Valium withdrawal

[[Li...]]

I stopped valim which I had been taking for 14 years and am going through horrible withdrawals. Don't want to do this alone. Spent 4 days in HOSP detoxing. This is very hard

[[be...]]

Welcome  I am so sorry that you are feeling so badly. I know the horrors of stopping benzodiazepines suddenly after taking them for over a decade. I have done several cold turkey withdrawals. Both were in detox center, which I find rather barbaric. The true hell begins when you leave. My first month was nothing less than horrific. The mental torment was excruciating, and I thought I was going insane. Things started to get better once the hell of the acute phase had passed. By my third month I turned a huge positive corner. I am now at 11 months and doing quite well. I am once again enjoying life. I know it must seem that the nightmare will never end but it will. It just takes a bit to heal. The central nervous system needs to repair. This will pass. How recently did you go to detox.

 

You might like to check out The Ashton Manual it is an authoritative source on what to expect in withdrawal and recovery.  Dr. Ashton is an expert in the field. 

 

Please feel free to post to any of the dedicated boards, we have a wonderful community of people here, who will give sound advice. Members have been through all aspects of benzodiazepine use and withdrawal and are more than willing to share their experiences.

 

Members discuss their symptoms on the Post withdrawal recovery support.

 

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! 

 

benzos-R-cruel

 

[[Li...]]

Thank you for the welcome. I stopped on September 23? I was so out of it the first two weeks I don't remember. Then I did a 28 day program after about a 4 day detox in the hospital.

[[De...]]

Hello Lilly55,

 

Welcome to the forum from me too 

 

Congratulations on being benzo free!

 

I'm so sorry to hear you are suffering so much, a cold turkey or too rapid a taper after long term benzo use can be a very rough way to withdraw, tapering slowly is the way to go but you will heal fully with time, that's for sure. As benzos-R-cruel said the first few weeks can be the most difficult to cope with. This is known as the acute phase of withdrawal when symptoms are at their strongest. The strong symptoms will ease but it can take a little while for the central nervous system to fully heal.

 

I will give you a link to The Cold Turkey, Detox & Rapid Withdrawal board where you can meet other members who are in a similar situation to yourself in that they've either cold turkeyed off their meds or have been taken off in an overly rapid fashion. The members here will be able to empathise with you and it always helps, I feel, to compare stories with others who are in the same boat as oneself. Here is the link:

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?board=133.0

 

Here also is a link to a post created by one of the members here, Parker which I think will give you a better understanding of what you're currently going through. This post explains, in layman's terms exactly what is involved with a full recovery after benzo use. Here is a link to "What is happening in your brain" I hope it helps :

 

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=66397.0

 

 

It will get easier for you the further out you go but if you are concerned about any of your symptoms please dont hesitate to ask for feedback on The Post-Withdrawal recovery support board.

I'm glad you found us and I do hope you are feeling much better very soon.

 

Debbie