Well i nearly died tonight, emergency trip to ER

[[At...]]

Just wanted to give you guys a update on my current benzo withdrawal taper.

 

And hopefully this will be a WARNING to anyone else who ever considers doing a fast taper off these drugs.

 

Today i had a bad withdrawal day felt very ill. So i got a emergency doctors appointment. As soon as the doctor checked my pulse he rang a ambulance immediately and would not let me leave without one.

 

My heart rate at resting was a whopping 185

 

At the hospital they gave me cardiac drugs, and lorazepam and asked me to dress in a gown. They then said that i had to dress in the gown so the doctor could stop and re start my heart!

 

After all this ordeal they gave me 1mg of lorazepam and left me under constant monitor for 4 hours. Eventually they got it down to a stable 80-100.

 

They gave me a prescription for 2mg of lorazepam a day and said i would have to make a doctors appointment next week to arrange for regular lorazepam prescriptions and for them to help me arrange a extremely slow taper off the drug.

 

To conclude dropping my dosage from 1.5mg to 0.5mg nearly killed me after 7 days!

 

Be careful people 

[[...]]

That's horrible. So glad your okay🙏

[[ti...]]

Scary, Im having heart issues too.

[[Ma...]]

Wow I'm having some issues as well these are my symptoms. Was at .75 mg for 9 days or .25 3 x a day or every 8 hours then after ending up in the ER unable to breath tightness and pressure in my chest got checked out doc said that EKG was fine vitals where fine then told me to give it three days of it didn't get any better to go back up a little. After getting some advice on her I realized after 4 months and being all over the place between 1mg to 1.5 mg the first two months and .25 4 times a day for most of the third month and fourth month I was tapering to tapering fast and 8 hours with Xanax wasn't a good idea.... So the last 3 days I've went back to a extra .125 and every 6 hours instead of 8.... Last night after my 3 dose of .125 I felt really drowsy and sedated light head and like I was gonna pass out and then about 10:30 11:00 right before my night dose my heart was pounding I felt really flushed and my cheeks were red and my eyes were dilated and blood shoot and I could literally see my pulse like a twitch under my right lower eye lid! Scared me don't know what that was but took the night dose and the mourning dose this mourning and it seems to have calmed down but is this Xanax, stress or something else?

 

[[be...]]

OMG so glad you are ok. It's important information though. it's interesting to me as well because when I broke my hip last year I was rushed into the trauma unit because I was alone when I fell and took forever to crawl to the phone for 911. Then it took them time to break into the house etc which was locked. I was in shock so couldn't tell them what meds I took until the next day. My husband was out of town...as in 3000 Kilometres away. But when I came to I told them I took 8mg Ativan a day a 2 mg Klonopin. They thought I was still "out of it" and my doctor was typically unavailable.  So they only gave me half of each but the morphine seemed to keep things ok. Then they operated and when I woke up (I have no recollection) I slugged the nurse apparently so was tied to my bed. It was awful but I was totally delirious for 4 days. I won't go into that but it was the worst experience of my life. In the meantime even though my husband had flown home they limited my benzos. Even more. The next thing I knew I had about 5 different doctors that LOL I thought were hit men surrounding my bed. My husband told me my heart rate was so fast it was out of control. They gave me tons of drugs but not enough benzos. When the delirium started to lift I was screaming for my Ativan so they gave me more and woe and behold my heart rate came down to normal. So, to anyone reading this, this is very rare but it does happen. That's why c/t or almost c/t is dangerous. I didn't have a seizure. Just a very very serious heart issue which resolved with no damage with my benzos being given to me. So yes. Think twice unless you are totally medically supervised before you go c/t. The problem was is the doctors couldn't fathom that I was correct about my dose. It was a literal nightmare that I very rarely talk about. Scary beyond words. B

[[Be...]]

Glad you are ok! Big cuts can make your heart go nuts, could have been a panic attack on top of the cut? Good thing you are ok, like everyone has said.

[[Ch...]]

I think you're describing defibrillation...electrical impulses meant to shock the heart back into a normal rhythm.  Not exactly the same as stopping and restarting the heart. 

 

As far as choosing this method of slowing your heart beat, I am not medically trained so I won't offer an opinion of this treatment for rapid heart beat.  I will say I've never heard of it used on someone in benzodiazepine withdrawal.

