Post Benzo Freedom Withdrawal Support Group

[[Me...]]

Verti Someone threw a wrench in my system !!    This is just so weird !  I have been doing soooo well then bam my whole week is jacked !!  I am wondering if it is the working out with weights.....lactic acid   I am all dizzy headed and cant focus,,,feel drugged....no energy or motivation...yet I keep going..and my back hurts burning.  :'(    Uhhh.....WHY o WHY ??      This is why I wont commit to work yet.  I hope and pray tomorrow is better !!  I see yall put your % up on how yall are feeling.  Most days mine was at 75 %.  Today....more like 40 to 50 %      I just cant see why our bodies are sooooo sensitive to every thing !!! Like enough allready right !!    I am way more than ready to be my old self like NOW !!!!      OK..I will shut it now !!   

[[Re...]]

    I will have to say that my percentage these days is like ginger's.  Although I feel fantastic, I can't say that my healing is 100% as long as the tinnitus is hanging around.  Even the horrible insomnia I had throughout my taper and 6 months post taper has ended, but the tinnitus has not gone anywhere and it's been well over a year.  I mean, it decreases in volume, and I've learned to live with it, but it can be annoying if the weather is rainy, if I eat the wrong foods, if I don't sleep well, or if I go through hormonal changes.  I do believe that this last symptom will eventually go, but until that time, I'm a 9.5er along with ginger.

[[af...]]

At 5 months off benzos i'm 50% healed, my primary remaining symptom being nerve pain/burning/stinging. I've recently had some bad days when i was a 3 and good days when i was a 7. Either way, this is improvement over previous months when i was a 1-2.

I pray for more healing for all of us.

 

Kev

[[...]]

I'd have to rate myself at about 80% healed, @ 4+ months off the Benzos and a very slow taper. I do have my days when I'd say that is actually more like 8 %...on those days afer a particularly bad night...for the last two month I have had one night a week where I simply don't sleep at all. It follows a stressfull day, or a day where I simply do too much, too much activity, and my CNS is a hurtin'. But then I've had my groups of days, and even weeks, where i feel all is well. I do have lingering digestive issues, but as long as I watch what and when i eat, and as i said don't over tax the CNS it's OK. I'm still looking at the 6 month mark as a goal, hoping these lingering items will be gone..if not, I can still pretty much do what I want most of the time. No other physical symptoms, right now.

As a footnote, I had been getting acupuncture every 5-7 days until this week. My dr. is away now, so I figured I'd see how it feels to go without. I'm only on day #8, but so far so good. knock on wood.

[[ve...]]

Good to see so many folks are feeling like healing is taking place.  Good point Pange that some days may of course be quite low but overall if I took the last two weeks, I'd say 60 to 70% is a fairly accurate estimate of the healing that I've experienced in the last five months.  Yes, there have been some challenging days and weeks along the way and may still be some as stressful situations come up.  Good point Bill that after a bad night or stressful situation, things can quickly go from 80% to 8% but hopefully that's not an ongoing thing.  Meljo, I responded on your thread about the weights.  I can see how that might stress some sensitive nerves.  Maybe a warm bath might help along with a few days of rest.  Thanks for all your responses.  Hope we keep moving forward and onward!

 

V (no more)

[[Pa...]]

Hi Vertigo (no more)

 

I have to agree with what others have said, you do have a way of bringing people together.  You find an interesting topic, or you see a need and you make it happen and all are welcome.  You're an asset to this community, thanks for all you do.

 

Pam

[[Me...]]

I am better yesterday and today      I have no idea what happened....but I pray it never does again !!!

[[gi...]]

     I will have to say that my percentage these days is like ginger's.  Although I feel fantastic, I can't say that my healing is 100% as long as the tinnitus is hanging around.  Even the horrible insomnia I had throughout my taper and 6 months post taper has ended, but the tinnitus has not gone anywhere and it's been well over a year.  I mean, it decreases in volume, and I've learned to live with it, but it can be annoying if the weather is rainy, if I eat the wrong foods, if I don't sleep well, or if I go through hormonal changes.  I do believe that this last symptom will eventually go, but until that time, I'm a 9.5er along with ginger.

 

Ret,

I average 8.5 not 9.5.... I consider this to be like the Richter Scale, so that's a huge difference  !

[[...]]

