Extreme episodes of anxiety

[[Da...]]

Last night I was so anxious. I normally feel calm in the evening but last night my body and brain would not calm down. I was so ramped up and nothing was helping to calm me down. It was so bizarre. I felt like I couldn't breathe when I was talking and I'd get really light headed.

 

Then I went to bed and by some miracle I fell asleep only to wake up a couple hours later in extreme nausea. I was on the verge of a panic attack and my nausea was literally the worst it's ever been. I'd already taken hydroxizine and zofran. I took a small rescue dose  which eventually helped me get to sleep but nausea is still bad this morning.

 

I'm starting my dlmt again today and I hope that some of these sxs are relieved but I'm scared that they won't get better or that I'll get worse. I was supposed to start it yesterday but my memory is so bad that I can't remember if I actually decreased or not. Would starting the microtaper cause severe anxiety like that? Or is it a coincidence?

[[tw...]]

Yes, this is going to happen the lower you get. I got even worse when I jumped. (because I went too fast.) I was absolutely pretty okay throughout my taper. It's your body responding to less of the drug as you get farther away from that higher dose. It took me 3 weeks completely off before I had awful, "thought I was dying" symptoms.

 

Note - if you go SLOWLY and don't rush it, you likely WILL NOT be worse after you jump. So don't rush with big cuts, keep going slowly....but do keep going if you can. Hold until you feel better. Your body needs time to adjust.

 

As you go down, you should also notice that your memory will start to improve. As you get less and less, and your anxiety gets less and less, you should no longer suffer memory issues. When I was in tolerance, I had ZERO short term memory. In fact, I once made the same wrong turn 3 times in a row and was terrified I had alzheimers and would never recover. I did.

 

Everything you are going through is absolutely normal. The trick is (and trust me, I know how hard it is) is to continue to tell yourself "it's just withdrawal; as long as I am continuing to eat and drink, my body is healing. I will get through this. My heart is fine, everything is fine. My body is just in completely panic mode. There is nothing wrong with my breathing, even though it feels like I can't get any air, etc."

 

I had that not being able to get a sentence out when talking as well. Like I ran out of air. Was 100% convinced I had some sort of terminal lung/breathing issue. It's much better today and yesterday, but it took about 2 weeks. I couldn't climb stairs without being completely out of breath. The breathlessness is improving, but it still comes and goes, based on my stress and anxiety level.

 

As you get off of this stuff, your body can show every sign of being in a full blown panic attack, even if your mind is not anxious. And then what happens, your mind/brain will follow. Time is your friend and the healer. I thought I'd never feel better. I'm still struggling going from .5 to .375 this week. I worry I will get worse as I get lower and when I jump.

 

I would wager because you KNOW that you are starting the microtaper, that you are becoming hyper aware of everything, including every feeling, physical and mental. Hope that input helps. This is so very difficult when you can't control how your body reacts to something it's used to getting.

 

 

[[Da...]]

Thanks so much for your response. I'm scared and confused about why out of the blue my anxiety ramped up when it's really been fairly calm.

 

How long do you think it will take for my body to get kicked out of tolerance with this dlmt and feel better?

[[tw...]]

I'm usually improved after 14 days after a cut...you have to give your body time to adjust to "its new normal". That is the challenge. I get anxiety attacks usually around the same time each day. (so that should tell me that it's anxiety and not some fatal disease, right?) When I cut, it becomes all day/night, but still ramps up worse around 2p-4p every day. If I'm not sleeping (which does happen as I go lower, and especially if i go too fast and cut too much), I get even WORSE.

 

As long as I can keep somewhat on an even keel, get at least a couple hours of sleep, and make sure I'm eating enough calories, I typically am able to recover from a cut sooner than later.

 

I have literally been laughing when I go into panic attacks. And I've done it at work too. I'm a sight. But it's either laugh, or get 100% FREAKED OUT and want to head to the ER, where they do the SAME tests they've done the last 4 times, tell me they can't find anything wrong and that they think it's anxiety. (and by the way, 90% of the docs I've seen, do NOT understand serious benzo withdrawal, they will often think you are a psychiatric case, if they have not seen this. And most patients who present this way, test negative for any benzos so they have no idea that someone 6 weeks out could still be withdrawing from a benzo. Just a heads up, if it helps you stay out of the ER.

 

Isn't crazy what these things do to us? You can try to explain it to someone else, but unless they've actually endured it, there is just no way they could possibly begin to understand how rotten this is.

[[Da...]]

With C&h I'd feel better for the first few days then on day 4 get slammed with sxs. But would level off after a couple weeks. But I'm not sure how it'll be with dlmt.

[[ho...]]

