Daily Micro-Tapering Support Group

[Guest [Ma...]]

 

Thank God you can sleep!! If I ever got 8 hrs of sleep I think I would probably lose my mind and go do something crazy like have a Bruce Jenner surgery with no anesthesia, or something like that. I'd be happy to get TWO hours of sleep in a row. The mega use of benzo blew out my adrenals, so I get an adrenal blast every night at the same time (and several times in the day), so I "wake" up in a panic and then can never go back to sleep. I've tried all kinds of things. I'm positive that one reason I have to go so incredibly so with this whole MT thing is that blasted adrenals increase med sensitivity. I'm sensitive beyond belief. My thyroid is also gone too, but you'd think a med would help that. I can't take enough of the med!! Anxiety goes through the roof. It sounds to me like you've got this MT thing down and that you're going to rock on down the highway to being benzo-free in a great way!! Congrats to you, Maya!

 

Gosh, I get that blast over and over all night and did even before I took a benzo. When the benzos are finally gone, I will still have to figure out what started that up for me. Right now I am alternating low-dose Seroquel (which acts as an antihistamine below 100mg) and moderate dose gabapentin (which is sedating and does not act on the GABA receptors) to knock it down so I can get 3-4 consecutive hours and then be able to fall back asleep for another couple of hours. For some reason, the meds don't always work and then I am in bad shape the next day. Anxiety and depression piled up to the ceiling. Sleep is so crucial. I never realized that until I lost it. I'm so glad I have something that's patching it for me right now so I can carry on or I have no idea how I'd be doing this taper. I'd mess up my meds and drop another 20 pounds for sure.

 

P.S. Please promise you will not try that surgery no matter what!

 

Hey sweet gardener,

 

O.K., I'll blow off the surgery for now. I just figured that maybe it would distract me a little. I talked to several functional med docs about the adrenal blasts thing. They said that if the adrenals are blasting, then obviously they're working (no Addison's Disease, or whatever)...just working wrong and out of rhythm. Some docs shoot for putting people on hydrocortisone right away (killer!), which is wrong since that's only needed for people who have adrenals that are NOT shooting out cortisol. Obviously, that's not you and me. They all said that the HPA axis is simply out of sync, and very, very likely a result of the killer poison that's been going through my body for so long. Very common, they said. I did the saliva tests, yada, yada, yada and saw the wackiness of my adrenals. The key to get them back in rhythm? They said "diet", oddly enough, is by far the best and safest way to do so (a few other lifestyle things too, of course). A dude name Dr. Alan Christenson has a book about it that I just got. I checked him out really well before I got it. He's a huge believer in correcting adrenals by way of diet as opposed to sucking down adrenal glandulars, HC, salt water, etc. I'll have to let you know. The functional docs also had me try phosphatidyl serene (marginally worked) before bedtime, then Seriphos Phosphorylated Serene (moderate effect), and then finally Integrative Therapeutics Cortisol Manager (finally!) to keep the cortisol low during the night. Cortisol Manager was a huge help for me as far as pushing the "blast" closer to 6am as opposed to multiple times through the night. At least 6am is somewhat of a normal wake up time for lots of people (not me), so that's a plus.  Dr. Jill Carnahan also has been a good resource. You can Google her sometime. Cancer along with Crohn's Disease helped blow out her adrenals, and she said that diet, lifestyle and faith got her through it. I could never afford her (like most functional med docs), but it's easy to keep up with her info via various summits and talks she gives. Underground Wellness Radio is great (Sean Croxton). My/our adrenals may not get "fixed" until we're truly off this benzo trash, but I'm still hopeful that I/we can make it all manageable to some degree.

 

Hugs to ya, girl!!

 

Jeff

 

Geaux Tigers

 

Great information, Jeff!

I experience the same surges and have played around with plenty of supplements and dietary tweakng but have not found the magic bullet yet.

Although, tapering slowly has helped immensely.

I no longer get seared at 2:30 am; I am able to sleep through the night now, but awake to searing, burning, tingling buzzing surges.

I get the classic 6:30 am, noon, 4:30 rushes.

