I have first hand experience with the hell that is benzodiazepine withdrawal. While in college, I was prescribed Ativan (Lorazepam) for Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Depression. It was a normal starting dose, but I took it compliantly for over a year without dose escalation.
One time I left my pills on a work trip. That consecutive weekend of inadvertently quitting cold turkey was a living hell. Suicidal thoughts, insomnia, and the most intense panic attacks I can imagine terrorized me.
I remember calling the suicide hotline multiple times and was one 911 phone call away from checking myself into the hospital. The only thing that kept me from losing my mind was going on intense, long distance runs where I tired myself to the point of exhaustion.
It wasn't until the following Monday when I could get a new prescription that I realized I was deep in addiction. I spent the next couple years weaning myself off the drugs with the help of the Ashton Manual and full denial of my psychiatrist that these pills had any addiction potential.
One time I left my pills on a work trip. That consecutive weekend of inadvertently quitting cold turkey was a living hell. Suicidal thoughts, insomnia, and the most intense panic attacks I can imagine terrorized me.
I remember calling the suicide hotline multiple times and was one 911 phone call away from checking myself into the hospital. The only thing that kept me from losing my mind was going on intense, long distance runs where I tired myself to the point of exhaustion.
It wasn't until the following Monday when I could get a new prescription that I realized I was deep in addiction. I spent the next couple years weaning myself off the drugs with the help of the Ashton Manual and full denial of my psychiatrist that these pills had any addiction potential.