After 40 years meds are to be stopped...

[budgiesinmyhair]

It sounds shocking when I read it but I've been taking Oxazepam for almost 40 years They have always worked so well and have allowed me to have a life instead of crippling anxiety when mixing with people. We now have a new GP who is going to stop them. A young partner cut them down by two a day to be descreased by three a day the following week. I fell apart as it all felt too quick after taking them for so long. Luckily I have managed to see a senior partner at the practice who said I can reduce them by one a day to start with but I still feel as if I'm drowning in anxiety at night. I know taking these meds for so long is probably frowned on nowadays but they help me to lead a relatively 'normal' life. I've tried to stop them before and ended up confined to the house so I'm really worried about the outcome now.

Jan.

[ElizabethJane]

Dear Jan it isn't shocking to be on a drug for a long period of time. When you were first prescribed the drug it was alright to prescribe it in the long term. Nobody was aware of the chemical addiction of these drugs or they chose to ignore it. You are right to take the withdrawal as slowly as you need to. The anxiety that you are feeling at night is probably to do with the withdrawal process and not the old anxiety returning. Is your GP giving you enough support at this time? You might need to see a counsellor or a psychiatrist if there are still issues there that brought you to needing the drugs in the first place. I have had to withdraw from mirtazapine but only after a year and I needed two goes at it so I am aware of how difficult it must be for you. I tried to taper off the dothiepin that I take but I was less successful. You could always start an online blog on here if you feel up to it. That way others can see your progress and give you the support that you need.

[bottleblond]

Jan


Firstly....your doc needs to re-educate himself on anxiety and medication.
I was told by my doc that i was one of these people that would probably be on meds for life because i function better on them than off them.

I too have been on meds since my early teens. I am now nearly 38. I have come off meds several times and in the end have had to go back on them.

If your quality of life drasticly improves being on medication then it's my personal opinion then they should not deny you the right to have a functional life.

Best of luck to you hun
Lisa
xx

[Alabasterlyn]

I cannot believe that your Dr is making you come off this med. There are many people out there, myself included, who were prescribed benzos many years ago and just left on them. To then put you through withdrawal because they don't think you should still be on them is just terrible.

I have taken benzos since 1980, my mother has taken them since the 1960's. Now I know this is a long time, but I also know that benzos are addictive and hard to come off, which is why Dr's tend to just let you stay on them if you choose to. I don't think for one minute that benzos help us after a certain time, but we do become addicted to the chemicals in them and I feel that as long as you are feeling okay on them, well what is wrong with staying on them?

Have you considered taking this further, maybe getting in touch with your PCT or something? All Dr's have a copy of the BNF on their desks and here is what is says about benzos

benzodiazepine can be withdrawn in steps of about one-eighth (range one-tenth to one-quarter) of the daily dose every fortnight. A suggested withdrawal protocol for patients who have difficulty is as follows:

Transfer patient to equivalent daily dose of diazepam(1) preferably taken at night
Reduce diazepam dose every 2–3 weeks in steps of 2 or 2.5 mg; if withdrawal symptoms occur, maintain this dose until symptoms improve
Reduce dose further, if necessary in smaller steps;(2) it is better to reduce too slowly rather than too quickly
Stop completely; time needed for withdrawal can vary from about 4 weeks to a year or more.

I'm really sorry to hear that we still have so many ignorant Dr's around who are putting their patients through so much misery. I would highly recommend that you join this forum as they will be able to give you lots of advice about benzos http://benzoisland.org/index.html

I would also recommend reading The Ashton Manual which you can access on the benzo org site and maybe telling your Dr he might want to read it too as he is obviously totally ignorant about benzos. Here is a link for withdrawal from your benzo, hope the link works http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzsched.htm#s10

[budgiesinmyhair]

Thank you all for your wonderfully supportive replies. The relief that there are such caring and understanding people out there has given me new hope. My new GP is only young and cut them down so fast I thought I would go out of my mind. He gave me a supply that was to have lasted 2 weeks meaning I would be cutting down one tablet for the first few days then by two for the rest of the fortnight. After being on them for so long I just new this was too fast. I booked an appointment the following day with another GP and his response was the same. My only hope was the senior partner who I managed to see at another surgery and he agreed that this was all too quick but said that he would still be stopping them. The irony is that while waiting to see him an older retired GP of ours was waiting too (the senior partner is an old collegue of his) and he came over to chat. He asked if I was still taking these meds and when I explained what had happened he also agreed that it was too late to stop them after all these years.
Elizabeth Jane, thank you for saying that it 'isn't shocking' to be taking these for so long. I feel some self esteem coming back as a GP of some years ago referred to me as a 'drug addict' I think he was hoping it would shock me into stopping them but I've never forgotten him calling me that.
Lisa, yes my quality of life is improved with them as I can at least get out of the house and mingle with people, without them the thought of doing something as simple as this fills me with dread.
Lyn thank you too for so much wonderful information, also the links and I will be off to read them now.
I just want to add again that you have all made me feel so much better.