I've taken phosphatydleserine for 2 1/2 years. Nicely elevated my Serine levels for which i'm deficient, but didn't find it effective for the surges.

 

Marija🌷

 

 

[[jr...]]

One other thing:  My wife wanted me to post a question to everyone.  Since she sees the tragedy that you all describe here on BB's as well as living through mine, she was wondering if any of you have ever considered suing the docs that put you on these horrible drugs. Obviously, your lives have been dramatically altered to a huge degree, so if docs kept giving you this benzo, then has litigation ever entered your minds? Just wondering.

 

Thanks!

 

Jeff

 

 

No! But revenge would be nice in some sort or another. I was put on X to quit smoking of all things!!! and the scripts came for 7 years!!!

[[ga...]]

 

Thank God you can sleep!! If I ever got 8 hrs of sleep I think I would probably lose my mind and go do something crazy like have a Bruce Jenner surgery with no anesthesia, or something like that. I'd be happy to get TWO hours of sleep in a row. The mega use of benzo blew out my adrenals, so I get an adrenal blast every night at the same time (and several times in the day), so I "wake" up in a panic and then can never go back to sleep. I've tried all kinds of things. I'm positive that one reason I have to go so incredibly so with this whole MT thing is that blasted adrenals increase med sensitivity. I'm sensitive beyond belief. My thyroid is also gone too, but you'd think a med would help that. I can't take enough of the med!! Anxiety goes through the roof. It sounds to me like you've got this MT thing down and that you're going to rock on down the highway to being benzo-free in a great way!! Congrats to you, Maya!

 

Gosh, I get that blast over and over all night and did even before I took a benzo. When the benzos are finally gone, I will still have to figure out what started that up for me. Right now I am alternating low-dose Seroquel (which acts as an antihistamine below 100mg) and moderate dose gabapentin (which is sedating and does not act on the GABA receptors) to knock it down so I can get 3-4 consecutive hours and then be able to fall back asleep for another couple of hours. For some reason, the meds don't always work and then I am in bad shape the next day. Anxiety and depression piled up to the ceiling. Sleep is so crucial. I never realized that until I lost it. I'm so glad I have something that's patching it for me right now so I can carry on or I have no idea how I'd be doing this taper. I'd mess up my meds and drop another 20 pounds for sure.

 

P.S. Please promise you will not try that surgery no matter what!

 

Hey sweet gardener,

 

O.K., I'll blow off the surgery for now. I just figured that maybe it would distract me a little. I talked to several functional med docs about the adrenal blasts thing. They said that if the adrenals are blasting, then obviously they're working (no Addison's Disease, or whatever)...just working wrong and out of rhythm. Some docs shoot for putting people on hydrocortisone right away (killer!), which is wrong since that's only needed for people who have adrenals that are NOT shooting out cortisol. Obviously, that's not you and me. They all said that the HPA axis is simply out of sync, and very, very likely a result of the killer poison that's been going through my body for so long. Very common, they said. I did the saliva tests, yada, yada, yada and saw the wackiness of my adrenals. The key to get them back in rhythm? They said "diet", oddly enough, is by far the best and safest way to do so (a few other lifestyle things too, of course). A dude name Dr. Alan Christenson has a book about it that I just got. I checked him out really well before I got it. He's a huge believer in correcting adrenals by way of diet as opposed to sucking down adrenal glandulars, HC, salt water, etc. I'll have to let you know. The functional docs also had me try phosphatidyl serene (marginally worked) before bedtime, then Seriphos Phosphorylated Serene (moderate effect), and then finally Integrative Therapeutics Cortisol Manager (finally!) to keep the cortisol low during the night. Cortisol Manager was a huge help for me as far as pushing the "blast" closer to 6am as opposed to multiple times through the night. At least 6am is somewhat of a normal wake up time for lots of people (not me), so that's a plus.  Dr. Jill Carnahan also has been a good resource. You can Google her sometime. Cancer along with Crohn's Disease helped blow out her adrenals, and she said that diet, lifestyle and faith got her through it. I could never afford her (like most functional med docs), but it's easy to keep up with her info via various summits and talks she gives. Underground Wellness Radio is great (Sean Croxton). My/our adrenals may not get "fixed" until we're truly off this benzo trash, but I'm still hopeful that I/we can make it all manageable to some degree.

