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01-15-2008, 09:55 AM
| #51 (permalink) | |
| Member  Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: middle earth
Posts: 1,040
| Quote:
No - no worries - we can have our debate and respect one another's positions surely? You are not fanning the flames at all. You are entirely free to hold your own opinion - and I for one would fight for your right to hold that opinion! As I would for Windy! But - I must put you right. You are entirely wrong about so called "socialised medicine". What a terrible way to describe the NHS! The whole point about the NHS is that it is available and free at the point of need. If you present with something serious you are whisked into hospital and treated by the very best surgeons and physicians in the state of the art theatres and hospitals. Your treatment is not based on your ability to pay. That concept is just abhorrent to us. The moans and complaints about the NHS are related to minor matters - as things are ranked in order of importance. So waiting lists for non urgent matters do of course exist. I recently had a cancer scare - phoned my doctor - was examined that afternoon and had an appointment made for 4 days later at a hospital with a consultant (best in the city)- where I had a full scan done, biopsy and full examination - with the results by late afternoon. I was lucky. Others with positive diagnoses were then booked in for surgery the following week......................... So - its a complete myth about waiting lists............ In fact, here in Scotland at least, the waiting lists have limits set by government - and cancer care is terrific - if you are not seen within a couple of days you have recourse to law....... I genuinely doubt that there is any system to beat this....... I suspect it is the same in England Ireland and Wales. (If I think of all that I have had from the NHS - I can list 4 babies - 2 of which spent 10 days in intensive care, various broken bones and children's injuries, hubbie had a very serious life threatening condition for which he spent 3 months in hospital............... and the list goes on........ recently we found my aged mother lying unconscious on the floor ....... the doctor and ambulance arrived within 20 mins and she was in hospital and being treated within an hour........... I think it may have saved her life. I know this is just all anecdotal.......) But I know that I only know one side of this matter. Private health care does exist in this country - and it is used for minor matters - but if you get something serious - any doctor or person in the land will tell you to head straight for the NHS. That is where the best doctors and best resources are. Our private doctors are - after all - our NHS doctors during the day - doing their private work in their spare time. In my experience - the only system better than ours exists in France - where they have really enviable healthcare. It's really a philosophical debate, I think. We are really socialist (with a small s) in Europe - and we consider that the measure of our civilisation is how well we care for our citizens - especially the less fortunate. America presents a different philosopy - I think - and its one based on capitalism and not socialism.......................where money reigns supreme (after all - its the American dream?).......... and this we could debate forever!! woops | |
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01-15-2008, 10:07 AM
| #52 (permalink) | |
| Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: middle earth
Posts: 1,040
| Hey bv Quote:
Well - its funny to hear you talk about the "machine" keeping the GOP in power - cos its a complete foregone conclusion from our perspective that on Jan 20th 2009 Dubya and his "crazies" will finally be out. What would it say about the American people if the Republicans got in after these last few years when America has been brought so low - in international terms? The US credibility has been sunk - good and proper - but I wonder do the American people know that? | |
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01-15-2008, 12:09 PM
| #54 (permalink) | |
| Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Canada
Posts: 98
| Quote:
YOU will be one of the 47 million uninsured! Read the facts and get EDUCATED! Facts on Health Insurance Coverage Introduction Most Americans have health insurance through their employers. But, employment is no longer a guarantee of health insurance coverage. As America continues to move from a manufacturing-based economy to a service economy, and employee working patterns continue to evolve, health insurance coverage has become less stable. The service sector offers less access to health insurance than its manufacturing counterparts. Further, an increasing reliance on part-time and contract workers who are not eligible for coverage means fewer workers have access to employer-sponsored health insurance. Due to rising health insurance premiums, many small employers cannot afford to offer health benefits. Companies that do offer health insurance, often require employees to contribute a larger share toward their coverage. As a result, an increasing number of Americans have opted not to take advantage of job-based health