Just passed 5 years off Xanax, Vicodin, Lexapro and Seroquel….. Finally seeing improvement and am so happy I didn’t reinstate…. I wanted to…..

I came off Klonopin abruptly at a detox center. 4.5 months later I reinstated onto Valium per recommendation of my doctor and people on forums. I had an extraordinarily horrible reaction to it with extreme lasting effects. I am now 13 years off and still sick. I have improved since then but it has been HELL.

My reinstatement nearly killed me. Everyone’s story is different. No one person is the same. And there is no way of knowing who it would work for. It’s a gamble. This injury is so devastating. 4 years out from a ct and I’m still suffering. Kindled to oblivion.

Thank you for your knowledge and compassion. No one else understands, even when I share your videos. They don’t want to hear it. I wish I were in a state where I could get your help. We need more doctors like you.

I am 61 years old and have been medicated for panic disorder with xanax and paxil at a high dose for 30 years. I am fully functioning , work a high level job and have no panic attacks . My medications have not been changed in 30 years. I want to live my life out in peace as i am. Prolonged withdrawal sounds like a torture session that would last years. Why would someone my age ...who would like to retire and enjoy my life be forced to go through this terror?

A month isn't long enough to see if reinstatement is working or not. On an antidepressants withdrawal support group many have taken a few months to see improvements or even got back to feeling normal

And it's too messed up to watch these videos and know for years doctors won't listen. Won't look at brain injury. Call you a drug seeker. So on. If someone would simply reinstate I'd be there. The only thing I've found is a costly miserable taper

Wish I/ my dr would have known better all those years ago. Many rushed tapers/ reinstatements/ dose changes etc. Im stuck in a world of torture trying to taper a drug my body doesn’t seem to need.

Kindling Isa nightmare 😢

Citalopram ruined my life. I took it for a little over a month. It's been over a year since I quit. I suffer from derialization, nausea, ringing in the ears, balance problems, emotional numbness and sexual dysfunction. Only after 8 months did the anorgasmia disappear; after 11 months, the numbness of the genitals improved slightly. Some symptoms, other than sexual and emotional ones, sometimes subside a little, but then return.

My psychiatrist had to add a smaller dose to stop the psychosis and hallucinations plus seizures that I never had before. I had been on klonopin for 27 years and stopped. I could not have been able to stand the physical and mental pain waiting to get thru another day. Now that I am somewhat stable, my dr. wants to taper me off but I am saying no as I am 70. I was off for 3 months and on 1/2 % of what I was on. I feel nothing like I used to...tired, lethargic...when I used to go out a lot and always making people laugh.

It kills me that when I reinstated the clonazepam I was back to normal after about 6 years. Then as soon as it switched to diazapam for ashton taper it's miserable again. I begged for reinstatement and they marked me as a drug seeker so it's even more impossible. I've tried being off for a year after 6mg cold turkey. The only thing that helps is reinstatement. Nobody will. It's torture. Lose my health my family friends everything. I like to think at this point I'm just being targeted to be tortured. It's fuckef up

So I’m at 22 months and my brain feels fried every day. I guess I have neuron damage.

He’s correct. If you get too far out, it’s really a new set of symptoms that doesn’t respond to the medication the same way because the brain is damaged. It feels like it might be (partially) saving you but it usually never works the same. You’ll sit and slowly worsen your baseline and then need to come off. You often wind up one notch worse. I had 3 quick taper jump attempts where I reinstated 9-15 days. I kept reinstating ever lower and banging my head against tolerance until I finally broke through. (Using my head apparently, because I finally pushed through and did not reinstate.) I think I SHOULD have, but that’s a coulda shoulda woulda. I got impatient and quick tapered the last 0.75mg/day of Klonopin over 45 days. I pushed passed the 15 day mark things started to explode. By day 90, I was asking for brain MRIs and physically got one by day 120. Showed nothing. The tinnitus explosion was from another planet.

Thank you for being a beacon of light for the public and not bought by pharmaceutical companies.

All I want is to reinstate. I was on high dose 6mg and long term clonazapam. I've been trying over 6 years on and off and simply can't get reinstated. Only a miserable taper. It's not right

Saldy I experienced really severe kindling 5 months no improvements as Serotonin syndrome is no joke, while I reinstated I was also still experiencing withdrawals ontop of that. Who knows if my brain will ever recover as I have been in withdrawals for 8 months now, on May 1st (which is now) it will be 9 months of horrendous withdrawals, everyday is a nightmare. I can't try other antidepressants even at a low dose. This just gets better and better. Not only have I been harmed by Sertraline my neurons are damaged 😢 I am truly sorry for everything that I have done, can I please stop being punished now.