Six months today since my last dose of the poison.  Now operating at about 80% again after being plunged back down to 50-60% for a month or so.  Looking forward to the 100% - does anyone every operate at 100%?  Maybe I'll be happy at 90%!

 

Onward!

 

 

[[ho...]]

hi all................

 

ugh... this fatigue im having.. is sooo horrible. I push myself everyday to get out and do stuff. and prob too much actually....

 

im so tired of being tired!! but im med free 100% as of today, paxil last dose last night....but wow.. this is the pits.zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

and i have to somehow make myself go to a concert tonight, that i thought when i bought the tix.. i would be doing farelyl decent at this time, benzo free!!! bought tix months ago in my taper..ugh wow wow wow... Black eye peas..

 

all i want to do is sleep, and i have to leave in 2 hrs..

 

hope

[[pe...]]

Hope,

 

The fatigue is killer....it's not just regular fatigue, it is incapacitating!!!

All you can do is stop and lie down.

 

I know also the looking forward and planning things thinking that we are going to be all fine.  Not so.

It is all taking soooooo much longer than I ever dreamed.  I've decided not to commit to anything in the

future until I know I am out of the fog and fatigue for good!

 

But, it will get better!!

 

I hope you had a good time at the concert.  Black-eyed peas!! Bet it was a good one.

Hope you were able to enjoy.

 

Hang in everyone!!!!!!!!

 

Perc

[[ve...]]

Hope you could enjoy some of the concert (the part where you stayed awake ).  Congrats on your last dose of Paxil.

 

Welcome to Post Benzo thread Perc.  Good to see you have seen some gradual improvements.  

 

Thanks Pam for the kind remarks. Glad you're back as a moderator. LB, I'm with ya, 90% would be awesome .

 

Ginger, you're right. Being on this benzo roller coaster sometimes feels like the Richter scale .  I think having a scale can be helpful though.  Glad you and Retire are doing so much better!

 

Bill, I've also had some digestive issues the last couple months.  I've read that there are a lot of GABA receptors in the stomach.  Wouldn't surprise me at this point.  Hang in there Kev and the rest. Glad you're' feeling better Meljo

 

Best,

 

V (no more)

[[Sa...]]

After two weeks of no lorazepam I can surely say I am forever done with that evil drug! Have had a few body tremors- not too bad and the cold extremities, a few bouts of tight shoulder/neck muscles but all in all its great to be free of benzo tapering. Hope all are getting stronger in their resolve to rid the toxic benzo from their mind and spirit and will forever be comforted in the knowing we can heal from the hell of this drug. The best to all you Benzo Warriors!  Sama.

[[ho...]]

Hi all

 

 

percussion yes it definately can be incapacitating for sure!! wow............but i cant sit sit and sit...soo im just pushn myself going out, trying to trick myself and others that im ok, and functioning normally, when im not, i look just fabulous and fine, but internally im not!!

 

went to concert had a blast was fun...............didnt really sleep, not fun.. 1 and half hr sleep..ummmm.. YUCK..

 

thanks vertigo! yahoo

[[pe...]]

Yep, know that route.  Pretending, acting or whatever you want to call it.

 

In AA they say "Fake it til you make it."

 

Think we are all doing that.

 

Look forward to saying:  "I did make it.  Now I don't have to fake it."

 

Perc

[[...]]

"I did make it.  Now I don't have to fake it."

Oh yes!  I have a string of Oscars on my mantle now.  The acting is just brilliant - no-one would ever know.  Just a pity I'm not getting paid the big bucks though!  One of the counsellors at my support group presented us with our own personalised Oscars a couple of months back - (the printed version).  Nice touch.

 

Well done for getting to the concert Hope - great that you had fun.  Fun is so under-rated! 

[[pe...]]

Love that the counselor gave out Oscars!!!!!!  That is GREAT!!!!!

How clever!!!!!  And soooo appropriate!!!!!

 

Perc

[[...]]

Hi Everyone,

 

I'm going to be tapering off lexapro at some point.  I'm very tempted to do it now, but I know that the wiser thing is probably to wait longer...I've been off valium only 3 weeks. 

 

Does anyone have experience with tapering off lexapro?  Or even one of the other relatively short half-life ADs?

 

Thanks very much,

Rumi

[[Pa...]]

Hi rumi,

 

I was on 20 mg of Lexepro for 11 years and quit it cold turkey, didn't bother me a bit.  However, I was completely healed when I did this.  I tried to taper off of it when I was still in heavy withdrawals from my cold turkey from Klonopin, not good.