insurance because they cannot afford it. Who are the uninsured? Nearly 47 million Americans, or 16 percent of the population, were without health insurance in 2005, the latest government data available (1). The number of uninsured rose 1.3 million between 2004 and 2005 and has increased by almost 7 million people since 2000 (1). The large majority of the uninsured (80 percent) are native or naturalized citizens (2). The increase in the number of uninsured in 2005 was focused among working age adults. The percentage of working adults (18 to 64) who had no health coverage climbed from 18.5 percent in 2004 to 20.5 percent in 2005 -- an increase of over 800,000 uninsured workers (1). Nearly one (1) million full-time workers lost their health insurance in 2005. Nearly 82 million people – about one-third of the population below the age of 65 spent a portion of either 2002 or 2003 without health coverage (3). Over 8 in 10 uninsured people came from working families – almost 70 percent from families with one or more full-time workers and 11 percent from families with part-time workers (2). The percentage of people (workers and dependents) with employment-based health insurance has dropped from 70 percent in 1987 to 59.5 percent in 2005. This is the lowest level of employment-based insurance coverage in more than a decade (4, 5). In 2005, nearly 15 percent of employees had no employer-sponsored health coverage available to them, either through their own job or through a family member (6). In 2005, 27.4 million workers were uninsured because not all businesses offer health benefits, not all workers qualify for coverage and many employees cannot afford their share of the health insurance premium even when coverage is at their fingertips (1). The number of uninsured children in 2005 was 8.3 million – or 11.2 percent of all children in the U.S. (1). The number of children who are uninsured increased by nearly 400,000 in 2005, breaking a trend of steady declines over the last five years. Young adults (18-to-24 years old) remained the least likely of any age group to have health insurance in 2005 – 30.6 percent of this group did not have health insurance (1). Based on a three year average (2003-2005), people of Hispanic origin were the least likely to have health insurance. An average of 32.6 percent of Hispanics were without health insurance during that period (1). Nearly 40 percent of the uninsured population reside in households that earn $50,000 or more (1). A growing number of middle-income families cannot afford health insurance payments even when coverage is offered by their employers. Why is the number of uninsured people increasing? Millions of workers don't have the opportunity to get health coverage. A third of firms in the U.S. did not offer coverage in 2005 (4). Nearly two-fifths (38 percent) of all workers are employed in smaller businesses, where less than two-thirds of firms now offer health benefits to their employees (7). It is estimated that 266,000 companies dropped their health coverage between 2000-2005 and 90 percent of those firms have less than 25 employees. Rapidly rising health insurance premiums are the main reason cited by all small firms for not offering coverage. Health insurance premiums are rising at extraordinary rates. Over the past five years the average annual increase in inflation has been 2.5 percent while health insurance premiums for small firms have escalated an average of 12 percent annually (4). Even if employees are offered coverage on the job, they can't always afford their portion of the premium. Employee spending for health insurance coverage (employee's share of family coverage) has increased 143 percent between 2000 and 2006 (8). Losing a job, or quitting voluntarily, can mean losing affordable coverage – not only for the worker but also for their entire family. Only seven (7) percent of the unemployed can afford to pay for COBRA health insurance – the continuation of group coverage offered by their former employers. Premiums for this coverage average almost $700 a month for family coverage and $250 for individual coverage, a very high price given the average $1,100 monthly unemployment check (9). Coverage is unstable during life's transitions. A person's link to employer-sponsored coverage can also be cut by a change from full-time to part-time work, or self-employment, retirement or divorce (10). How does being uninsured harm individuals and families? Lack of insurance compromises the health of the uninsured because they receive less preventive care, are diagnosed at more advanced disease stages, and once diagnosed, tend to receive less therapeutic care and have higher mortality rates than insured individuals (11). Regardless of age, race, ethnicity, income or health status, uninsured children were much less likely to have received a well-child checkup within the past year. One study shows that nearly 50 percent of uninsured children did not receive a checkup in 2003, almost twice the rate (26 percent) for insured children (12). The uninsured are increasingly paying "up front" -- before services will be rendered. When they are unable to pay the full medical bill in cash at the time of service, they can be turned away except in life-threatening circumstances (7). About 