 

Hugs to ya, girl!!

 

Jeff

 

Geaux Tigers

 

Thanks, Ultra! I'm going to have to investigate this further, especially since I had this adrenal blast before I ever took a benzo. I figure it's not going away all by itself. Believe it or not, I saw my sleep doc (ex-sleep doc now) today and asked him about these cortisol jolts and what caused them. His answer, "This is insomnia." Really??!!   Next!

[[NY...]]

One other thing:  My wife wanted me to post a question to everyone.  Since she sees the tragedy that you all describe here on BB's as well as living through mine, she was wondering if any of you have ever considered suing the docs that put you on these horrible drugs. Obviously, your lives have been dramatically altered to a huge degree, so if docs kept giving you this benzo, then has litigation ever entered your minds? Just wondering.

 

Thanks!

 

Jeff

 

 

No! But revenge would be nice in some sort or another. I was put on X to quit smoking of all things!!! and the scripts came for 7 years!!!

 

Ugh, this made my stomach flip!  I was put on haphazardly after having a "panic attack" from low blood sugar and the scripts came for 15 years, all the way up to 8mg.  There is one doctor I could sue, maybe, but I likely won't.  I was on 1mg at the time, tol wd had set in so was anxious about trip to visit family, and he asked what I wanted him to do.  I said " I don't know, give me buckets of klonopin?", so he wrote me an Rx for 3mg day, raising my dose by 2mg in one shot and continued to write Rx.  It was then, early in my klonopin career that things started to fall apart, bit by bit. First depressive episode, SSRI, attention issues, adderall, sleep problems, trazadone, suicidal ideations, more SSRIs, SNRIs, and the web of tolerance withdrawal and psych poisoning began.   

[[jj...]]

One other thing:  My wife wanted me to post a question to everyone.  Since she sees the tragedy that you all describe here on BB's as well as living through mine, she was wondering if any of you have ever considered suing the docs that put you on these horrible drugs. Obviously, your lives have been dramatically altered to a huge degree, so if docs kept giving you this benzo, then has litigation ever entered your minds? Just wondering.

 

Thanks!

 

Jeff

 

No! But revenge would be nice in some sort or another. I was put on X to quit smoking of all things!!! and the scripts came for 7 years!!!

 

Getting well is probably going to be the best revenge. It's hard to imagine a scenario where you'd be able to successfully litigate in the USA.

 

 

[[bu...]]

Suggestion-let's keep the focus of this thread on how to withdraw as painlessly as possible, and not worry about "revenge", lawsuits, malpractice, etc.

 

If you want to play the blame game and fantasize about lawsuits, you'll find plenty of company over on Chewing The Fat.

 

JMHO

[[Ul...]]

One other thing:  My wife wanted me to post a question to everyone.  Since she sees the tragedy that you all describe here on BB's as well as living through mine, she was wondering if any of you have ever considered suing the docs that put you on these horrible drugs. Obviously, your lives have been dramatically altered to a huge degree, so if docs kept giving you this benzo, then has litigation ever entered your minds? Just wondering.

 

Thanks!

 

Jeff

It would be a waste of time, at least in the U.S. You would have to prove negligence. That is not possible here. Psychiatrists and Drs will say that you become dependent on the drug and that if you are addicted you have an addictive personality. My p/doc claims I am just sensitive to the medicine. The American Psychiatric Association doesn't recognize benzo withdrawal. Also you would never be able to prove that any of the serious problems caused by klonopin are definitely caused by klonopin. Drs are protected from this type of lawsuit. They should be held responsible. I think in the UK there have been cases where Drs have been sued over benzos. I'm in no way trying to discourage you or your wife from suing. That is just what I have learned and that is why I do not consider it.

 

Maya

 

Well I guess you all fixed MY little red wagon, huh!?  No, I get it. Figured it wouldn't hurt to ask.

