Fast valium taper - the aftermath

[[un...]]

Hi. I want to share my experience with a fast taper because I don't find many success stories. Hopefully my story will be helpful to others that only finds stories of year long tapers and dreadful withdrawal symptoms like I mostly did.

 

I'm a male in my mid 30's, living in Scandinavia.

I used mainly rivotril and xanax for 2 years with average dosing 5-6mg daily, I started taking them to help me with bad anxiety and sleep. Last 6 months I've switched to valium and went from 40mg daily to 2,5mg during the last 3 months.

6 days ago i took my last benzo for what I'm hoping will be a long time.

At 2,5mg I stayed for 10 days and I jumped off just to be done with it. Surely I've read up on ashton, but needed to speed up things without putting myself in danger or what could be a really bad situation.

 

I feel great at the moment, not really noticed any real withdrawal symptoms which I find a bit surprising after reading all the horror stories. During the taper I have not noticed any bad reactions either, maybe my gaba system is capable of adjusting better than others? I'm not celebrating just yet, and with the 2 years of benzo (ab)use I can say that I've learned my lesson.

 

I quit a foolish tramadol habit 2 months ago, that was really awful until I read up on lyrica. My doctor is a reasonable man and I got a prescription for lyrica and used it for 5 days. After that I have dropped the lyrica to 1-2 times a week, some weeks nothing. I find it to be a way better alternative to alcohol, both physically and mentally.

 

I am surprised as mentioned earlier of the smooth sailing so far. The valium should be out of my system soon and I will use this board to share my experiences.

- "Power to the people,stick it to the man!"

[[Ch...]]

Hi unuser, welcome to BenzoBuddies.

 

Congrats on what sounds like a very successful taper.  Many people are able to come off of benzodiazepine use without too much of a problem, especially if it is the first use and withdrawal.  Unfortunately, subsequent uses and withdrawals can be a much different story.

 

You may want to post here: Benzo Free Celebrations

 

Please take some time to Create a Signature. This will help other members understand your history so they will be better able to support you.

Go to the top of the page and select Profile, then choose Forum Profile, insert drug history/timelines into the text box and click Change Profile.

 

Challis 

[[un...]]

8 days since jumping from 2,5mg valium after a fast taper. Have had some urge to take valium, but luckily these urges are not too strong. My sleep is irregular so I will start with 50mg seroquel tonight.

 

I forgot to mention in my introduction that I'm on 10mg Lexapro(cipralex here) for 5 weeks now, first week 5mg. This is the 3'rd AD I've tried in the last 5 months. Started with Zoloft which felt a little bit activating, sadly it gave me a crazy appetite much like bad munchies. Next AD was Trintellix(brintellix here still) which didn't really do anything except from making me feel sick.

 

Not sure yet how much the Lexapro helps my depression and anxiety, but noticed in the first week and when upping the dose to 10mg that it affected my sleep in a negative way. My mood is slightly better I think, and this subtle feeling is making it very difficult to tell if I'm benefiting from it or not. I guess I should have more patience, but If it does not improve much the next weeks I'll look into SNRI, Cymbalta or Efexor XL. Sadly I can't find any specific numbers on efexor and it's affect on the binding sites. Wikipedia says it only affects SERT  and NET and that's it. Has anyone experiences with both Cymbalta and Effexor(xr/xl?)? If you do please do comment, I like to do the research before I discuss it with my psychiatrist.

I would like to feel more activated and I know that Norepinephrine activity might be the key.

 

Still surprised by the absence of symptoms of benzo withdrawal. Why I didn't I quit sooner?!?

[[un...]]

Day 9 without benzos.

 

6 hours of sleep last night, woke up earlier than planned but still felt amazing. The seroquel made me binge eat a bag of crisps before bed so I will not include this to my daily routine.

My brain feels way sharper and it's a relief to speak like a normal person again. Feels great to get out of the benzo fog!

[[Sh...]]

I've been using Lyrica and have found it really helpful. How does it make you feel? It kind of makes me feel stoned but not as drowsy or paranoid. Just relaxed and good. I'm using it about every 3 days to avoid tolerance.

[[un...]]

I've been using Lyrica and have found it really helpful. How does it make you feel? It kind of makes me feel stoned but not as drowsy or paranoid. Just relaxed and good. I'm using it about every 3 days to avoid tolerance.

 

I use it now only for my social anxiety and lyrica completely kills it. I agree it makes me feel somewhat stoned, but also a little bit drunk which is a great social lubricant. I take it no more than twice a week, usually less.

[[Sy...]]

For me WD symptoms hit day 21 after the benzo stop.

[[ly...]]

 

 

OP has been tapering for quite some time - I doubt sxs will appear out of the blue at 21 days.  Many have no issue getting off.  We are the minority.  Others don't make their way here.

 

OP -  Excellent news!

[Guest [vi...]]

Hi. I want to share my experience with a fast taper because I don't find many success stories. Hopefully my story will be helpful to others that only finds stories of year long tapers and dreadful withdrawal symptoms like I mostly did.

 

I'm a male in my mid 30's, living in Scandinavia.

I used mainly rivotril and xanax for 2 years with average dosing 5-6mg daily, I started taking them to help me with bad anxiety and sleep. Last 6 months I've switched to valium and went from 40mg daily to 2,5mg during the last 3 months.

6 days ago i took my last benzo for what I'm hoping will be a long time.

At 2,5mg I stayed for 10 days and I jumped off just to be done with it. Surely I've read up on ashton, but needed to speed up things without putting myself in danger or what could be a really bad situation.

 

I feel great at the moment, not really noticed any real withdrawal symptoms which I find a bit surprising after reading all the horror stories. During the taper I have not noticed any bad reactions either, maybe my gaba system is capable of adjusting better than others? I'm not celebrating just yet, and with the 2 years of benzo (ab)use I can say that I've learned my lesson.

 

I quit a foolish tramadol habit 2 months ago, that was really awful until I read up on lyrica. My doctor is a reasonable man and I got a prescription for lyrica and used it for 5 days. After that I have dropped the lyrica to 1-2 times a week, some weeks nothing. I find it to be a way better alternative to alcohol, both physically and mentally.

 

I am surprised as mentioned earlier of the smooth sailing so far. The valium should be out of my system soon and I will use this board to share my experiences.

- "Power to the people,stick it to the man!"

 

challis is absolutely right (bear in mind this is all anecdotal wisdom/experience). most people have little difficulty tapering benzos the first time around - TRUE. happened with me after 3 yrs of use. i rapid tapered over 1 month on doc.'s orders but i got addicted 6 years later and now i find it hard to quit.

 

congrats! don't touch it again because your brain has been sensitized and next time it won't be so forgiving!