Date: Tue May 4, 1999 12:24 pm

Subject: letter of encouragement

Hi Everyone, Some of you were asking for a letter of encouragement and I hope the is the first of a few. One of the people I asked to write a letter was Max Ricketts who wrote the book "The Great Anxiety Escape". His letter follows and I hope this will help all of us to keep going.

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Dear Geraldine,

Thanks for your e-mail asking for advice on recovering from benzodiazepine withdrawal. First off, everyone who reads this must understand that I am not a medical doctor and am not giving medical advice. Withdrawal from prescription drugs MUST BE SUPERVISED BY A COMPETENT HEALTH PROFESSIONAL.

One of the toughest realizations for me was accepting the notion that I was personally going to have to be involved in overcoming my own anxiety and withdrawal - no doctor or drug was going to do it for me. Frankly, without my wife's constant prayers and support and turning my program over to God, I sincerely doubt I would have made it.

Good news is that during my withdrawal and anxiety disorder recovery, I moved from being someone who:

1. had lost his swallow reflex 2. had skin than felt like breaking crystals when touched 3. twitched often and jerked occassionally 4. was so sensitive to sound that I jumped when something was dropped or when even a leaf might touch my head 5. fell down often when walking 6. had a resting pulse rate of 110 and blood pressure of 160 over 100 7. was filled with constant state of pain, desperation, agony to someone who:

1. enjoys radiant health 2. has the energy levels enjoyed when I was a teen ager 3. is generally quite calm even in otherwise tense real estate negotiations 4. plays golf at an amateur competitive level, jog, dance and have a great social life 5. has a resting pulse rate of 70 and blood pressure of 120 over 80 6. enjoys family, friends and life.

It took a two months of intensive acupuncture, nutritional modification, dietary supplements and daily breathing and relaxation exercises before I was able to drive a car on my own. It took several more months before I began to feel well more often than ill. It took a couple of years before I felt that all the residual metabolites of the benzodiazepines had cleared my system.

If this sounds like a long time to anyone in recovery, ask how long it will be if you don't start a personal recovery program and if you continue to depend on the very drugs that put you in withdrawal hell in the first place. Recovery is not easy. However, recovery is definitely possible. Every day, one must do something positive. One of my lectures centers on two words - DO IT. Meaning, if you are afraid of something, just do it. If you are afraid of recovery and withdrawal, never mind, just DO IT. Forge ahead armed with information and a realization that others in the same situation have made it. Know that you to can make it too. Be patient and persistent and DO IT.

I have included with this note a recent essay of mine published in Health Store News that emphasises the importance of articulating one's self-talk in positive terms.

Geraldine, I wish you and your support group the very best. I understand and emphathize with the discouragement. I suppose that if I had not decended all the way to the absolute bottom of the pit, I might not have turned around as forcefully as I did. Recovery may not be easy, but it is definitely a reality that may be obtained. God bless you all and you especially for your interest in helping others.

Best regards, Max

p.s. Keep pushing the envelope on the car driving. Every day, go a little further...I also could not drive a car (nor even walk for that matter). Now, I drive happily over bridges, on freeways and along mountain roads - no problem!