20 percent of the uninsured (vs. 3 percent of those with coverage) say their usual source of care is the emergency room (2). Studies estimate that the number of excess deaths among uninsured adults age 25-64 is in the range of 18,000 a year. This mortality figure is more than the number of deaths from diabetes (17,500) within the same age group (10). According to one study, over a third of the uninsured have problems paying medical bills. The unpaid bills were substantial enough that many had been turned over to collection agencies – and nearly a quarter of the uninsured adults said they had changed their way of life significantly to pay medical bills (13). What additional costs are created by the uninsured population? The United States spends nearly $100 billion per year to provide uninsured residents with health services, often for preventable diseases or diseases that physicians could treat more efficiently with earlier diagnosis (14). Hospitals provide about $34 billion worth of uncompensated care a year (14). Another $37 billion is paid by private and public payers for health services for the uninsured and $26 billion is paid out-of-pocket by those who lack coverage (14). The uninsured are 30 to 50 percent more likely to be hospitalized for an avoidable condition, with the average cost of an avoidable hospital stayed estimated to be about $3,300 (14). The increasing reliance of the uninsured on the emergency department has serious economic implications, since the cost of treating patients is higher in the emergency department than in other outpatient clinics and medical practices (11). Getting Everyone Covered will Save Lives and Money The impacts of going uninsured are clear and severe. Many uninsured individuals postpone needed medical care which results in increased mortality and billions of dollars lost in productivity and increased expenses to the health care system. There also exists a significant sense of vulnerability to the potential loss of health insurance which is shared by tens of millions of other Americans who have managed to retain coverage. Every American should have health care coverage, participation should be mandatory, and everyone should have basic benefits. Notes DeNavas-Walt, C.B. Proctor, and C.H. Lee. Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2005. U.S. Census Bureau., August 2006. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. The Uninsured: A Primer, Key Facts About Americans without Health Insurance. October 2006 Families USA. One in Three: Non-elderly Americans Without Health Insurance in 2002-2003, July 2004 The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Employee Health Benefits: 2006 Annual Survey. 26 September 2006. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The Number of Uninsured Americans is at an All-Time High. 29 August 2006 Clemens-Cope, Lisa, et al, Changes in Employees' Health Insurance Coverage, 2001-2005, Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, October 2006. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. The Uninsured: A Primer, Key Facts About Americans without Health Insurance. January 2006. Hewitt Associates LLC. Health Care Expectations: Future Strategy and Direction 2005. 17 November 2004. Dalrymple, M., "Senators Seek Tax Credit for Unemployed." Associated Press, 9 October 2003. Institute of Medicine. Insuring America's Health – Principles and Recommendations. The National Academies Press, 2004. Institute of Medicine. Care Without Coverage – Too Little, Too Late. The National Academies Press, 2002. The Urban Institute. Key Findings from the 2002 National Health Interview Survey. 9 August 2004. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Access to Care for the Uninsured: An Update. 29 September 2003. Institute of Medicine. Hidden Costs, Values Lost: Uninsurance in America. The National Academies Press. 17 June 2003. NCHC | Facts About Healthcare - Health Insurance Coverage | |
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01-15-2008, 02:20 PM
| #55 (permalink) |
| Big Idiot Man Child  Join Date: May 2004 Location: La
Posts: 5,774
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I'm in New Orleans, Louisiana which isn't part of the USA so I don't know much about politics other than there are really no such things as countries any more. It is much bigger than we all know. I quit worrying about it. I'm too stupid to comprehend such things. I'll leave that to the smart people like Woops and others who are concerned. I don't really care. Democrat, Republican.......heck, whatever. I'm only here for a few more years anyways and then I'll be worm food. Eric prolly knows a whole lot more about drugs than I do. I'm just an idiot who happened to quit dope almost 5 years ago. Don't listen to me. |
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01-15-2008, 02:43 PM
| #56 (permalink) |
| Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Canada
Posts: 98
