You did not fail a taper plan. A taper plan failed you.
By the time you find this site, you most likely know that you can't just stop taking your benzo no matter how small your dose might be. What you might not know about are the changes that have taken place in your body which make simply stopping your dose impossible. It is wise to want to learn more about your condition as this will help you to make good decisions as you work to become free of benzos.
We hope to be a source of useful information which will help you to make positive choices during your benzo withdrawal.
Our Mission
Benzo-help sites have been with us for many years. Every so often, a new one crops up offering a different atmosphere. Most of these sites contain forums, interactive places that strive to support the benzo-patient while focusing on peer to peer assistance. These forums are vital to the isolated benzo-patient because real understanding and acceptance are not forthcoming from friends and family, doctors, or other helping-professionals. These benzo-forums fill a need. With so many like-minded benzo-forums already available to a benzo-patient, is something additional needed? If so, what is needed?
Scientific effort is establishing new knowledge, but benzo-knowledge remains fragmented. Study is done as micro-issues. Have you searched for a benzo-mechanism and found research of GABA in trout retina? That's an example of the small and isolated issues as opposed to larger concepts.
There is a functional difference between medicine and science. Medicine is the practice of dispensing established procedures. Discoveries can take years to be connected as useful concepts. Useful concepts require years before being accepted as the standard of care. In the meantime, benzo-patients eagerly wait for medicine to offer them something better for recovery from the benzo-induced illness known as withdrawal.
Might new information be made available sooner? Can patients evaluate science? Can patients see new uses for new information? We think that they can. We think that they should. We think that they, more than a busy physician, are in a position of being able to connect the new, but isolated facts into concepts. Thinking-people can connect the dots that are the extremely narrow areas of scientific investigation. Is this too much to ask of a benzo-patient? We think not. We have faith in your intelligence and your will to improve your condition in the face of the unquestioned business-as-usual, business as it has been done for the past 40 years.
What can we believe? What standards do we use? It is time to look at the issues and not at the personalities presenting opinions. To blindly trust anyone is foolhardy in today's educated society. All is open to question. Question experts. Question us. Question other benzo-patients you may be in contact with. Ask: "What is the evidence?" Opinion must be backed by evidence and not by personality. This is our standard.
Have you had a question about how your nervous systems, CNS and PNS, are going to work post withdrawal? Do you see some problem in the accepted benzo-lore? Do you wonder if there is more explanation for your symptoms other than simply lack of GABA? Exactly what is up-regulation or down-regulation of the GABA system? Are nutrients really a problem? Is a single enzyme responsible for the down-regulated GABA system? What about the fear of lasting damage and to what bodily systems? How might this occur? What could mediate it? Is that neurological pain harmful? Do you find that your own experience doesn't square with what people say that you should feel?
This brings us back to our original question: What kind of additional place is needed for benzo-patients? We see the need for a venue to present new information from primary-sourced scientific publications. We have found the need for a venue that encourages people to present their own ideas without fear of censure. It is time for the benzo-patient's usually-dismissed concerns and ideas to be brought to light and discussed in a cooperative and civilized way.
DISCLAIMER AND COPYRIGHT
Remember, you alone are responsible for making decisions regarding your health. We are not medical professionals; we do not engage in the practice of medicine. We do not diagnose or treat medical conditions. We do not diagnose or treat psychological conditions. We offer plain facts, our own histories, and the ways that we came to benzo freedom.
This site is not intended to be a substitute for medical treatment. By using this site, you agree not to hold the owners or any participators liable for any damages, costs, or expenses resulting from your reliance on the information presented.
All content of this site is protected by copyright, and all rights are reserved. Members and visitors of this site are prohibited from modifying, copying, displaying, publishing, creating derivative works, or using any information available on this site for commercial or public purposes.
Common Benzodiazepines
- Have you tried to stop taking a benzodiazepine such as:
- Ativan (lorazepam)
- Klonopin (clonazepam)
- Valium (diazepam)
- Xanax (alprazolam)
Withdrawal Symptoms
- Some of the most common benzodiazepine withdrawal symptoms are:
- anxiety
- depression
- headaches
- insomnia
- inability to concentrate
- muscle problems
- obsessive or repetitive thoughts
Our Goal
- Our goal is simple: to give you the information you need in order to have a successful benzodiazepine taper.
- We are here to provide help that isn't offered elsewhere. We encourage genuine open discussion of all aspects of benzodiazepine withdrawal without fear of recriminations. This includes, but is not limited to: nutrients, supplements and other medications.
FAQs
- I have read that I should embrace my withdrawal symptoms as a sign that I am in fact healing. Is this true?
- No, symptoms are never a sign of healing. Symptoms, by definition, are signs of a disorder or disease - a change from what is normal - whether in appearance or function. In benzodiazepine withdrawal, symptoms are a sign of change in normal nervous system functioning. Your body doesn't have enough of its own GABA, and it also doesn't have enough benzo to compensate for the deficit. The result is that you experience withdrawal symptoms.
- If you are interested in reading more of our answers to your benzo questions, please click here.