1. < Depression & Anxiety

Protracted Benzo withdrawal

Posted by aarniek @aarniek, Oct 30, 2016

Taken of 8mg of Ativan daily in 3 weeks and suffering terribly nearly 4 years now! Unable to walk ,have insane muscle tightness,no memory,tinnius is unbearable,unable to picture things in my mind ! After 45 months it's worse than ever and 2 neurologists have tried only medications which all made me even worse!

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rascal1 | @rascal1 | Feb 17, 2019

So glad you got the help you needed from a good professional.
I did a similar thing checking into a local hospital med rehab inpatient and in two weeks got off Xanax after many years on high dosage. Put me on Klonopin which acts a bit differently and will be completely off in about a week . Met with a psychiatrist every day to get the right med and dosage and have continued outpatient with a psychiatrist to monitor and with a psychologist for talk therapy for my anxiety . I highly recommend this route if you can take the time off ! I have my life back!

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2 replies
Parus | @parus | Feb 17, 2019
In reply to @mhmann "I checked in to Glenbeigh rehab , they call a hospital, last April. I had been..." + (show)
@mhmann

I checked in to Glenbeigh rehab , they call a hospital, last April. I had been prescribed 1.5 mg.of xanax a day for 24 years and was abruptly cut off then oct my GP abruptly discontinued effexor. The post accute withdrawal was the worst experience of my life. no need to go into all of consequences of PAWS those who have experienced it know. with the help of an amazing psychiatrist who had been thru effexor withdrawals herself, i’m doing better. still have bas days but i’m becoming me again. You need to seek help from a good psychiatrist trained in drug withdrawal. there is help. 4 years is too long to suffer

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@mhmann It is a long arduous journey. I have found it is worth it.

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aarniek | @aarniek | Feb 17, 2019
In reply to @mhmann "I checked in to Glenbeigh rehab , they call a hospital, last April. I had been..." + (show)
@mhmann

I checked in to Glenbeigh rehab , they call a hospital, last April. I had been prescribed 1.5 mg.of xanax a day for 24 years and was abruptly cut off then oct my GP abruptly discontinued effexor. The post accute withdrawal was the worst experience of my life. no need to go into all of consequences of PAWS those who have experienced it know. with the help of an amazing psychiatrist who had been thru effexor withdrawals herself, i’m doing better. still have bas days but i’m becoming me again. You need to seek help from a good psychiatrist trained in drug withdrawal. there is help. 4 years is too long to suffer

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If you found a doctor that helped at all,it would be life changing as I have been to 4 neurologists in my six years in PAWS and I am the worst I have ever been,and all said the ONLY THING THAT HELPS IS TIME,and as I am 81 ,I don't know if I have much time especially since each year ,I have gotten worse!

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2 replies
aarniek | @aarniek | Feb 17, 2019
In reply to @ejezbeta "I have been looking for 2 years. No help from local does or neurologists that we..." + (show)
@ejezbeta

I have been looking for 2 years. No help from local does or neurologists that we traveled 5 hours to see who were really brilliant but refused to read any information given to the on prolonged benzo withdrawal syndrome. Wickepedia , under prolonged benzo withdrawal syndrome,has a fair amount of info. I just today discovered that hydrocodone works on the MU receptors so my husband can use it for muscle ( fasciculations, spasms)and bone pain. He had many other symptoms but he needs something for pain and this works. He had been on a prescription NSAIDS for arthritis and I discovered a year into his withdrawal symptoms that you can not take NSAIDS. Today I found out that any medication, herb, drink, food or supplement that attaches to the GABAreceptor site will worsen the withdrawal symptoms, so that means no caffeine, alcohol,vitamin B or D, magnesium, no anti depressants, also there is a group of antibiotics,Cipro is part of that group, that will intereact poorly on any one who is on benzos or in withdrawal symptoms from them. I hope this can be of help to you. Good luck.

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Hydro codone is an opioid isn't it? Is there another one you know of that is not an opioid ?

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1 reply
rascal1 | @rascal1 | Feb 17, 2019
In reply to @aarniek "If you found a doctor that helped at all,it would be life changing as I have..." + (show)
@aarniek

If you found a doctor that helped at all,it would be life changing as I have been to 4 neurologists in my six years in PAWS and I am the worst I have ever been,and all said the ONLY THING THAT HELPS IS TIME,and as I am 81 ,I don't know if I have much time especially since each year ,I have gotten worse!

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Have you tried a local hospital detox center?

