ForeverGirl, I am so sorry you're going through this difficult time.

I know you are suffering. I failed a friend going through benzo withdrawal because I got fed up with her still feeling bad months later. I thought she was dramatizing or faking or acting like a hypochondriac. I lost all patience.

Then Senator Ted Kennedy held congressional hearings about benzos and the long withdrawals -- up to two years. I had been completely ignorant and I soon realized that my friend was still suffering months after withdrawal began, that it was real and it would go on for several months more. But she did recover. I regained my patience and compassion for what she was going through, but I still regret how impatient I was until Senator Kennedy opened up my eyes and my mind.

But those hearings were years ago and most people today are as ignorant as I was all those years ago. We lose patience because of that ignorance, not because we want to stop caring. Your family, especially your granddaughter, probably are just as ignorant as I was and just as impatient as I was with my friend.

Here's an article from the Boston Globe on the subject, featuring a young woman who still has symptoms two years later. Maybe it will help you feel less alone. Maybe you can share it with members of your family. The article takes a little while to get to the point, but please bear with it. It's good.

When withdrawal is the hardest part - Health & wellness - The Boston Globe

It would be nice if your family understood and were able to provide you with love and support during this hellacious time in your life. But when people don't know any better, they sometimes behave in a less than noble manner.

For a little while, I behaved like a bad friend because I didn't know any better. When I got my act back together and my patience returned, my friend forgave me. She made it easy for me to become supportive again because even in her misery she was able to forgive me for failing her. I hope you can pull that same sort of thing out and offer it to your family if they've gotten fed up the same way I did. I didn't understand. Your family doesn't understand.

My friend did recover. She did get well and got her life back. It took a little more than two years for the symptoms to stop. There is hope if we can do something about the rampant ignorance about benzo withdrawal.

I wish you the very best. Please keep posting in as many forums on this site as you want to. It took me a while to find some forums that I like and other people liked me back. I don't fit in everywhere here at PsychCentral, but I've found a few places where I feel like a member of the community. Give it some time and you'll find your niche, too.