Benzodiazepine Withdrawal Difficulties: Stanford Psychiatrist Anna Lembke, M.D.

This is what she says makes me incredibly scared!!

In the "Take Your Pills: Xanax" (2022) documentary for quitting benzodiazepines she recommends SSRIs , which cause PSSD and many other persistent issues and damage for there is no cure and no palliative treatment.
They have a torturous withdrawals and are very addictive too.

I would be very careful with what she says.
Psychiatry must be abolished ASAP as doctor Peter Gotzsche demands.

I was taking this for over than 5 years . But i moved to Denmark and here I can’t find the medicine. So i have to stop. But i am facing too much difficulties like heart racing too fast , insomnia, restlessness, sweating. Headache and so many things. I am so afraid and broken. Can anyone help me? One thing is sure I can’t find this anymore. So i have to quit 😢

After listening to these videos no one will ever get off. Sounds like getting off is a death sentence for sure. Thanks for giving us hope for the future.🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️

A doctor put me on Xanax. I didn't think it was a big deal. I started noticing I'd be anxious when it began wearing off. The anxiety seemed worse than the anxiety I took it for in the first place. The doctor didn't understand that, or it went over his head. He wanted me to keep talking it. After 2 months I quit cold turkey. I'd done research by then & thought OH HELL NO. No one should be taking these without informed consent. I definitely did not have any information about the dangers. This was 10 years ago. Glad I did my own research & listened to my body. Anxiety & depression are NORMAL responses all humans have for solid, rational reasons. Life is hard af sometimes. Good luck, everyone. I'm pulling for you.

That psychiatrist should be ashamed of herself. Speaking about the dangers of the drugs she prescribes yet still prescribes. Typical psychiatrist psychopath.

Is there anybody out there who managed to come off benzos without these terrible symptoms surely there must be some.

She forgot to mention depersonalization disorder that comes from benzo withdrawal which in itself, is horrible

Stop handing this crap out it’s poison

Many symptoms of withdraw are also that of brain tumors!!!! Need a mri !!!!

I have no pity for people like

As I said I have no pity for people like that that's f**** Aston manual take a drop of water at to spend some of this man's no cut off a piece of this one

I've used Klonopin for 15years and all these benzo videos are making me so damn sad, anxious and depressed. The thing is that I've managed to taper down from 2mg->0,25mg and I can't even begin to tell you about that hell. Hey, at least there is a one good thing, this shit destroyed my memory so bad that I can't even remember all of it /s But to be fair it took me years to get here and now I feel like I am stuck with this dose and I am really scared to go 0. I have my hopes that I'll regain my memory capabilities at some point but watching all of these different withdrawal videos are making me feel hopeless. What if I go to 0 and this hell just keeps repeating itself in a never-ending limbo 😢 I hate all of these goddamn meds. Absolutely ruined my life in a longterm.

I was given benzos for continuous shock like feeling in heart with no psychosomatic symptoms. I took it for 8 years (0.25mg) believing that my heart needed it and I won’t be able to live without it. Every doctor I went to wouldn’t believe my reasons to leave it and would encourage me to keep taking it. Until I found a good psychiatrist. Then I came off with a very slow taper in 3 months, the withdrawal was tough. I am completely free of it for 9 years now. Physical pain in body and some remnant anxiety and depressive feelings are the only symptoms now which I think are also due to my life situation. It’s a big win for me. Now I believe I can do anything! Very happy to be drug free!

You don’t get depressed, You Face HELL !
I face that horror 2 years ago and is posible to success, don’t give up !

I was weaned off Klonipin in 1 month and spent the next 5 years in a horrible condition. I was 62 when I stopped and it’s taken me all this time to feel normal again. I don’t even want to think about it. Destroyed me.😮😢

I was put on Benzodiazepines in 1994. First, Klonipin for 5 years along with Ambien 10 mgs. Then they put me on 6mg's of Xanax and Ambien. I'm still on them. The last time I was kindled was last February. I also have Emphasima and asthma and my 02 level went down to 62. I had to go to the hospital, where they found out I had Covid. I have been in and out of this hospital many times for my breathing issues. This time they didn't give me any of my medicine for 10 days. I experienced, Hallucinations, both audio and visual, confusion, Paranoia and jerking and twitching, brain zaps. I thought the doctors were trying to kill me and I was so terrified that I would try to hide in the bathroom. I also thought that they were going to put me to sleep like a dog. It was the most terrifying thing I've ever experienced. They should have known that I was having withdrawals from Hell. They actually sent me for a brainscan and if it showed anything, I wouldn't know because they never told me. I couldn't eat for 6 days and I was too paranoid to sleep. I just remember my eyes hurting so bad. I was so confused that I couldn't operate a phone! It was crazy. Finally, when I got discharged, I went home and took 1 2 mg Xanax and 15-20 minutes later, I felt normal again. I believe that they should have so kind of Grandfather clause for people like me, who have taken the medication as prescribed, but that have been on it for 30 years. It should be our choice whether to stay on or off of these dabilitating drugs.

