DEFEATED there's no way of winning against a system that already has you beaten down..so i gave up.. but i hope anyone who takes up a legal battle against benzo's, wether it be with the doctor, health authority or BIG PHARMA..get's a lot further than me. GOOD LUCK!
THIS IS MY LETTER OF COMPLAINT... 14/07/2008
TEL.0161-628-3594
email........
lindsaybooth@msn.com Dear Sir/Madam,
i would like to make to make an official complaint about the psychiatric treatment i recieved from 1980 up to this year, the reason why i have not made a complaint sooner is because my mind has been numbed by psychiatric drug's and only now since i tapered off them have i regained some of my senses to think clearly enough to write to you and put my grievanc into word's.
after asking psychiatrist's about the danger's of long term psychiatric drug's for many year's and not being given any answer's i decided to try and find out about them for myself and discovered that the Benzodiazepine's that i have consistantly taken, for the past 28 year's,not by my own choice, are not only highly addictive but have caused very bad side effect's some which are long term and other's which may be permanant. not only to myself but to my eldest child who may have suffered withdrawal symptom's at birth and permanant damage, although i have preferred not to tell her to spare her any upset.
i safely tapered from Temazepam by following the Ashton Manual by crossing over to Diazepam and gradually reducing the dosage by 1mg every 2 week's, i had the some help in working out my traper from a drug councillor who is based at a drug rehabilition centre at Waterloo St. in Oldham. but i have not seen the psychiatrist (Dr .A. Stewart) who had taken my case over from Dr. Rose Davenport.
i have not been approached by anyone from the psychiatric team since i stopped taking the Benzodiazepine on 19/01/2008, i also reduced and then stopped taking the Lithium Carbonate(Priadel) which i have been taking for 15 year's on 30/03/2008. i no longer take any prescfiption drug's.
although i was placed on many drug's from 1980 onward's the Benzodiazepine's were continuously prescribed with just a few month's break when i was pregnant with my second child. and when i abruptly taken off all drug's in 1993 which caused severe wthdrawal symptom's ("cold turkey").
i had not realised in all those year's when i was prescribed these drug's that if and when i stopped taking them suddenly the withdrawal symptom's would cause such severe side effect's that it appeared to my family, myself and Dr. Davenport that i had a relapse of of an illness that i now believe was caused or made worse by the drug's which i was prescribed in the psychiatric ward of the Royal Oldham Hospital. i have learned that Benzodiazepine's are only recommended to be taken short term, usually between 4 and 6 week's and even after such a short time a person can still become physically dependant on them.
i repeatedly asked why must i continue taking them and asking for information about all the drug's that i was made to take but was never given any answer's.
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Dr. Rose Davenport admitted me to the psychiatric ward of The Royal Oldham Hospital in 1980 when i had drink related symptom's which included depression and insomnia.
over a 3 month period i was kept on the ward and after being assessed was given many different mood altering drug's, stimulant's to lift my mood which made me manic and aggitated so then i was given strong tranquilliser's to lower my mood but these drug's made me unaware of where i was and what i was doing.
i recall lot's of different drug's being given to me and lot's of bad reaction's to them, including Jaundice or liver problem, skin problem's, piles, drooling and dehydration facial spasm's, innability to open my eye's, weight loss, lactation, menstuation ceased. besides all the mental side effect's.
when my family saw how ill i had become and how my behaviour had changed they questioned the ward staff and demanded to know why i was so drugged up. the ward sister told my brother that there were 5000 drug's on the market and they had to find the one that suited me best. i'm not sure how many were tried out on me but when i was discharged i was prescribed Mogodon and some drug's i can't remember and also Depixol by monthly injection ( which i think was 2000mg) these drug's made me very sedated and i was sleeping 16 hour's a day and in the 13 year's i was kept on them i only have vague memories of my life.
Dr. Davenport told my family she wasn't sure what diagnosis to give me so after i'd been discharged she told them i was Schizophrenic i did not find out about the diagnosis for a long time after that
during 2 of the 3 stay's in the ward i was treated brutally by the nursing staff, some which were not qualified, first admitted initially in 1980 for 3 month's 1985 for 8 day's when i was taken off medication during second pregnancy and 1993 for 5 month's after Dr.Davenport insisted i have a termination of 3rd pregnancy
whenever i objected to any treatment i was held down and forcibly injected and sometimes sedated by intravenous drip for 3 or more day's at a time.