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More about why people need to educate themselves when dealing with doctors. Recreational Drugs FAR Less Likely to Kill You than Prescribed Drugs! By Christopher Kent, D.C., J.D. Recreational drugs, including cocaine and heroin, are responsible for an estimated 10,000-20,000 American deaths per year [1,2]. While this represents a serious public health problem, it is a "smokescreen" for America's real drug problem. America's "war on drugs" is directed at the wrong enemy. It is obvious that interdiction, stiff mandatory sentences, and more vigorous enforcement of drug laws have failed. The reason is simple. Cause and effect have been reversed. The desire to solve problems by taking drugs is a product of our culture. When a child is taught by loving parents that the appropriate response to pain or discomfort is taking a pill, it is obvious that such a child, when faced with the challenges of adolescence, will seek comfort by taking drugs. Drugs are Dangerous Whether Pushed or Prescribed While approximately 10,000 per year die from the effects of illegal drugs, an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reported that an estimated 106,000 hospitalized patients die each year from drugs which, by medical standards, are properly prescribed and properly administered. More than two million suffer serious side effects. [3] An article in Newsweek [4] put this into perspective. Adverse drug reactions, from "properly" prescribed drugs, are the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. According to this article, only heart disease, cancer, and stroke kill more Americans than drugs prescribed by medical doctors. Reactions to prescription drugs kill more than twice as many Americans as HIV/AIDS or suicide. Fewer die from accidents or diabetes than adverse drug reactions. It is important to point out the limitations of this study. It did not include outpatients, cases of malpractice, or instances where the drugs were not taken as directed. According to another AMA publication, drug related "problems" kill as many as 198,815 people, put 8.8 million in hospitals, and account for up to 28% of hospital admissions. [5] If these figures are accurate, only cancer and heart disease kill more patients than drugs. Has the situation improved since the publication of this information? Hardly. Null [6] et al have published the most comprehensive and well-documented study I have seen of deaths associated with medical practice. In this report, their research revealed some shocking facts. The findings are summarized in the abstract: "A definitive review and close reading of medical peer-review journals, and government health statistics shows that American medicine frequently causes more harm than good. The number of people having in-hospital, adverse drug reactions (ADR) to prescribed medicine is 2.2 million. Dr. Richard Besser, of the CDC, in 1995, said the number of unnecessary antibiotics prescribed annually for viral infections was 20 million. Dr. Besser, in 2003, now refers to tens of millions of unnecessary antibiotics. The number of unnecessary medical and surgical procedures performed annually is 7.5 million. The number of people exposed to unnecessary hospitalization annually is 8.9 million. The total number of iatrogenic deaths shown in the following table is 783,936. It is evident that the American medical system is the leading cause of death and injury in the United States. The 2001 heart disease annual death rate is 699,697; the annual cancer death rate, 553,251." Drugs Number One Killer The authors conclude: "When the number one killer in a society is the healthcare system, then, that system has no excuse except to address its own urgent shortcomings. It's a failed system in need of immediate attention. What we have outlined in this paper are insupportable aspects of our contemporary medical system that need to be changed -- beginning at its very foundations." A recent article in Archives of Internal Medicine [7] stated that in the seven year period from 1998 through 2005, reported serious adverse drug events increased 2.6-fold, and fatal adverse drug events increased 2.7-fold. The authors noted that reported serious events increased 4 times faster than the total number of outpatient prescriptions during the period. Another study concluded that the majority(86%) of the adverse drug reactions for which patients were admitted to a medical intensive care unit were preventable. [8] One proposed solution to the illegal drug problem was encouraging potential users to ignore peer pressure and "just say no." Interestingly, this strategy is not being recommended for prescription drugs. Bruce Pomeranz, MD , one of the authors of the JAMA paper, said he is not warning people to stay away from drugs. "That would be a terrible message," he said. Lucian Leape, MD, of the Harvard School of Public Health said, "When you realize how many drugs we use, maybe those numbers aren't so bad after all." [4] Does that mean that the number of deaths due to illegal drugs, suicide, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, accidents, and drunk driving "aren't so bad" either? Does it mean that we shouldn't discourage drunk driving or unsafe sex? The folly of such double standards should be obvious to all. It is time to address the real drug problem -- the cultural notion that the first solution to seek for relief of life's problems is a drug. That's the drug culture we need to address. Recreational Drugs FAR Less Likely to Kill You than Prescribed Drugs! - Articles |