Benzodiazepines not Benzos, are not addictive. This withdrawal is a myth. These are the best medications for anxiety. What is this woman’s experience taking benzodiazepines?

I've been taking dalmane/ flurazepam for 22 years. 7 (30)mgs tablets when i heard mylan discontinuing them i panicked! Now i take one dalmane daily. From 7 pills down to one, i feel brutal! Paraesthesia, breathing problems, I just feel poxy! I have 68 tablets, I'm thinking of the last pill when I'm down to one! Fucking mylan are murderers!!!

Very helpful

No it’s not something about our systems. It’s because they are an addictive substance that is ignored as addictive the way weed is a schedule one drug. You know we will get addicted to it after four weeks of not before then. Especially with daily use.

Get off the unicorn and just be honest with us. I can’t even make it through this.

I did not want to be addicted to klonopin. I did not think my doctor was going to be my dealer. But let’s face it. My doctor understood what he was doing. Even his np did……. She said ya that’s sad it happens. When I told her.

The reason why we’re asking to get off of them is because we notice there’s something wrong and aren’t willing to cower to doctors any longer.

Stop lying to us.

Also the calming effect of Gabapentin, the breaks of the nervous system.
Gone - left with -
Horrible waves of panic. Constant state of flight, fright or freeze.
It's a living nightmare!!!!

I heard Benzos are usually for emergencies and are meant for short term and never long term.

Some people never had enough natural dopamine and mix that with the constant stress that life is. Each person is an individual regarding their natural dopamine production and life events. Even people with strong Gaba receptors can only take so much. I had a teacher in private school who was outed during class by a guy on the basketball team that used heroin and who knows what else. The teacher had done nothing wrong. The heroin user just blurted out, "The man's a faggot!" and then he repeated saying this. That teacher took his life. I was about 16 in 1971 when this occurred. You never know the HELL that someone else is going through. The teacher was a good man. If benzos could have prevented this and the absence the homophobic miasma theory which still exists , then let the person have what he needs to live. In those days, being gay made you legally criminal even if you were celibate. We still live in a period of witch hunting.

Weirdest pronouncement of benzos ever.

This Dr sounds lovely and actually genuinely interested in Benzo wdl 😲. I am half way through tapering off 15 mg Diaz daily after 10+ years on another Benzo. It has been very tough and very long time to get to this point. The best thing u can do imo is not listen or read ANY horror stories - they will just make u crazy scared and that will NOT help u get off one bit. My withdrawal side effects are - Crazy off the charts Insomnia - by some miracle at 9mg day this has now stopped 🙏🙏. Fatigue lasts good 7 - 10 days after every cut. PAIN - really really intense pain in my neck if I try and reduce by more than 0.5 mg every 2 weeks. Also REALLY bad stomach cramps. I haver also had some nerve pain that comes and goes. As u get down the symptoms of wdl may get better for you as my insomnia has. DO NOT GIVE UP. THE WDL SIDE EFFECTS ARE BL**DY AWFUL , BUT THEY WILL NOT KILL YOU, AND ARE NOT DANGEROUS, IF YOU GO AT A GOOD PACE. REMEMBER THAT. STAY CALM. I start to feel bit better like day 10 after a cut, then start tapering again day 14. 🙏🙏🤎🖤🤎 Do some work too - get counselling, do neuro plasticity work - u have to change u , on the inside, on this journey , or maybe make changes to your life.

stop taking valium almost 1 year already but still scared to go out.i feel numbness right side of my body.head to toe,do im gonna get better?feel so bad my life is not normal.sorry for my English.

I have more mental symptoms of withdrawal than physical ones . Major depression, suicidal thoughts, neurosis , insomnia, daytime sleep . It all started after i started taking lorazepam 3 month ago . Guess ia m goin through withdrawals.

It is NOT a "sub set" of people on benzos that suffer very prolonged and debilitating withdrawal symptoms - it is MOST people trying to get off them. And it is NOT a question of some people being genetically predisposed to suffer withdrawals, it is specifically the benzos causing neurological damage INDEPENDENTLY of genetics. She's an obvious mouthpiece for Pharma. Bought and paid for

Benzos kill !

Difficulties?My 31 yr. Old killed herself and it was the fault of the mental health community that got her on all the pharmaceuticals they had her on then distanced themselves from her leaving her to go cold turkey on her own.They killed her and she was a beautiful person.

She even said, "Patients that are ADDICTED to benzodiazepines..."

Two years later i'm still having PAWS, no amount of compensation could make up for how this has destroyed my life.

Recent changes in laws and who can and can't prescribe these drugs and threats to doctors who prescribe benzos have created this group of individuals who are seeking out help for withdraw! I have tried 3 times to slow withdraw and the side effects were terrible !! 2024 with my new doc will try again reducing in one month steps at -0.1 mg/ month!

