Over 60 help and support.

[[Ba...]]

Yes, drs. don't like it when they can't easily make you better.

 

I wish I had stayed where I was as well, after all this...  who knew...

[[De...]]

Dear Oregon Katz,

I was on talk therapy years ago to try to solve a situation I had, probably for at least a year and it didn’t help me too much, I got tired of rehashing the same scenario and never went back. Cognitive therapy would probably be good for me, I’m going to do some research on psychologists on my area and also read the book you mentioned.

Thanks..

[[or...]]

Good luck, Demelza. Sorry that talk therapy didn't work for you. Everyone's different!

 

 

Katz

[[es...]]

Having a hard day. Thank you, east coast and oregonkatz for your stories. The voices of the healed are so powerful.Esperanza

[[or...]]

Esperanza, why don't you make a signature so we can (possibly) help you?

 

Wow, making a big cut like 20-30% will really knock your socks off. Where are you now in your dosage? Do you think a microtaper would help you?

 

And don't despair! Things can turn around.

 

Thinking of you,

 

 

Katz

 

 

[[es...]]

Katz, thank you for your reply. My signature is dated and a mess. Can’t figure out how to change it. I am on .6mg of k now. I used a pharmacy compounded liquid. I have not reduced my dose since end Sept. I was at 4.8 cc( don’t know how this compares to mg). At Thanksgiving i updosed to 6 cc and have been holding that dose. I would be stable enough, if not for the constant depression(total loss of desire to do a thing). Holding has not improved that. It did get rid of some of the more minor side effects. Since I started out in relative withdrawal, this may be as stable as I will get. So, I am about 2/3 off of the 1.5( sometimes less) that I took for 17 years. I also take 20mg of Prozac. It is not helpful, but I am not advised to taper it while tapering the Benzo. I should add that this depression is nothing I ever experienced before the Benzo. I was put on an ad for periodic down moods during menopause. I know now what I felt was Not clinical depression. The Benzo was added several years later by accident. I requested a sedative for a medical procedure. I was told by my psychiatrist that k was low dose and very safe. It worked and he let me stay on it to help with my worry over my teenagers. Told it was an anxiety disorder. After years on k, I had a real anxiety disorder, nothing I had known before. And when I reported this, it was concluded that I was just getting worse. So 25 years on psych meds which made a sensitive woman become a very sick woman. If you have an advice to offer, it would be appreciated. I do need to get off in a reasonable time. I want to do it safely, but it will not be very comfortable, so I cannot take the years that some people can. I am 68. I would like to try to recover before I am too old to have anything left. Thank you, Esperanza

[[Do...]]

Can I join you guys?  I am almost 58yrs...looking for a mature thread??  I am new to BB.  Thanks

[Guest [NM...]]

Can I join you guys?  I am almost 58yrs...looking for a mature thread??  I am new to BB.  Thanks

 

Hi there! I'll be 58 later on this year. I already made myself an honorary member here lol.

[[or...]]

I am on .6mg of k now. I used a pharmacy compounded liquid. I have not reduced my dose since end Sept. I was at 4.8 cc( don’t know how this compares to mg).

 

Wow, esperanza, I sure would like to help, but can you get your pharmacy to figure out what 4.8 cc of liquid really is?

 

I do not believe you have treatment-resistant depression or an anxiety disorder. I believe you have been drugged half to death (sorry, but I'm angry on your behalf). Your story is heartbreaking . . . and all too common for us older folks. Well-meaning doctors ( ) like to give drugs to us old folks. After all, our lives are almost over, right? WRONG!

 

No, I don't think you should taper the Prozac (which by now is not doing you any good, if it ever did). It is just complicating things, but you're stuck with it until you finish the benzo imo.

 

But you can do this! Will you check with your pharmacist and get back to us? I think you can continue reducing by 5-10% every couple of weeks. That's what I did when I was doing "cut and hold" and it worked out. As you do not have horrid s/x apart from depression, that's what I would continue to do if I were you. What has been your reduction rate?

 

No, getting off the benzo will not be pleasant. But as I said, it's doable. I survive, and I am sensitive to just about everything in the world.

 

Hang in there, esperanza.

 

Katz

[[or...]]

Hey, gals, welcome! We old folks (ahem) are the true fighters here. imo our tapers are more difficult due to our age (older bodies, wonky metabolism, weird sensitivities), but we're just as determined as the younger folks. And we can do it!

 

I'm having a rotten time with Neurontin (had to re-start it due to a foot neuropathy and am now tapering AGAIN    ), so maybe we can all hold hands and sing Kumbaya.

 

Fondly,

 

Katz

 

 

 

 

[Guest [NM...]]

Hey, gals, welcome! We old folks (ahem) are the true fighters here. imo our tapers are more difficult due to our age (older bodies, wonky metabolism, weird sensitivities), but we're just as determined as the younger folks. And we can do it!

 

I'm having a rotten time with Neurontin (had to re-start it due to a foot neuropathy and am now tapering AGAIN    ), so maybe we can all hold hands and sing Kumbaya.

 

Fondly,

 

Katz

 

Hugs, Katz. I like your posts a lot.

[[Li...]]

Hey, gals, welcome! We old folks (ahem) are the true fighters here. imo our tapers are more difficult due to our age (older bodies, wonky metabolism, weird sensitivities), but we're just as determined as the younger folks. And we can do it!

 

Your posts make me smile, Katz!  May I join you and the others in a rousing chorus of Kumbaya?

Libertas

PS I share your opinion that our tapers are more difficult due to age. I also wonder if duration of use is a factor.

[Guest [NM...]]

Hey, gals, welcome! We old folks (ahem) are the true fighters here. imo our tapers are more difficult due to our age (older bodies, wonky metabolism, weird sensitivities), but we're just as determined as the younger folks. And we can do it!

 

Your posts make me smile, Katz!  May I join you and the others in a rousing chorus of Kumbaya?  I am 65.  Libertas

PS I share your opinion that our tapers are more difficult due to age. I also wonder if duration of use is a factor.

 

Mainly why I started reading this thread. I began using benzos when I was 35.

[[es...]]

Katz, I want to thank you for what you said. You have no idea how much it means to hear someone tell me I am not, not ever was,hopelessly mentally ill. I mean no offense, not do I believe that it is a character flaw to suffer from a mental illness. I had been defining myself for 25 years as a sick, getting sicker, and probably doomed to live out my life being sick. I had done all the things both medical and holistic to help myself, only to fail. Last April when I accidentally stumbled upon a newspaper article about Benzos and depression, I went to the internet, as do we all eventually, and very quickly discovered that my illness was totally a result of medical treatment. I had always known that my life became unraveled only after being medicated. I bought the explanation that the treatment had just failed or I was just getting worse. I am not sure even my husband believes there is really not an underlying illness. He hopes so, he is a pediatrician so he understands the dangers of medications as well as the benefits, but he has seen me become a different person so slowly, over so many years, I am sure he has doubts. Even with all we have read together about long term Benzo use. Yes, I feel robbed of my life. I was a 44 year old artist, a happy person, with a normal life. And normal lives bring down times, worry, and fear. That is part of life. It is not disease. So, I thank you for the validation. It is the first time anyone has ever said these words to me. I don’t think it really matters what 4.8 is. Probably a little less than 1/2 mg. but I did not stay on that dose. I updosed to .6 in Nov. which is where I am now. I had planned a 5% reduction of that remaining dose every two weeks when I start to taper. I am glad you did not say that was too fast. It may be, but I would like to try. Once again, thank you for your words. Esperanza

[[Li...]]

PS I share your opinion that our tapers are more difficult due to age. I also wonder if duration of use is a factor.

 

 

Mainly why I started reading this thread. I began using benzos when I was 35.

 

Oh my gosh!  Since you were 35? If my math is correct that’s 23 years. Incredible. I’m so sorry.

[Guest [NM...]]

PS I share your opinion that our tapers are more difficult due to age. I also wonder if duration of use is a factor.

