Protracted Benzo withdrawal

@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!

@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.

Thanks 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..

Thanks 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..

Life 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.

Hi.. I'm just trying to determine the difference between whether I have a mental health problem or I'm just going through benzodiazepine Tolerance/Withdrawal?? When I was 22yrs old huge into sports living a great life, my doctor proscribed me Klonopin 1mg at night & 1mg in the morning for very mild anxiety, at first it felt amazing! I thought to myself I never have to worry about anything again, well I was defiantly wrong! After time went by I'd say around 3 months later I was working & I started having some sort of anxiety that I had never felt before the medication, like I would kinda get a shaky/trembling type feeling & I still remember I would get off my 8hr shift at work & go to my car & I would literally be sweating & feeling so unrelaxed, so I knew there was something not right, i thought it was only my anxiety getting worse so I would go home & take more of the klonopin.. Anyways after time this problem got worse & worse I started having horrible sleeping problems that I never had before, then I started getting headaches, nausea, muscle tension, agitation & heart palpitations, I guess from just lack of quality sleep from what was going on I'm not really sure.. So the doctor put me on a very low dose of seroquel for sleep which helped for awhile then it lost its effectiveness so now it's been about 7-8yrs down the road I'm now 29yrs old & have almost no life because I cant sleep & feel good, I can barley even work.. I just want to know & I've been wanting to know for along time because I cant get any answers from my doctors what the heck is going on?? I've tried coming off the medications & it literally feels impossible because I'm already having a lot of horrible symptoms.. So my biggest question to everyone, does it sound like I have a mental illness or have I been going through tolerance withdrawal from the medication for years?? Has anyone out there went through anything like this? I'm just trying to get my life back.. Any input or advice would be awesome & greatly appreciated.. Thanks so much..

Just 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.

I get nterdose WD from Valium.