Wrongly prescribed, hell and back! 

Antidepressant withdrawal can be just as prolonged and horrific as benzo withdrawal.

I feel you! I started taking Klonopin during college in 2003 for “social anxiety.” Not a single doctor over the past 20 years ever told me how they will wreck your life in every facet. I’m also an opioid addict thanks to Purdue. Smh. I tapered off for a few months and still had terrible withdrawal for over a month. Then the PAWS started. omfg. I can’t list all of my symptoms here as it would be too long of a list. But in short, benzo belly, Impending doom, anxiety, despair, tinnitus, couldn’t hold conversation, insomnia. The torment they cause is indescribable. It’s incredible to me that they are only a schedule IV drug here in the US with “low potential for abuse.” It’s as addictive as crack for someone who feels high anxiety…which is the majority of us. If I could sum benzos up in 1 word, it would be: “TRAP” Thanks for your content!

The drug companies know the damage they are causing with benzos. They should be held accountable and given prison terms.

I have quit all my medication completely about 15 years ago. It's not necessarily brain damage that these medications cause. The likes of antidepressant and antipsychotics work by suppressing the dopamine receptors in the brain and ever the course of time the brain fights back and grows additional receptors. So when you then withdraw you then have too many receptors and the brain needs then adapt back over, which is possible over the course of time. My word of advice is, don't believe everything doctors tell you as most of them are just guessing and I have even proven this many times. I could not believe how lacking in information my brothers psychiatrists were and several times I ended up needing to advice the psychiatrist, which I even have written evidence of with the psychiatrist apologising for their incompetence and errors. I'd love to add to your documentary as I want to blow the whistle on how disgraceful mental health services truly are and i have tons of records of this.

Girl, there are no words to describe this. The horror of having aka, the Dr s being CLUELESS, family is no where to be found. . I can't believe I'm alive

Do not have MSG foods….puts you right back

<3 thank you so much for talking on this very serious epidemic. so glad you have recovered love to you an wicket

Lorazepam and Diazepam are relaxants and are also used to help aid sleep but is meant to be only used short term.

It took me nearly 3 years to recover from a few weeks of Lorazepam use...it was BEYOND HELL.

I'm on lorazepam 1mg and the chemical terror you experienced is what I'm experiencing. Waking every morning with adrenaline pumping, nausea, derealization, heart racing. Absolutely terrified. I wasn't anywhere near as anxious when I started them. Can't believe this is still happening in the UK. Gaslighting us all on benzos, making us believe we are getting more unwell by own hand and not helping ourselves.

I became very unwell on my meds and knowing I had to get off all of them scared me to death. I started meds at 13 and at 48 they turned on me. There was no one to help me. I'm so thankful it's over. Thanks for doing this

Thank you for sharing this and highlighting the devastation caused by psychiatric drugs. GPs need to know what happens from Benzo's and SSRi's and support provided during withdrawal and post withdrawal. I wish you and everyone of us suffering from this awful debilitating medical injury a speedy recovery.

Thank you so much for this! Somehow it made me not blame myself a bit less. Started with doctor for help in sleeping. Told him I wanted to stop taking it. Not much advice from him. Went cold turkey. Had a seizure. Family kicked me out of my house on same property and went ballistic on me. All while I was terrorized with no sleep. Still treat me with contempt. Take nothing now but still feel stifled. I pray for everyone going through this “mind blowing” experience.

sorry for another comment. Firstly, thank you so much for your candid interview. It's very valuable information! Benzo's affect the neurotransmitter GABA system, which creates the calming effect with your nervous system. So what is happening is severe nervous system injury (the GABA receptors "down regulate", and take a long time to "grow" again).

Emma I am SO PROUD of you! You are doing such good things for this community. Hugs girl!

I was first prescribed Xanax in 1992 at the age of 30 when I went to ER with what I thought was a stroke. I was diagnosed with anxiety and hospitalized for five days. For the next twenty years I took Xanax, Valium and Ativan but was always able to stop when I got pregnant. However after a divorce from a very abusive marriage in 2007 I was taking Xanax a few times a day and I became addicted to it. I was taking at least 5 mgs a day and would feel terrible if I didn't take it every few hours. I had a few close calls overdosing where the ambulance had to be called. In 2012 I had the doctor prescribe me 5 Restoril a day for one week which I had delivered to my door each morning. The next week 4/day until the last week only one then zero. I felt awful but I was serious about getting free of the benzos. I felt weak for a year and would tire easily but I'm thrilled to say that now at the age of 59 I've never felt better!

I’m so thrilled to see you Emma! It’s so great that you are telling your story and spreading the word about the dangers of benzodiazepines. You look beautiful. I’m happy for you that you are doing much better. I hope that I can heal from my injury.

Thank you for sharing your story on RU-vid, Emma. Looking forward to your documentary. I'm 20 days away from jumping from clonazepam after 20 months of tapering, and the entire taper has been an indescribable hell I never knew existed and all due a drug I took as prescribed my doctor who said it was safe to take daily indefinitely. Keep telling your story, and I will do the same!

Thanks for sharing your story. There are loads of us going through this crap. All we can do is push through and get through the end. I've seen one common theme. It usually does go away. Just have to taper down and get off this crap. Your body will recover.

I remember feeling as though I was being burned alive inside and out for months. I remember feeling like fire ants were stinging me all over my body. I remember my mouth and teeth burning. I remember bugs and worms crawling on and under my skin. I remember the losing the ability to talk. I remember not being able to drive anymore. I remember having psychosis. I remember not knowing who I am or where I live. I remember thinking I was being held hostage. I remember being terrified to go anywhere. I remember when I couldn't walk. I remember crushing anxiety. I remember when I could not stop pacing for 4 1/2 months 12 / 14 hours a day. I remember hugging myself crying out all night long begging for someone to help me. I remember always saying please help me. I remember crawling in the yard not knowing what was happening to me. I remember being in a different dimension than the rest of the world. I remember laying on the floor kicking my legs and arching my back as my family watched and could do nothing. I remember laying on the floor for 6 months. I remember learning to sleep in a bed again. I remember losing my job. I remember feeling forsaken. I remember feeling like I was laying in cactus all the time. I remember being submerged in the bath with only my nose out of the water trying to stop the burning. I remember nothing helps. I remember being terrified and not knowing why. I remember losing bodily functions. I remember thinking I would be this way forever. I remember wanting to die. I remember praying to die. I remember the hissing Jet airplane inside my head. I remember my feet feeling like they were being boiled in water every day. I remember not sleeping for six days. I remember being up all night every night. I remember the Doctor that told me it should only take two weeks. I remember being in agony for 9 months. I remember my scale. I remember tapering.