Reinstatements (Lyrica, Klonopin, Ambien...) never helped me therefore worsened my symptoms... at any dosage! I am so damn glad to be off of all psych meds by now... they just made me sicker and never helped. I just had paradoxicalreactions on any of them...still have Protracted withdrawal but doing quite well though most of the time. Far Better than being on the meds!

You keep talking about YEARS of use... I only took Ativan for about 2 weeks and had almost 3 years of severe symptoms with a VERY slow taper. BUT... I completely agree that is is DAMAGE....not withdrawal.

Same os with updosing.. I was down to 2.6 mg Valium from 13mg- felt so miserable.. updised and never felt normal ever since .

Fast tapered last summer from 1 mg klonopin. Reduced by .25 mg every couple of weeks down to .125 for a week then jumped off. It was hell! I thought I was dying. I reinstated at .25 and that wasn’t any better. I went up to 1 mg and felt like a zombie. So I went to .75 and it took two solid months to stabilize. But I started a water taper immediately from .75. Now at .18 mg. I’m almost done! I suggest a 75% reinstatement. Then taper. Of course, it’s different for everyone, and reinstatement will take time for you to become stable. For note, I was only completely off for maybe 2-3 weeks before reinstating. My taper has had ups and downs, but I’m sleeping and can drive short distances. I can cook dinner and take long walks in the park. I hope this is a positive outlook when I jump off again.

I was told by a psychiatrist similar to him( works in antidepressant and benzo withdrawal) that reinstatement can work up to 2 years off the meds. I was off Wellbutrin (300 mg) and Lexapro 10 mg 1 year + 3 months. I was advised to start at 20 mg Wellbutrin. I immediately had horrible side effects, but I was hoping for improvement in time. Over 2 months I was up to 50 mg, then 75 mg for a week. The whole week on 75 mg I was a rageaholic, and developed severe akathesia!! 😳😳I was up all night shaking and pacing and panicking. Now I was terrified of coming off too quickly but I had to stop immediately. The side effects went away and my protracted damage remained. It is now 2 years 1 month off cold turkey of the 2 meds (advice from a coach) and starting to feel a bit better.

Honestly scared but i want to believe i can heal

Thank you for addressing this important topic!

You said it all! Thank you for getting into this subject. It's hard to find the balance.

Can you please make a video about spellbinding in withdrawal? Thanks 🙏🏼

Thank you. Is that the same with updosing?

How do you measure recovery? Is it self report of symptoms ? Thanks for this video.

Exactly the information I've been looking for the past few days. Thank you!

This is valuable information...thanks for putting it out her.

I don’t think I can. It’s been a year and I’m hurting.

Just to share my story. I reinstated after 2 months off. I had an adverse reaction (severe akathesia) which my psychiatrist told me was just the normal start up effect. He told me to take 2 Xanax a day and to stop complaining basically. Except this was not the normal start up effect. It was an adverse dangerous reaction. I quit after 3 weeks. 2 years and 4 months off I am still struggling with PAWS.

Can you talk about how to count and weigh venlafaxine beads that are micro beads that have at times crack pieces or two stuck together ? Please .

Once the damage is revealed , reinstating only temporarily masks the damage. Tapering can even be more difficult with new and more difficult symptoms with each reinstatement.

Thanks Doc, you are the best!!!

Any help in Toronto, Ontario, Canada?

Thank you for your fantastic information! Would you please share the research about the damaged neurons? I was ridiculed by the pharmacist when I talked about hyperbolic tapering or distinctions between the relapse and withdrawal symptoms. I printed out the research and presented it for the credential findings. And although it’s totally make sense about the neuron damage, I have never find the words from my reading. Please reply with the link about the research of everything I stated in the videos. We are struggling with old guidelines the pharmacists and doctors follow. Thank you again for your support!!!

Thank you so much for this; I tapered down much too quickly from 1mg Klonopin nightly for 2.5 years. I got down to .25 & suffered from anxiety, but was alright. 2 months after, I went back up to .5 because I was suffering from pericarditis. 2 months after that, I am suffering from extreme, extreme panic, DPDR, & emotional distress before my nightly dose; much worse than the acute withdrawal but a longshot. My new doctor, who tapers, wants me to go back to .75 to taper more slowly. I am completely on the fence; should I go back up? Thank you.

Any chance your clinic will get licensed in Oklahoma?

