’t feel like I’m going to pass out or anything, Mainly I feel relaxed, like I took about 0.5 -1mg of Xanax , I took 10 mg of it btw