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I was terrified the vomiting and disabling anxiety would return but I had a gut feeling I didn’t need them anymore and would be ok without them. I had been on the same dose (two pills a day at the lowest dose they make) for three years. In September 2014 I decided I wanted to taper off the clonazepam.
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I had to learn about it all through other benzo users online. The long term use of benzos and their effect on our bodies has not been well-researched. This practice is concerning as it is well-established in pharmacological literature that benzos are to be used short-term (less than 4 weeks) or only on occasion. Doctors are prescribing benzos more and more for off label purposes like inner ear disorders, nausea, bladder and pelvic disorders, and fibromyalgia and for long-term use. Benzos bind to these receptors, creating a sedating, hypnotic, and anti-anxiolytic affect. Why people become physically dependent on benzodiazepines has something to do with its effect on the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). All that being said, this is not an article about benzo addiction and, quite frankly, many rehabs mistakenly treat benzo-dependent individuals as addicts when they are not. I must be an ultra-sensitive person because anytime I tried to go off a medication-any medication-I had to taper slowly.
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I have been down this road with anti-depressants. This can happen with anti-depressants, anti-psychotics, and seemingly innocent blood pressure and cholesterol medications. Your body can become significantly dependent on a drug, even those that are not controlled substances.
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Conversely, the majority who are prescribed benzodiazepines become physically chained to the medication to the point their bodies don’t know how to function without them.
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The majority of people I have met coming off benzos are not addicted to their benzo like an addict seeking more and more, abusing them, and/or getting them illegally. Benzodiazepine Dependence Versus Addictionīefore I talk about the horrendous withdrawal nightmare I went through, you must know there is a difference between physical dependence and addiction. By late 2013 I was a sick mess from the never-ending fluoroquinolone toxicity symptoms and was experiencing what I later learned to be inter-dose withdrawal and tolerance issues from the benzodiazepines. I later found out that fluoroquinolones are contraindicated in patients prescribed benzos. The Levaquin rattled my nervous system and attacked my tendons. During the second bout of sepsis I was given intravenous bags of a fluoroquinolone antibiotic called Levaquin, and subsequently, had a severe adverse reaction. By 2012, I was on a feeding tube, intravenous nutrition, and had acute pancreatitis, major abdominal surgery and two sepsis infections that landed me in ICU. Gradually, though, I began to develop a lot of weird symptoms, but I chalked them up to the SOD. I never abused them or wanted to abuse them. I thought I was doing okay on the medication. This drug, and all benzos, are anything but benign. He or she promised me it was a benign drug and I had nothing to worry about. A doctor, I can’t remember which one, changed my prescription to a longer acting benzo called clonazepam (generic for Klonopin). Since I have been in recovery for nearly two decades, I was very concerned about the addictive qualities of benzodiazepines. The combination of these medications nearly cured the vomiting with the added bonus that I had something to take for the crippling anxiety I had due to chronic illness. There, I was prescribed a low dose of a benzodiazepine (benzo) called lorezapam (generic for Ativan) in combination with an anti-nausea drug called ondansetron (generic for Zofran). I couldn’t keep food down for weeks on end and ended up in the emergency room and hospital several times. Over four years ago I became ill with what was later diagnosed as Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction (SOD), a rare defect of the biliary and pancreatic sphincters.