What is Protracted Benzodiazepine Withdrawal?

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Disclaimer: All of the information on this channel is for educational purposes and not intended to be specific/personal medical advice from me to you. Watching the videos or getting answers to comments/question, does not establish a doctor-patient relationship. If you have your own doctor, perhaps these videos can help prepare you for your discussion with your doctor.

#benzodiazepines

[angeliesings]

Hell on earth. Sheer torture and these drugs are still legal.
The system is screwed

[jeremiemorin]

After my experience with withdrawals, I strongly believe that it creates a trauma. That it creates a PTSD. That you get flashbacks that bring you right back to the worst time of the withdrawals just like a soldier coming back from war or a rape victim or an abused child. I'm not a doctor or a psychiatrist but after reading Dr. van der Kolk's book The Body Keeps the Score on trauma, benzo withdrawal checks all of the boxes of trauma and PTSD.

[QQ]

I went thru protracted benzo withdrawal for about 3 years ...I had ZERO windows...it was bad the entire time but very slowly got better after my taper ended. I also had very bad sensetivity to sounds, light, hot or cold, severe muscle spasms, tinnitus, constant headache and flu like symptoms, burning skin and tongue, all my teeth hurt, my teeth chattered for nearly 2 years nonstop, muscle twitching, restless leg syndrome, severe depression and anxiety, severe agoraphobia and monophobia, lightning bolt like shocks going through my brain and body, my vision also had wavy lines in it at times SEVERE insomnia...many many many days of ZERO sleep followed by at the most 2 hours of nightmare filled terror sleep ( this insomnia went on for nearly 2 years...I don't know how I survived it) I could barely walk at times and everything was COMPLETELY overwhelming to me, many nights I would ask God to either heal me or please kill me because I can't take this any more ..and I was only on Ativan for about 2 weeks... the Ativan stopped working after about a week and I upped the dose to about 1.5 Mg for another week and it stopped working... then I started reading about it and decided to try to taper off.... THAT is when literally all hell broke loose .... I have since made a COMPETE RECOVERY and am back to 100% normal. PRAISE GOD.

[donkon]

Just got out of treatment 8 days ago. Checked myself in after 10+ years of benzo use prescribed. I have been watching videos and reading all over the internet. This is extremely accurate as I have literally everything you speak of. Tinnitus is crippling, brain not making sense/not reliable, muscles weak, eyes are sensitive, nueroapaty, teeth grinding all day, fever feeling, waves of headaches and dizziness, unsure of everything and an overall feeling of being slow and beaten down.
I can list more.
Nothing makes this more comfortable, time is the only cure. This is by far the hardest thing ive ever done in 37 years.
One day at a time.
Thanks for the video.

[makemoneynow]

My daughter was mute from protracted withdrawal (stopped cold turkey), not showering/hygiene and not controlling her bladder/bowels [paranoid that the toilets were too dirty]. She had to go back on drugs and now were slowly trying to withdrawal her. It's horrible for the parents/loved ones to watch someone go through this and their are not even aware of what's happening.

[curt-]

One weekend while visiting family I forgot my lorazepam. The withdrawal started within a day and by the second day I was feeling horrible as if I might die.

My doctor said to never stop cold turkey. Well, being 100 miles away made it impossible to get home for the medicine.

As for the tinnitus, that is why my doctor prescribed the benzo in the first place, twelve years ago.

I don't want to ever feel this way again. I'm almost 68 years old.

[rounderone]

Cold-turkeyed off of Xanax six years ago. Have made steady improvements, but recovery is SLOW. Still have waves and windows, but for some, the recovery process is much slower than usually reported.

[blakejohnson]

6 years off and I’m not healed at all. So many people share my story. Were dismissed as having other issues. I only took it as a sleeping pill. Now I can’t function. My whole world has changed.