 

Take care.

 

Jeff

[[Ul...]]

 

Thank God you can sleep!! If I ever got 8 hrs of sleep I think I would probably lose my mind and go do something crazy like have a Bruce Jenner surgery with no anesthesia, or something like that. I'd be happy to get TWO hours of sleep in a row. The mega use of benzo blew out my adrenals, so I get an adrenal blast every night at the same time (and several times in the day), so I "wake" up in a panic and then can never go back to sleep. I've tried all kinds of things. I'm positive that one reason I have to go so incredibly so with this whole MT thing is that blasted adrenals increase med sensitivity. I'm sensitive beyond belief. My thyroid is also gone too, but you'd think a med would help that. I can't take enough of the med!! Anxiety goes through the roof. It sounds to me like you've got this MT thing down and that you're going to rock on down the highway to being benzo-free in a great way!! Congrats to you, Maya!

 

Gosh, I get that blast over and over all night and did even before I took a benzo. When the benzos are finally gone, I will still have to figure out what started that up for me. Right now I am alternating low-dose Seroquel (which acts as an antihistamine below 100mg) and moderate dose gabapentin (which is sedating and does not act on the GABA receptors) to knock it down so I can get 3-4 consecutive hours and then be able to fall back asleep for another couple of hours. For some reason, the meds don't always work and then I am in bad shape the next day. Anxiety and depression piled up to the ceiling. Sleep is so crucial. I never realized that until I lost it. I'm so glad I have something that's patching it for me right now so I can carry on or I have no idea how I'd be doing this taper. I'd mess up my meds and drop another 20 pounds for sure.

 

P.S. Please promise you will not try that surgery no matter what!

 

Hey sweet gardener,

 

O.K., I'll blow off the surgery for now. I just figured that maybe it would distract me a little. I talked to several functional med docs about the adrenal blasts thing. They said that if the adrenals are blasting, then obviously they're working (no Addison's Disease, or whatever)...just working wrong and out of rhythm. Some docs shoot for putting people on hydrocortisone right away (killer!), which is wrong since that's only needed for people who have adrenals that are NOT shooting out cortisol. Obviously, that's not you and me. They all said that the HPA axis is simply out of sync, and very, very likely a result of the killer poison that's been going through my body for so long. Very common, they said. I did the saliva tests, yada, yada, yada and saw the wackiness of my adrenals. The key to get them back in rhythm? They said "diet", oddly enough, is by far the best and safest way to do so (a few other lifestyle things too, of course). A dude name Dr. Alan Christenson has a book about it that I just got. I checked him out really well before I got it. He's a huge believer in correcting adrenals by way of diet as opposed to sucking down adrenal glandulars, HC, salt water, etc. I'll have to let you know. The functional docs also had me try phosphatidyl serene (marginally worked) before bedtime, then Seriphos Phosphorylated Serene (moderate effect), and then finally Integrative Therapeutics Cortisol Manager (finally!) to keep the cortisol low during the night. Cortisol Manager was a huge help for me as far as pushing the "blast" closer to 6am as opposed to multiple times through the night. At least 6am is somewhat of a normal wake up time for lots of people (not me), so that's a plus.  Dr. Jill Carnahan also has been a good resource. You can Google her sometime. Cancer along with Crohn's Disease helped blow out her adrenals, and she said that diet, lifestyle and faith got her through it. I could never afford her (like most functional med docs), but it's easy to keep up with her info via various summits and talks she gives. Underground Wellness Radio is great (Sean Croxton). My/our adrenals may not get "fixed" until we're truly off this benzo trash, but I'm still hopeful that I/we can make it all manageable to some degree.

 

Hugs to ya, girl!!

 

Jeff

 

Geaux Tigers

 

Thanks, Ultra! I'm going to have to investigate this further, especially since I had this adrenal blast before I ever took a benzo. I figure it's not going away all by itself. Believe it or not, I saw my sleep doc (ex-sleep doc now) today and asked him about these cortisol jolts and what caused them. His answer, "This is insomnia." Really??!!   Next!