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01-15-2008, 02:56 PM
| #58 (permalink) | |
| Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Canada
Posts: 98
| Quote:
Go see a doctor and just say to them that you feel like ****, and guaranteed, you will walk out of there with enough pills to dope up all your relatives, and then some. What really is terrifying is the idiots giving kids amphetamines and call it medicine! | |
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01-15-2008, 03:06 PM
| #59 (permalink) |
| Big Idiot Man Child Join Date: May 2004 Location: La
Posts: 5,774
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Yeah. It is easy to get whatever you want here. I have a pain clinic right behind my office. For $300 cash you can get Oxycontin, Vicodin, Methadone, Soma, and Xanax Bars. Lots of kids are on Adderol. These drugs are the recreational drugs kids/teens/young adults are using. Nowdays they don't start smoking a little weed and drinking a little beer. They start out hard. I'm just glad meth hasn't really hit hard here but it is coming too.
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01-15-2008, 04:04 PM
| #60 (permalink) |
| Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: cape cod
Posts: 2,320
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Eric, dude, my business won't go under. Hasn't in 15 years. You know why? Because my husband works for a living and doesn't sit in front of a computer and cut and paste stupid ass information to **** people off.
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01-15-2008, 04:18 PM
| #61 (permalink) | |
| Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Canada
Posts: 98
| Quote:
Obviously, you can't read because if you could, you would know that information does not "**** people off". Unlike you, they happen to learn from it. There are no guarantees in life especially where business is concerned. But, obviously, you don't know that just like you don't know what will happen in the future to anyone. | |
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01-15-2008, 04:38 PM
| #63 (permalink) |
| Big Idiot Man Child Join Date: May 2004 Location: La
Posts: 5,774
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Assuming CC's business will fail and telling her so isn't very nice at all. It's pretty crappy. I sure wish you could be relieved of you anger toward others. We're all in this together and life sucks sometimes. We all get bummed out. It is obvious that you do want to help others and I appreciate it. It is good to help others. None of us are really 100% right. We have all made mistakes, some of us have made terrible mistakes. Some of us unfortunates live in the USA and there ain't much we can do about our government, our health care system, or any of that. Some of us are just really lucky to be alive. I hope you can find some peace.
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01-15-2008, 04:39 PM
| #64 (permalink) | |
| Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Canada
Posts: 98
| Quote:
Every time I come on this site, I get attacked by some people and I have to defend myself. Read what this cc person has been posting. Ask her why she is angry? And, why are you angry at my posts about benzodiazepines and constantly follow my posts with strange and hostile comments? | |
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01-15-2008, 05:01 PM
| #65 (permalink) |
| Big Idiot Man Child Join Date: May 2004 Location: La
Posts: 5,774
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I don't mean to be hostile, really. I just think that folks should talk to the medical professionals about medical problems they are having. Some of the stuff on the internet can get dangerous for fragile people. Sure there are bad doctors. There are also bad plumbers and carpenters. I think this person should listen to their doctor and get a 2nd and maybe a 3rd opinion. It is something we have to do in this country. In Louisiana we have free health care for the poor but in the rest of the country there aren't many options. The idea that most addicts can taper anything at all is impossible for many of us. It is the best way to quit the benzodiazepines but some of us can't stop once we start with them and other drugs. I agree with Ashton's methods and she's done her homework but I have to say that some of the folks I've encountered in the benzo groups really scare me. I know there have been suicides and lots of other problems. Too many non-medical folks acting as shrinks can be dangerous. I know you want to help. I don't wanna tell you what to do or say. I've worked with a few addicts and I've had some success and some failures. I know that when I became angry and pushy then I did no good at all. Maybe a softer, more mellow approach is best. Like maybe posting the Ashton Manual link and telling folks to print it and bring it to their doctors and then see what happens. Sending a lot of fragile multi-dopeusing dopers to the accidental addict sites like benzo island ain't gonna be very healthy for some. I'd say most that come here to SR are multi-users and garden variety addicts. I hope you understand. I ain't trying to be smartass or mean. I don't think that CC had mean intentions. I hope you can find some peace. It is easier.
