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Protracted Benzo withdrawal
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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@num1boxer1919 - For many years I accepted the diagnosis that I had a debilitating anxiety disorder and would likely need to be on medication forever. It was an easy diagnosis to accept because I felt so unwell. Exhausted, sweating and shaky, poor sleep. It never occurred to me that my constant state of
dis-ease was caused by the medication I was taking (Xanax, in my case). I finally started having such bad anxiety that I knew the medication was no longer working. But I was also physically dependent on it. What a lousy situation!!! My doctor wasn't terribly supportive of me discontinuing the Xanax. "Do you want to become housebound?" was one demoralizing quote I remember. Also, "this class of medication is almost impossible to discontinue." Geez, that's a helluva thing to mention after 13 years. And as if to prove her point (albeit not intentionally cruel) she put me on a waaaaaay too fast titration schedule. I almost agreed with her that, yes, this was too difficult. But I'm stubborn. I found the Ashton Manual's suggested titration schedule which recommended switching to a benzodiazepine that has a much longer half-life (Valium), stabilizing on that, then SLOWLY reducing the amount every two weeks. I switched from Xanax .5mg 3x a day to Valium 10mg 3x a day. I reduced by 2.5mgs every two weeks (easy to do by splitting a 5mg tablet). When I reached 10mg per day, I slowed the reduction to 1mg every two weeks. I am now at 1mg of Valium per day for three more days, then done! I don't expect any withdrawals from such a low dose. The whole titration process was more comfortable than being on my previous full prescription of Xanax. As in, no withdrawal symptoms to speak of. I used other means of help by way of diaphragmatic breaking, relaxation tapes, good sleep hygiene, etc. But it was the Ashton titration that made it painless. Best of luck!
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4 Reactions@num1boxer1919 It is a long, slow, painful process to taper off. DO it slowly. Have the mindset it can be done, and you can (I keep telling myself this). I have gone from 6mg Klonopin per day down to 1.5mg now. I am working on a plan to go to 1.25 to 1.00 to 0.75 to 0.5..... cold turkey is impossible. But after getting off it, I am sure it will be worth it as the medication is worse than actually living with some other issues. It is impossible to get off this drug. Was invented to help. but now a means of torture.
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2 ReactionsThanks so much for the reply.. So did you have any sleeping issues while being on the benzo or physical effects like headaches or anything? & I literally can't sleep without it.. If I come off of it will that get better after awhile.. Will my own natural sleep drive come back like it was before I was on benzo's because right now it's like a can't get sleepy without my sleeping pills I have no sleep drive what so ever without them.. Before I got on them I just automatically got sleepy when my body got tired like normal people.. But its like now even if I get extremely tired I can't sleep is that normal with dependence? & my sleep is extremely fragmented I wake up all night long it's rough..
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2 ReactionsThanks for the reply & Exactly this is a nasty freaking pill to come off that's for sure, have you had a lot of sleeping problems coming off of it & have headaches like all day because those our my main issues, if i could just sleep I wouldn't feel as bad.. & the same thing I asked the other person does your natural sleep drive go back to normal once you get off the drugs because thats my main priority if I can get proper sleep I'll feel so much better..
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1 ReactionYes, my sleep was terrible on Xanax. Light sleeping at best and waking with a startle response at 4am no matter how exhausted I was. And yes, also tension headaches all the time. Insomnia was (and is, truthfully) a huge concern but it's turned out better than I had hoped. I take 50mg of amitriptyline in the evening which helps in actually getting to sleep. Reducing the benzodiazepine in my system has only helped the length and quality of my sleep. I had steeled myself for the exact opposite so it's been a happy surprise.
I really can't recommend the Ashton protocol highly enough. By switching to Valium (diazepam) I was able to do the SMALL reductions necessary to avoid acute withdrawal. As an added benefit, Valium is also used as a muscle relaxer and sleep aid so my tension headaches disappeared and sleep has been a non-issue.
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2 ReactionsLife does get better and my sleep is finally returning to normal. My withdrawal was last march I didnt realize I did it too fast but was only on .50 klonopin at night then, but for 14 years. My body felt like I was shaking all the time but it wasn't visible to anyone but me, anxiety was bad, and couldn't sleep and my vision seemed distorted. My worst issues were my mind was in a major fog all the time and my memory was so bad I thought I had Alzheimer's. It was almost 7 months for the fog to finally start to lift. I tried CBD oil to help with sleep and it helped some. Beware of adding any meds in withdrawal, my depression got so bad my dr added another antidepressant to my normal meds. All my fog and memory issues came back worse then before so I got off that med after 3 weeks and took another month to get back to where I was before it. About 3 weeks ago I realized I was feeling as close to normal as I had for years! What a relief all from a small does of such a horrible benzodiazepine!! They say to stay positive but I found that wasn't easy. I wish you all the luck because it can and does get better. I wish the drs would stop prescribing these meds for such an extended time and explain what they can do to you.
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3 ReactionsAre you taking an anti depressant now,because after 6+ years I am still getting worse,memory gone,muscles contract so strongly upon standing that I can't walk more than a few feet,tinnitus,head pressure,mental fog,and more and if an antidepressant fixed those issues,tell me and tell me which one! I am past desperate ,thank you.
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1 ReactionJust to give you an idea of equivalencies: https://www.benzo.org.uk/bzequiv.htm So if you take 1mg klonopin twice a day, the diazepam (Valium) equivalent would be 20mg twice a day. You can then reduce by 2mg (or I did 2.5mg) every two weeks. If you stay with klonopin and reduce by .25mg, you'll be reducing exactly twice as fast as I did. IMHO, this is an unnecessarily traumatic route. Initially, I tried to discontinue directly from Xanax. Holy cow, what a mistake! Not only did I keel-haul my nervous system, but I failed as well. The benefit of valium/diazepam is that it has a long half-life, meaning it leaves your system very, very slowly. So there is no "between-dose" withdrawal. Post-acute withdrawal syndrome (PAWS) is something you want to avoid. I think it can be avoided if you are careful and gentle with yourself.
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1 ReactionI get nterdose WD from Valium.
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1 ReactionI should have prefaced by comment with "for me". My interdose withdrawal from Xanax was intense so that's what I'm comparing it to. I am so sorry you're struggling. I was using diazepam as a titration tool. If someone is taking it as a muscle relaxant then apparently the withdrawal can be entirely different.