 

Oh man! You made me laugh. Idiot doc. Insomnia? No! I'm definitely not to swift, but I've done a TON of reading, researching, and talking to functional med docs about the adrenal glands and the who HPA axis thing. It can be corrected, but few know how. Those that can help are out there though. I'm watching a live webinar later tonight by a couple of "functional/integrative" docs who'll be talking only about this very adrenal issue.

 

We'll stay in touch.

 

Hugs!

 

Jeff

[[Ul...]]

 

Thank God you can sleep!! If I ever got 8 hrs of sleep I think I would probably lose my mind and go do something crazy like have a Bruce Jenner surgery with no anesthesia, or something like that. I'd be happy to get TWO hours of sleep in a row. The mega use of benzo blew out my adrenals, so I get an adrenal blast every night at the same time (and several times in the day), so I "wake" up in a panic and then can never go back to sleep. I've tried all kinds of things. I'm positive that one reason I have to go so incredibly so with this whole MT thing is that blasted adrenals increase med sensitivity. I'm sensitive beyond belief. My thyroid is also gone too, but you'd think a med would help that. I can't take enough of the med!! Anxiety goes through the roof. It sounds to me like you've got this MT thing down and that you're going to rock on down the highway to being benzo-free in a great way!! Congrats to you, Maya!

 

Gosh, I get that blast over and over all night and did even before I took a benzo. When the benzos are finally gone, I will still have to figure out what started that up for me. Right now I am alternating low-dose Seroquel (which acts as an antihistamine below 100mg) and moderate dose gabapentin (which is sedating and does not act on the GABA receptors) to knock it down so I can get 3-4 consecutive hours and then be able to fall back asleep for another couple of hours. For some reason, the meds don't always work and then I am in bad shape the next day. Anxiety and depression piled up to the ceiling. Sleep is so crucial. I never realized that until I lost it. I'm so glad I have something that's patching it for me right now so I can carry on or I have no idea how I'd be doing this taper. I'd mess up my meds and drop another 20 pounds for sure.

 

P.S. Please promise you will not try that surgery no matter what!

 

Hey sweet gardener,

 

O.K., I'll blow off the surgery for now. I just figured that maybe it would distract me a little. I talked to several functional med docs about the adrenal blasts thing. They said that if the adrenals are blasting, then obviously they're working (no Addison's Disease, or whatever)...just working wrong and out of rhythm. Some docs shoot for putting people on hydrocortisone right away (killer!), which is wrong since that's only needed for people who have adrenals that are NOT shooting out cortisol. Obviously, that's not you and me. They all said that the HPA axis is simply out of sync, and very, very likely a result of the killer poison that's been going through my body for so long. Very common, they said. I did the saliva tests, yada, yada, yada and saw the wackiness of my adrenals. The key to get them back in rhythm? They said "diet", oddly enough, is by far the best and safest way to do so (a few other lifestyle things too, of course). A dude name Dr. Alan Christenson has a book about it that I just got. I checked him out really well before I got it. He's a huge believer in correcting adrenals by way of diet as opposed to sucking down adrenal glandulars, HC, salt water, etc. I'll have to let you know. The functional docs also had me try phosphatidyl serene (marginally worked) before bedtime, then Seriphos Phosphorylated Serene (moderate effect), and then finally Integrative Therapeutics Cortisol Manager (finally!) to keep the cortisol low during the night. Cortisol Manager was a huge help for me as far as pushing the "blast" closer to 6am as opposed to multiple times through the night. At least 6am is somewhat of a normal wake up time for lots of people (not me), so that's a plus.  Dr. Jill Carnahan also has been a good resource. You can Google her sometime. Cancer along with Crohn's Disease helped blow out her adrenals, and she said that diet, lifestyle and faith got her through it. I could never afford her (like most functional med docs), but it's easy to keep up with her info via various summits and talks she gives. Underground Wellness Radio is great (Sean Croxton). My/our adrenals may not get "fixed" until we're truly off this benzo trash, but I'm still hopeful that I/we can make it all manageable to some degree.

 

Hugs to ya, girl!!

