The Xanaxian Report

By S.K. Torma

Several true accounts of the battle with and triumph over, benzodiazepine prescription drug addiction. This book will help guide you to a victory over prescription drug addiction. From the author: "I wish I had easier access to benzo information like this while I was in the heat of battle. It would've been helpful to both me and my family." Reviews: "Heartrending..." Professor C. Heather Ashton, DM, FRCP "A gripping and emotional read..." Ross JM.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Mar 29, 2011
• ISBN: 9781257220380

Book preview

Clouds

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The Ashton Manual

Can be purchased on the internet at www.theashtonmanual.com And can be viewed on the internet at www.benzo.org.uk/manual/

Throughout this book, I will be referring to the Ashton Manual.

About the Ashton Manual author:

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PROFESSOR C HEATHER ASHTON, DM, FRCP

Chrystal Heather Ashton DM, FRCP is Emeritus Professor of Clinical Psycho-pharmacology at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, England.

Professor Ashton is a graduate of the University of Oxford and obtained a First Class Honours Degree (BA) in Physiology in 1951. She qualified in Medicine (BM, BCh, MA) in 1954 and gained a postgraduate Doctor of Medicine (DM) in 1956. She qualified as MRCP (Member of the Royal College of Physicians, London) in 1958 and was elected FRCP (Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, London) in 1975. She also became National Health Service Consultant in Clinical Psychopharmacology in 1975 and National Health Service

Consultant in Psychiatry in 1994.She has worked at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne as researcher (Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Reader and Professor) and clinician since 1965, first in the Department of Pharmacology and latterly in the Department of Psychiatry. Her research has centred, and continues, on the effects of psychotropic drugs (nicotine, cannabis, benzodiazepines, antidepressants and others) on the brain and behaviour in man. Her main clinical work was in running a benzodiazepine withdrawal clinic for 12 years from 1982-1994.

She is at present involved with the North East Council for Addictions (NECA) of which she is former Vice-Chairman of the Executive Committee on which she still serves. She continues to give advice on benzodiazepine problems to counsellors and is patron of the Bristol & District Tranquilliser Project. She was generic expert in the UK benzodiazepine litigation in the 1980s and has been involved with the UK organisation Victims of Tranquillisers (VOT). She has submitted evidence about benzodiazepines to the House of Commons Health Select Committee.

She has published approximately 250 papers in professional journals, books and chapters in books on psychotropic drugs of which over 50 concern benzodiazepines. She has given evidence to various Government committees on tobacco smoking, cannabis and benzodiazepines and has given invited lectures on benzodiazepines in the UK, Australia, Sweden, Switzerland and other countries.

You may find the Ashton Manual at www.thetrap.org.uk, www.benzo.org.uk or do a google search. You may also view a youtube presentation of Dr. Ashton giving a presentation to physicians in British Columbia at the following link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsjhqdE7-6A. A DVD copy of said presentation is available at www.mainebenzo.org.Dr. Ashton speaks on Benzodiazepine Dependence and Withdrawal Methods - how benzodiazepines and hypnotics affect the brain and body, symptoms of dependence, the personal/social costs of benzodiazepine dependence, benzodiazepine use and other substances such as street drugs, withdrawal, effective tapering plans, outcomes and long-term symptoms, and best practices.

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IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM PROFESSOR ASHTON

Professor Ashton would like to draw attention to the following points which are mentioned in the manual but not always heeded by doctors or patients:

It is worth pointing out to your prescriber that the withdrawal schedules provided in the manual are only intended as general guides. The rate of tapering should never be rigid but should be flexible and controlled by the patient, not the doctor, according to the patient’s individual needs which are different in every case.

The decision to withdraw is also the patient’s decision and should not be forced by the doctor.

Note that alcohol acts like benzodiazepines and should be used, if at all, in strict moderation as advised in this manual.

