Health News

If there is no organic reason for your emotional illness, or if you are over the early months of withdrawal, you can “choose to be well. This involves looking after your whole being not just your body and it may be necessary to change the way you think. First ask yourself if there are any rewards in staying ill:

Does being ill bring more care and attention from others or protect you from issues you are unwilling to face? Are you avoiding rejection/going out into the world/being an adult/admitting you are with the wrong partner? Because of the illness are you able to avoid responsibility/ risks/social interaction/a sexual relationship/failure or physical effort?

If you are not doing any of these, are you hanging on to sadness or hurtful feelings from the past in order to justify the way you are?

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The collicky pains and diarrhoea are usually diagnosed as ‘Irritable Bowel Syndrome’. Many people have had barium meals and enemas, and some even have investigative surgery. The investigations invariably prove negative, and the symptoms disappear without treatment. A simple diarrhoea mixture may be helpful. The modern approach of a high fibre diet to the irritable bowel syndrome seems to increase symptoms during withdrawal. Diarrhoea can be a side-effect of tranquillizer use too and may start when the drugs are first taken. There have been several reports of people who have had chronic diarrhoea for years which has completely cleared 3-4 weeks after acute withdrawal in hospital. The slight incontinence experienced by some (particularly early morning) is temporary.

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Many users find this tedious, but when you look at the list of symptoms that can be due entirely to over-breathing, it could be worth the effort.

Tie something around your wrist to remind you to be aware of your breathing patterns.

1. Do two 1\2 hour breathing exercise sessions per day and note your breathing rate every hour.

2. Loosen anything tight around your waist and preferably lie on the bed or floor.

3. Allow your lungs to inflate fully by gently lifting your tummy out as you breathe in (it could make you a little light-headed or tingly at first) and allow it to fall as you breathe out.

4. Try to keep the breaths equal and aim to gradually train yourself to breathe between 8 to 12 breaths per minute.

5. Don’t exhaust yourself by doing this too vigorously. Once you have mastered this, you will be able to do it anywhere—standing at the bus stop; whilst ironing; whilst washing up.

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Many people withdraw very successfully at home. If your doctor has agreed that you should reduce, but has not given you a withdrawal regime, here are some suggestions:

The Open University course called ‘Anxiety and Benzodiazepines (Tranquillizers)’ recommends a dose reduction of 1\8 th of the daily dose per 2-4 weeks. Some people feel that this regime prolongs the agony and prefer to tolerate symptoms of a more rapid withdrawal. The course also recommends that where a short-acting drug (e.g. Ativan) is being taken, a long-acting drug (e.g. Valium) be substituted. This can be done when the lowest possible dose of the short-acting drug is reached. Alternatively the recommendation for Diazepam (Valium) substitution from the Drugs Newsletter, No. 31, April, 1985, of the Regional Drug Information Service, Newcastle upon Tyne, can be used.

The benzodiazepine in use should be replaced in increments of one dose per day by the equivalent dose of diazepam [see Appendix]. This substitution can usually be accomplished within a week, although the duration of this period should be varied to suit individual patients. For example, a regime for a patient taking Lorazepam lmg morning, midday and evening is to replace the evening dose with l0 mg Diazepam for two days, then add replacement of the midday dose for two days, and finally replace the morning dose. The patient is then taking a daily dose of 30 mg Diazepam, which is approximately equivalent to 3 mg Lorazepam. Some patients feel better when Lorazepam or other relatively short-acting benzodiazepines are replaced by Diazepam in this manner. Some, however, require slightly more than the approximately equivalent dose of Diazepam given in the table to replace the benzodiazepine they are used to. A minority of patients experience real difficulties in changing from one benzodiazepine to another. In these cases, the changeover needs to be carried out more gradually.

It is generally agreed that the short-acting drugs cause most problems during withdrawal.

Many people have found the short-term or intermittent use of Propranolol (Inderal) useful. It helps the panic attacks, palpitations, sweating, and is a mild sedative.

It is extremely important to check with your doctor before you reduce any drugs.

Do not compare the numbers of milligrammes—1 mg of one drug cannot be substituted for 1 mg of another drug. 5 mg of Ativan does not equal 5 mg of Valium or 5 mg of Mogadon.

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