As you probably know by now, Lisa Ling’s expose on the dangers of benzodiazepines airs October 6th on CNN. The producer of Lisa’s show contacted me ages ago when the segment was being considered. I told him, please, above all else, believe the people you interview, and report the facts correctly. My fingers are crossed that the truth will be shown. A shout-out to all who participated. Your bravery in being vulnerable and sharing your experience is much appreciated. I can’t wait to watch!
If you share anything on social media about the show, know that you may receive comments that are from people who aren’t benzo educated. I have already replied to some comments on other people’s Facebook pages in an attempt to educate. Some of the things you may read will be that people abuse benzos and that is why there is a problem. Of course, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Other comments will be about how safe the drugs are if you take them as prescribed. You may find yourself getting revved up wanting to “set people straight.” Please tread carefully. It is not your job to educate people or to save people. Your number one top priority is to heal. When you are more recovered, of course, jump in and be an activist and help educate the world about benzos. But until you are more healed, please avoid the stress of getting into debates or arguments with anyone who doesn’t understand benzo withdrawal. It’s not worth the emotional upheaval. I know we all want others to understand the inhumane degree of suffering that benzo withdrawal can cause—we want people to respect what we’ve so courageously have had to endure. But again, it is not worth the stress involved to try to get people to know our plight. Besides, unless someone has experienced benzo withdrawal, they will never be able to fully comprehend the suffering. Best to save your breath (and adrenal glands!) and focus on your recovery instead of trying to explain your circumstances in detail to people who won’t be able to fathom it.
Remember, the show may be triggering for some of you, so please take good care of yourself. Reach out for support if you need to. We do heal. In time. Life becomes very sweet! I thought for sure I’d never get my life back, but I did. You will, too.
In other news in the benzo community, Dr. Heather Ashton passed away peacefully. This is hard news for us to bear, I know. We all owe such an enormous debt of gratitude to her. She was a very brave woman to expose the truth about benzos and to write the manual that has become the backbone of knowledge on how to withdraw from them and what to expect in the way of symptoms. Her work will live on in all of us who speak up about the dangers of these drugs. She set the foundation for us to stand upon and we build upon that foundation. My heart is heavy, mourning her loss, but my heart is also full of immense respect and gratitude for her dedication to the truth about benzodiazepines. May we all take comfort from one another at this time. May you rest in peace, Dr. Ashton, your work on earth is done. You did an amazing job, and we thank you!
If you feel you need more support while in benzo withdrawal—with the focus on solutions for well-being instead of just focusing on symptoms—please feel free to join the Mornings With Jenn support group. We meet via a private Facebook group on Mondays and Wednesday mornings at 9 AM pacific time. We will be discussing the four cornerstones of well-being, eat right, move more, stress less, and love well. Included in the membership is access to the Acceptance Workshop content and videos as well as the content and videos for the Healing With Love Workshop. (We will discuss them in the group.) Also, I will be posting private blog content just for members of Mornings With Jenn. There will also be a daily check-in “to do” suggestion to give you food for thought to manage your day. I’ll be doing surprise “pop-up” live videos in the Facebook group to keep things fun and lively. You can join at any time of the month. Membership is $59 a month. You can cancel your subscription at any time. If you have any questions, please drop me a line.
You can join the group here:
I just watched Dr Oz this afternoon and he had Lisa Ling on discussing the problems with benzodiazepines. I am happy to see that this is finally getting the attention it deserves. it showed a little preview of Sunday nights episode with Lisa Ling on CNN. It was a title triggering for me as I am at the end of my taper and suffering terribly. RIP Professor Heather Ashton and thank you for all the work you did to help benzo injured patients.
Jennifer…thank you very much for posting this. I sent it to many people and hopefully the episode will shed some true light on what really happens to us accidental users especially those of us who trusted our doctor to give us a little help to sleep, took it short term and immediately, unknowingly went into inter-dose withdrawal!!!
“But until you are more healed, please avoid the stress of getting into debates or arguments with anyone who doesn’t understand benzo withdrawal.” I respect your statement here, but I think “setbacks” have been kind of brushed aside maybe to not put fear into those withdrawing and should be mentioned side-by-side with benzo withdrawal. I am in my fourth setback of hell – 4 1/2 months long so far – way worse than my initial withdrawal – and I’m not even near healing. Prior to this, I was completely healed with no symptoms whatsoever for 8 months!
I am sorry to hear you are in another setback. They do happen. I was referring to avoiding stress while in any stage of withdrawal by avoiding arguments/debates that rev up the nervous system. Without enough working gaba receptors to help us manage our emotions, an emotionally charged exchange could increase our symptoms, making us feel worse. It’s not worth the stress and strain. Once we are more healed, we are in a better position to cope with big emotions that come with disagreements/feeling disrespected. Hope you turn a corner soon.
How can I read all of your earlier blog posts about your experience while withdrawing? I’m not sure how to get to them. I am wanting to share and exchange my experience of the terrors with someone that has had them, as well, and hopefully I am not the only one that is having difficulty accepting that it wasn’t really real.
Please look on the sidebar by the blog posts. You can find dropdown menus for categories or by date. I hope the old posts are helpful.
Yes! I read them all the other night. It just helps to hear someone else’s nightmarish experience….to confirm in my mind that all that I experienced was just from no brain because I couldn’t communicate my feelings or what was going on. The detox center that I went to and stayed in there for 3 weeks straight did not acknowledge what was going on and did not help me one bit. It was awful. No taper or anything. I’d just like to be in communication with someone that had similar symptoms that I had. Thank you so much for your responses.
I am so grateful for the information finally on how to safely withdraw from the benzodiazepines that I have been prescribed and taking since the age of 14. I just turned 52. I am extremely hopeful that with these tools, the support of my friends, my physician and my family and the God of my understanding that I will be successful in finally overcoming and conquering the need to take these horrible drugs!