Antibiotics for some reason, sometimes seem to aggravate withdrawal symptoms. However, one class of antibiotics, the quinolones, actually displace benzodiazepines from their binding sites on GABA-receptors. These can precipitate acute withdrawal in people taking or tapering from benzodiazepines. It may be necessary to take antibiotics during benzodiazepine withdrawal but if possible the quinolones should be avoided. (There are at least six different quinolones - ask your doctor if in doubt).

C. H. Ashton, January 2007

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Please pay special attention to item number three on the previous page. It specifically states that antibiotics seem to exacerbate withdrawal symptoms. It especially mentions the Quinolone family, which, to me, throws up a red flag. Below, you will find a list of Quinolones that is suggested to steer clear away from, for purposes stated on the previous page under item number three.

Quinolones

Trovafloxacin and Alatrofloxacin

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Let’s also draw special attention to item number one in the special message from Professor Ashton. She specifically states that the "withdrawal schedules as presented in her manual are general guidelines." This in no way implies that there is a strict rule of application that should be strictly adhered to. The decision to withdraw is the patient’s decision and should not be forced by the doctor, per Prof. C. Heather Ashton. My personal experience agrees.

Thank you, Professor Ashton, for giving yourself to the world of medicine. You are my hero, and a hero among many others. I’m sure that I speak on behalf of everyone fortunate enough whose lives have been changed for the better after coming upon your expert advice as put forth in the manual. I am forever a changed woman.

Xanax is easily obtained through your local, legal drug pusher, conveniently called your ‘doctor’.

S.K. Torma

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Mother’s Little Helper

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Valium. It’s an enticing and pretty little name, isn’t it? Back in the ‘60’s, they dubbed it as Mother’s Little Helper. I don’t know which came first, the pill or the song by the Rolling Stones. What I do know is that Diazepam, (Valium), was invented in the late 1950’s, but didn’t become available to the public until the early 1960’s.

To clear up a little confusion from the get-go, Valium is in a class of sedative drugs called benzodiazepines. The generic name for Valium is diazepam. It is easily obtained through your local, legal drug pusher, conveniently called your doctor.

Xanax, generically named Alprazolam, is of the same drug class as Valium, a benzodiazepine. It is the drug that my drug pusher chose for me, and is the drug that will be the primary focus of this book.

A controlled substance in the United States, (may differ from country to country), you can’t pick your little helper up from the pharmacy without showing and I.D. for proof of age. You must be eighteen years of age and older in the United States in order to get them from the pharmacy. If you can’t produce the I.D., you don’t get the drug. Some countries do not have restricted requirements for obtaining tranquilizers and sleep aids.

According to the National Drug Intelligence Center and other U.S. Intel Agencies, benzodiazepines and other sleeping agents are habit forming substances and are sedative hypnotics. Depending on the milligrams, any benzodiazepine and narcotic pain pills are worth a good four dollars per pill on the street (in the United States).

I think that now would be a good time to make a checklist of benzodiazepines.

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Benzodiazepines

Generic Name – Brand Name

Chlordiazepoxide – Librium

Clonazepam – Rivotril /Klonopin

Flurazepam -- Dalmane

Diazepam – Valium

Halcion – Triazolam

Lorazepam – Ativan

Nitrazepam – Mogadon

Temazepam

Bromazepam – Lexotan

Clorazepate – Tranxene

Flurazepam – Dalmane

Doral -- Quazepam

Loprazolam – Dormonoct

ProSom -- Estazolam

Lormetazepam –

Oxazepam -- Serenid

Alprazolam – Xanax

Clobazam -- Frisium

Flunitrazepam -- Rohypnol

The following is a checklist of anti-anxiety/sleep-aid agents that are not benzodiazepines, but, according to leading experts, are similarly addicting:

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Sleep Aids

Generic Name – Brand Name

Zaleplon – Sonata

Zopiclone – Zimovane

Zolpidem – Stilnoct / Ambien

Lunesta

According to one source, some doctors will also prescribe the following anti-depressants to people with sleep problems:

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Anti-Depressants as Sleep Aids

Generic Name – Brand Name

Some will say that the above list of anti-depressants are non habit-forming, however, they specifically state that one should not abruptly stop taking the pill. They suggest a wean process to gradually and slowly bring you off of the antidepressant, benzodiazepine and sleep agent.

