I realize I haven't posted in my own topic since quite a while. There has been some development.
At some point the whole thing turned into a classic case of CFS - fatigue, low energy - mental and physical. The primary symptoms of benzo withdrawal (anxiety, sleep troubles) have long gone.
Last year, at the beginning of summer, I had the opportunity to meet a top doctor, who lives as a foreigner in my country. This was great, since health care in my country is primitive and various doctors' visits in 5 years had brought me nowhere (the usual ignorance and BS: "it is in your head", "it is psychological", "you are imagining this", "you should rest more"). Because of his extreme knowledge and experience, he managed to put a proper functional diagnosis (and not the usual "psychosomatic origin" crap), which all the ignorants failed to do during all those years. He looked at some common blood work (where all was within the ref. ranges !), asked me a few questions and said "Boy, you have a condition called leaky gut. Your GI tract is poisoning you and that is the reason why your cells can't produce energy in a proper way". Finally I had a proper diagnosis, and not the usual undetermined BS !
That was a real surprise to me, since all in all I didn't have any GI symptoms, but he said that leaky gut can go on asymptomatic in terms of GI issues. Indeed, my research since has confirmed this may rather be true. He gave me various recommendations and I have been trying some things since then with variable success - cleansing enemas, diet probiotics, supplements. There have been moments where I felt almost like my old self, full with energy. My guess is those were the moments when my gut lining got in a better shape (tight junction closing up) and toxins were no longer leaking into my bloodstream. However it didn't last. My guess is there is some notorious bad bacteria, which I can't fully exterminate without resorting to antibiotics. There is a partial success, but it appears to grow again and the released LPS (lipopolysaccharides) are damaging my gut lining, restarting the vicious cycle.
What is the benzodiazepine connection ? I may have come to a revelation when researching H Pylori infection. It is indeed a gram-negative bacteria, which releases LPS upon death. However, that pathogenic mechanism of action seems to be ignored and people are more focused on the more familiar mechanism of action, where in order to protect itself, H Pylori lowers stomach acidity (through production of an enzyme - urease). The body tries to compensate by increasing acid production, but this causes stomach / deudenum ulcers. Those are a clear sign of a H Pylori infections. I myself don't have those, but from the info I have read it appears a H Pylori infection can indeed go on asymptomatic (no GI symptoms, but a whole myriad of other issues throughout the body, because of the leaky gut). I looked at the treatment, the so called "tripple therapy". In addition to two different antibiotics it includes a PPI (proton-pump inhibitor). A PPI lowers stomach acidity, thus causing H Pylori to somehow - as I understand - "lower it's guard", so that the antibiotics have a stronger effect. I wonder: could the benzos 6 years have acted as PPI somehow, indirectly maybe ? As allosteric modulators they are controlling the opening of the Cl- ion channels. Perhaps they have lowered my stomach acidity, opening the gates for a full-blown - though hidden - H Pylori infection, triggering the whole disaster. I am going to discuss this with that doctor and will do a test for H Pylori this week. There is a bit of hope that the whole thing could be resolved with a 2-weeks course of antibiotics after 6 years of suffering.
So I am wondering: how many of you fellow post-benzo sufferers may have a leaky gut without even suspecting it ?
Edited by Kompota, 14 August 2017 - 10:30 AM.
LongeCity