 

Jeff

 

Geaux Tigers

 

Great information, Jeff!

I experience the same surges and have played around with plenty of supplements and dietary tweakng but have not found the magic bullet yet.

Although, tapering slowly has helped immensely.

I no longer get seared at 2:30 am; I am able to sleep through the night now, but awake to searing, burning, tingling buzzing surges.

I get the classic 6:30 am, noon, 4:30 rushes.

I've taken phosphatydleserine for 2 1/2 years. Nicely elevated my Serine levels for which i'm deficient, but didn't find it effective for the surges.

 

Marija🌷

 

We'll keep fighting it, Marija!! I can easily relate to you and your situation. I'm learning a lot, and we'll have our answers soon.

 

Keep on rockin'!

 

Jeff

[[ga...]]

Suggestion-let's keep the focus of this thread on how to withdraw as painlessly as possible, and not worry about "revenge", lawsuits, malpractice, etc.

 

If you want to play the blame game and fantasize about lawsuits, you'll find plenty of company over on Chewing The Fat.

 

JMHO

 

I think this is true. We are getting off topic here (says Ms. Guilty-of-Gabbing ).

 

And speaking of withdrawing, I'm on my 5% dilution now and so was able to up my taper rate today. Crossing my fingers. Here's what I just did. I held 2 days due to some stressors and then what I think I did was just increase my taper rate by 50%. The circled numbers are doses I've taken. If anybody sees a mistake, please speak up!

 

And then my daughter got in her car and drove away for the rest of the day, so maybe I'm a wee bit more ornery already.

 

http://jgardnerscollection.weebly.com/uploads/5/6/6/2/56621493/7690886_orig.jpg

 

(Those numbers on the far right are sleep meds I'm trying to make last through my taper without habituating to them. At the rate I'm going, it seems unlikely. )

[[Ul...]]

One other thing:  My wife wanted me to post a question to everyone.  Since she sees the tragedy that you all describe here on BB's as well as living through mine, she was wondering if any of you have ever considered suing the docs that put you on these horrible drugs. Obviously, your lives have been dramatically altered to a huge degree, so if docs kept giving you this benzo, then has litigation ever entered your minds? Just wondering.

 

Thanks!

 

Jeff

 

 

No! But revenge would be nice in some sort or another. I was put on X to quit smoking of all things!!! and the scripts came for 7 years!!!

 

Ugh, this made my stomach flip!  I was put on haphazardly after having a "panic attack" from low blood sugar and the scripts came for 15 years, all the way up to 8mg.  There is one doctor I could sue, maybe, but I likely won't.  I was on 1mg at the time, tol wd had set in so was anxious about trip to visit family, and he asked what I wanted him to do.  I said " I don't know, give me buckets of klonopin?", so he wrote me an Rx for 3mg day, raising my dose by 2mg in one shot and continued to write Rx.  It was then, early in my klonopin career that things started to fall apart, bit by bit. First depressive episode, SSRI, attention issues, adderall, sleep problems, trazadone, suicidal ideations, more SSRIs, SNRIs, and the web of tolerance withdrawal and psych poisoning began. 

 

Man, NYC!!! You and I are two peas in a pod (except I'm 55 yrs old)!! You and I have been down a similar path, except it'll take me YEARS to get off what you got off in a couple months (K). That's a nice silver lining to have. The rest stinks, but you're doing awesome! I hope you rub off on me sometime soon.

 

Keep it rollin'.

 

Jeff

[[Ul...]]

It looked like there WASN'T a topic for a little while, so I just thought I throw in a couple harmless questions that I thought may be lurking on other people's minds too. Sorry about that. No harm intended, and surely didn't intend to harm the thread.

 

My best to all 

 

Jeff

 

 

[[ga...]]

 

We'll keep fighting it, Marija!! I can easily relate to you and your situation. I'm learning a lot, and we'll have our answers soon.

 

Keep on rockin'!

 

Jeff

 

 

Jeff, You really ought to start a support group thread about this adrenals stuff. You have a wealth of knowledge!

[[NY...]]

