Post Benzo Freedom Withdrawal Support Group

[[ma...]]

I'm 9 months off this started last month only happened once and now it happened this month. Just wake up with adrenaline rush palpitations and then it's over.

 

Read up on Cortisol.

What you are feeling is called the fight or flight response...Scary but very common.

Search forum here,and on net.

[[he...]]

In my sleep though?

[[ma...]]

I wasn't there with you when this happened,but when a person begins to wake up,the adrenal glands(I think!) begin to pump

cortisol and then triggers adrenaline to be pumped into your body...All quite normal really....and a remnant of our hunter-gatherer

heritage,where in we need to wake up fast to avoid being eaten by sabre toothed tigers and their buddies.

[[ci...]]

My doctor said there is also a bump in cortisol after we fall asleep and it is normal but goes haywire in some for a while.  Actually, this reminds me of double sleep, which is how we are supposed sleep.  Supposedly, we are meant to fall asleep at dark, then we wake up a little after midnight for two hours or so and then sleep iluntil dawn.  Perhaps to tend the fire halfway through night or scout for animals.  Nonetheless, I believe Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Edison wrote that the waking period was when they did their best work....

[[he...]]

Very interesting....are there other books beside The Happiness Trap that will help with anxiety and social anxiety.  I need to find a way out of my head if that makes sense!

[[ve...]]

Very interesting....are there other books beside The Happiness Trap that will help with anxiety and social anxiety.  I need to find a way out of my head if that makes sense!

 

Steven Hayes, founder of ACT, wrote "Get out of your Mind, Get into your Life".  It was the original work, worth reading, but there are also others by Roemer and Orsillo (Mindful way through anxiety), Forseith and Eifert on ACT and Anxiety, Fleming (social anxiety and shyness with using ACT)... Can you tell I think ACT can be helpful .

 

V

[[ve...]]

I think I am probably not the only one who ever found themselves in a situation where both benzos and opiates (pain numbing substances) were in plain sight. I always knew I would never voluntarily ask my doctor for a prescription, but it was just kind of easy to be seeing that bottle of pills there and not at least cross my mind that I might get a great night's sleep for the first time in a couple of weeks. The situation is not typical.  My father has battled cancer for ten years and he is undergoing some rough treatment which could prolong his life a while or do him in for good.  So it's pretty stressful and I am acting now as back up caregiver, which is not so easy when one is already sleep deprived and jet lagged, not to mention the physical burden of having to lift him up out of a chair because the treatment makes it very difficult to walk.  Boy, that benzo might be a great muscle relaxant!!!  All that aside, I know I won't take the benzo.  However, it is tempting to try the opiate .

 

V

[[Be...]]

I think I am probably not the only one who ever found themselves in a situation where both benzos and opiates (pain numbing substances) were in plain sight. I always knew I would never voluntarily ask my doctor for a prescription, but it was just kind of easy to be seeing that bottle of pills there and not at least cross my mind that I might get a great night's sleep for the first time in a couple of weeks. The situation is not typical.  My father has battled cancer for ten years and he is undergoing some rough treatment which could prolong his life a while or do him in for good.  So it's pretty stressful and I am acting now as back up caregiver, which is not so easy when one is already sleep deprived and jet lagged, not to mention the physical burden of having to lift him up out of a chair because the treatment makes it very difficult to walk.  Boy, that benzo might be a great muscle relaxant!!!  All that aside, I know I won't take the benzo.  However, it is tempting to try the opiate .

 

V

 

Hang in there, Vertigo.  I've had bottles of opiates and benzos in front of me at my moms.  Nobody would have known.  I overcame the urge, but it pointed out the need to stay ever vigilent.  I doubled down on my resolve for some time after. 

 

For me I think it's always going to be an iffy situation.  In times of heightened stress it would be so easy.  But I can't.  I just can't.

 

I like what pianogirl posted to you in the other thread.  Lean on family, friends.  There's real power there.

