What happens when you need surgery during protracted benzodiazepine withdrawal (BIND)? How do you manage the anxiety? Do you take meds? Benzos? Opioids? How do you handle recovery? Join D on his personal 14-day journey. In part 2 of this 2-part series, the surgery is completed and D reviews his decision to be given a benzodiazepine for sedation. He monitors its effect on his symptoms, discusses his recovery and use of pain meds, and explores his improved outlook on life afte

What happens when you need surgery during protracted benzodiazepine withdrawal (BIND)? How do you manage the anxiety? Do you take meds? Benzos? Opioids? How do you handle recovery? Join D on his personal 14-day journey. In part 1 of this 2-part series, D discusses his anxiety, insomnia, and other complications leading up to the surgery. He also shares his fear of cancellation, his struggles to find courage, and his reliance on traditional coping skills like distraction, visu

The Colorado Consortium for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention will hold its annual meeting virtually on October 27th and 28th, 2022. One of the break-out sessions on Thursday (10/27) morning will be hosted by the Benzodiazepine Action Work Group (BAWG), a sub-group of the Consortium. In this session, BAWG Co-Chairs Dr. Alexis Ritvo and D E Foster will define BIND and its symptomatology in addition to the research behind it. They will also present recent successes from the wo

Are benzos effective for treating anxiety? Insomnia? Seizures? If they aren’t safe, what is the evidence? How many BIND symptoms are there? Could these be permanent? And what about COVID? Tune in for the surprising answers. In today’s episode, we ask some key questions about benzos and provide real answers, with evidence to back them. We also share questions from our international listeners on CBD and probiotics, and we hear a powerful story of one woman’s struggle with her t

Have you ever been afraid to turn on the news? To check your social media feed? To visit your favorite discussion group? Have you ever been so afraid of your own emotions and reactions that you isolate completely? Well, so has D. In today’s episode, D tries something different…again. He hits the record button with absolutely no idea what he is going to talk about. No script. No topic. No agenda. What evolved is an open and honest discussion about struggle and success, media a

COVID and BIND. Symptoms and setbacks. Isolation. Distraction. Memory loss. Relationships and loss. And of course, acceptance and success. What do these all have in common? Well, they all are related to benzos, and we will cover them today. In today’s episode, we revisit our mailbag and hear your comments, your questions, and your feedback. D also shares his 8-year anniversary and even invents a new word — contentness — without knowing it. More on that later. I hope you wil

Two benzo survivors. Two caregivers. Pizza. Cookies. And a covered porch in a rainstorm. What else could you want? Join us for this very special and revealing conversation about living with benzos from two couples who know it intimately. In today’s episode, we share our second benzo chat recorded on our recent road trip. On June 5th of this year, Shana and I joined Steve and Heather on a porch at their home in the great state of Iowa. The evening was delightful. We talked ab

So, you’ve withdrawn from benzodiazepines. You still have symptoms. You still have struggles. You still have life-altering changes. And you still ask yourself daily, when will I get back to normal? Well, maybe D can help. In “A New You”, D E Foster discusses life after that last dose. He talks about BIND (benzo withdrawal), the healing journey, and shares his 10 tips for building a new life. He blends recent research with his own experiences and those of his friends at the Be

Enough about me — it’s time to hear from you. Welcome to our very first “Benzo Chat.” An in-person, casual conversation with you, the champions living day in and day out with benzo dependence, withdrawal, and BIND. In our inaugural episode, we sit down with Rob in the great state of Oklahoma. We talk online forums, exercise, insomnia, diet, detox, cognitive dysfunction, and so much more. His story is a difficult one at times, but at its core, it’s about hope — and we all coul