was addicted for 2 years. quit cold turkey, still recovering 10 months later

[[he...]]

I am joining benzobuddies because I used to be a heavy benzo user, I've been prescribed temazepam, klonopin, ativan, an xanax, all for social anxiety.  I have even taken ambien and lunesta.  I took them for 2 years daily, until I decided to quit cold turkey January of this year.  I have not taken any since, but still am recovering, i still get flashbacks of the withdrawals, and sometimes even subconscious cravings.  I just wanted to join to get some advice on how to stay strong, and not relapse.  I haven't relapsed, but have been going through some hard times and wanted some support.  Thanks!

[[ma...]]

Hello heronflow

 

Welcome to benzobuddies!  The withdrawal symptoms will go eventually, it can take quite some time for the CNS to recover. The Ashton Manual is a very good resource for information about withdrawal.  It will give you information about the recovery process. I will put a link to it: : Professor Ashtons Manual

 

Congratulations on being benzo free. Please feel free to ask questions, we have many supportive and kind members here who will support you and give sound advice. Feel free to check out the forum and post to any of our dedicated threads.

 

Here are a couple of links to our support boards:

 

Post withdrawal recovery support.

 

Cold Turkey Detox & Rapid Withdrawal Board

 

If you would be so kind as to add a signature (history of meds/doses etc) it will help members give you relevant advice this link will show you how to Create a signature

 

Welcome aboard It will get better

 

Magrita

 

[[ME...]]

Hi heronflow, i am suffering too.  Let us hope the we will survive this.

 

 

MEexpat

[[De...]]

Hello heronflow,

 

I too would like to welcome you to the forum 

 

Congratulations on being benzo free! I'm sorry to hear you are still suffering but as others have said this isn't unusual. Sadly a full recovery from long term benzo use can take many months for some but you will heal fully with time, that's for sure. In the meantime try to distract from the symptoms as much as you can by doing anything that you enjoy, this is what I do and it does help. If, however, you would like feedback about any of your symptoms please feel free to post questions on The Post-Withdrawal recovery support board, Magrita has given you a link to it. I would try not to relapse if I was you, reinstatement doesn't always work anyway and there is a risk of kindling where subsequent wirhdrawals can be more difficult.

 

I will give you a link to a post created by one of the members here, Parker, which I think will give you a better uunderstanding of the recovery process and why it can take a while to heal fully. Here is a link to "What is happening in your brain"

 

 

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

 

I'm glad you found us and I do hope that a full recovery, for you, is not too far away.

 

Debbie

[[be...]]

I am joining benzobuddies because I used to be a heavy benzo user, I've been prescribed temazepam, klonopin, ativan, an xanax, all for social anxiety.  I have even taken ambien and lunesta.  I took them for 2 years daily, until I decided to quit cold turkey January of this year.  I have not taken any since, but still am recovering, i still get flashbacks of the withdrawals, and sometimes even subconscious cravings.  I just wanted to join to get some advice on how to stay strong, and not relapse.  I haven't relapsed, but have been going through some hard times and wanted some support.  Thanks!

 

Welcome  You can have all the support you need from us. We have some great members here and their collective wisdom is enormous. Congratulations on being benzo free after so many years. That is quite the accomplishment. I am sorry you are still having symptoms and flashbacks. Stopping cold turkey can sometimes cause severe and/or symptoms. At this point you do not want to reinstate. This should only be done if symptoms are debilitating or life threatening. This is because reinstatement comes with the risk of kindling where each subsequent withdrawal is worse than the previous one. As awful as your symptoms are they are only temporary and in time you will heal.

[[Ra...]]

Welcome Heronflow... amazing jump... you made it farther than I (about 6 weeks), when I tapered one week then quit... obviously you know reinstating will only lead to driving back down the road to recovery again later... so that's a big "not an option"... as for social anxiety, you may want to google dextromethorphan and naproxen, independently of course... there's some glint of promise that dex reduces social anxiety in a standard dose... in my experience this is absolutely true... naproxen offsets some of the weird sides that can only come from dex intake. Neither of the two are physically addictive but the dex can build up in your system causing some nasties like mania, depersonalization, etc., but only when one abuses the junk like I did back then taking 4-6 times a day... crrazy... anyway, benzos for social anxiety, out... find another remedy... everyone is different in how we react to social situations... drinking being the most favored "pro-social" remedy... the devils spawn if you ask me... I drank the entire time I was in the military because it's what we did... very little alcohol intake before... and after the military days I can't remember the last drink I had or what it was... no taste or desire for alcohol... anyway, there are studies ongoing regarding dextromethorphan and it's pro-social, anti-anxiety properties... heard of Nudexta? It's dextro- mixed with quinine (a mild heart med) used to prevent the DXM from converting to DXO before it slams into the grey matter... promising research... either way, you did the hard part, now it's a matter of finding a working solution to your social anxiety that would work "long term"... taking dextromethorphan might not be a good long term approach but the jury is still out on that one.

 

Ranger