Dr.Davenport was often bemused by my helplessness and the how the drug's affected my behaviour,.
in 1981 when i was expecting my first child i was told to remain on the drug's which included Depixol, Mogodon or Tamazepam, halaperidol and procyclidine.
i asked if these drug's would harm my unborn child and was told it would be unlikely, but i was not given a choice instead i was told i must stay on them or i would become ill.
when my daughter was born 28th April 1982 after a very difficult labour i noticed how unresponsive she was, and she remained this way for some time afterward's until she became very fretful and began having screaming fit's. i called a GP who told me she had "Screaming Baby Syndrome" and was told to leave her to in her cot until she cried herself to sleep. this went on for month's.
during her school year's she had problem's with her ear's and throat, lack of co-ordination, nervousness and an inability to mix with other children. she still has problem's today with anxiety, slow co-ordination, nervousness and trembling.
in 1985 when i was expecting my second child the drug's Dr.Davenport told me to stop taking all the medication until after he was born. i had an uncomplicated labour and my son was born healthy and did not show the same problem's that my daughter had.
i have since found out that these drug's should not be taken during pregnancy.
in 1993 Dr.Davenport told me i was no longer ill, she discharged me from Psychiatric Outpatient's stopped all the medication i was on which included Depixol,Tamazepam, halaperidol and procyclidine.
this rapid withdrawal caused me to become manic and believing i no was no longer Schizophrenic i decided to try for a baby with my partner of 4 year's. i had, had an IUD fitted after my daughter was born so i had this removed and became pregnant very soon afterward's.
my mother saw that was becoming manic but didn't realise it was caused by drug withdrawal so she called Dr. Davenport and made an appointment for us to see her.
when i told Dr.Davenport i was pregnant she looked at my mother and said" Lindsay must have a termination and a steralisation" my mother and father both had complete trust in her and so i was too ill to argue with anyone and an appointment was made with Dr Carswell at the Royal Oldham Hospital. the same doctor who delivered my daughter.
by this time Dr.Davenport told me i had been wrongly diagnosed and that i didn't have Shizophrenia but i had Manic Depression, she said i must convince Dr.Carswell to carry out the termination by telling him i have Shizophrenia and not to mention my changed diagnosis.
i was admitted to the maternity ward on my birthday 15th March 1993 at 8.30am i was given several pre med's of Diazepam throughout the day and the operation was carried out at around 6.00pm that evening, i was the last patient to go into theatre.
some time after this, i can't remember the exact date but i think it was June 1993 i was in a state of distress and the realisation sank in that i was no longer having my baby.
Dr.Davenport put me back in the ward and the staff were unaware of my recent termination. i was grieving and in a lot of distress, my partner was also distraught because we both believed i was ill and had no other option's. i was not given any councilling before or after the termination.
during my 5 month stay in the ward i was put on lot's more drug's and became very ill, i was told i by the staff that Dr, Davenport wanted to try me on Lithium as a last resort, and for this i had to sign a consent form. i was so mixed up by all the other drug's and i was told i needed to get better so i agreed to sign.
the Lithium has caused bad side effect's over the 15 year's i was on them as did the Benzodiazepine's.
during the past 15 year's since i was last in hospital i have not drank alcohol which i believe was the reason i first became ill and the drug's have exaserbated the symptom's that alcohol caused. when i stopped drinking i often thought about trying to stop taking the medication and asked how to go about it but was told i must stay on it for the rest of my life.
i do not feel mentally ill i never really have but i have felt drugged whilst taking all of the medication over the past 28 year's which i believed was nescessary until now that i am no longer taking anything.
i am still suffering from withdrawal effect's from benzodiazepine which i believe can go on for many year's..... here is a list of symptom's which i now have and know are withdrawal symptom's. i have read Professor Ashton's Manual on Benzodiazepine withdrawal so i know these to be proven symptom's which thousand's of other people have had during Benzodiazepine withdrawal.
Agoraphobia, excessive sweating,body odour, weight gain, insomnia, irritable bowel syndrome, muscular skeletal problem's facial tic's, dry mouth, menstrual problem's, dental decay caused by lack of saliva, headache's, visual disturbance,involuntary teeth grinding, gait, skin sensation's, tinnitus, water retention, bloating, lack of motivation, emotional problem's such as crying for no reason or inability to feel the right emotions at the right time, sensory hypersensitivity.social phobia.
please let me know when you get this letter by sending me an email if you would. thank you.
your's sincerely Lindsay Booth
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