[etmickn]

I'm 4 years free from Xanax. I'm in the protracted phase & I'm still have residual symptoms, anxiety, panic attacks, mild agoraphobia, tinnitus, cog fog, brain zaps, headaches, migraines, dizziness, sensitivity to certain foods, sounds, led lights, GI issues, bloating, constant nausea, dull stomach pains & spasms, forced to eat small, alot of waves & easily get setbacks, shortness of breath. I thought I would be better this far out. I'm far from it. I feel suck like I'm not getting any better. I'm bit worried because my whole body is out of whack, I may develop some kind of serious illness. 😢

[helensadeik]

I can’t think properly, moods horrific, intense reactions emotional. It’s horrific no one here in Sydney does slow tapering 😩😩😩

[lieshethvermeir]

I am 22months off benzos after 6 weeks xanax, 3x 0, 5 mg daily....then did a rapid raper ....then slower....one year taper....
My main symptoms are extreme exhaustion ( nearly home/bedbound), numbness in both of my feet, brain fog....
There are none( to little) windows and no improvements of symptoms so very discouraging😢
I had cfs before this benzo road....so even more difficult to know if i will ever improve /heal.
❤

[QQ]

Oddly...during my entire 2.5 year taper... I had ZERO windows... for about 2 years...that was nonstop hell.

[samueltan]

In my case, it was in 2017 that I stopped the BZD after a short course of just 14 tabs on and off around a month. I stopped CT and went into acute withdrawal for about a month but also went into protracted and then BIND. 5 months off, my genitals suddenly went numb and tingling. I suspect this is PSSD as well.

[maureendiem]

I have been in Protracted WD since 11-7-2019. I was taken off 1.5 mg Xanax, CT, taken for 24 years, at a Rehab. Also taken off Hydrocodone at the same time, after 12 years. My biggest problem is constant abdominal pain, plus the other more common PW symptoms. I pretty much do not have much of a life. It seems to be getting worse rather than better. I am not having much in the way of windows. I do recall three times, but only for 1 day each time. I am pretty much lost. I plan to make an appt with Dr Witt-Doerring.

[ginakendrick]

My father is 86 years old and took a medication for over 40 years he slowly went off of it. He went to go pick up his medicine and they didn’t make it anymore. Well the insomnia was evident for about two years plus and now he can just either sit in a chair, or lie down. He still claims that he does not sleep at all, but because of his age, it’s very difficult to watch. He’s a shell of a person, sometimes he feels like he’s going insane. He did take about a year and a half to go off of it but why in the last bit he just completely fell of course you can’t make the pill tiny enough so the last tiny amount is what did him and he sees a good doctor now, but it doesn’t matter no matter what they give him to resolve some of the issues he has had every single symptom you could imagine, last time I spoke to him he told me I would never see him again. He would probably just die this way because of his age he had to move away closer to one of his children he’s just exist. He cannot watch TV. He cannot read. He was an artist painted beautiful paintings. He can’t do anything.

[lurknlurch]

im dealing with all its been 15 months ive lost everything now im back on them and im withdrawaling while on them i want off but my doc is just push more meds when i asked to get off them im dead broke lost my job my house im fkd and i want to dye it wont go awayt

[davidsplan]

Thank you for explaining it is not linear healing... I had to go back up to be normal and slowly protracted symptoms come and I try to stay on my dose.

[maryanderson]

Hi dr, all your video's are Awesome! I know this video is all about Benzos and protracted withdrawals. I also have protracted withdrawals but from opiates. Im 11 months off them but still struggle from withdrawals i feel like it will never end! I had a very bad leg injury and multiple surgerys i was on opiates for 3 years and stopped cold Turkey. I should have tapered but had no idea this whould happen to me! Ive been looking for a video of yours thats all about opiates and protracted withdrawals but cant seem to find one. Thankyou for all your help to everyone out there struggling with this horrible disease!

[coriemulvey]

Hello! I wanted to ask about benzo injury and long term withdrawals. Is the long term withdrawal due to too much glutamate? I know we can’t really trust pharma.. but there’s a drug called memantine. Could memantine help with these long term symptoms some people have when they quit benzo’s or when benzo’s turn on someone? I heard memantine will reduce glutamate which might be what’s causing these systems. The nonstop anxiety, impending doom.. electrical tremors and other excitatory symptoms. I know this specific injury happens with lyrica and gabapentin as well.

[Noir-srbw]

Im in protracted 30 months. How long can this possibility take its so scary