COMING OFF TRANQUILLIZERS: NIGEL’S STORY
Nigel, aged forty-nine, started taking Librium twelve years ago when professional worries were making him anxious. Two years ago before surgery for a hernia, he decided to stop taking the pills. The surgery was straightforward, but his recovery was very slow. By the time he left hospital, he was suffering from severe insomnia, palpitations, anxiety worse than he had ever experienced before, and a feeling of tightness in his chest. He was puzzled by how ill he felt, but thought it was weakness after the operation.
During the same year, he complained of nausea and severe abdominal pain. Hospital tests proved negative. He had his spectacles changed three times, trying to correct visual disturbances. So many things were going wrong, he thought his wife must have been right when she said, ‘It is all in your mind,’ although the severe pain he then developed in his right shoulder and in his neck, seemed real enough to him.
Now, eighteen months later, he feels better, but still has some symptoms. Insomnia, palpitations, headaches, and irritability are still a problem, but very much less than they were. He was never tempted at any time during those eighteen months to go back on the pills. He tried alcohol in the evenings, but it did not seem to help.
The experience has changed his attitude to life. He now makes time to relax each day during lunch. What used to be a hurried sandwich and numerous cups of coffee, is now a salad with meat or cheese and fruit, and fifteen minutes lying on the office floor listening to a relaxation tape and being aware of his breathing. He is amazed by how different he feels at the end of the day.
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