Transcription
Hi, I'm Dr. Yosef. During this video, the purpose is to give you some information about how you can find a doctor or a prescriber that's going to be able to help you come off benzodiazepines.
Usually, when people come to our practice, um, they're really relieved, and they usually have a whole horror story about the different doctors that they've gone through to to come and find us. This goes from doctors who have treated them like drug addicts. You know, they've given them condescending lectures about how they need to speed up their withdrawal. Sometimes we have stories about practitioners who have provided really rigid timelines. You know, "You're going to be off this by the end of the month, otherwise, you know, I don't think we're going to be able to work together." And, um, uh, also we hear stories about doctors that are just inconsistent. You know, they leave their patients waiting at the pharmacy, you know, on Friday afternoon at, you know, 4 p.m., uh, and they need to get their script filled. And it's just this, this overwhelming stress.
So, uh, getting to work with the doctor that, uh, can actually help you go through this, uh, it's, it's a huge relief for a lot of patients. So, uh, what I tell everyone to do, and this is the best website for this, really, is to go to the Benzo Information Coalition website. And I'll leave a link for it in the chat below. It's a non-profit. You know, I don't make any money from referring people there. They're probably the best non-profit that maintains a list of, uh, benzo-friendly providers. It goes by state, so you can find people in there. Um, and, uh, I mean, to be listed on that website, usually at a minimum, they're familiar with protracted benzodiazepine withdrawal, and a lot of them have, you know, pretty, pretty good experience treating it.
So, uh, what do you do if you can't find someone, or maybe you're living in a state where there's no one there? Uh, what I would suggest is calling around to doctors' offices and try and speak with a provider beforehand. And just say, I mean, the main thing you're looking for is flexibility in the type that you. So you would say, "I'm on this medication. I'm really interested in coming off of it. Um, I, um, don't do well with a fast taper. I'm really looking for someone who could help me gradually withdraw from this. You know, I think my time frame may be a year or two. I'd like to just steadily go down. Um, do you think that's something you're going to be be able to help me with?" And if they say yes, then, uh, hopefully, you should be in pretty good hands. And, and that would be how I would handle it.
Um, so I hope this video was, um, informative, and I hope I hope it helps you find a doctor that could, um, you know, really care for you well as as you go through this difficult taper. So, thanks.