This is a collection of quotes that group members have had from their doctors. Some of them are funny and some of them show a frightening lack of understanding of benzodiazepines and withdrawal.
Comments confusing withdrawal and underlying diseases. [i]
"The drugs are out of your system so this is the underlying anxiety and depression you're feeling right now"
"There is no way this is drug withdrawal. The drugs are out of your system. After a month, the underlying diseases show up"
The Insulin Comment. [ii]
"It's like insulin for diabetes - some people need these drugs to function"
Comments confusing addiction, dependency with the need to take benzodiazepines to function [iii]
"you're confusing addiction with just needing the drugs. There's nothing wrong with needing them to function"
"Often only when you come off the drugs do people realize how much they really needed them"
"It's not an opinion, it's a fact - you were working and doing well while on the medications - now you're not working - you need them to function - nothing wrong with that..."
"so what if you’re 'dependent' on the drugs or you can't stop them quickly. If you were living a normal life, just deal with the side effects. They're not THAT bad and you're not functioning right now..."
"It's not physical dependence if you need the drugs"
Comments that underrate the difficulty of withdrawing from Benzodiazepines [iv]
"I've seen people go through true drug withdrawal and this isn't what is going on"
"Getting off the last .25mg of K is just psychological - just do it, you will be fine"
"This isn't acute withdrawal - just go out and have some fun and you will get better"
Patient "Doctor you must have know that taking me off 3.5mg of K in three weeks was going to make me very ill" Doctor "I just kind of hoped it wouldn't"
"You are being oversensitive to these symptoms - just get on with your life and everything will feel better"
"The tranquilizers haven't done this to you, all you need to do is go out and buy a new red sports car and you will be fine!"
Therapist " You need to accept that your withdrawal symptoms are 100% psychological or you will get nowhere." Patient "Benzo withdrawal is mostly a physical phenomenon." Therapist "You are hopelessly in denial and no amount of therapy will help you."
Comments that were just wrong
Patient "Is K addictive?" Doctor "Not if you are not taking it for anxiety - you will have no trouble getting off it if you need to." [v]
"You can go off today (cold turkey). However, I think that a good amount of your nausea and lightheadedness is stress-related, and not entirely attributed to Klonopin withdrawal. Some people have mild withdrawal symptoms for a few weeks" [vi]
"Oh yeah, also no answers from my doctor on the extreme muscle pain I am having in my legs from this withdrawal except, "Its your varicose veins :)" Whatever! Morons I tell ya, none of them have a clue."
Comments about the length of the withdrawal syndrome. [vii]
"Most people get better after two months -- I'm not sure why it's taking you so long."
"This is not withdrawal it is out of your system after 30 days"
"Withdrawal only occurs to people that have taken high doses for a long time"
Comments from those who just want to add more durgs
"We need to approach this taper from a place of strength -- have you tried Effexor?"
"I think this is not just withdrawal from the klonopin, but a cycle of anxiety/stress that requires Lexapro to be broken."
"Trust me, if you will just take Paxil as I tell you, you will be fine." [viii]
Others Comments
"I'm going to have to write 'medications advised - patient refuses' for legal and moral reasons"
"Wow, you're having the worst withdrawal of anyone I've ever seen."
"Trust me, I'm a doctor."
“Don’t worry you don't have an addicting type of personality"
And the best: "Huh."
[i] Unlike other drugs getting the benzodiazepine out of your system is only a small part of the recovery process. It can take from 6 - 18 months after the cessation of benzodiazepines for the brain to return to normal function. During that time symptoms experienced may still be the result of withdrawal rather than the return of underlying conditions.
[ii] Ignorance about psychiatric drugs needing to be taken for life and being the same as "insulin for diabetes" is wrong! Dr. Lawerence Stevens M.D.
LIKE TAKING INSULIN FOR DIABETES? It is often asserted that taking a psychiatric drug is like taking insulin for diabetes. Although psychiatric drugs are taken continuously, as is insulin - it's an absurd analogy. Diabetes is a disease with a known physical cause. No physical cause has been found for any of today's so-called mental illnesses. The mode of action of insulin is known: It is a hormone that instructs or causes cells to uptake dietary glucose (sugar). In contrast, the modes of action of psychiatry's drugs are unknown - although advocates of psychiatric drugs as well as critics theorize they prevent normal brain functioning by blocking neuroreceptors in the brain. If this theory is correct it is another contrast between taking insulin and taking a psychiatric drug: Insulin restores a normal biological function, namely, normal glucose (or sugar) metabolism. Psychiatric drugs interfere with a normal biological function, namely, normal neuroreceptor functioning. Insulin is a hormone that is found naturally in the body. Psychiatry's drugs are not normally found in the body. Insulin gives a diabetic's body a capability it would not have in the absence of insulin, namely, the ability to metabolize dietary sugar normally. Psychiatric drugs have an opposite kind of effect: They take away (mental) capabilities the person would have in the absence of the drug. Insulin affects the body rather than mind. Psychiatric drugs disable the brain and hence the mind, the mind being the essence of the real self.
[iii] Most of the worlds medical authorities advise that benzodiazepines should only be used for less than 4 weeks. See Guidelines for the Rational Use of Benzodiazepines. In general benzodiazepines cover up problems rather than solve them and it is becoming dependent on them that makes it difficult for people to function as they become tolerant to their effects. Physical dependence. Physical dependence describes increased tolerance of a drug combined with a physical need of the drug to function. Abrupt cessation of the drug is typically associated with negative physical withdrawal symptoms. Physical dependence is distinguished from addiction. While addiction tends to describe psychological and behavioural attributes, physical dependence is defined primarily using physical and biological concepts.
[iv] Benzodizepines need to be withdrawn slowly. See The Beginners Guide to Tapering
[v] The time it takes to form a physical dependency on a given benzodiazepine varies widely. The following variables may play a role: the size of your dose, the regularity with which you consume your dose, and most importantly, your personal body chemistry. People have been known to form dependencies in as little as 14 days of regular use at therapeutic dose levels. Your probability of forming some degree of dependency is significant, probably at least 50%, by the time you have been using them daily for 6 months. After a year of continuous use, it is highly likely that you have formed a dependency. It is unclear whether certain benzodiazepines are associated with a more rapid onset of dependency than others. See FAQ