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#1
Jun 21, 2026, 02:49 AM
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This is important to me because I was prescribed Xanex and then clonazipam and I was told it was not addictive and that I could stop taking it at any time.
I ran out and was treated so badly by this psychiatrist who insisted I was wrong and there were no withdrawals. |
 Crazy Hitch, Ruftin
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 Ruftin, SierraBlanca
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#2
Jun 21, 2026, 03:49 AM
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Here is another link to listen to. I was treated SO BADLY when I told a highly respected psychiatrist that I was struggling. He insisted there was no withdrawals from stopping.
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| Crazy Hitch, Ruftin
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#3
Jun 21, 2026, 04:15 AM
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It’s important that you get care when weaning yourself off of Benzos. I was treated so badly for struggling by a psychiatrist that insisted there was no withdrawl if I stopped.
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| Crazy Hitch, Ruftin
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#4
Jun 23, 2026, 05:41 AM
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This link has commercials but it’s worth the effort to sit and listen and learn. I had a very traumatic experience that I had to deal with that wore me down into complete exhaustion. What I really needed was a break and rest so I could process the overload. I ended up in a psych ward which was absolutely the wrong place for me to go and it only further traumatized me. Plus it was very clear that the rule in this place was to comply with going on medications that actually made me feel worse. They are mentioned in the clip/link.
I bring this topic up because I really did not want to be pushed into getting into some kind of drug treatment. I don’t believe the answer should have to be about drug treatment. |
| Ruftin
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| Ruftin
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#5
Jun 23, 2026, 07:33 AM
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| Ruftin
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| Ruftin, SierraBlanca
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#6
Jun 23, 2026, 04:29 PM
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My pdoc roughly 15 years ago had me on valium 5mg - 3x a day. I call that negligence. Valium withdrawals are a real thing.
I take oxazepam - half a tablet in the morning at work.
__________________
Bipolar 1 with psychotic features Currently on: Abilify 20 mg Effexor 225 mg Oxazepam 15 mg PRN |
| Open Eyes, Ruftin
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| Open Eyes, Ruftin
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#7
Jun 23, 2026, 05:06 PM
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Hello @openeyes I totally understand how you ended up in the psych ward. The same thing happened to me when I tried to go off of my antidepressant. I was literally counting the beads in the capsule and taking a few less every week. Eventually something snapped in my brain and I went full on psychotic. It was the worse feeling I have ever experienced in my whole life. I restarted my antidepressant at the regular strength hoping the psychotic feeling would go away and when it didn't work I didn't want to be here anymore and
Possible trigger:
__________________
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| Crazy Hitch, Open Eyes, ThatOtherMike
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| Open Eyes, SierraBlanca
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#8
Jun 23, 2026, 08:15 PM
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Thanks @Ruftin there are problems with antidepressants too and I was tempted to post about that too. If you go and see a psychiatrist in my experience the psychiatrist will want to prescribe medications. I was definitely prescribed the wrong drugs and was treated badly when I complained.
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| Ruftin
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#9
Jun 23, 2026, 08:23 PM
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I believe it @openeyes I was placed on an antidepressant and the psychiatrist told me to call him if I had any problems. After about a week it was causing me to feel rage and anger and I was so scared because I had a full time job and you know you can't show that kind of behavior at work. Well I called him and his office several times and I wasn't scheduled to see him again for 3 months. Nobody and I mean nobody called me back. My MOTHER finally had to call him in order to get him to respond. The idiot!!!!!!! I'm a grown woman at the time. smh
__________________
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| Open Eyes
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#10
Jun 23, 2026, 08:35 PM
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@Ruftin I believe you and one of the problems is that there is a shortage of psychiatrists so the ones practicing tend to have too many patients and it can take a few months to get an appointment.
Yes! I believe the medication you were put on caused you to feel anger and even rage. This can happen with alcohol consumption too where the person can get very mean and physically lash out becoming a danger to others. |
| Ruftin
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| Ruftin
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#11
Jun 25, 2026, 06:58 PM
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Took Klonopin for 20 years and stopped it maybe 4 times with no problems. Took Xanax in 90s with no problems.
Every time they stopped Klonopin and went to the hospital they wanted to start it again. Klonopin was ok to prescribe 20 years ago but not now. Vybrid gave me terrible withdrawals. And I was treated terrible by many doctors and hospitals. A Chinese Resident in 1993 yelled at me because I said I was anxious and threw his book and put me on stelazine and was going to put me in a State Hospital.
__________________
America's invented some of the best things in the world: McDonald's, spaghetti and Gangsta Rap - Ali G |
| Open Eyes
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#13
Jun 26, 2026, 01:05 AM
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I think they were initially thought as harmless because barbiturates, which benzos replaced, had been so much worse. Dying from a slight accidental OD on barbiturates was super easy. Benzos are not harmless. They are just the lesser evil. I didn't benefit from them and felt nothing when I stopped them cold turkey and do not understand why my former psychiatrists would even prescribe them.
Benzos are also horrible in combo with alcohol. Not a good combo at all!
__________________
Bipolar I w/psychotic features Last inpatient stay in 2018 Zyprexa 3.75 mg, back to Zyprexa but at a reduced dose Naltrexone 25 mg Vitamin B-complex (against extrapyramidal side effects) Long-term side effects from medications, some of them discontinued: - Hypothyroidism - Obesity |
| Open Eyes
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#14
Jun 26, 2026, 11:25 AM
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Ativan was ok to prescribe in the 90s and I took it. Now they won't give it to anyone. I was inpatient for agitation in 2017 and Dr gave me 6mg Ativan. Then Johns Hopkins stopped it 4 months later.