 

I was on prescription benzodiazepines for 30 years, had a horrible withdrawal fraught with heart symptoms: high blood pressure, palpitations that were more frequent than regular beats, chest pain, rapid heart beat, etc.  I had a full cardio evaluation within a year after I finished tapering and my heart was found to be in better shape than most women my age.

[[Be...]]

I think you're describing defibrillation...electrical impulses meant to shock the heart back into a normal rhythm.  Not exactly the same as stopping and restarting the heart. 

 

As far as choosing this method of slowing your heart beat, I am not medically trained so I won't offer an opinion of this treatment for rapid heart beat.  I will say I've never heard of it used on someone in benzodiazepine withdrawal.

 

I was on prescription benzodiazepines for 30 years, had a horrible withdrawal fraught with heart symptoms: high blood pressure, palpitations that were more frequent than regular beats, chest pain, rapid heart beat, etc.  I had a full cardio evaluation within a year after I finished tapering and my heart was found to be in better shape than most women my age.

 

I think the heart gets quite the workout in wd so yeah it might actually be beneficial

[[me...]]

Hi Ati,

 

I have a naturally fast heartbeat, it runs in my family, and I've experienced tachycardia and palpitations many times.  These are very common withdrawal symptoms. But, in most cases these issues are not serious and would not warrant anything like "stopping the heart and restarting it." Perhaps you have a pre-existing heart condition or other health issues? 

 

I'm now on beta blockers for my hypertension, atenolol, and it's very effective for slowing my heartbeat.  You might ask your doctor about a beta blocker if your fast heartbeat issues continue.

 

[[be...]]

Yeah, they didn't need any sort of defibrillator or anything. Mine was a combo of 6 days of very few benzos, delirium, surgery and who else knows what. At the end of the day all heart tests were absolutely fine. I think your case was very very rare and maybe precipitated by more than the withdrawal. The amount of morphine, shock etc had a lot to do with my episode. Plus the sheer terror and pain of it all. I'm not saying it was the actual withdrawal but by getting my benzos back I calmed down substantially. I've since had an EKG and Echocardiogram and both declared my heart (knock on wood) to be in terrific shape for my age. No harm was done after now 34 years of benzos. Maybe follow up with a cardiologist but it was probably a one time event, albeit it very rare. Just glad you are ok now. That's what counts. B

[[At...]]

Hi Ati,

 

I have a naturally fast heartbeat, it runs in my family, and I've experienced tachycardia and palpitations many times.  These are very common withdrawal symptoms. But, in most cases these issues are not serious and would not warrant anything like "stopping the heart and restarting it." Perhaps you have a pre-existing heart condition or other health issues? 

 

I'm now on beta blockers for my hypertension, atenolol, and it's very effective for slowing my heartbeat.  You might ask your doctor about a beta blocker if your fast heartbeat issues continue.

 

 

 

Im not too sure, but they run just about every scan they could on my entire body including my heart. And it was all deemed to be in perfect working order. Accept the ridiculously high heart beat of 185 which i may add was still raising up and up. They said that my pulse was hitting 190 by the time i hit the hospital and it was showing no signs of decrease. They told me they was going to "stop the heart and restart it." I have no idea what they did but it worked and thats what they said they was doing.

 

That in combination with benzos, cardiac drugs and a lot of monitoring done the trick.

 

Keep in mind this is from a strong benzo withdrawal i dropped to 0.5mg from 1.5mg in a single day and i was on day 8 of this.

[[be...]]

Sometimes we have strange things that just happen that no one is positive why. Maybe the W/d caught up with you and it was a fight or flight reaction. Lots of reasons but the thing is you're fine now. I hope they checked your thyroid but I imagine they did. It's very rare but a thing called a thyroid storm could cause this. But that's easily remedied if diagnosed. It's just so rare they often miss it. Anyway, your home and fine. Try to let it go. B

[[Be...]]

^

[[be...]]

I think you are trying to explain defibrillation as well. They would not have stopped and started your heart.  However, before they do defibrillation they typically use alternative methods, like medication. Did they try any other methods to slow it down?  During my acute period my resting pulse was usually around 165.