Am i experiencing symptoms of withdrawal / addiction?

[[bi...]]

Hi, i've been using benzodiazepine once a while for the last 4-5 years and am now wondering if my increased anxiety and musclepain might be a symptom of withdrawal / addiction.

 

I have some general anxiety / panic attacks. The last years i have been mostly good, with only smaller periods where i needed to take 5mg of Vival to calm me down, maybe once every 2 weeks or so often longer between. Since i imagine this is a pretty low usage i have never before been concerned that it would be a problem.

 

However the past 6 months i have had more anxiety then before and have been using it alot more, atleast every week and some weeks 3-4 times. Never more than 5mg at a time and never twice a day.

But im experiencing some muscle pain, like sudden stinging pain in random joints and fingertips. Muscles twitching randomly in the body. And im wondering if i might have used benzos to the point where im now starting to experience the darker side of the medication?

 

Any feedback would be very welcome! Just want to know if i should look into quitting benzos all together (if this is a sign of addiciton) or if its just anxity itself.

[[be...]]

Hi bipolarbear  Welcome to BenzoBuddies!

 

I am glad you found us. Long term benzodiazepines do not work well. Often tolerance is reached and a host of withdrawal symptoms arise. The symptoms you describe sound like withdrawal symptoms. Now might be the time to considering tapering off. The recommended reduction rate is 5 to 10 percent every two weeks.

 

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.

 

General Taper Plans

 

 

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

[[bi...]]

Thanks! Glad to be here, hoping it will help me understand what benzos do and what need to be done.

 

If i am indeed having a reaction to benzos i guess i should quit them, but as im not using them everyday, and i can easily go multiple days without taking one, what sort of process should i look into? Just CT and look for other ways to deal with my anxiety once it comes? Or should i cut down on the dosage i take those times i feel i need it? Would CT do me any worse?

 

Sorry if these are stupid questions, but after reading some of the other posts here it seems most people are on daily dosages and have to cut down bit by bit. Im not sure i fall into the same category.

 

Thanks for the reply

[[be...]]

Thanks! Glad to be here, hoping it will help me understand what benzos do and what need to be done.

 

If i am indeed having a reaction to benzos i guess i should quit them, but as im not using them everyday, and i can easily go multiple days without taking one, what sort of process should i look into? Just CT and look for other ways to deal with my anxiety once it comes? Or should i cut down on the dosage i take those times i feel i need it? Would CT do me any worse?

 

Sorry if these are stupid questions, but after reading some of the other posts here it seems most people are on daily dosages and have to cut down bit by bit. Im not sure i fall into the same category.

 

Thanks for the reply

 

If you are using them 4 to 5 times a week that is a fairly regular dose and I would strongly recommend that you taper. Stopping abruptly can cause some pretty severe symptoms. Also, there is no dumb question here.

[[bi...]]

3-4 i would say some weeks only 2 times, but this has only been going on for a few months, before that i took them in periods and could go a month sometimes without anything. This week i have taken them 3 days, but two of the days was for sleeping, after laying in bed for 4 hours without any sign of the mind shutting down. I took nothing yesterday and felt completely fine, today i had a panic attact that made me take another pill.

 

How should i cut down then? Half a pill? Im afraid that if i keep taking them i will get real problems as im now not even sure if im experiencing problems due to the medication or just the anxiety itself. Thats why im concidering just not taking them at all then next time i get an attack. The anxiety i can probably deal with other ways. Its just been too easy to take a pill to shut it down.

[[Br...]]

Hi BipolarBear.  Your intermittent use may come from good intentions (such as not wanting to take benzos all the time) but intermittent use can cause repeated mini-withdrawals which might make you more sensitized and more dependent.

 

Benzo dependency forms in a lot of people and your description seems to suggest it.  If you are in dependency, you may feel your original symptoms are even stronger than they were when you started benzos.

 

Based on your usage pattern (which I am going to call 6 months of taking 5mg twice a week) there are two main ways for you to consider getting off benzos.

 

ONE. Take a daily dose of benzo of such a strength that your symptoms are generally manageable.  Perhaps 2 mg a day in your case.  Get stable (which may take 2 or 3 weeks for Vival/diazepam as it has a long half life).  Then taper off your benzo by making a small reductions every week or two.

TWO. Stop taking the benzo and ride out the side effects.  This may be tough but as you are taking them on average only twice a week may be possible.  You will probably feel the worst of the side effects in the first 3 or 4 weeks and after that you should see steady improvements for the next few months.

 

What you choose to do will depend on many things such as "lifestyle, personality, environmental stresses, reasons for taking the benzodiazepines, the duration and dose of drug use, the amount of support available and many other personal factors."  (Quoted from Prof Ashton.)  If you have good support and few demands or commitments you may want to get this over with as soon as possible but if you are in a precarious situation then you may value minimal symptoms more than anything else.

 

Whatever you decide, I am pleased to join in making you welcome.

[[bi...]]

Thought id post a little update.

 

I decided to CT, and have not used anything for almost a week now and have not gotten any worse. I've had a few panic attacks but nothing that seems out of the ordinary. So at this point im pretty sure that i dont actually have any withdrawl / addiction problems with benzos yet so thats good i guess. I guess i could continue using it the way i have in the past like once or twice a month if the anxiety get too bad. But i will try as much as possible to stay completely away.

 

Reading some of the posts here has shown me how bad it can get if you use it too much and i will keep that in the back of my head. Thanks anyway for the support i got! Hope you all get well

[[Br...]]

Thought id post a little update.

 

I decided to CT, and have not used anything for almost a week now and have not gotten any worse. I've had a few panic attacks but nothing that seems out of the ordinary. So at this point im pretty sure that i dont actually have any withdrawl / addiction problems with benzos yet so thats good i guess. I guess i could continue using it the way i have in the past like once or twice a month if the anxiety get too bad. But i will try as much as possible to stay completely away.

 

Reading some of the posts here has shown me how bad it can get if you use it too much and i will keep that in the back of my head. Thanks anyway for the support i got! Hope you all get well

 

Great news.  Well done! 

 

A week isn't a long time for benzo symptoms to appear, so take good care of yourself over the next couple of weeks in case your anxiety flares up and you get tempted to try a benzo.

 

Hopefully you won't need to take any benzos for a long time afterwards.