Entering my fourth month

[[St...]]

Hi everyone, I've been lurking the forum for a while now. I thought it was about time that I jumped in and started participating.

 

I'm about 100 days off benzos now. I used clonazepam for close to 4 years. I ended up hitting tolerance about 6 months ago. Luckily I was on a pretty low dose of 0.5mg, but I really didn't want to go any higher. The dose I was on had given me reflux and it was only getting worse. I knew a little bit about how bad benzos can be. I foolishly tried to cold turkey because I didn't know how bad it was to do that, which hit me like a tonne of bricks and I went straight back on. Then I discovered some resources on the internet, like the Ashton manual and this forum, and I started a taper plan after crossing over to diazepam. Yet again, I did something foolish and impatiently tried to rush through my taper, cutting 25% each week for the first few weeks, and ended up jumping from 2mg of diazepam in October.

 

Overall, the first month went okay, only a few symptoms but a couple of severe panic attacks. The second month was good. The third month symptoms started to get really bad. I'm lethargic, I've had many sleepless nights, constant reflux into my throat, palpitations, and I get severe anxiety when I leave the house or try to drive. I'm trying my best to stay positive and get through this until I feel normal again.

[[pi...]]

Hello Strontium-,

 

Welcome to Benzo Buddies and congratulations on being benzo free.  You did a pretty fast taper and jumped from 2mg so I'm not surprised that it's catching up to you now.  I went through much of the same thing as yourself, a cold turkey as well as a rough taper.  In my experience, due to the long half life of diazepam, sometimes withdrawal symptoms show up later.  That is the nature of this process, the waxing and waning of symptoms. The good thing is that it is temporary and will ease up with time.

 

I'm glad you read the Ashton Manual, I'll include a link in case you don't have one at your fingertips.  There is a lot of good information about the withdrawal process in general in the manual.  It was written by Dr. Heather Ashton, an expert in the field.

 

I'll also give you a link to the Post Withdrawal Recovery Board where you can post and receive feedback from members.

 

At 100 days, I was still in the thick of withdrawal. Give it time and these symptoms will let up. We'll be happy to support you as you recover. Please do ask questions, we're here to help.

 

The Ashton Manual

 

Post-withdrawal Recovery Support 

 

pianogirl