Today we tell the story of Christine and her experiences with psychiatric medication and withdrawal. If you wish to share your own Benzo Story we would be honored to tell it.
How it Began
Due to various events in her life, Christine was prescribed lorazepam (for sleep) , trazadone, various SSRIs, zopiclone, and clonazepam (for anxiety).
Christine was not aware that she was taking benzodiazepines and was not informed ever about the risks of dependency, tolerance, addiction or withdrawal.
Updosing and Tolerance
The clonazepam was increased twice. This is called up-dosing and is often what happens when patients become tolerant to their medication (it stops working) and their doctor increases the dose.
When someone hits ‘tolerance’ they often end up with even more medication prescribed, which must ultimately be tapered off.
Rapid Tapers and Cold Turkey
When she was in the UK in 2017, Christine’s new doctor took one look at the list of medications and said she simply could not be on them all. By this stage she had been on these medications for 8 - 15 years and she was scared and felt she needed them to function.
She called the emergency services for help and a doctor came to see her at her home. Her father was beside himself at what was happening.
What followed was a very rapid taper of the clonazepam, zopiclone and lunesta - 12 days only. She was not warned of any potential withdrawals so she was totally unprepared.
She went home thinking she was fine, but she was not.
“A few days later I went into acute withdrawal but still didn’t really connect the dots.”
Christine now had severe insomnia, uncontrollable crying and was catatonic.
“The SSRI was just stopped cold turkey, I feel it got lost in the mix. I now know these come with their own set of potentially severe but shorter lasting withdrawals.”
After this, things got much worse. Christine experienced dizziness, insomnia, rubbery legs, wobbly neck, blurred vision, headaches, dry eyes, watery eyes, floaters, nausea, hair loss, weight gain, and so much more.. she had up to 150 horrific and terrifying symptoms to manage.
“I was completely blindsided by the entire thing. I had planned on restarting my life in UK. Instead I was ill for over a year and then ended up moving back to US.”
Online Support is Important
Christine has found a lot of support in online Facebook groups where she can connect with people from around the world and she is now BENZO FREE for 22 months. She is currently only on Lexapro for depression.
Healing and Recovery
Once she moved back to the USA, Christine managed to secure both her old job and her old apartment back. She is getting more and more back to her old self and her Dad is thrilled to see these changes.
She still has some symptoms to manage; her hair is still growing back, she has some weight to lose, floaters and anxiety (about sleep) but she is moving forward with her life in the USA now.
“If you face the thing you fear, the fear is sure to die.”
Final words from Benzo Warrior
Thank you so much Christine for sharing your story with us. We hope this helps others feel less alone with the experiences they are having as they take charge of their health and withdraw from these medications. We are here to support you as much as we can in the Benzo Warrior Community.
You can read more about Christine’s story >> HERE <<
For our readers, if you are on these medications please do not stop abruptly (cold turkey) as the risks include seizures, psychosis and death. It is worth noting that anyone taking these medications is at risk of dependence, tolerance and addiction, even when taken exactly ‘as prescribed’.