The following incomprehensive pain killer list, also contains names of medications that are habit-forming:

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Pain Killers

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The following is a very incomprehensive list of benzodiazepine withdrawal symptoms, which, according to the Ashton Manual, is the same for other habit-forming drugs and anti-depressants.

Symptoms

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Breathing problems, emotional/weepy, fear of everything (including but not limited to sickness, people and death), taut (flexed) muscles, muscle cramps, thirst, stomach cramps, lack of concentration, racing thoughts, tiredness, extreme anxiety, heart palpitations (heart flutters), tingles anywhere on the body, numbness anywhere on the body, headaches, neck pain, clenched and sore jaw, teeth grinding, shooting pains in head and throughout body, ringing in the ears, high blood pressure, stiff neck, bloated feeling in chest, chest pains, diarrhea, constipation, gastrointestinal problems, hypochondriac, twitching all over the body, severe muscle pain, sensitivity to light, visual distortions, depersonalization (feeling detached, as though you’re seeing yourself from outside of your body), derealization (feelings of unreality), sleeping problems, body tremors/shakes, sweating, agitation/irritability, sensitive to sound and touch, burning skin, vomiting, loss of appetite, hallucinations, seizures, itching, memory loss and much more.

Let’s look at the following information from the U.S.

Senate Committee on Public Safety, Senator John Vasconcellos, Chair 1999-2000 Regular Session regarding a benzodiazepine:

Clonazepam, A Benzodiazepine Sedative

Benzodiazepines in General

"Clonazepam, manufactured … as Klonopin in the United States and Rivotril in Mexico, is one of the class of sedative drugs called benzodiazepines. The most commonly known benzodiazepine is Valium - diazepam. These drugs have been used for many years as anti-anxiety drugs. Clonazepam is also prescribed for epilepsy and panic disorders. Benzodiazepines are used in surgical procedures in combination with synthetic narcotics such as Demerol for safe sedation. The use of such a drug combination reduces the risk of central nervous system related (CNS) respiratory failure, while allowing the physician to fully sedate a patient during outpatient surgical procedures.

Benzodiazepines are among the ten most prescribed drugs in the United States and throughout the world. These drugs are widely and commonly available."

Benzodiazepines are among the ten most prescribed drugs in the United States and throughout the world.

If this book can deter just one person from suffering needlessly because of a benzodiazepine, then it will have been worth writing this book. Use the information contained herein, to make your own determination on what you want for your life. Do you want to take the chance that the drug itself will incapacitate you? It can change your life drastically. You may not be able to work, go to school or take care of your family. You may become homebound and unable to participate in day-to-day things. This could include, but not limited to: bathing and as simple a task as brushing your teeth or preparing a meal.

The higher doses were serving me quite well, thank you very much. Problem solved.

S.K. Torma

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He Told Me So

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This is my personal theory of where it all started for me. In January 2002, I almost lost my life.

Both of my lungs simultaneously collapsed and I stopped breathing for thirteen minutes. In case you’re wondering, it was double pneumonia, asthma and allergies wrapped in one. I may lay the whole story out in a whole other book, but for now, benzodiazepine addiction is the main focus.

I couldn’t breathe on my own. They hooked me up to full life support with one hundred percent oxygen and stuffed me into a rare, ten-day drug-induced coma. In order to put me into a coma, they used a benzodiazepine derivative called Versed, to calm and alter my consciousness. Then, they used another drug called Norcuron, to paralyze my muscles. Thus creating a sweet and blissful sleep. Let me explain Norcuron the way it was explained to me. I’m sure you’ve heard of stories about the poisonous tips of Indian arrows. If used correctly, it chemically produces what I’ve just described.

Now, imagine being comatose for ten days under the influence of those drugs and morphine to control high blood pressure