I’ve been on clonazapam for at least 20 years and I’m in my 60s and I know they want me off of it. I saw the documentary out of boredom and couldn’t believe what I was hearing! I’m trying hard to slowly cut back. Originally I was on 2mg X 2 a day. Got it down to one & I’m slowly working on it. I wish they never put me on it but you believe they are safe because a doctor gave you the script! After watching the documentary I feel every one in the mental health care field especially psychiatric should spend several nights in a mental institution! I’m serious! They are book smart but they don’t know what a patient goes through. In 2016 I was diagnosed with drug induced Parkinson’s and it was hell! I was on stellizine for 8 years and was told by the neurologist that I should only have been on it for 6 weeks! They said that once I was completely off that drug the symptoms would go away but they were wrong. Every once in awhile I have tremors and other symptoms.
So trying to get off clonazapam is wicked! I don’t understand why they keep giving it to people when they know how hard it is to get off of it!
You’re doing great. Stay safe and strong and don’t listen to the demons that want to take your life! You got this and I know you will make it! Keep fighting so we all know that we can get off this crap & live a normal life and sleep at night!

I was 20 years old and alprazolam seemed to save my life. But I am desperate to get off, like desperate and rehabs I don't think understand how to taper someone off. Xanax is so awful, I don't see why anyone would need it when there are other similar benzos. UGH I HATE IT!!

I was on a benzo for 40 years - PRESCRIBED. Terrible taper (too short, by an arrogant pharmacist) and withdrawal. Completely off for a year now and still missing out on the pleasures in life. I am almost 74 and really wonder if it was worth it.

Would suboxone help with benzodiazepine withdrawal?

Bullshit~

I was taking klonopin at a big dose. Stopped myself cold turkey. Did not realize how dangerous that was. It was hellish. But after being on them for years, somehow I normalized off of them within a few months. I could not sleep a wink though. And the restlessness was agony.

30 years on 2mg of klonopin. 71 years old. For the last ten years I requested my psychiatrist to help me wean off the klonopin . Her take, no need to get off. It was prescribed with Wellbutrin to manage panic attacks and daily anxiety. 2018 I experienced two seizures. ER visit and x-ray showed a tumor in my right temporal lobe. Seizure medicine added to my cocktail of Wellbutrin and klonopin. Tumor was benign and removed 3 mos post seizures.
2019-2020 Wellbutrin and seizure medicine wean
2021-2022 klonipin 2mg-1.5mg without psychiatric support
2022-2023 klonopin 1.5mg-1mg “. “
2024 Jan-April 1st .75mg now psychiatrist believes I’m serious about getting off this benzodiazepine
2024 April 0.5mg. Brutal depression
Projecting September 2024 -0.25mg
Projecting nov or dec 2024 -1/2 of 0.25
It was easier weaning off Wellbutrin and the seizure medication. I was on Wellbutrin for 30 years.
My panic and anxiety was derived from maternal narcissistic abuse , paternal teen molestation abuse, 5male siblings dismissing me as a crybaby. Single parent from my two children being toddlers. Lived across the country from my toxic family that tried to interfere with their toxicity.
All emotions buried until the 2018 surgery when the ptsd exploded. It’s been a slice of sheer desperation trying to make sense of my life. I so appreciate finding information about the benzodiazepine journey. Chronic fatigue kicked in 2021 with the benzodiazepine’s titration, 4th Moderna shot and not being to stabilize my Hashimotos. I was a very high energy person until 2021. Now I feel like my life is over. I start telecounseling next month with a nurse practitioner that has counseling experience and hope to find a psychologist with trauma expertise soon. I want my life back.

Thank you

A lot of people talk about a lack of dopamine and Gaba, and an excess of Glutamate, but there's another big player that makes benzo withdrawal so painful! It's called Corticotropin releasing factor! It's a neuropeptide that mediates the sympathetic (fight or flight) nervous system, and is directly responsible for the GI symptoms of withdrawal such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and loss of appetite. It's also a strong anxiogenic and increases depression.

realize all of western society is a prison system they poison you through the food and water supply and give you the drugs to fix the problem they made.

was on 1mg a night of xanax for eight months for sleep. cut to .5mg for one week and then .25mg for a week been off now for one week only problem i have had was insomnia for 6 days straight but last night managed a good nights sleep. Good luck everyone.

I was addicted to Xanax after really only being on it a short time. I was taking 2 mg a day. I went into a treatment center and was able to get off. Mostly cold turkey. I had insomnia that left me almost entirely unable to sleep for several months. Had ocassional muscle twitches all over my body that lasted nearly a year. Contemplated suicide. This stuff is nasty, stay away. Still battling depression but things are much better. Been off for 17 months now.

If your in your mid 60’s and are not having any problems taking the exact same dose for decades , why not just stay on them ?

Everyone is different. Those who stopped taking it, don't give up. I took Klonopin for 6 weeks prn and it messed me up which felt like over a year. I've been off 7 years and I can say I'm way better than I was even 3 years out. I had to train myself to play with toys, read books and even eat certain foods again. I remember nearly having a break down on the first day I went out walking. It got better as time went by. Sleep I felt took forever to come back.

I feel like I have the flue, I have headaches, pulsating musle pain throughout my body

Should not come off them.