Yes, this is going to happen the lower you get. I got even worse when I jumped. (because I went too fast.) I was absolutely pretty okay throughout my taper. It's your body responding to less of the drug as you get farther away from that higher dose. It took me 3 weeks completely off before I had awful, "thought I was dying" symptoms.

 

Note - if you go SLOWLY and don't rush it, you likely WILL NOT be worse after you jump. So don't rush with big cuts, keep going slowly....but do keep going if you can. Hold until you feel better. Your body needs time to adjust.

 

As you go down, you should also notice that your memory will start to improve. As you get less and less, and your anxiety gets less and less, you should no longer suffer memory issues. When I was in tolerance, I had ZERO short term memory. In fact, I once made the same wrong turn 3 times in a row and was terrified I had alzheimers and would never recover. I did.

 

Everything you are going through is absolutely normal. The trick is (and trust me, I know how hard it is) is to continue to tell yourself "it's just withdrawal; as long as I am continuing to eat and drink, my body is healing. I will get through this. My heart is fine, everything is fine. My body is just in completely panic mode. There is nothing wrong with my breathing, even though it feels like I can't get any air, etc."

 

I had that not being able to get a sentence out when talking as well. Like I ran out of air. Was 100% convinced I had some sort of terminal lung/breathing issue. It's much better today and yesterday, but it took about 2 weeks. I couldn't climb stairs without being completely out of breath. The breathlessness is improving, but it still comes and goes, based on my stress and anxiety level.

 

As you get off of this stuff, your body can show every sign of being in a full blown panic attack, even if your mind is not anxious. And then what happens, your mind/brain will follow. Time is your friend and the healer. I thought I'd never feel better. I'm still struggling going from .5 to .375 this week. I worry I will get worse as I get lower and when I jump.

 

I would wager because you KNOW that you are starting the microtaper, that you are becoming hyper aware of everything, including every feeling, physical and mental. Hope that input helps. This is so very difficult when you can't control how your body reacts to something it's used to getting.

great post twinkle. Inspiring to read that some symptoms improve as you go down. Needed to hear that today.

[[ho...]]

Can totally relate to the air hunger thing. Last night on the phone with my mother in law having a long conversation I kept telling her I can't breathe, I can't breathe and started to freak so vicious cycle . I hear it's very common with klonopin. I had a video saved about air hunger, of course can't find it,  but it's a sensation. Your body is getting oxygen, you just don't feel like it is. Deep belly breathing was recommended. Of course I know easier said than done, but I try. My heart is my number one problem since day one, I can't walk around or do anything without it getting high. I talked to a cardiovascular nurse who's in a taper and she just said she doesn't even worry about those symptoms anymore because they're benzo related. I'm used to check my blood pressure like ten times a day. I've stopped doing that.

[[Lo...]]

I'm used to check my blood pressure like ten times a day. I've stopped doing that.

 

Ditto with that. When I got to the point that I started feeling so depressed that I questioned if this was a life worth living, I stopped checking my blood pressure frequently, as well. I check it once in a while, and that's about it.....

[[Ca...]]

Dad, for your nausia look up

Prucalopride... prob in a ncbi paper...

It is a recent replacment (2014) for cisapride, which is unsuitable due to cardio side effects...

It is a 5-HT 4 agonist...

It is commonly marketed for constipation, but that is not a true picture... it works from gastric emptying onward...

It works great for me... But u need to do your own resurch... you will find a few things at ncbi...

Happy hunting...

 

[[be...]]

I also felt better the lower I got in my K. The jump was a non event. Plus you can adjust your lmt at any time.

[[be...]]

The lower I went on both Ativan and klonopin I felt better. Ditto with the Valium. I was going fairly quickly for a bit and felt ok but going to slow it down a bit now. I'm in no hurry. But I won't do long holds..just slow down. I guess the way I see it if I have symptoms after I'm done well I'll cope with them similar to maybe a particularly bad cut. In my mind at least by not putting anymore of the drug in my body it will be the final step to actually healing. If I've got leftover symptoms...then I do. But I'll be done and psychologically I think I'll feel much better. I've found smaller more frequent cuts extremely helpful. B

[[be...]]

The lower I went on both Ativan and klonopin I felt better. Ditto with the Valium. I was going fairly quickly for a bit and felt ok but going to slow it down a bit now. I'm in no hurry. But I won't do long holds..just slow down. I guess the way I see it if I have symptoms after I'm done well I'll cope with them similar to maybe a particularly bad cut. In my mind at least by not putting anymore of the drug in my body it will be the final step to actually healing. If I've got leftover symptoms...then I do. But I'll be done and psychologically I think I'll feel much better. I've found smaller more frequent cuts extremely helpful. B

 

 

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