Jan.x

[mel07]

Hi Jan, I think youre gp is being unfair, medication is essential for some people. If you were suffering from a physical condition which required lifelong medication there would be no problem. Why should it be different for those of us who suffer anxiety. Good luck.

Mel.x

[budgiesinmyhair]

Thank you too Mel for your kind words of support and good luck wishes. I totally agree and thought that times and Doctors outlooks had changed regarding problems with our very complex minds. I believe now that it's all down to the GP we are allotted as some look to be very empathetic while others are cold and uncaring. I have now (after another rough night) reached the angry stage where I'm hoping to take this further with the PCT. Not angry for myself but at the possibility that this GP might act like this again with another more vulnerable patient who doesn't have supportive family and he just might push him/her over the edge of a very precarious precipice. I know on the first night after seeing him and at my lowest the thought of doing 'something silly' as an option out of this mess did I'm ashamed to say cross my mind.

Jan.x

[KK77]

Hi Jan

I think we have to be tough with Drs sometimes because they're not always right. To have taken this benzodiazepine for so long exposes you not only to the psychological aspect of withdrawal, which is extremely unpleasant, but also to pyhsical symtpoms such as seizures and tremors, and l think it's highly unprofession (and dangerous) to attempt a rushed taper.

It's akin to saying to smokers you can't buy cigarettes any more, that's it you have to give up! I have changed my practice quite a few times until I found a Dr that was underdtanding and was willing to listen. I took Paroxetine (Seroxat) for 7 years having been told that "some people need to remain on medication indefinately". I made the decision to come off it after it stopped working, and the withdrawals were no joke...I suffered for months. Drs seem to be very reluctant these days to prescribe benzos (even for a short period) yet hand out drugs like seroxat readily.In the short term benzos can be really useful in alleviating panic and anxiety, yet Drs seem to prefer to put many anxious patients on quite activating ADs like Prozac and Seroxat.

I think you should have been given a choice as to whether you felt you were ready to come off your medication. I would have gotten a second opinion and if necessary changed my practice because there's nothing wrong with having taken a drug for 4 months or 40 years as long as you can function and feel "normal".

I wish you luck and much love

Mel77

[Alabasterlyn]

No one who is taking benzos long term should ever be called a 'drug addict' as that's just totally out of order. We may have become unintentionally dependant on benzos, but whose fault is that? We go to our Dr to get professional help, we aren't self medicating, we take the meds the Dr's prescribe and put our faith in the NHS, which then comes and bites us in the backside years later by telling us we are now dependant! It appalls me that this is allowed to happen, it's like we are just swept under the carpet as they see they have created a huge problem with patients being dependant.

If you are a heroin addict or alcoholic it's quite likely your Dr will try and get you some proper rehab help, same goes for if you are addicted to smoking. Do Dr's ask patients to just stop smoking? No they offer them tons of help for free on the NHS.

Most Dr's don't have much of a clue about mental health problems, they spend most of their training on the physical illnesses that they are likely to come across. It would surely be better if a Dr referred patients who wish to come off any benzo or other psych drugs to someone who has the time to offer the support and help needed. Mind you this is the NHS we are talking about so it's highly unlikely this help will ever be offered to us

[budgiesinmyhair]

Thank you Mel77 and Lyn for your constructive and caring support. I have been thinking about changing my GP but it's hard to know where to begin? I've been through this before a few years ago (which is why I knew how bad things could get while withdrawing the meds) and luckily another family members' GP was willing to take me on at the time. He is the one who retired recently leaving the practice up for grabs. The GP who has taken it on is the one who initially made me stop the meds around 15 years ago. To give him credit he took it all very slowly but after I'd reduced down to one tablet I wasn't functioning as 'normal' was afraid to leave the house etc. which is why my GP who recently retired was willing to give them to me again. I hope that all makes sense? I believe if I change GP's I also have to take my hubby and son along with me too? Mind you after all of the upset I don't think they would mind as both are pretty angry too.
Mel77, as you say they are happy to hand out other drugs willy nilly as mine has given me Citalopram 10mg as he said they would help. I do feel less 'down' with what's happened but feel constantly churned up inside and most nights are awful. If 'lucky' I sleep until around 3am then wake feeling overwhelmingly anxious and drenched in perspiration lying in bed getting more and more worked up just hoping to get back to sleep again. I rang a number this morning of a psychiatrist I have heard of but his secretary was unnavailable at the time so I'm trying again this afternoon. It's one of those 'silly' things whereby if you don't get through the first time then panic takes over at the thought of trying again.
Lyn, the GP who called me a 'drug addict' some years ago is coincidently the elderly retired one who said that it is 'too late' to stop the meds now. I do think he was trying shock tactics but it was a bit brutal as I've never forgotten it.

Jan.x