Posted by Quintal on February 13, 2007, at 15:56:22
In the seven days and seven nights I've been banished from the land of Babble, I've had time to reflect on the benzo/Ashton issue. The old thread is a lost cause so I'm going to let it go and give a loose reply to some of the issues raised here.
I was surprised by the reactions the thread provoked, especially since the initial post was supportive of benzo users. It seems to me people were jumping in without reading the thread carefully and posting in a state of reactivity to the name Ashton, jumping to conclusions about all its negative connotations.
Ed and Meri-Tuuli; thanks for the posts in defence fairness. It's good to see people who know what that means around here willing to stand up for it. Also, special thanks to Meri-Tuuli for recognizing that I was trying to create *balance* in the thread in the face of fierce anti-Ashton sentiment.
To clarify; I am not anti-med nor anti-benzo. Not at all. Meri-Tuuli and the delectable MrBrice of Belgium can attest to my being supportive of their benzo trials. I was amused to see that comment by dbc (http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070201/msgs/730266.html). My ex pdoc who waved a list of my med trials (running into two sides of A4) under my nose in protest against all the meds I've taken would be as puzzled as I am by your convictions about me I'm sure.
It seems to me that most of the posts were accusations that Heather was prone to fanaticism and generalizations. I think that's odd and can find little to support those assertions. Here are some quotes from a speech to the 3rd Annual Benzodiazepine Conference by Heather in October 2005 that I think illustrate quite well how the benzos fell from grace in the UK.............
__________________________________________________"But in the early 1980s in England long-term prescribed users themselves realised that the drugs tended to lose their efficacy over time and instead became associated with adverse effects. In particular, patients found it difficult to stop taking benzodiazepines because of withdrawal effects, and many complained that they had become ‘addicted’. Throughout the 1980s there was a public outcry against benzodiazepines in the U.K. resulting in widespread media coverage in the press, radio and television and a burgeoning of self-help groups and withdrawal clinics."
http://www.psychmedaware.org/History%20of%20Benzodiazepines.html
__________________________________________________.......................and Heather Ashton's motives for founding the original benzo withdrawal clinic:
__________________________________________________
History of my benzodiazepine withdrawal clinic:
My own involvement with benzodiazepines started at this time. One day in 1981 a lady came hobbling on crutches into my general pharmacology clinic. She had been involved in a road traffic accident. She had two broken limbs in plaster and had been prescribed the benzodiazepine Ativan for muscle relaxation (1mg tds). She had noticed as she recovered that when the time for each dose of Ativan approached she experienced a strong craving for the next pill, along with anxiety, restlessness and muscle cramps. “I think I am addicted” she said, “Can you help me?” Naively I said “yes” although I had no experience in drug addiction at that time. She duly underwent a withdrawal process, during which she suffered many symptoms including anxiety, insomnia, hallucinations; tremor, muscle cramps and many other symptoms now (but not then) recognised as typical benzodiazepine withdrawal symptoms.
Following this lady’s appearance at my clinic there was a trickle of others which soon grew to a stream and finally a flood of patients referred by their doctors because they wished to stop their benzodiazepines. As a result, I had to start a dedicated benzodiazepine withdrawal clinic. I continued this clinic single-handedly for 12 years at two sessions every week until 1994 when I had to retire (you have to retire at 65 from clinical work under the National Health Service). Strangely, none of my medical colleagues wished to become involved in this clinic or to take it over in 1994, so the clinic closed down. I think that the current medical training did not equip most doctors for listening to anxious patients with many complaints, patients who were time-consuming and required repeated consultations. I myself spent most of the time simply listening to the patients and learning from them how to come off benzodiazepines.
http://www.psychmedaware.org/History%20of%20Benzodiazepines.html
__________________________________________________I think Heather has a fairly balanced and reasonable view of the place of benzos in short term treatment:
__________________________________________________"In the short-term, that is 2-4 weeks only or intermittent use, benzodiazepines have many excellent therapeutic, even life-saving properties, "
http://www.psychmedaware.org/History%20of%20Benzodiazepines.html
__________________________________________________Q
poster:Quintal
thread:732459
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070213/msgs/732459.html