New Here!

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I am glad I found this website. I have been on and off Benzos for about 5 years for anxiety, on therapeutic doses. I wasn't told about the withdrawal syndrome and was told by my psychiatrist I could just stop taking my Xanax. Here are some of my main symptoms.

 

-lost 30 pounds after last dose

-went through severe withdrawal, was misdiagnosed with Lyme Disease.

-Main symptoms are anxiety and heart palpitations.

 

A few questions

 

I developed POTS as well and every time I exercise, my heart skips beats. My cardiologist found nothing wrong with every test, should I be concerned? Should I just not exercise for a while. I feel like I can do damage to my heart, it has been 8 months.

 

Should I reinstate? I actually took Valium on and off through the process because I had no idea I was withdrawing. I thought I had Lyme Disease so I thought nothing of it. My last dose of Valium was a month ago,

 

Thank you, please help!

 

[[me...]]

Welcome to the forum, we're glad you found us!  Quitting benzos cold-turkey can produce strong and long lasting withdrawal symptoms, but the good news is that even these symptoms are temporary and will go away in time.  Reinstating is not usually a good idea because of a phenomenon called kindling, where each successive withdrawal can be worse than the last.  As far as exercising, moderate exercise is best while in withdrawal, since overdoing things can bring on renewed symptoms.  Here are a few links you'll find useful:

 

Post Withdrawal Recovery Support.

 

The Ashton Manual is an authoritative source on what to expect in withdrawal and recovery.  Dr. Ashton is an expert in the field.  She describes and explains withdrawal symptoms, and there is also a section with withdrawal/taper schedules.

 

Please take the time to Create a Signature.  This will allow others to see where you are in the process so they can better support you.

 

Again, welcome!

 

 

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Thank you for the kind words! It will be a bumpy road but healing will come.