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THicuUe Georgia
Health Matters
A SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT TO THE MONROE COUNTY REPORTER
Forsyth woman finds freedom from addiction
By Steve Reece
stevereece@gmail.com
On a level of 1 to 10,
the pain was a 10. After
numerous tests, a medicine
was prescribed by a medi
cal doctor, and never more
than the prescribed amount
was taken. This prescription
was paid for by an insur
ance company. The same
insurance company that
later refused to pay for the
care needed after the chem
ical dependency developed.
There is no insurance that
can cover the torturous pain
of withdrawal symptoms.
Born and raised in Mon
roe County and the grand
daughter of Rennie Pitts,
the first woman to work for
the Forsyth Police Depart
ment, Wendy Baker Harvil,
took prescribed medica
tions for stomach problems
developed while she was on
a mission for a Buckhead
church to Cambodia in
2018. She was so sick that
her mother, Margie Greene,
drove up to the airport
from Forsyth and rushed
her to the emergency room.
She had suffered through
the ordeal of being sick on
an 18-hour flight with her
head lying on the table tray
in front of her. Doctors
thought she had dehydra
tion because of the 100-de-
gree temperatures in Cam
bodia. But no one really
knew what was wrong with
her. Her symptoms were
treated with Reglan which
is a medicine used to treat
symptoms of gastroesopha
geal reflux disease (GERD)
and nausea and vomiting.
Reglan is known to cause
anxiety. It did not ease her
pain not even temporarily
and she was brought back
to Forsyth to be with her
family and was taken to the
ER at the Monroe County
Hospital where she was
treated for nausea.
The next night, she was
still extremely sick and was
taken by her dad, Terry
Baker, to Emory Univer
sity Hospital where she
was checked for malaria,
typhoid fever, and all the
overseas exotic diseases.
They told her they couldn’t
find anything and didn’t
know what was wrong.
She clearly had symptoms,
but they didn’t know why.
Finally, she was diagnosed
with Clostridioides dif
ficile (C.diff) which causes
severe diarrhea and colitis,
and immediately started
her on an antibiotic along
with medication for nausea
and sent her home. Within
two days, she started having
extreme panic attacks and
no one knew why.
Wendy soon started hav
ing agoraphobia (extreme
or irrational fear of entering
open or crowded places, of
leaving one’s own home,
or of being in places from
which escape is difficult)
and couldn’t be alone. She
said her mother would go
into the next room and she
would freak out. For six
months, she had to be with
someone constantly, even
sleeping with her mother
on nights she was too afraid
to be alone. All the while,
still suffering from stomach
problems nonstop.
Not being able to func
tion, she was laid off from
her job at the Apparel Mart
in Atlanta and drank Pepto
Bismol like it was going out
of style. She had a window
of an hour a day when she
was able to choke down her
food and would eat enough
to get her through the next
day. She lost 25 pounds.
She decided to go to Rid-
geview Institute in Smyrna
at the beginning of 2019 for
her anxiety. For a month
they threw medications at
her trying to cure her with
chemicals. She ended up
staying for 3 months to get
her problem under control
with medication. She was
finally prescribed Klonopin
which is a benzodiazepine
drug like Xanax. The dif
ference is that the half-life
of Xanax is 11 hours while
the half-life of Klonopin
is 30-40 hours. Somewhat
stronger. She was afraid to
take it because it is a highly
addictive drug that is often
misused. Even so, within a
day of taking the drug, she
was back to eating a com
plete diet. It helped with her
nausea, and she was able to
be alone.
Unfortunately, the medi
cation ceased working in
2021 and she developed
a chemical dependency.
Wendy said some people
can take benzos for a long
time and a small percentage
are able to take it success
fully but addiction centers
across the country are full of
people who innocently took
a medication their doctors
gave them without telling
them what to expect.
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She decided to
enter a rehab cen
ter in Dahlonega
on Jan. 3 to get off
the toxic medica
tion after trying
for a year to do
it on her own.
After 30 days of
treatment, she
has returned free
from Klonopin.
She still feels the
withdrawal pains
but has days that
she said are not
terrible. Her anxi
ety is now gone
and the only pain
she has now is
physical. Detox is
a horrific process.
You have body
tremors, nausea, Wendy Harvil of Forsyth.
community.
She currently runs her
own business selling new
and gently used vintage
apparel and accessories,
StyleCloud Remix, which
she started as a hobby but
became her full-time job.
Selling new and gently
worn, vintage apparel &
accessories. Her online store
can be found on Facebook.
Her advice to others?
“Learn the meaning of the
word: self-care. Exercise
and diet. Meditate. Listen
to music,” Wendy said,
“and prayer! It’s ok to ask
for help.” She should know.
Wise words from a fighter
who’s been there.
extreme fatigue,
hallucinations, seizures, and
brain shivers when your
brain literally shakes inside
your head. Wendy said it
was the hardest thing she’s
ever done. She has spent
at least $75,000 on out-of-
pocket expenses for her
medical care with no help
from insurance.
She graduated with a
degree in hospitality from
Georgia Southern Universi
ty and was recently married
to Brandt Harvil, a captain
for the Henry County Fire
Department. Wendy and
her husband met when
they were five years old and
went from kindergarten to
graduating from Monroe
Academy together but were
never sweethearts until she
returned sick from Cam
bodia. He had helped by
donating to the mission
cause and that’s when they
started talking and soon
were in love. She said he has
supported her all the way.
She runs a Facebook
group known as Good
News Monroe County
which now boasts 2,500
members. She said she
decided to start the group
at the beginning of the
pandemic to bring some
good news instead of all the
bad that was (and still is) on
TV, Facebook, and all social
media. The popular group
collects donations every
quarter to give to a local
charity. Wendy said after
all the help she’s received
during her sickness she
wanted to give back to the