__________________
America's invented some of the best things in the world: McDonald's, spaghetti and Gangsta Rap - Ali G |
| Open Eyes
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#15
Jun 26, 2026, 05:15 PM
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Benzos never did anything for me. Tgey didn't change the situstion my body was reactibg to normally. I was actually surprised because I was on valium & had OD'ed on it several times. Stopped it cold turkey & never had withdrawal. Never did figure out why not but count it as a blessing.
I also lucked out in that the psychiatrist I had in Calif was into alternste treatments because he knew the bad side effects I had after just one dose of anything...so he did go with natural treatments I could tolerate. I never could buy into the antidepressants or anxiety meds because they couldn't change what was actually the problem & bandaids don't work on an artery that is bleeding out. Took finding the right therapist to help me process it all after I got myself safely out of that situation. Then no meds necessary
__________________
 Leo's favorite place was in the passenger seat of my truck. We went everywhere together like this. Leo my soulmate will live in my heart FOREVER Nov 1, 2002 - Dec 16, 2018 |
| Open Eyes
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| Open Eyes
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#16
Jun 27, 2026, 12:23 AM
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I had met people that were on high doses of Benzos and I have no idea how they were able to function. Yet that’s the same with people who can consume a lot of alcohol and still function. The thing is that just because someone can take a lot and still function is still risking their health. Also what I learned is that the health risks greatly increase with age. That’s why so many people end up dying in their 50’s. Their body gets to a point where it can’t process and their liver gets damaged faster.
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#18
Jun 28, 2026, 12:31 PM
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Quote:
__________________
Leo's favorite place was in the passenger seat of my truck. We went everywhere together like this. Leo my soulmate will live in my heart FOREVER Nov 1, 2002 - Dec 16, 2018 |
| Open Eyes
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#19
Jun 29, 2026, 09:37 AM
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Here is a good conversation that can be educational and is worth the listen.
I have observed how some people have used Xanex, marijuana and alcohol. How they can do that is beyond me. Then I have also met people that have added cocaine into the mix. Next thing you know they are hearing voices and they get put on meds for that and STILL drink alcohol and get high on marijuana. Seriously, when someone is hearing voices THERE IS A PROBLEM. When someone experiences black outs again that’s a red flag that they are damaging their brain and need to STOP abusing drugs. |
| eskielover
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#20
Jul 07, 2026, 09:50 AM
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I do agree with this distinction. I think it’s very important that psychiatrists and doctors learn how Benzos can cause long lasting damage if someone stops taking them cold turkey. I have shared before that a psychiatrist prescribed Clonazapam to me and insisted it was not addictive and that I could stop taking it and there would be no withdrawals or issues.
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#21
Jul 10, 2026, 07:50 AM
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I was on 5 mg of clonazepam for approximately 20 years then tapered down to 3 mg daily for another 5. Then, I was concerned about the impact on my memory so I talked to my psychiatrist about doing a very slow taper off it. I researched tapering before talking with him and found the Ashton manual which is like the bible for getting off benzos. I followed their plan for cross tapering onto valium and taking that while tapering off the clonazepam, and then I did a fast taper off the valium. It took me 18 months to get off everything but I had very few withdrawal effects aside from some trouble sleeping once in a while.
__________________
 "I danced in the morning when the world was begun. I danced in the moon and the stars and the sun". From my favourite hymn. "If you see the wonder in a fairy tale, you can take the future even if you fail." Abba 
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| eskielover, Open Eyes
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#22
Jul 10, 2026, 08:22 AM
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I had paradoxical reactions to benzos so when I was prescribed valium for severe insomnia and I took five of them as part of a sui attempt (I was near the liquor store but also wound up too fearful to show my ID if cops were after me), I ended up feeling super agitated and cracked out and ran like three miles in 20 minutes, then got handcuffed because my doc put me on an IEA earlier that day and I went in willingly but ran out (really fast too).
Then when I was in the state hospital they gave me ativan and I was just screaming in the isolation room for two days (because they court ordered several doses... AFTER I told them NOT to ever give me benzos). Benzos are evil.
__________________
https://worldwidewanderer7.wordpress.com/ |
| Open Eyes
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| Open Eyes
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#23
Jul 12, 2026, 01:10 AM
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Stevie Knix talks about her experience with Benzos
I am so angry that a psychiatrist told me that clonazapam was not addictive and that I could stop taking it without problems, no withdrawals. Last edited by Open Eyes; Jul 12, 2026 at 01:33 AM. |
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#24
Jul 12, 2026, 03:27 AM
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A doc once told me “some Xanax might feel nice right now.” I don’t remember the night and I woke up with duct tape on my face and
Possible trigger:
Possible trigger:
__________________
https://worldwidewanderer7.wordpress.com/ |
| Open Eyes
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#25
Jul 12, 2026, 04:53 AM
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@MuddyBoots I am so sorry you went through that. IMHO when someone has been given a drug that renders them helpless so they can be abused the last thing you do is treat them with any kind of drug that has a similar effect. One thing that can happen is a flashback where the person relives the abuse and lashes out defensively. Then when that person is once again restrained it retraumatizes an already buried trauma.
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