Expert: Gareth Stubbs - 2/14/2009

Question
Hi Gareth. I am a 51 year old woman. I have been bulimic and addicted to anitdepressants for 30 years and the past 15 years addicted to benzodiazapines.  I completed a drug rehab Jan 25/09 but now I am suffering from Chemical nerve damage. This is what I was told by my Hollistic Dr.  The side effects from all these years on drugs have ravished my body. I am trying to correct this by good food, good diet, hollistic treatments and trying to work out but I have diminished balance so it is difficult..Do u have any opinion on my condition and can this be fixed? thank you

Answer
Hey Amby,

First off, congratulations for taking a HUGE step forward to a healthier lifestyle – that is something that so many people do not even attempt to do, so my respect goes to you as I know how “difficult” that first step can be.

As I am not a medical practitioner, all I can offer you is my own experience and I hope that gives you some insight into the recovery we continue to go through during our lives. Benzo’s were one of my many “sweets” for many years, and like yourself, I did suffer some long term side effects as a result of the abuse of them – to this day, I still get twitches in my arms and my legs but I must honestly say, they do not irritate me as they used to when I first came off them after 15 years of abusing them, so the good news is that there is a way of dealing with these.

Because benzodiazepines are well known for their strong muscle-relaxing properties, they can be useful in the treatment of muscle spasms, however, prolonged use of them when they are not prescribed for this can have an adverse affect, which you are experiencing. The time needed to complete withdrawal from benzo’s differs from person to person, depending who you speak to – some say a few weeks, others a few months and some people have even mentioned years. My personal experience is that the “worst” of it takes between 4 and 6 months. The most important thing throughout this is to ensure that you are well hydrated as the muscles need the water in order to deal with everything they are going through. Get as much exercise as you can physically handle, even if it is just short walks – this gets the muscles used to doing something else and gets all the “crap” out of them, if you know what I mean.  The more you do these things, which you said you are doing, the easier it gets. As you used them for some time, your body will take a bit of time to get used to operating without them, so keep at it and you will notice now that things are appearing a lot easier.

You mentioned that you were working with some holistic treatments, which may make this next point a bit easier to explain. Something that helped me a GREAT deal with all of this was something called Body Talk and using different NLP methods of treatment. They all work around “energy” and your body as an holistic “vehicle” and the results they produce are absolutely amazing – I do not think I would be where I am in my life today if it were not for them because they have both helped me deal with so many physical ailments as a result of years of abuse, so I would recommend that you look into them.

I hope that gives you some insight into my experience and what has helped me, and hope that it gives you something to work on or look to working on now. The good news is that the body is an amazingly powerful thing, and the most important thing is the mindset you have – once you harness the power of that mindset, let me tell you everything is possible and people have recovered from many different problems. If you need any more information, or even if you just need to chat through things, please do not hesitate to contact me and I will be more than happy to offer and advice or listening ears to you !

Also, if you are interested, as I deal with these situations a lot, I am offering one-to-one coaching sessions, so if you would like to have a free no obligation 30-minute session, I would be more than happy to help you out.

Keep up the good work and know that the rest is so much easier than what you have already been through.

Gareth