It looked like there WASN'T a topic for a little while, so I just thought I throw in a couple harmless questions that I thought may be lurking on other people's minds too. Sorry about that. No harm intended, and surely didn't intend to harm the thread.

 

My best to all 

 

Jeff

 

No harm done. This is an open thread, and helpful to talk sometimes about hx and frustrations about how we got to this point, tapering.  You're doing great with your taper.  Every which way is fine...healing is the goal, and we will all get there! 

[[dp...]]

Speaking of adrenals... Hi Jeff (gardner) 

 

Need your opinion on this because not many people have a knowledgeable one.

 

I'd been on 20mg of Hydrocortisone for 3 years and then over the past 5 months have weaned down to 15mg of HC.

 

Should it by my priority to finish my Valium taper first? or.. taper the rest of my HC so that my adrenals can start working on their own again?

 

Thank you

 

ps: I had no adrenal insufficiency issues before going on HC. I was put on for a half baked reason that had something to do with fatigue and what not, but it was really just psych drug w.d

[[do...]]

Suggestion-let's keep the focus of this thread on how to withdraw as painlessly as possible, and not worry about "revenge", lawsuits, malpractice, etc.

 

If you want to play the blame game and fantasize about lawsuits, you'll find plenty of company over on Chewing The Fat.

 

JMHO

 

I think this is true. We are getting off topic here (says Ms. Guilty-of-Gabbing ).

 

And speaking of withdrawing, I'm on my 5% dilution now and so was able to up my taper rate today. Crossing my fingers. Here's what I just did. I held 2 days due to some stressors and then what I think I did was just increase my taper rate by 50%. The circled numbers are doses I've taken. If anybody sees a mistake, please speak up!

 

And then my daughter got in her car and drove away for the rest of the day, so maybe I'm a wee bit more ornery already.

 

http://jgardnerscollection.weebly.com/uploads/5/6/6/2/56621493/7690886_orig.jpg

 

(Those numbers on the far right are sleep meds I'm trying to make last through my taper without habituating to them. At the rate I'm going, it seems unlikely. )

 

 

Hey Ms Guilty of Gabbing,

 

I'm just speaking up to wish you the best of luck on your continued taper.

 

Hugs,

doodle dog

[[sh...]]

Speaking of adrenals... Hi Jeff (gardner) 

 

Need your opinion on this because not many people have a knowledgeable one.

 

I'd been on 20mg of Hydrocortisone for 3 years and then over the past 5 months have weaned down to 15mg of HC.

 

Should it by my priority to finish my Valium taper first? or.. taper the rest of my HC so that my adrenals can start working on their own again?

 

Thank you

 

ps: I had no adrenal insufficiency issues before going on HC. I was put on for a half baked reason that had something to do with fatigue and what not, but it was really just psych drug w.d

 

My opinion only.  If I was you, I would hold on your Valium taper and get off the HC.  I've heard bad things about that stuff and it has WDs of its own.  The Valium may help a little while you getting through it.

 

Stay strong!

sharkey

[[ga...]]

 

Hey Ms Guilty of Gabbing,

 

I'm just speaking up to wish you the best of luck on your continued taper.

 

Hugs,

doodle dog

 

Thank you, Doods! Not only am I Ms. Guilty-of-Gabbing, but also the Princess of Paranoia and, now also, Ms. Too-Tippy-to-Walk because I took gabapentin last night to sleep. I've been walking like I'm on a rolling ship deck this morning, holding onto walls and furniture, while I wait for the gabapentin to wear off. My kids find this very amusing, so at least I'm good for entertainment around here!

 

Oops, gabbing again. 

 

[[ga...]]

Speaking of adrenals... Hi Jeff (gardner) 

 

Need your opinion on this because not many people have a knowledgeable one.

 

I'd been on 20mg of Hydrocortisone for 3 years and then over the past 5 months have weaned down to 15mg of HC.

 

Should it by my priority to finish my Valium taper first? or.. taper the rest of my HC so that my adrenals can start working on their own again?

