I took Ativan to bed – and my life got out of hand
Melissa Bond was caring for two babies – a newborn and a one-year-old with Down syndrome. It was 2009, and she recently lost her magazine job. Her marriage was in jeopardy, and she spent the whole night looking around her home in Salt Lake City.
When a doctor gave Ativan a prescription – a "strong, fast-acting sedative" that would help her get a certain eye – she accepted, without asking any questions.
Bond, now 53, told the Post: "I was so frustrated that I didn't even try the medicine."
Bond's new note:Blood Orange Night Cruel On My Crazy Journey"(Gallery Books) says that this prescription has led to years of dependence on benzodiazepines.
"'Should I go to the eclipse and get myself out?' There were times when I thought. "I don't know if I can handle this anymore," she said. "I never knew I would be healthy again," she wrote.
Bond Atevan was ordered to do so after she suffered from severe insomnia, which made her "misleading." The medication helped her fall asleep, but her awakening became a nightmare of physical pain and memory loss.
Daniel Water for NY Post
Bond did not expect to sleep like a new mother, especially a child with special needs. In 2009, when her daughter Finch was about 7 months old, she stopped sleeping. (She changed the names of her children in the book for privacy.)
Then it happened the next night, and the next, and the next night.
She hoped it was just the pregnancy. But when her daughter was born in October 2009, sleep deprivation did not go away. "I felt as if I had been blindfolded," says Bond. She began to smell. "My physical body began to disintegrate."
Prominent figures such as Justin Bieber (left) and Chann The Rap are open about their struggle with Xanax, part of the same pharmacological family that includes Ativan.
A.D. At the end of January 2010, Bond wrote in his book "Dr. Wonderful "wrote a prescription for Benzodiazepine Ativan. "You can't beat him to sleep," he said. "It's an amazing medicine."
Worked – for two weeks. Two months later, Dr. Amazingu reduced her prescription from 2 mg to 4 mg. She takes 6 milligrams of the product every day for a year.
Beginning in 2020, the FDA warns that benzodiazepines, such as Ativan, Valium, and Xanax, may be prescribed in a few days.
But Bond still slept only two hours a night. To make matters worse, she could not remember things from day to day. She had severe stomach cramps and could not eat, eventually losing about 30 pounds[30 kg]- gaining at least 100 pounds, just as she was 11 years old. She smelled of ashes everywhere. She constantly fell and had bruises all over her body. Any loud noise – even the screams of her children – would make her say, "My skin was piercing."
Four weeks after using Ativan, the brain develops intolerance to the drug – and this tolerance means that the patient is still on it and may experience withdrawal symptoms. And like other drugs, such as opioids, there is a risk of seizures and death, you can't stop a cold turkey.
"I felt like I was in the Wild West, you know, another landscape that no one has ever registered.
Bond is no longer dependent on Ativan, but she needs a daily dose of valerian that allows her to work without interruption. She is now divorced and working for IT.
Bond finally found a Utah-certified addiction expert Helping people go to Benzo. They changed it to Valium – a less powerful Benzo than Ativan – and gradually reduced its volume. Each time she stopped taking the medicine, she felt burning, nausea, muscle cramps, and irritation under the skin.
"My guiding light, my absolute commitment, was to minimize the impact. [friends] And to my family as much as possible. "
In the United States, Benzo-related deaths have increased tenfold in the last 20 years.
For a year and a half, she lost her sight while driving a car and found her two children in the car. Although her husband was suffering from "lack of compassion," she told him to stay home all night. She decided to limit her daily intravenous intake to 5 mg, which would allow her to function without further dementia and still take it every night.
By 2020, The FDA requires benzodiazepines Be warned that physical dependence can occur within days or weeks and that stopping them suddenly can lead to life-threatening seizures. As celebrities Chance Rapper And justin bieber For another Benzo, Xanax spoke openly about their addiction. Benzo-related deaths have increased tenfold. In the last 20 years in the US and medical professionals still prescribe these types of drugs in excess.
Bond is now divorced and has a full-time IT job and now shares a new home with Finch and Chloe at 12 and 11 years old. "There is a long way to go," she says. But now, "My life is incredibly full and strong. I am raising my children and we have a deep connection and play with each other and there is joy and light in the house.
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