Valium (diazepam) Taper

Thank you for your comment.
If it were my decision I would still be taking the diazepam. Unfortunately it was not. Every expert I have spoke with says my brain chemistry will never recover. I was taken off the diazepam after a massive back surgery while being given hydrocodone for pain management. The hospital doctors and staff made the decision to stop the diazepam against my neurosurgeons' standing order. It was then restarted just before I was discharged only to be stopped permanently four weeks later by my PC physician. I almost died from seizures during that two month period. I was left wishing I had.

I live in Gastonia, NC.

I am not surprised but very sorry you had seizures. I am a lay person but if I were you I would try to find a doctor who would re-prescribe it and help you get to a lower dose. Fifty years is a long time. Doctors used to prescribe benzos that way back then and tell us to "keep it in our system." Nowadays doctors are paranoid about prescribing it too much.

I would think your brain might need a certain amount long term but I don't know. Perhaps you could talk to a psychiatrist, psychopharmacologist, addiction specialist or even a functional/integrative medicine person.

Keep us posted. I almost went on Xanax 50 years ago, three times/day every day, but luckily it did not agree with me. Years later it would have been practically criminal to prescribe that way.

My doctor is still practicing medicine. He was being Red Flagged on his computer concerning a conflict between the diazepam and pentazocine, a refillable pain medication. I had been prescribed both for over ten(10) years.
Prior to that I had been prescribed a daily dosage of 15 mg of diazepam and 15 mg of hydrocodone/apap or equal/more, of schedule two(2) narcotics, for thirty plus years. Now the doctor and clinic decide it's a problem? He stopped prescribing both meds abruptly. I now have major health issues and also a mental mess.

Have you tried to get help from another source, someone who has experience in helping you to withdraw slowly and safely, it’s totally beyond my comprehension that they just abandoned you, it could have been fatal if you weren’t strong enough to handle this, I know very little about benzodiazepines with opioids except that it can cause overdose and death, now they are forcing innocent people to go into forced or rapid withdrawal causing even worse outcomes. Everything is totally screwed up, the government wants us off the drugs and doctors are being pressured to do so. I’ve researched about this disaster and there are places that will try to help you with other medications to help alleviate some symptoms or even help you go through a proper withdrawal that you can cope with. I wish that I can offer you more information but I believe you’re in the right place to start getting the help you deserve, you can set up an appointment with the Mayo clinic for information on where to go. I sincerely hope that you will find your way back with the right help.

Try going to https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/psychiatrists/nc/gastonia
There’s a lot of Nurse Practitioners on there as well as Psychiatrists. I’ve always found NP’s to be more compassionate than a lot of doctors. Some even do everything remotely.
Hope that helps. Let me know if you want me to do more research.

P.S. Nurse Practitioners can prescribe medication.

@rgtaylor I suspected this was the case: doctors pressured and red flagged for prescriptions that were common 30, 50 years ago. Basically MD's addicted you and then when protecting themselves by stopping the Rx's, exposed you to potentially life-threatening effects.

This is not your fault obviously. It may feel stigmatizing but I do believe a rehab or addiction specialist could help you.

I know that when people get off alcohol, they are prescribed benzos short term. When they get off heroin, they go on methadone. Prozac helps with withdrawal from other SSRI's. On this forum we are not expert enough- or most of us aren't- to make specific suggestions but believe there is help.

You have been wronged. This is happening to others, for sure. I am also wondering if there is a group or forum for this situation. You need and deserve relief!

Thank you for your suggestions and kindness.

I am sorry that they did that to you. I also have gone through the same as you except I was on 3mg a day of clonazepam for 30 years. I also was and still am on a fentanyl patch for severe pain from neck surgery that failed. I never had a problem with my prescription until they started lumping us together with drug addicts. I was taken off suddenly also and was visiting my granddaughter and my great grandson in Kansas. The withdrawal started quickly and was awful. Somehow in the middle of the night I am on a feeding tube and pump fed into my small intestine. I remember taking off my tube from the pump and going to take my medication. The next thing I remember is my granddaughter waking me up because we were going to a festival and she looked at me and said grandma what happened to you. I was like what are you talking about. She said you have a black eye. I said no I don't, I was still on my feeding pump and thought she was kidding. Then my great grandson comes in he was only 2. He started crying and saying grandma is hurt. I got concerned and tried to pull myself up and I got excruciating pain in my left arm. Somehow when I was up I must have fallen and hurt myself yet got myself back to bed and hooked myself back on my feeding pump and had no idea what happened. I still don't know. I ended up with 2 broken bones in my left arm and a shattered elbow and big black eye and a large lump on my head and bruises around my neck! I ended up in icu. A week later I had to fly home with my arm still broken. I went from the airport to the hospital and they had to do a 4 hour surgery on my arm and elbow and had to put a plate in to hold everything together. I was immediately put back on clonazepam. I felt so much better back on the clonazepam. Then my doctor retired and I was put through the same hell. I have bad PTSD from year's of abuse. I am also chronically ill. I was having horrible panic attacks and like you my head was all messed up I kept forgetting thing's and my vision got blurred and I was very dizzy. I finally had a psychiatrist that put me back on clonazepam but only 1.5 mg a day. I did better on it and eventually I was back to feeding like myself again. Then after 2 year's my insurance forced my psychiatrist out because they don't want anyone with my insurance company to prescribe benzodiazepams at all. Turns out my Medicare plan was the one's making them stop. I am disabled and have been for 12 years. I am still not old enough to be on Medicare but I am due to being totally disabled. I don't understand why if something works and has for 30 plus years that suddenly its a problem? My quality of life should mean more than anything. But when they got tough on drugs they lumped us all together and doctors are afraid to prescribe it for fear of getting into trouble. It's not right. Personally I do alot better on the clonazepam than without it. I hope you can get someone to listen and do what's right for your quality of life. Let me know if you find someone to help you because I also now need someone to treat me as a person not a statistic. Good luck to you. I know it sucks. Hang in there 🙏