 

Thank you

 

ps: I had no adrenal insufficiency issues before going on HC. I was put on for a half baked reason that had something to do with fatigue and what not, but it was really just psych drug w.d

 

My opinion only.  If I was you, I would hold on your Valium taper and get off the HC.  I've heard bad things about that stuff and it has WDs of its own.  The Valium may help a little while you getting through it.

 

Stay strong!

sharkey

 

Look, look, Sharkey is here! Hi, Sharkey!

[[no...]]

Speaking of adrenals... Hi Jeff (gardner) 

 

Need your opinion on this because not many people have a knowledgeable one.

 

I'd been on 20mg of Hydrocortisone for 3 years and then over the past 5 months have weaned down to 15mg of HC.

 

Should it by my priority to finish my Valium taper first? or.. taper the rest of my HC so that my adrenals can start working on their own again?

 

Thank you

 

ps: I had no adrenal insufficiency issues before going on HC. I was put on for a half baked reason that had something to do with fatigue and what not, but it was really just psych drug w.d

 

Hi Dan  you probably don't remember but I did tell you on another thread a few months ago that I was on steroids 30mg for year's while on benzos and tapered the steroids first by 5mg a week as thats the lesser of two evils, then carried on with the Valium taper when off them. I also posted about this subject on another thread today.

 

Love Nova xxx  :smitten:

 

Medication / Drug Usage During Benzo Withdrawal and Recovery CorticoSteroids

 

Corticosteroids can flare up benzodiazepine withdrawal symptoms during recovery. This seems to be only when high doses are taken orally. Creams and inhaled steroids seem to be okay. There is a binding site on the GABA receptor for steroids. If you click on this link you can see in a picture of the GABA receptor system the main binding/recognition sites on the GABA receptor.

 

They include the benzodiazepine site, barbitone site, GABA binding site and the steroid binding site. There is cross tolerance between barbiturates and benzodiazepine acting drugs. I am unaware and have not looked into medical papers discussing whether there is cross tolerance between corticosteroids or neuroactive steroids and benzodiazepines but logic would say there would be some cross tolerance.

 

It is important to note however that corticosteroids are sometimes prescribed for serious medical conditions and sometimes in life threatening situations. If taking corticosteroids is necessary due to serious health conditions and you experience a "set back" or a flare up or return of withdrawal effects try not to dispair no permanent harm is done just ride out the bad patch.

 

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=5500.msg47554#msg47554

 

 

[[no...]]

P.S 20MG/30MG Is a HIGH  dose of oral  steroids Nova  xxx  :smitten:

[[dp...]]

P.S 20MG/30MG Is a HIGH  dose of oral  steroids Nova  xxx  :smitten:

 

Are we talking about hydrocortisone (cortef?).

 

Thank you you guys. I appreciate all of your help.

[[...]]

What a hard couple days it's been. I had my mother taken off life support today :'(Thank God she went so peacefully. Feeling dazed and numb right now, have wanted to take my full dose of Xanax to numb the pain- but I know I can't. Been through hell to get this far and I don't want do it again. Appreciate to support from BB to get off this drug. Thank-you, Rose

[[do...]]

What a hard couple days it's been. I had my mother taken off life support today :'(Thank God she went so peacefully. Feeling dazed and numb right now, have wanted to take my full dose of Xanax to numb the pain- but I know I can't. Been through hell to get this far and I don't want do it again. Appreciate to support from BB to get off this drug. Thank-you, Rose

 

Dear Rose,

 

I am so very sorry for the loss of your mother.  Keeping you  and your family in my thoughts.

 

Hugs,

doodle dog

[[Mo...]]

What a hard couple days it's been. I had my mother taken off life support today :'(Thank God she went so peacefully. Feeling dazed and numb right now, have wanted to take my full dose of Xanax to numb the pain- but I know I can't. Been through hell to get this far and I don't want do it again. Appreciate to support from BB to get off this drug. Thank-you, Rose

 

My sincere condolences ....

I'm so sorry you lost your mother, Rose..

It's a blessing she went peacefully but it doesn't make things any easier.

Please be gentle on yourself.

 

:therethere: