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6 months off - feeling new waves of anxiety


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It has been 6 months since I took my last benzo dose.  I feel I have done extremely well since I came off these drugs.  However, I am feeling some major waves of anxiety and almost panic these days.  I am going through some stressful times in my life right now; but I went through much worse before this whole benzo disaster so I'm not sure why my body is being thrown into such a fit of anxiety now.  I'm wondering if going through the whole benzo experience and withdrawals has made me more prone to have anxiety attacks?  I never had these feelings of major anxiety before I started benzos; and I'm fully off of them now and have gone through withdrawal, is there a reason why stressful situations now send me into a tailspin and I feel super anxious and in a state of panic?  Is it because of what I went through on and then off the benzos?  Any thoughts? 
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Hi, I think you can expect anything as you are still healing (even though you may not realize it).  If there's something stressful going on in your life, anxiety will rise.  (My own issue tends to be nausea which is brief and fleeting without rhyme or reason....yuk).  It is good you are 6 months out and made it this far!! My own opinion is that benzos screw us up so badly that if we knew about this poison in the first place, we would have told our doctors to take a flying "you know what" when they put us on the drug.

 

Look at some of the boards for anxiety and/or alternative healing to see if essential oils, meditation, acupressure, etc., may help YOU.  Please try to stay positive and do what you feel is best for you.  (There is no one size fits all when it comes to healing time and healing "tips".)

 

 

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Thanks jeanermouse, I guess I knew some symptoms could creep in again at any given time, I just had been doing so well I was hopeful that I was through the worst of it.  But now I'm looking at a few other things that might have triggered these crazy nervous system anxiety symptoms; I just started taking IBGard at the recommendation of my GI doctor and I'm wondering if the peppermint is setting off my nervous system again.  I'm trying to think of anything new or different I have been doing and that is one of the things that has changed.  I was reading online that the peppermint in the IBGard might have an affect on my nervous system - at least it has affected some people that way.  The only other thing that is different is that I changed the type of B12 vitamin I was taking.  I'm going to experiment with going back to the kind I was taking before to see if I can eliminate it from the mix.  I'm going to work on these two things and see if I start feeling better again with regards to my nervous system going into overdrive.  Fingers crossed I figure it out and it's just one of those two things that has thrown my system off again. 
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I'd try to eliminate the peppermint (if possible) and go back to the other B12 for a couple weeks to see if that helps.  A six month wave seems to be fairly common from what I've read.  Overall, it sounds like you're doing very well for six months!  Sensitivity to stress is to be expected even long after all our symptoms fade, as we continue to heal on a deeper level.  I hope this wave improves quickly for you. 
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Thanks ComingHome, the wave has gotten much better.  I did cut back on the IBGard with peppermint to once a day.  And I switched back to the B12 brand I was using before and things seem to have leveled off for me.  I don't know if either of those two things were really affecting me or if it was just a wave that hit me out of the blue.  Either way, I'm glad to be back on track and feeling good again!  I just keep pushing forward! 
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I'm so glad to hear that - thanks for the update.  I'm just wrapping up the fifth month, and in a wave of depression/anxiety.  I hope we both cross the finish line soon.  Take care.  :smitten:
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From Ashton's site (emphasis mine):

 

I HAVE COMPLETED MY TAPER, AND HAVE FELT MUCH BETTER FOR A WHILE, BUT NOW I FEEL WORSE AGAIN. WHY?

 

This is a typical experience. Benzodiazepine withdrawal recovery occurs in fits and starts. The fact that you have experienced relief for a time means that you will experience it again. As time goes on, generally these recurring episodes are spaced further apart, and diminish in intensity. Benzodiazepine withdrawal leaves you vulnerable to stress for quite a long time even after you are almost totally healed. It is often reported that people who have felt withdrawal free for six months have had sudden, intense withdrawal episodes brought on by traumatic or stressful events. It is probably helpful to get counselling if you continue to have ongoing anxiety issues long after your taper is complete. This does not mean that you are not still experiencing withdrawal. It means that the purpose of withdrawing in the first place was to find alternative, less toxic methods of managing anxiety problems.

 

I am also at 6 months and just had a major wave after a very stressful event set it off. It was like being in acute withdrawal again for about 4 or 5 days, then it vanished. Push through - you'll get better.

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