OLDHAM TRANX
SUPPORT GROUP
Chair: Barry Haslam
TRANQUILLISER PROBLEMS? Involuntary tranquilliser addiction causes untold suffering for addicts and their families.
Oldham Tranx is a local support group run by ex- and partially withdrawn addicts who have experienced all symptoms of benzodiazepine and other psychiatric drugs, eg Ativan, Valium, Librium, Mogadon, Zopiclone, Seroxat etc.
They know and understand their side-effects.
If you, or anyone you know, needs advice, the group meets at:
The Link Centre for Independent Living,
140 Union Street, Oldham OL1 1DZ
on Mondays from 11:00am - 1:00pm
Contact details under revision.
• Tranquilliser addicts need help, BBC NW Tonight (Video Clip), August 15, 2011.
MESSAGE FROM BARRY HASLAM
Chair, Oldham Tranx
February 25, 2011
Oldham Tranx was formed 22 years ago, by Mike Levins, a former CPN Nurse. I am now the Chair and associated with the Group for 20 years. We are a support Group set up initially for involuntary tranquilliser addicts but now extended to anti-depressants, SSRIs, Z drugs and pain killers.
We meet each Monday, 11.00am-1.00pm at the Rock Street Centre, Oldham OL1 3UJ.
The Group listens to each others' concerns and advice is offered.
Members are at all stages of recovery, so pass on their knowledge to others. Very friendly and constructive advice is given. I use Professor C.H. Ashton's Withdrawal Protocol for reference and the BNF. For complex withdrawals, I can contact Prof. Ashton directly and she kindly responds. Members are given each others' contact details for further support. Withdrawal is not 9 to 5 only.
We have had visitors from Australia, Canada, USA, Ireland and from outside our catchment area of Oldham i.e. Staffordshire, Liverpool, Huddersfield, Blackburn. There are no similar services in their immediate area. We arrange guest speakers from the Medical Profession, DWP and Oldham PCT and MPs.
Oldham Tranx is all voluntary...no one is paid. Our funding is maintained from small local grants, donations and bequests. We get no funding from National or Local Authorities.
We advertise in the local free newspaper, local and national articles and take referrals from GPs and Mental Health Services. In addition, our details are on various websites.
We also liaise with Addiction Dependency Solutions, Oldham. ADS won the 1996 contract awarded by Oldham PCT to supply the only NHS funded Benzodiazepine Withdrawal Service for legally addicted patients. This has resulted in two benzo nurses working out of GPs' surgeries, in the Oldham area. To withdraw patients safely and at the patients' own pace, they use complimentary medicine, including acupuncture, relaxation, CBT, head massage and other techniques. Oldham Tranx members have access to all these. The two nurses are very competent and successful in their work. They have had the humility to learn from Tranx members and sit in on discussions to listen and learn. One of them attends Tranx each week and gives acupuncture and advice.
We have a unique set up in Oldham - in fact, the only one in the UK where a Support Group and a NHS funded Withdrawal Service work side by side to help each other. It works and works well. The ADS contract expires in 2012 and we will lobby the Oldham Consortia to renew/extend this vital public health service - for the good citizens of Oldham.
Barry HaslamChair, Oldham Tranx
• Barry Haslam Interview (video), Channel M Manchester, October 15, 2009.
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