[[ve...]]

Hey BeauBeau.  Sounds like you also have the temptation in front of you at your mother's home.  I am regularly helping a caregiver with medications. Just tonight, I had a bottle of about 50 lorazepam in my hands.  I was never a benzo addict. Only took that valium for three weeks on an overseas trip.  Now the opiate is a little more tempting since if it can help with pain, it might come in handy down the road, but only as an isolated use.  I have a lot of furniture to move.  The other day I managed to get out for a 5 mile hike and I was a bit sore that evening.  I thought about the percocet but had a glass of wine instead.  As far as leaning on friends, I feel like they have their own lives going on, their own families and my father has had cancer for so long, it's almost like crying wolf at this point.  Well, he's had a good life.  If he can extend a little more, that would be nice, if not, it's been a great run.

 

Cheers,

 

V

[[La...]]

After the benzo ordeal I went through, I recently took the few hydrocodone tabelts I had and chucked em. While I never developed an opiate addiction from the very infrequent and intermittent percocets I've taken over the decades, the thought that I COULD become addicted to an opiate with a level of suffering and misery equal to that of the benzo hell I went through was enough for me to dispose of the tablets.

 

 

[[pr...]]

After the benzo ordeal I went through, I recently took the few hydrocodone tabelts I had and chucked em. While I never developed an opiate addiction from the very infrequent and intermittent percocets I've taken over the decades, the thought that I COULD become addicted to an opiate with a level of suffering and misery equal to that of the benzo hell I went through was enough for me to dispose of the tablets.

 

i believe the two times i had to take opiate pain meds for a few surgeries the first time i was benzo free helped for my setback to happen at the 7th year mark. it like opens that Pandora's box or something.

[[ve...]]

Any newly ordained post benzo buddies out there?

[[ve...]]

Where are my post benzo buddies?

[[ci...]]

Vertigo, good to hear from you.  I'm doing much better at 7 months.  Not as good as month 6 but still pretty darned good.  Hope you are doing well too.

[[La...]]

Right here vertigo. I'm at 2.5 months after jumping from a reasonable ativan taper. Feeling pretty good, getting progressively better (slowly), still persistent minor sxs, best of all getting consistent good sleep for the most part (occasional night where I have a bit of trouble).

 

Since my baseline is really good, I no longer yearn for tomorrow, or the future, or when I'll be 100% healed. I feel really good in my own shoes, so being RIGHT HERE, is fine with me. That being said, I am looking forward to a day of being 100% healed. That day isnt far off, but I wont venture to guess when it will arrive.

 

How is everyone else doing?

[[ve...]]

Vertigo, good to hear from you.  I'm doing much better at 7 months.  Not as good as month 6 but still pretty darned good.  Hope you are doing well too.

 

Glad to hear Cirercrem. What has gotten worse in month 7 than 6?

 

V

[[ve...]]

Right here vertigo. I'm at 2.5 months after jumping from a reasonable ativan taper. Feeling pretty good, getting progressively better (slowly), still persistent minor sxs, best of all getting consistent good sleep for the most part (occasional night where I have a bit of trouble).

 

Since my baseline is really good, I no longer yearn for tomorrow, or the future, or when I'll be 100% healed. I feel really good in my own shoes, so being RIGHT HERE, is fine with me. That being said, I am looking forward to a day of being 100% healed. That day isnt far off, but I wont venture to guess when it will arrive.

 

How is everyone else doing?

 

Good to hear your sleep is coming back at 2.5 months, Laser   Keep on doing what you're doing. 

 

:sleepy:

 

V

[[he...]]