 

 

Mainly why I started reading this thread. I began using benzos when I was 35.

 

Oh my gosh!  Since you were 35? If my math is correct that’s 23 years. Incredible. I’m so sorry.

 

Yes. Not as long as some here, but too long. I'm so happy to be nearing the tail end of this taper. Going a lot more slowly.   I am focusing on what I have left for me down the road now and looking forward to the future rather than what I lost all of these years.

[[Li...]]

 

Dear Esperanza:  Your story breaks my heart.  You have been through so much.  I greatly admire your courage and determination to rid yourself of the mind- , body-, and soul-sapping drug called clonazepam.  Libertas

 

PS In a previous post, you wrote you weren’t sure how to update your Signature.  Here are directions (I hope they help):

 

(1) Click “Profile” in the main, horizontal menu at the top of the page. A drop down menu will appear.

(2) Select “Forum Profile” from the menu.

(4) Scroll/look down the page until you see the Signature text box.

(5) Click in the text box where you want to make a change.  Or, you can just select all of the text in the box, delete it, and start from scratch.

(6) Click the “Change Profile” button when you’re done.

[[ci...]]

Katz,

 

You are reassuring to those of us still slogging this out. I hope you’ll stick around.

My physical sxs have been ramping up as I got below .05mg k.  I can hardly believe that my body can notice that small amount.  So I had to decide between a hold or decreasing my daily taper amount.  For me, I like to see the number coming down, even if it’s minuscule.  So I’ve reduced my daily taper again.  I was hoping I could just let the % go up at this low dose, but nope!  So the finish line just got moved back another 35 days...that is IF I can continue at this rate.

 

Katz, did you taper all the way down or jump?  What did you jump from?  Did you find that % does matter even at these very low doses? 

 

Thanks,

Circlestar

[[ci...]]

East,

I just went back and saw your inspiring pep talk!  I’m getting a bit nervous of what’s next after I finally finish the taper.  Is the acute wd sxs the same, better, or worse than tapering?

[[or...]]

Gang, let's hang together. We can support each other.

 

NMsafe, welcome!! You'll soon be off -- good for you!

 

esperanza, no way are you or were you "mentally ill". As I said just overmedicated and inappropriately, at that imo. I was misdiagnosed in 2000 with a loony condition I did not have (bipolar disorder). I took way too many psych drugs until I said nope, I am not bipolar, and chucked them in 2011. Alas, I then listened to another drug prescriber, and fell into benzos, but I've chucked them also. It was he** but here I am. I was a published author of 11 books -- like you, a creative person -- and I lost that. Benzos and the w/d gave me awful writer's block. But now . .  it's a new day. My first post-benzo book was published in 2018 and I am finishing up my 2nd.

 

libertas, I agree. The longer you've taken drugs, the worse the w/d is going to be. In our case(s), at our wise old(er) age, chances are we may have taken drugs for a long, long time. Way longer than our younger buddies. But we've learned a thing or two along the way to our (ahem) greater years -- patience and fortitude. And will power.

 

circle, I tapered all the way down. I got into a lot of trouble at 5 mgs doing cut and hold, stupidly persisted until 3.75, then  started a DLMT. I reduced by a whopping .001 mg a day. It took me a year to taper off the last mg of valium. I was so darned sick . . . all I could do was reduce that measly bit every day. I didn't jump, I slithered off.

 

esperanza, you go, girl! You'll get back to your art. Your 5% sounds good to me. You will not live out your life being sick. I feel quite well . . . and I never thought I would. You can, too. Oh . . . I'll "come out" here on the over 60 thread . . . I am 71. No way is my life over!

 

Hang in there, buddies. We can do this. Singing Kumbaya.

 

 

Katz

 

 

 

 

[[De...]]

I was 67 when I started tapering Xanax, I’m sixty nine now, I hope to be finish in a month and better for my seventieth birthday. Presently, I still have tachycardia, constipation, weight loss and neuropathy on my left foot. My anxiety and depression are gone, and I have realized I have to stay away from stressful people and situations, that’s what got me into Xanax use. I’ve learned a lot in these past two years about myself and others. Now I put myself first and try for the easiest solution to all situations. Stay strong.