 

My advice, don't be in a hurry to get off of it, unless of course there is a medical reason you must.  It's all in the timing.

 

Pam

[[...]]

This my first post here. I realize now that this is the place I should be. I am 16 months off, but still have symptoms. I have a burning feeling on the skin of my chest. It started out a month after stopping klonopin,. and continues to this day. Have gone to every kind of doctor and they are all perplexed. I wonder if it could be the gaba receptors.

 

I take a lot of neurontin per day (3600 mg) and this is supposed to affect gaba. Wonder if it is impeding my progress.

 

Went through extremes sleepiness for months. It was related to sleep because after taking Seroquel, I sleep through the night, and don't feel sleepy anymore. Don't want to take this stuff too long though. Causes big time weight gain. and I don't like taking pills.

 

Has anyone else had this mysterious burning. I have heard of burning feel, but not chest.

 

INB

[[...]]

Thanks Pamster!

[[ho...]]

Hey rumi..

 

i saw a benzo doc,that specialized in benzos..and a doctor here at the university.. that specializes in the brain, and knows alot about pharmacuetical drugs....i asked their opinion for tapering off ssris, AD'S, and they said wait min 4 weeks... i waited 5 weeks.. i just jumped off paxil 2 days ago, but was almost off already, was at 5mg..cuz i was tapering the paxil before my clonazpam.....

 

i took a total of 5 months to get off paxil from 40 mg...

 

and the benzos took me 3 and half months to get off .25...........so total of 8 and half months... wow!! yeah...so, i would definately wait a bit longer...and take it slow..to off of the ssri.............

 

good luck hope!

[[le...]]

Hello INB,

 

I have the burning, just as you describe...I feel it in my chest and upper arms sometimes and upper back.  I am 5 months off of klonopin today.  The burning is my most hated withdrawal symptom.

 

We have another thing in common besides having been on klonopin...and that is that I was also on neurontin for several years.  I basically "gave it up" at the beginning of this year.  However, there have been a few nights where the nerve burning pain was bothering me so much that I took 400mg neurontin before bed so that I could at least try to get some sleep.  What I found is that it would help for one night at that dose...if I wanted a 2nd night of relief, I would need to add another 100 mg.  AND...to my great distress, even though I might have "bought" about 24 hours of pain-free nerves, each time I have done this I have "paid" for it when the pain seems to come back even worse for a couple of days.

 

Can you tell me more about why you were put on neurontin in the first place, how long you have been on it, and if you are on such a large dose because you developed tolerance to smaller doses?  Of course, I am not a doctor (which may be a good thing  but I would not be surprised if at this point the neurontin might be contributing to what you continue to experience.  I am very curious to hear more.

 

I am VERY sorry that you continue to have to deal with the burning...but MAYBE it isn't still withdrawal from the klonopin.  Neurontin works on the same GABA receptors as benzos, which is why many on this forum would advise against using it...UNLESS it is for seizures or medically necessary.

 

I will look forward to hearing back from you.

 

~Leena

[[ve...]]

New symptom.  Two of the last three nights, have had unpleasant dreams.  One awoke me with a kind of brain zap but could not remember the topic.  The second happened this morning.  It was a nightmare about drowning.  Very vivid. I normally do not remember my dreams, at least not so much in the last year.  Interestingly, I'm getting bids on fixing a swimming pool of a family member but the drowning did not occur in a swimming pool.  I'm guessing that the return of REM sleep, dreams, deep sleep and even nightmares are par for the healing.  Anyone else have this around 5 months post benzo?

 

Rumi, I agree that its probably a good idea to hold off on the lex taper for a few months.  Glad you're doing well at three months off

 

Thanks,

 

V (no more)

[[...]]

Leena, thanks for your reply.

 

I started taking neurontin years ago for pain...neck pain. The dosage just kept going up as the years went by.

 

Did you quit the Neurontin? If so, how did you do it?

 

Yes, this burning is infuriating. Nobody knows what it could be.

 

All I know is that I got it about a month after stopping klonopin. For you, does it seem to be related to eating, Leena?

 

I have bad insomnia also...though I must say that all my life I have been a bad sleeper...as are my mom, and sisters.

 

If you  might want to talk about this problem by phone, just pm me. I don't think there are many people like us. It might help to talk.

 

INB