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2 replies
Lisa Lucier | @lisalucier | Feb 19, 2019
In reply to @ejezbeta "That is wonderful that you have a physician that is working with you. You mentioned that..." + (show)
@ejezbeta

That is wonderful that you have a physician that is working with you. You mentioned that you cleaned up your diet of processed foods. Over the past two years of trying to find information that could help my husband who is in prolonged benzo withdrawal syndrome from 22 years of Xanax, I have come to think that the reason there is so much anxiety and depression is because our food is mostly junk and lacking in not only Vitamins but needed minerals. That was really smart to start off by improving your diet, wish I would have focussed on that sooner.

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Hello, @ejezbeta - wanted to welcome you to Mayo Clinic Connect. I'm sorry you have not found the physician help you were hoping to find for the alprazolam (Xanax) withdrawal for your husband.

Another thread on Connect you may want to check out deals with tapering from alprazolam (Xanax) specifically https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/going-off-of-xanax

How is your husband doing today?

@brit - just wanted to confirm which benzodiazepine you are tapering off of right now? How are you doing?

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1 reply
aarniek | @aarniek | Feb 19, 2019
In reply to @rascal1 "Have you tried a local hospital detox center?" + (show)
@rascal1

Have you tried a local hospital detox center?

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Dexox is for addictive medications ,so they harm anyone in Benzo withdrawal !

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num1boxer1919 | @num1boxer1919 | Feb 21, 2019
In reply to @aarniek "If you found a doctor that helped at all,it would be life changing as I have..." + (show)
@aarniek

If you found a doctor that helped at all,it would be life changing as I have been to 4 neurologists in my six years in PAWS and I am the worst I have ever been,and all said the ONLY THING THAT HELPS IS TIME,and as I am 81 ,I don't know if I have much time especially since each year ,I have gotten worse!

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Keep the faith I know it's tough believe me.. I'm still going through withdrawal myself & its been the toughest thing I've ever went through in my life.. I use to be a amateur & professional boxer growing up I had over 60 fights in the ring & I can say benzodiazepine withdrawal is 100% tougher than any fight I've ever been in especially going through the withdrawals I'm enduring, extremely bad tension, headaches, sweating, shaking, racing heart rate, insomnia waking up all night long you name it.. I sleep maybe 3-4hrs & its terrible hours.. So I promise you are not alone.. What kind of symptoms are you having?? & are you off all your medications?? If your only going through emotional withdrawal that is completely normal I believe that's the longest lasting part of withdrawals.. You have to do things that makes you happy & stay as busy as possible doing anything just to get your mind in a good place, dont let it get the best of you.. How long was you on benzodiazepines?? The longer & the higher dose you were on the longer the withdrawal process.. Your brain is trying to heal it's trying to function normally again.. Because long-term use of benzodiazepines causes brain damage on the GABA receptors of the brain, but in time it will heal.. All psychoactive drugs cause withdrawal but benzodiazepines are the longest lasting withdrawals by any medications out there.. It can last months or years.. Like i said it all depends on how long you've been on them & how much you were taking..

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1 reply
Lisa Lucier | @lisalucier | Feb 26, 2019
In reply to @creatineboy "Believe me,I understand. It i stuff. ,whatever form it takes,all that. I recently stopped klonipin after..." + (show)
@creatineboy

Believe me,I understand. It i stuff. ,whatever form it takes,all that. I recently stopped klonipin after about 10years. I know you are leery of taking other meds, but so far I've tried neurontin and lopressor to help, and Robaxin for the muscle tightness,it really works.
I use a noise maker and an air purifier for background noise.
They say there's a reversal drug called Flumazenil, it is an antibenzo benzo. Returns your chemistry in your brain to right,but it has to be done in a hospital by titrated IV.
Hope you're doing well

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Hi, @creatineboy thanks for sharing the medications that are helping you and your empathy for others tapering off of benzodiazepines.

You mentioned going off of clonazepam (Klonopin) recently after taking it for 10 years. Mayo Clinic Connect also has a thread specifically on tapering off of clonazepam (Klonopin) that you might be interested in reading and participating in. I'm sure there are many there who might benefit from hearing about what you experienced. https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/klonopin-taper

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joylin | @joylin | Apr 7, 2019
In reply to @rascal1 "So glad you got the help you needed from a good professional. I did a similar..." + (show)
@rascal1

So glad you got the help you needed from a good professional.
I did a similar thing checking into a local hospital med rehab inpatient and in two weeks got off Xanax after many years on high dosage. Put me on Klonopin which acts a bit differently and will be completely off in about a week . Met with a psychiatrist every day to get the right med and dosage and have continued outpatient with a psychiatrist to monitor and with a psychologist for talk therapy for my anxiety . I highly recommend this route if you can take the time off ! I have my life back!

Jump to this post

May I ask how old you are?? I am 66, been on ativan a over 10 years. Trying to get off but I'm now really depressed. Did you get depressed ?

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