Interesting video unfortunately for me and many others we are in a severe protracted state from Benzodiazepines injury! Does anyone else have experience teeth numb tight sensation?

🙏 Thank you

Do the damaged neurons eventually recover?

Tell the DEA and Andrew Kolodny

I know you’re playing with camera angle but we are in a new era the interview angle only works if someone is actually interviewing you and you need to be looking over the shoulder of the interviewer-it’s ok just to look straight at the camera the switch in angle is not needed so feel gratuitous and distracting-what you have to say is way more important-I think it’s ok just to stick with the straight shot talking directly to the viewer plus it adds the dimension that we are getting a real up and close conversation of a doctor. Your personal style and empathetic approach comes through and it is very comforting-what we don’t get from most doctors these days

I know it does in my case.

How does this call neuron damage for some people??

Pretty good

So what can and should you do now. 38 year paxil and xanax and 1 week in hosp to go off. No drugs, or ect as reason why. Just got a divorce, thats all. Purpose was as a pay back for settlement amount. Medical test clear as always. Stil is. So now what to fix this .?

I have doctors telling me to reinstate 7 years latter 😢 nope

I bought some vitamins I saw that supposedly help with neuron damage.. I hope they help. In the benzo withdrawal manual by Heather Ashton she said supplements and vitamins work.

What if someone is 10 months off and things instead of improving or staying constant things are getting worse? Why is body getting worse? Is the glutamate rush in the morning neurotoxic to the nervous cells and they keep on getting weaker and weaker?

Dr Josef, could you please talk about assisted suicide for mental health going on in The Netherlands and Canada? Zoraya Ter Beek is scheduled to die by euthanasia this May. She went from psych meds, to electroconvulsive therapy, to now assisted suicide. 3 doctors have signed off on her death. I don't know how anyone hasn't considered iatrogenic harm for her case. It's now the meds>ect>assisted suicide pipeline.

I read they there are vitamins for neuron damage. Is that true?

Face it: Nobody has the answer. Best we can do is listen to our own bodies and fade out the assorted platitudes.

Not a small subset of people. You just don’t know about us because we have faded into the background. And it’s not years on the drug, it can be months on the drug and years in protracted. Truthfully, you all have no idea what these drugs are doing to us. No clue. You can make educated guesses based on what you see, but you are not seeing the whole picture, just your very narrow slice of this world.

No

It is true that SSRI/SNRIs generally have quite mild side effects. The most common side effects include nausea, dizziness, sleep problems, and dry mouth. In most cases, these side effects are mild and go away on their own. However, it is also true that a smaller portion of users may experience more serious side effects, such as agitation, mania, suicidal thoughts, and sexual problems. It is also important to remember that it can be difficult to discontinue SSRI/SNRI treatment, and some people may experience withdrawal symptoms such as fatigue, anxiety, and dizziness. You mention that older antidepressants (TCAs, MAOIs, Mianserin) do not generally have these problems. This is partially true. These medications can be effective for some people, but they often have more and more serious side effects than SSRIs/SNRIs. They can also be dangerous if combined with certain other medications or alcohol. I agree that it is important to be critical of the pharmaceutical industry and that you should not blindly believe everything you hear. But I think it is wrong to scare people away from using antidepressants. These medications can be very helpful for people who suffer from depression and anxiety. They can save lives and improve the quality of life for many people. Using antidepressants and benzodiazepines the right way Antidepressants and benzodiazepines are two types of medication that are often used to treat depression and anxiety. While they can be effective for many people, it is important to use them the right way to avoid side effects and dependence. Right dose: It is important to take the right dose of antidepressants and benzodiazepines. Taking too little may not make the medication work, while taking too much can cause serious side effects. A doctor can help you determine the right dose for you. Right patient: Antidepressants and benzodiazepines are not right for everyone. They should not be used by people who are pregnant or breastfeeding, or who have certain medical conditions. A doctor can determine if these medications are right for you. Right duration: Antidepressants and benzodiazepines should only be taken for as long as needed. Taking them longer than necessary can increase the risk of side effects and dependence. A doctor can help you determine how long you should take these medications. Use with other medications: Antidepressants and benzodiazepines can interact with other medications you are taking. It is important to tell your doctor about all the medications you are taking, including prescription medications, over-the-counter medications, and supplements.

So is he saying we should have no WD or symptoms or anything after 3 months off? Is he kidding?!

No, it is not guaranteed to work. Updosing and reinstating is not advisable

No need for the video. X

My daughter stopped again and was re-hospitalized - they unfortunately, forced massive dozes.