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01-15-2008, 05:04 PM
| #66 (permalink) |
| Big Idiot Man Child Join Date: May 2004 Location: La
Posts: 5,774
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A guy just posted a thread here (somewhere recently) and he was one of the garden variety addicts who got booted off of one of the benzo sites. He was pretty upset. I don't know where he went and he ain't posted in awhile.
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01-15-2008, 05:54 PM
| #67 (permalink) | |
| Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Canada
Posts: 98
| Quote:
There are many things that are "scary" in this world, especially when it comes to health care. There are a lot of quacks out there and then there are a lot of really good health care providers. People need to educate themselves as best they can to protect themselves. Of course I am aware of the pitiful situation of the health care system in the usa (I have relatives who live there and are americans). Not everyone who comes to sites like these is without care or resources so the people who do have choices have the right to choose the options available to them. And, I am aware that not everyone can taper drugs, especially benzos. I have a brother who is severely addicted to benzos and every other prescribed and street drug that he could get his hands on since his early teen years and is a lost being and will never find his way off these dreadful dung pills or drugs. No internet groups, face to face groups, doctors or therapists, or detox was able to help him and no one will. He most likely will put a bullet in his own head, as he has been going on about recently. So I know the deal with what goes on with "multiuser garden variety addicts" as I am related to quite a few of them. But, everyone can choose for themselves what avenue they want to go down to get off their drug of no choice. I found the benzo groups very helpful and this was how I managed to free myself and am very grateful to the people who helped and supported me to save my own life. Of course not everyone can do it this way. Many do need to go to some sort of detox to save their lives. And some, like my brother will most likely die young from his own hand, and there is nothing I can do to help him or anyone else can help, 30 years of failure. So whoever wants to use the groups while under their doctors supervision while tapering should have that option, whoever needs to go to detox should have that option. It is up to the person as to what will help them succeed go break free from their suffering and drugs of no choice. I do post the Ashton link and the other links. When people approach the groups, the first thing that is posted to them is the Ashton link and the folks are asked to print it out and go to their doctors for help and supervision for a safe taper. Then, they are welcome to join in the groups as they taper along to support each other as they go through the awful long time it takes to get off these drugs and for support of each other as the nasty symptoms arise during the taper. I know that if I did not have this type of support, that I would have thrown in the towel and ended it as going back on the drugs was no longer an option as they had sickened me so badly that I just wished I was dead. Rehab for me was not an option as I was on way to high doses of both benzos and opiates. I was not abusing them and only used them as prescribed, which was an astronomical amount, but that did not prevent me from developing severe high tolerance to the crap. I had to taper or die. No way would detox cold turkey with some psych drugs work for me. They would have killed me! So for folks like me, the groups are the best way to go as we taper off the crap. For others such as yourself, detox is the solution. I would never have survived detox! You don't understand the groups because you did not need them to help you so, I guess, your experience was not as positive and life saving as mine was. The groups, all groups and forums, ban people who cause trouble. That is their right. People get banned from here as well for causing trouble. They can find a group that is more suited to their needs, such as you have. | |
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01-15-2008, 06:57 PM
| #68 (permalink) |
| Im not crazy and neither am I  Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: My place in (M)Assachusetts
Posts: 2,075
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while on the subject I was on pretty much the lowest dose possible of lorazapam and either it is being inside and dealing with my situation of not driving and being broke(that I brought on myself) OR irritable and depressed due to withdrawl....either way - today it sucks this too shall pass  |
