European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 27, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                From harmless tranquil Lizer to deep addiction by Dorothy a Dowling Baltimore evening Suni f anyone had Lold me five years ago that 1988 would find to addicted to a prescription Liana Milizer called Wanax i would have said. Impossible. I was in Complete control of my life. I drank Only socially. 1 took no drugs prescribed or otherwise t had e successful career As a school teacher. I was doing a great Job raising my teen age daughter alone. Sure t had occasional anxiety attacks Hal were becoming increasingly frequent but everybody has a niely mine was Job related. My department chairman was making Lite miserable. Yel 1 haled to leave the school where i hed taught Lor 16 years. I stayed. So did the anxiety we t old got Worso the solution seemed no further away than the doctor s proscription pad. Wanax was a newcomer on the Tranqu Lizor scene touted As a non addictive alternative to valium Only much better and much safer. My doctor said in was a wonderful drug. There would be no drug buildup in my body and All sedative Efly cos would be gone a Lew hours alter i stopped taking it-1 was still sceptical. I read everything Abou Wanax that i could get my hands on. And in did seem Sale. I laughingly Lold myself Hal a drug with a name that s a palindrome could t be Ell bad arid so i went ahead and had the proscription listed. Even then i. Waited weeks before i finally took it. I did not embark upon his voyage lightly i started on 1.5 milligrams a Day and before Long i could l leave the House without taking it. Alter several months i complained that the drug did t seem to work As Well Asil had at first. The doctor said it was t working any longer because i was t taking enough of it. He increased the dosage to 4.milligrams a Day,.six months later that dosage had lost. Its Ellel Venoss too. No one bothered to Tell me that was on the Road to. Addiction. Quite the contrary i was Laid to take 8 milligrams a Day. If was perfectly Safo to Lake thai much i was assured by the doctor. In fad i was sent Oil to ins Beach for a 12 wok vacation with an a Milligram a Day prescription and enough refills to last the summer. In the fall of 1986,1 requested and got a Transfer to a school much More to my liking. I saw no need to continue Wilh the Wanax my anxiety had gone at last. But 1 had become hopelessly end tragically addicted to the Skull. I asked my doctor about discontinuing the drug and i was advised to do it gradually to taper off the dosage at inc rate of .5 milligrams each week until i got Down to Zero. I followed his instructions to the tee but when got to a daily dosage of 2 milligrams i became   How hard i tried i could not go lower than. This. I did. L became extremely anxious very. Disoriented and virtually housebound with oar. J became alarmed very alarmed. This harmless Ranqui Fizer had taken Complete control Over my Fife. I began to see the doctor As the ultimate drug Pusher his pen was the Needle and his prescription pad was. The vein through which the addiction flowed and i was hooked by Early 1967,1 took a Short leave irom my of and embarked on a determined Effort to rid myself of this Albatross of addiction i had Lound a new doctor who. Seemed anxious to help. He recommended a Short period of hospitalization to make sure that the withdrawal was done in a medically supervised manner. I a s in agreement but my insurance company was nol. Ii would cover hospitalization for alcohol rehabilitation but not for drugs prescribed or otherwise. So i decided to taper he drug off slowly at Home. My efforts were a Complete failure. I did manage to get Oil the drug completely but ended up in the local Hospital with intolerable anxiety which included heart palpitations insomnia a constant buzzing in my head and severe disorientation. After 10 Days in the Hospital i realized that this withdrawal was a much longer and More complicated process than i had been led to believe. I cried Uncle and led the Hospital with More Wanax ant a heart Lull of fear and disappointment. By the Spring of 1988 Wanax no longer worked Lor me no matter How much i took i was determined to find a Way to overcome this addiction and Stop this insanity. I started making phone Calls. I called a famous Washington doctor an expert in the fold and begged him to help me find a Way to quit. It s a wonderful drug he said. Why would anyone want to Stop taking in. By last fall i was desperate not Only had Tho Wanax stopped working for me it was now working against me i was miserable while i was taking in yet could t Slop. I was afraid thai i would be doomed to Lake it for the rest of my Lite in september i entered a Well known drug rehabilitation Hospital i asked for honesty up front and was told that in the experience of the medical professionals at this Hospital Enax Wes among the toughest of All the drug habits to kick including heroin and cocaine. Seizures convulsions and possibly even worse complication were among the obstacles i faced. Prepared Lor the worst i admitted myself to the Hospital forwhatwastobea5v4-Weekslay. \ if you Are unfamiliar with prescription Tranquili Zers especially those in the Benzonia Zelne family like Wanax Sulfice to say thai these drugs do not generally gel you High they simply level things omit nicely end evenly. As another recovering Tranqu Kizer addict told me in the Hospital Wanax does t do anything to you until you Slop taking  How right he Wasl immediately upon entering the Hospital. 1 was Laken off Wanax altogether and put on Librium another Bonzolia Repine tranquil Izer. The dosage was reduced by 5 milligrams a Day until by the end of september i was Down to Zero. Then withdrawal began in Earnest sweating muscle aches numbness anxiety dizziness extreme sensitivity to. Light and noise jerking of the arms and legs disorientation and insomnia these symptoms lasted in their most extreme form Tor Over a month. " ii is now december. I am Home. Recovery is very slow and Progress must be seen from month to month. Rather than Day to Day. I have a Long Way to go but t have taken one giant step no Longor do i Start each Day by taking a Pill to help me get up or a Pill to get me out of the House or a Pill to help me fall asleep 1 no. Longer take any pills at All. I am living a life without them. The slavery of Pill addiction is gone irom my life but hardly forgotten ii has been a very rough trip out and one that 1 won t soon forget. My addiction was a Nightmare my recovery is nothing Short of a Miracle. Too nah w. Doung pm in Bihrer and a Tough i by wow comity  a pin. Birth control pills raise risk of heart disease by Daniel a Haney associated Pressw Omen who take birth control pita face double the usual Chance of heart disease but Ihler increased risk goes away As soon a they Slop taking the Pil a study concludes. Although the link Between heart trouble and current Pill use is known experts were unsure whether this increased flak lingered after women slopped taking the  latest study based on the Long running nurses health study a Harvard medical school concludes that former Pill takers have no More than the usual risk of heart trouble the study Lound that Pill users Are 2vi"timos More Likely than non users the same age to have heart attacks and strokes however their risk was still extremely Low. The Adverse effects of the Pill could be potentially More important if they continue after women Slop using this form of birth control former users Are older and Are already at higher risk of heart rouble. Even a moderate increase in his Hazard could a  women who have used Oral contraceptives _ in the past do not have to be concerned that this will raise their risk of cardiovascular disease said by Mei j.  believe that birth  raise the risk of heart disease by making blood More Likely to clot. " " Al " a. Of Stamper 8 study published in theft j White the risks among current users were higher then among non users the same age j heart rouble was still rare among Pill users Only 10 current Pill users suffered major coronary heart disease and seven of them were cigarette smokers. 1"" cigarettes clearly increase the risk of heart disease and slam pfc said there definitely la an interaction Belaen the Pill and  current users would have about Dinubla in54 risk of heart attack Sta Rupfer said but if s of double a number that s almost next to nothing the risk of heart attack in Young women 1s very a Tow As Long a they Don t smoke. In last f " smoking b because of about half of at heart " attacks in Young to Middle aged  " " i r   i / 1 c Itrie study Jound no increased risk among former Pitt users even if they had taken the Pih Tor Many years or Only recently slopped using it. Page 16 the stars and stripes tuesday december 27,1988