Snowdoveee & benzo WD's...

[wait2long]

I am not sure if anyone here will remember a member that was here a while ago, her name was snowdoveee. well i just heard from her personally, the first time in months.  she has not been around or able to post, so she asked me to tell all of you why and what happened to her..this is her story the best i can tell it....
she is one of the sweetest ladies i have ever met...i met her about 5-6 months ago on this very forum, at the time she was addicted to benzos...xanax if i remember correctly. she was taking an extremely high dose at the time and was trying to taper , she was trying to stop the cycle of addiction even though she had real anxiety and panic problems, i spoke to her daily for quite a while, off the forum also.  then one day i didnt hear from her, days went by,and turned into weeks, then over a month had passed, still no word from Snowdoveeee, i was getting quite worried..about 5-6 weeks later, i received an e-mail from her daughter to inform me that snowdovee had a stroke and had been in the hospital ever since the last time i spoke with her...it was caused from her tapering off benzos...she had tried to cold turkey off them once before until i warned her of the dangers, so she started taking them again because of my warnings and decided at that point to taper with a doctors help...well from what i understand,(please excuse me if i am wrong Snow) she wasnt honest with the doctor about the amount of benzos she was taking probably out of shame?, embarrassment? stigma?,..whatever the reason, it didnt matter...she had a stroke and has life long problems from this, upcoming surgeries, a lot of work ahead of her, and days upon days of nothing but sleeping just to recover,..the doctors said she would be LUCKY if she is able to recover in a years time because of the damage of trying to get off the benzos...so anyone out there with an addiction to benzos, or just messing around with benzos or just starting on benzos...please head this as a warning...this is an extremely dangerous drug to get off...do not ever lie to your doctor about your meds, always be honest, do not be in a rush to get off benzos, it must be a slow process with a doctors help...you never know what these types of meds can do to you...this is not a post to judge anyone...
if you ask why i write this?
because i just promised this sweet lady, who is having a hard time typing that i would do this for her, i would put out her story about the dangers of getting off benzos...i promised her.
she wants everyone who is having ANY issues with benzos to please. please take this as a warning and get the proper help, you could end up paying for this for the rest of your life....
PLEASE BE CAREFUL!!!!

[CleandUP]

Wow this is sad. I hope she is alright! My roommate takes klonopins because he is bipolar and I know he takes a couple a day. I have warned him of the dangerous addiction of benzo's but he doesn't seem to listen. I guess he puts a good point on it, either he takes them and forms a habit, or doesn't take medication and suffers from his disease. I guess only time will tell because he obviously has a tolerance (taking a couple a day). It would be a shame if he needed to increase the dosage.

[wait2long]

another point she did make to me was to make sure if anyone is taking them because they simply have to in order to avoid their anxiety and/or panic...make sure they are taken exactly as prescribed, DO NOT deviate from the prescription in any way.......... . we both understand people NEED these meds...trust me, i am one of them, but now i am scared s h i t less over this....

[allaboutmary]

This is so sad. Please send her our love if you talk with her again.  She will be in my thoughts and prayers.

[watermom]

this is so very sad......I will keep her in my thoughts.

[lostmarbles]

my DOC was xanax... and what you just wrote has really struck a chord with me. I was prescribed the meds from a doctor 3 years ago as I was having anxiety and sleepless nights etc plus a mini nervous breakdown.. before too long i was addicted and like your friend i started taking way too many.. when i came on to this site it GoingToMakeIt who advised me to go see a doctor to help taper me off because of the dangers of siezures on benzos.. thanks to him I did and tapered successfully, I owe him a great deal... thats such a sad story, I feel sad now... and im so sorry for your friend, for you, for her family... I wish her well and thank you for telling us her story.. I will be forever thinking about her and praying for her.. that has really touched me. Thank you for sharing that with us..

[wait2long]

I am so so glad you were advised to get the proper help...this is great news and will make snow happy to read this....to know that people are aware of the dangers...
huge congrats to you....
~~HUGS~~

[lostmarbles]

Please, please tell your friend that she is in my heart and prayers... what you have shared will be a great help to many that really do not know the dangers of benzos. I for one had no clue and I was on them for 3 years.. imagine.. no clue until I came on to this site.. i know many drugs have dangers behind them but one would think that coming off them would be a doddle.. i certainly didnt know anything, only that after a while the benzos were not doing their 'job' and so the cycle of addiction begins and you start to self medicate.. the irony is that benzos are only meant for short term 2-4 weeks max.. the dr prescribed them for 3 years, even when I was so obviously taken more than the dose required the dr still gave me more.... hugs right back at you...

[avisg]

wait ,
Thank you for sharing ,snowie as well .I hope she gets better .This is one of the reasons I stress so much talking to the doctor and tapering . benzo withdrawl can not be done CT

[wait2long]

and this is why she wants EVERYONE to know her story and to get the proper help...it is so VERY important!

[lostmarbles]

since cleaning up from the benzos I actually have feelings again... benzos are one of those meds that totally numbs you and so now my feelings have come back with a vengeance but its all good..... I have a great dr now who has supported me through all of this and he wanted me to file a report on the last one who prescribed the meds to me for so long but you know life is too short and I just want to be able to get on with it... I have learnt a grat deal though and made lots of great new friends

[wait2long]

great news hun...keep up the great work....

[lostmarbles]

thank you darling... how are you ? you must be sad for your friend.. do you visit her often now?

[lostmarbles]

i think it is one of those meds that really should be taken off the market (like alot of meds actually) but obviously benzos are those types of meds that can kill you by trying to get off them... i know someone whos heart nearly seized on him and he only took them for 6 weeks at only 1mg (the usual prescribed dose) iwould recommend that no one take them or if they do then to take them for the maximum 4 weeks and 4 weeks only...

[wait2long]

we have never met in person...although she doesnt live far from me...we were just internet buddies...i miss the talks we had though...i hope she will be well enough so we can continue the conversations..
i am ok..just feel so bad that she has had to suffer like this while trying to get her life back.

[lostmarbles]

so sorry to hear... well, she has a wonderful friend in you! of course you miss the talks you had im sure.. i tell you, I have made some fabulous friends on here and yes although none of us have ever met, I hold you all very dear to my heart.. if something like that happened to any of you guys my heart would break. She is very lucky to have you, and she sound like a great person.

[Goldrush1971]

This is my first time posting on this site but I’ve been reading it regularly for a few months now. I started reading it because I am definitely an addict. I was taking 10 to 15 Norco’s a day for about 3 years.... I finally had enough of it and went to a doctor in my area that is certified to prescribe Suboxone…… I can honestly say, I truly believe Suboxone is a miracle drug…. But that’s not the reason