[Guest [NM...]]

I was 67 when I started tapering Xanax, I’m sixty nine now, I hope to be finish in a month and better for my seventieth birthday. Presently, I still have tachycardia, constipation, weight loss and neuropathy on my left foot. My anxiety and depression are gone, and I have realized I have to stay away from stressful people and situations, that’s what got me into Xanax use. I’ve learned a lot in these past two years about myself and others. Now I put myself first and try for the easiest solution to all situations. Stay strong.

 

Way to go!!! Fantastic for you. You know I never had such awful depression than after I started taking Xanax and Klonopin. Not long after I began taking Xanax in '97, I was diagnosed with IBS. Constant migraines. The daily headaches and migraines stopped last year when my Klonopin dose decrease (though I still get "regular" headaches) and so did my tummy troubles. I quit taking PPIs (Prilosec, etc.) also last March 2018. Those meds are awful too. 

[[De...]]

Dear NMSafe,

Tachycardia is the symptom that bothers me the most now, some days worse than others. I never had it, unless I drank white wine, until I started tapering Xanax. I had my heart checked and it was fine, so I don’t worry too much about anymore, it’s just bothersome and I understand it could be preventing me from gaining weight. My goal, maybe unattainable, is to take no medications, I’ve taken enough, With the benzos, and  asthma inhalers for thirty years. My worst problem is that I have surrounded myself with difficult people, that have created very stressful situations for me, and I mean very stressful, so now after this ordeal that hasn’t ended yet, I’m eliminating them very swiftly. There are a couple that I can’t fully eliminate because of very close ties, but I’m creating very defined boundaries. Before, when they drove me crazy I would rely on benzos, now I don’t have that alternative anymore. Be strong and happy and put yourself first.🌼

[Guest [NM...]]

Dear NMSafe,

Tachycardia is the symptom that bothers me the most now, some days worse than others. I never had it, unless I drank white wine, until I started tapering Xanax. I had my heart checked and it was fine, so I don’t worry too much about anymore, it’s just bothersome and I understand it could be preventing me from gaining weight. My goal, maybe unattainable, is to take no medications, I’ve taken enough, With the benzos, and  asthma inhalers for thirty years. My worst problem is that I have surrounded myself with difficult people, that have created very stressful situations for me, and I mean very stressful, so now after this ordeal that hasn’t ended yet, I’m eliminating them very swiftly. There are a couple that I can’t fully eliminate because of very close ties, but I’m creating very defined boundaries. Before, when they drove me crazy I would rely on benzos, now I don’t have that alternative anymore. Be strong and happy and put yourself first.🌼

 

Isn't this a very profound time? Getting off these drugs?

 

I've had quite a bit of tachycardia and such since my 20's especially. It's very irritating and scary, and I've also had a bunch of cardiac workups-mainly because of my strong family history of cardiac problems. It's easy to say don't worry about your heart, but worrying more won't help.  I know from personal experience that it's difficult.

 

Good for you for setting boundaries. You MUST.  For your own recovery and peace of mind. What about your heart do you think is preventing you from gaining weight?  I hope this resolves itself for you!! 

[[Ma...]]

I just discovered this group. I am 68 years old, almost 30 months off of a 20 year use of Klonopin. I CT. It was horrific! I am still struggling with some persistent symptoms... face and head pressure and tingling the affects my vision and thinking. My brain is foggy as well as my vision. This is constant. In addition I have stomach and chest muscle cramping which is very painful. I cannot relax either which I realize is anxiety. I don' hear many people complaining about either of these symptoms. MY diet is sugar, dairy and grain free so it's not my diet. If anyone can give me some words of encouragement it would be greatly appreciated. Thirty months is a long time to go without feeling normal. I am so looking forward to that feeling.  We may be older but we have a lot of productive fun years left. Wishing all of you better days ahead.