How to Cope with Addiction to Prescription Drugs

How to Cope with Addiction to Prescription Drugs Female: Dr. Dr. Gary Kohls, can prescription drugs be addicting? Dr. Gary Kohls: Oh, absolutely, one of the most addicting drugs is the class of drugs called benzodiazepines which are the Valium, the Klonopin, and the Ativan, the Xanax. Terribly addicting and in fact, doctors ask most to prescribe those from more than a grave brief time just for a brief anxiety or brief insomnia and yet it probably takes less than a couple of weeks for some people who become so dependent on that, that they have withdrawals and those one they quit and they take it for a couple of weeks and then their prescription runs out and now, they’re having worst anxiety because they’re going through withdrawal. Anytime you have withdrawal symptoms, stopping a drug. By definition that was an addicting drug. So, the Valium is just notorious has been on America for 50 years I guess. Raena Morgan: Back on the 50’s, that was the housewife and the Valium then they were over prescribing Valium and then they’ll going cocktails and with exacerbate it. Dr. Gary Kohls: Yeah and there still people on Valium addict can’t get off of that. For 50 years as they can’t get off of that and so they may come up with the new one of latest when is Klonopin from they say, “Well, there is, this is less addicting always because we don’t’ have any experience very much experience. We have to find out how addicting that is actually is so the drug industry kind of hides those bad news. Raena Morgan: What about the anti depressants? Dr. Gary Kohls: Yes. They’re addicting too. My practice is largely helping people get off of their drugs. People come to me and they’ve been on drugs for a while. They tried to go off from the selves if terrible withdrawal effects. I have to call back on it to ameliorate the withdrawal and their doctor does know what to do and they’re good at. Doctors are going are prescribing drugs but not at taking them off. Nobody wants that responsibility. My practice as evolve in to being the doctor that takes responsibility for helping people get off and it’s hard work, and it’s risky but this people are suffering and so I developed a method which has been firmly effective. I’ve take a hundreds and hundreds of people. It helps them get off their medications and as a complicated thing, and kind of hazardous because it’s hard work for the patient too because they, after go through withdrawal. Raena Morgan: So, that they win themselves off and cut the dose? Dr. Gary Kohls: Yeah. it’s so slow oppresses that we need and there’s a lot of factors that are involved. The length of time, the person has been on the med, the combinations of med, the dosage strength, how malnourish they are whether they’re smoker or they’re caffeine addicts or alcoholics. Yes, then how malnourish they are is a huge one so, it’s a combination of slow aggression withdrawal and nutritional support for the brain. Raena Morgan: But most people did know that these drugs were addicting, right? Dr. Gary Kohls: That’s true. Yeah. Raena Morgan: Maybe just maybe take them through a brief period and then stop taking in but if that’s not true. Dr. Gary Kohls: Well, it depends on some people can do that in very minimal withdrawal symptoms. If they take in even on and just for short time or low dose, I got many of my patients come back in a week or two after the first visit when I’ve said, “Well, that’s so real slow” and that they came back and then I just quit and it’s fine. So, it depends on the lot of factors. Some of which, we may not be able to understand but it probably depends on the length of time, how many drugs they’ve been on or what the dosage strength so high the doses etcetera. When people come in and say, “I have been on in a Prozac for 15 years and I’ve been on prednisone for 10 and I’ve been on the effects. I roll my eyes and say, “I don’t know.” This is going to be tough and do you really want to go through these and I tell her about the withdrawal symptoms and the nutritional supplements still need to take in addition and that maybe overwhelming for some people and If people don’t have any support. If they’re all by themselves they are on disability because of the drugs disable the brain and it can’t work sometimes. And they are heavy smokers, and they’re heavy Mountain Dew drinkers and their couch potatoes. They might not have the emotional strength to go through the state maybe doom. I try but if they are isolated and there’s no family support like a family sabotage is what are they saying, “Don’t take and offer these drugs, you know when he tries to go off and he goes crazy”. I’m going to withdraw or not? It’s not his disease coming back. The family will often not want that to happen because sometimes they go to withdrawal and becoming safe, why not go back in the hospital and that does happen when it’s little draft on the drug and not their disease that’s doing it in most cases in my opinion. Raena Morgan: Do they want disease on the first place in all likelihood? Dr. Gary Kohls: That’s true. They may have been nutritionally deprived, and may they have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder of the psychological trauma from all the violence that they have been subjected to and this is an example. One of my areas of expertise as they come back Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from Vietnam. These guys come back just have experiences as gruesome death and violence and the fear of their own death and killing people and killing innocent people and just horrible suffering that they’ve experienced. That changes them forever and they come back and they have flashbacks and they have nightmares and they had suicidal depressed and anxious and manicky at all. And they get labeled by the VIA as paranoid schizophrenia of unknown cause rather than Post Traumatic Stress Disorder with psychotic features or with a flashbacks they call it hallucination so they’re automatically schizophrenic. So, let me get on a drug. I get on schizophrenia drug or they get hospitalize or committed or lined upon the street unable to work, die on the gutter, drinking to assuage the pain and so those are not mental illness. That’s what happens to normal people when they are in crisis situations but the brain has been has neurologically affected by the bad food and the red from their bullets and the smoke that they inhaled and the diarrhea that they had and the uranium in the case of Iran-Iraq veterans. Those are all toxic substance all the shot they get have mercury in many of them. Those are mercury traumatize brains. Their brains are just not just supplemental. Raena Morgan: So, they’re not disease, they are toxic. Is that what you’re saying? And they’re very toxic. Okay. Dr. Gary Kohls: Such emotional stress. Raena Morgan: And emotions are toxic too, right? Dr. Gary Kohls: That’s right. And the emotion to toxic primarily perhaps or in this long term because when people are under chronic stress their adrenal glands are pumping up cortisol which is brain damaging. And adrenaline which very damaging and when we can tolerate that humans are exposed to have cortisol and adrenaline surgeries often time. Time that we are afraid or running from danger but when it’s a 24 hour someday we think, it harms the brain and so people who are under chronic stress, as in the war zone or just being a refugee or being a victim of the war or being a builders at home and those the chronic traumas alter the brain as well and atomically and chemically so we can’t re join don’t say all donors stabilize somebody can’t forget the war. It’s there’s something that was going on besides the emotional stress or the crisis. It’s a chemical kind of damage has been done to and that all then results in altered brain cells which made nutrients help and if I mentioned it earlier with the omega-3 fatty acids, the amino and vitamins, minerals and antioxidants and good food and avoidance of more toxins from the food supplier or the water or whatever. Raena Morgan: Okay. Thank you very much. Dr. Gary Kohls: You’re welcome.