1. < Addiction & Recovery

Endless withdrawal from benzos and pregabalin

Posted by chaos @chaos, Jun 3, 2022

Hi,
I’m at my wit’s end. I have been withdrawing for so so long that euthanasia is looking good to me. Since last November I have withdrawn from clonazepam and closely followed by pregabalin. Actually still struggling with the later drug. I am not sleeping, full of anxiety, fear and wanting to off myself. It feels like every week I reduce the drug, I lose hope that things will get better. I don’t have anyone in the medical system that understands withdrawal from these drugs.
It would be good to connect with people that have gone through this process and have improved their lives.
Also, I’m not sure if there is a discussion already in place for this topic.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Addiction & Recovery Support Group.

dedra | @dedra | May 24 10:23pm
In reply to @andytheman "Unbelievable. One person has been on 75 mg of benzodiazepines and has now tapered to 25..." + (show)
@andytheman

Unbelievable. One person has been on 75 mg of benzodiazepines and has now tapered to 25 mg!
Do you know how high that is? I’m having trouble getting off a 1 mg klonopin!

People think they are addicted to benzodiazepines but I beg to differ. Benzodiazepines themselves are not addictive. It’s the withdrawal symptoms that keeps you on them. That technically is not an addiction.

Benzodiazepines have good benefits as well for other things. I’m only on half a benzodiazepines in the morning and 1 mg at 4 pm.

I was in the hospital as I am on blood thinners that went into overdrive. My INR was over 12. I’m supposed to be at no more than 3.0 maximum. The hospital called it Coumadin poisoning. I was bleeding internally heading towards bleeding to death. I was literally dying. However this forum is about benzodiazepines.

The hospital took me off klonopin cold turkey because I had gone to the ER for bleeding and they lost the list of medications I was on. Including benzodiazepine.

They didn’t have it so they went into their computer and gave me medication from 3 years ago. I was not on klonopin then so they didn’t give me any for 2 months while inpatient.

It was a nightmare. I’d rather die than go through the awful withdrawal symptoms I experienced.

I came to realize that I’m not addicted to Klonopin but addicted to the withdrawal symptoms. I can’t stop! And that’s only one and a half Mg’s per day.

I’m still on them with no problems because as soon as I came home from the hospital I took a 1 mg of klonopin and within a half hour I was no longer feeling withdrawal symptoms.

Jump to this post

Sorry lol .. I meant to write that after having shingles … my dr. Put me on Pregabalin (75mgs) twice per day . The Clonazepam was 1.5 mgs per day. I did well with Pregabalin but when I gained 25 lbs in 3 months .. I quit cold Turkey . Honestly lost one lb per day, so I’m on day 10 now! Hard !!!!! Mentally .. but getting better ..

REPLY
andytheman | @andytheman | May 26 5:46am

You’ll get over it. I went from 240 lbs to 186 in the hospital. When I got home the weight increased to 215 then 200. Now I noticed that I have changed nothing and. I noticed I am now 200 to 203. What’s going wrong?

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babs10 | @babs10 | May 26 8:26am

(@chaos, I think you are in the right place - this is the topic for this thread.

You might try https://benzobuddies.org/. They have many threads that I found helpful. Your misery is temporary though it doesn't feel like it while you are in the midst of withdrawing - in fact, it feels impossible, but you are doing it! Hang in there. You got off clonazapam and that's terrific!!!

REPLY
1 reply
dedra | @dedra | Jun 15 10:32pm
In reply to @losingfaithinmd "75 mg of Clonazepam? I am pretty sure that’s not so much illegal as is unethical..." + (show)
@losingfaithinmd

75 mg of Clonazepam? I am pretty sure that’s not so much illegal as is unethical and no question would red flag the dr. Through the PMP snd pharmacist if it’s a good one. 2 mg four times a day is what I take and he’s being forced by the pharmacy and other entities to bring me down to 1 mg. And he’s doing it way too fast over three weeks but what can I do. 75 mg though are you sure I was kind of confused on the message. was it .75 or 75? 75 mg Klonopin would wipe out most of my town I live in, and all the cows

Jump to this post

Oops!!! Meant to say 75 mgs of pregabalin not clonazepam. I take 1.5 mgs of clonazepam per day and still do .. the pregabalin was great but started having urinary problems and gained 10 lbs of water weight whether I ate an apple or nothing at all … so pregabalin is gone and clonazepam is back . Funny feeling I’ll be here until I pass over to the other side . Just can’t handle the wds … not worth the horrible anxiety and depression

REPLY
dedra | @dedra | Jun 15 10:37pm
In reply to @babs10 "(@chaos, I think you are in the right place - this is the topic for this..." + (show)
@babs10

(@chaos, I think you are in the right place - this is the topic for this thread.

You might try https://benzobuddies.org/. They have many threads that I found helpful. Your misery is temporary though it doesn't feel like it while you are in the midst of withdrawing - in fact, it feels impossible, but you are doing it! Hang in there. You got off clonazapam and that's terrific!!!

Jump to this post

Oops sorry ! Meant to say 75 mgs of pregabalin! Lol I am on 1.5 mgs of clonazepam. Still am ! Didn’t work out .. too many physical side effects , worried about my kidneys . Gained 20 lbs , couldn’t pee and if I did it felt like I had a bad bladder infection. So to even come off of those cold Turkey while taking the clonazepam again , didn’t help . The wds were unbearable ( anxiety )

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aud | @aud | Jun 19 11:03am

Hello I'm.stiĺl suffering at 3vyears. How long for you
Xxx

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1 reply
babs10 | @babs10 | Jun 19 11:24am
In reply to @aud "Hello I'm.stiĺl suffering at 3vyears. How long for you Xxx" + (show)
@aud

Hello I'm.stiĺl suffering at 3vyears. How long for you
Xxx

Jump to this post

@aud, what dose were you on? I took 1 mg for a long time then .5 for years. It took me a year to get off of it.

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dfb | @dfb | Jun 20 2:04pm

The only thing that has ever helped with my discontinuation effects is exercise and therapy.

In a society accustomed to taking pills, I, like lots of other people, want a pill or protocol to alleviate my symptoms. It wasn't until I was suffering so severely that I was on the verge of killing myself ( I tried three times) that I made the necessary changes to my lifestyle: improving my diet and exercising. It wasn't a cure, but it helped immensely. I was on fourteen meds, and I am now on three, and those are being titrated.

I had to start very slowly because I was so sick. A little at a time, I got better and better.

I also worked hard with a therapist to find the origin of my depression and anxiety.

That is what has helped me.

I hope you find peace and good health soon.

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