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01-15-2008, 08:10 PM
| #70 (permalink) |
| Content with my past Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Cincinnati Ohio
Posts: 643
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What is a garden-variety addict? What is benzo island, a forum for pysch med addicts?? OR recovery addicts????? I am lost. Hell, I have been abusing pain pills for 20 years and didnt even know they were referred to as opiates until I finally ask here, didnt know sub, benzos or bup...... I am lame. |
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01-15-2008, 08:52 PM
| #71 (permalink) |
| Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: cape cod
Posts: 2,320
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Poor Invisible. You started a thread for help and you get all us crazies attacking each other. The most important thing is to determine what is going on. You know your body best. If something just doesn't feel right, then yes, I would go see a doctor. If yours is not good, there is no law that says you can't find one who is more knowledgeable in matters of addiction and withdrawal. I have a wonderul one who works with me when pain issues come up (my doc is pain pills) She is up to date on information and never ever prescribes me anything addictive. There are good doctors out there. You just need to find one of them. You deserve the best care available. |
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01-15-2008, 09:19 PM
| #72 (permalink) |
| invisible7 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: CO
Posts: 24
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I talked to the nurse today after 2 days of phone tag and told her that I am experiencing withdrawal symptoms and it takes twice as many sleeping pills than he prescribed to sleep. I feel like crap...it's the 4th day being off lorazepam. My last visit to the doctor, I told him I feel good. So for some stupid reason, he decides to take me off of the plan that has actually made me feel good and able to sleep. I have an autoimmune disease that I was being treated for by a rheumatologist with dexedrine and lorazepam to counteract the dexedrine at night. I felt ok then too. NOw it feels like all of my symptoms from my autoimmune disease are coming back and my stress and anxiety levels are at a high at work and at home. My husband wants me off effexor and lunesta. I told him he's going to the next doctor's appointment with me. I do not believe these drugs were prescribed in error to me and my primary doctor is an ANTI drug pusher, but sometimes these need to be taken by people that they actually help with medical conditions. I know that people with MS take a drug for their fatigue....I can't think of what it's called. They helped me to feel almost normal and took away my daytime fatigue and made me sleep at night. I have headaches, stomach aches, I slurr my words at work, I was 4 hours late for work on MOnday and had to explain to my boss that I am experiencing withdrawals from lorazepam....they do random drug tests at work ....so I can almost guarantee you my name is going to come up. I am completely out of lorazepam so I can't do anything but take more sleeping pills to get sleep and tylenol all day long. This is the most busy time at work, so I cannot take off for sick leave, but when I was driving home tonight - it takes 1/2 - I could tell that my driving judgement is off and I got really close to hitting a rail. This is because I worked 10 hours today, only ate a couple of snacks throughout the day, and started feeling lightheaded while I was driving. Hopefully the doctor will call back later. I really want to go back on lorazepam for a couple of months and then taper off. Do you think he'll go for that LOL???? One more thing - has anyone been on Lunesta? I am taking 4 mg per night and it leaves the grossest taste in your mouth all day long. I hate it. I still doing sleep as good as I did on Lorazepam even taking 4 mg instead of the prescribed 2 mg. Sorry for going on and on ....but the only way that I am learning about what the right thing to do is by reading on this forum and seeing what other's that have taken the same prescription medicine experienced when going off of them. |
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01-15-2008, 09:34 PM
| #73 (permalink) |
| Guest  |
If you can hang in there and your system is close to mine you should be feeling alot better in about 4 more days maybe 5. Myself (for saftey reasons) I would ask to go on a taper plan. I'ver been down this benzo withdrawal road so many times i couldnt count and there never fun. The worse was coming off klonopin but lorazapam was very bad too. |
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