I'm so done with this withdrawal.  At 9 months my baseline changed and I have had a pretty good month of withdrawal without horrible symptoms.  I no longer wait for the day to pass or can't wait until tomorrow.  The only thing is I'm still very agoraphobic.  When did that leave for you all?  I've never been agoraphobic and it sucks.  Oh and speaking of agoraphobia I might have to get on a plane.....getting on is the easy part staying on is questionable...!!!!  You never know when you're going to get hit and that SUCKS most of all.  You feel like such an idiot.  I ate something in whole foods the other day that they were sampling.  Then all of a sudden 10 minutes later I was in full blown panic attack back when it was acute!  I have no idea what could have been in it but I reacted to something.  I really feel that the sensitivities to food will never end.  I have to be so careful.  Anyone know if the sensitivities just go away one day or they gradually go away? 

[[ve...]]

c

[[ma...]]

Healingslowly.....

Had to reply to your post.A couple things hit home to me.

I am about 17 months out,and have had the same issues as you,at about the same time.

Every wave brought on agoraphobia like crazy.And that lasted till I was over a year.Gradually subsided,at least for now!

Cuz,like you,ya never know when another is gonna hit.I still get ringing ears too,but,like all symptoms,not as severe,and not as long.

For me,most things have been gradually,slooooowly,getting better.

I too had travel plans about a year along.Didn't make it.My issue is more about anticipation tho....I get myself worked up days,even weeks,before an event.

Last one is the trip to Whole Foods.

So many of their offerings are soy based.And same thing happened to me.Hit hard,fast....but it took weeks to recover.

Avoid the soy! I cannow handle a little aisian food,but like all things,I go very slow at any changes to the dull,boring,pasty diet forced upon us all when we kick benzos.

Cheers

Mac

[[ve...]]

Recently hit over 250000 views of this thread, likely making it one of the most viewed benzo support threads in the last few years.

[[Co...]]

Vertigo...this is a great idea. It is a great help to share after the big jump. I often want to know how others are doing in the same month that I am in...and hope that my experiences can be helpful to those right behind me.

....I am just stepping into month 5 ...things are definitely leaning in the direction of healing ( I say that with caution). I do wonder about acute....what that is exactly. When I was tapering things were miserable...daily for about 6 weeks ( week 6- 12)...then became consistently better all the way to my jump. I always considered that mid-taper 6 weeks of every day misery as acute. However the pattern has repeated.  The first 6 weeks off of ativan was manageable...then...months 2 1/2 all the way through most of month 4 was misery again. Now month 5 is looking better ...so it seems to me as though months 2 1/2 - 4 3/4 was another acute period...Or am I focused about acute. A wave seems like a few days to several days of increased s/x, but not as intense and miserable and long lasting as acute.

.....I would love to know how other 4-6 months off people are doing...I have been thinking of month 6 as my goal post month since month 2 ...now I am wondering if I have put too much expectation on 6 months.  I don't expect to by any means be healed by month 6, but I am hoping for the tides to turn in my favor...consistently...

...I will be following this thread ...and chiming in....such a good idea....wishing all sunbreaks..windows and very good days.....coop

 

[[pa...]]

Hi all post benzo members!

 

I've finally got around to posting an update here. I wasn't sure if this thread was still active, but here goes:

 

Since October last year, I now have a full time position at work. This after nearly 4 years as part time/on call with alternating shifts and bed times. I now have a permanent days shift and I can count on being in bed by 10:30pm

 

My new position is 'Person in Charge' and I am responsible for ongoing communications with plant management, receiving mail, office supplies, written communications and making sure that work activities are done correctly and any disputes are handled professionally.

 

Quite an accomplishment especially for a post benzo!! I want to express once again to all members here that It can be done!! Just give yourself time, allow healing to happen, be kind to yourself, and work on those goals. Any of you care to check out my history can view my regular blog plus my success story.

 

Any comments or questions... I'll check back later. For now, may I say I wish healing, happiness and peace of mind to you all

[[he...]]

Way to go pangelingua, You have your life back in full gear....many happy happy days to you.......Jude

[[pa...]]

Thank you Jude

 

I plan more responses on the forum the next 2 weeks or so. Hope you are doing well and recovering steady