Are there hypochondriacs on this forum?

[[ma...]]

Yes, stopping benzos is not easy but my experience is that it was not as bad as I was made to believe. I think some people on this forum are hypochondriacs. Do people really feel withdrawal a year later? I'm not buying it. Do you really need to taper for years? I doubt it.

[[me...]]

Yes, stopping benzos is not easy but my experience is that it was not as bad as I was made to believe. I think some people on this forum are hypochondriacs. Do people really feel withdrawal a year later? I'm not buying it. Do you really need to taper for years? I doubt it.

 

You are very lucky you're having mild symptoms.  That is the case for many if not most people.  However, some people DO have very difficult and long healing periods.

  I did.  And this forum is designed mainly for them.  These symptoms are not imaginary, they are real, and profoundly physical. 

 

Again, you are lucky. 

[Guest [...]]

   

[[Iw...]]

Why are you tapering then?

[[li...]]

Yes, I am a hypochondriac, I have severe anxiety disorder, and the main way it manifests is through health anxiety.  I tend to constantly find things to worry about, even when I was completely off of any medication I experienced a lot of the symptoms people go through during withdrawal.

 

That said, if you're an anxiety prone person, there's a strong possibility that you could experience extreme rebound anxiety during the taper process.  Combine that with the very real physical effects, and you've got a recipe for anguish.  Everyone is different, but there are very real physical symptoms associated with benzo withdrawal, that's what makes it a potentially dangerous process.  It depends on dose, duration of use, and physiological factors unique to each individual. 

 

Tapering as slow as possible seems to be a good way to minimize suffering.  I'm relatively new to the tapering process, I just became dependent within the past year.  Many people seem to think my taper process has been a bit fast, I effectively cut my dose in half over the past few months.  That period of tapering was pure hell, and part of it was mental, but a significant portion of it was entirely due to the physical withdrawal, I was having symptoms I didn't even know could be caused by withdrawal. 

[[be...]]

Ummm just a few days ago you wrote about how hard it was for you, many posts for help. Everyone is different, but this is not easy to taper and it takes as long as it takes. Everyone deals with it the best they can. Lets wait and see Matty how you feel in a year, hopefully all healed.

[[Lo...]]

I can't start grad school this term due to withdrawal. My psychiatrist forced me to withdraw by cutting of my prescription. I've been on alrapzolam or clonazepam for 27 years every day at high doses and he just decides to cut me off! Now I have to basically stop my life while I go through this. I am supposed to start a new job in a few weeks. I don't know how I'm going to make it through training, let alone do the job on my own.

 

Yes, stopping benzos is not easy but my experience is that it was not as bad as I was made to believe. I think some people on this forum are hypochondriacs. Do people really feel withdrawal a year later? I'm not buying it. Do you really need to taper for years? I doubt it.

 

matt1162, are you trying to go cold turkey and trying to psych yourself up for it? Any chance you can find another psychiatrist? 

[Guest [sa...]]

We do feel anxiety and confusion, we are on a benzo forum after all. That doesn't mean that what we feel is a illusion.

[[Ma...]]

..just wait until you are completely off. then ask again.

[[Lo...]]

..just wait until you are completely off. then ask again.

 

I chalk it up to his young, naive determination. But now I am going to stay quiet and zip it 

[Guest [...]]

I can't start grad school this term due to withdrawal. My psychiatrist forced me to withdraw by cutting of my prescription. I've been on alrapzolam or clonazepam for 27 years every day at high doses and he just decides to cut me off! Now I have to basically stop my life while I go through this. I am supposed to start a new job in a few weeks. I don't know how I'm going to make it through training, let alone do the job on my own.

 

Yes, stopping benzos is not easy but my experience is that it was not as bad as I was made to believe. I think some people on this forum are hypochondriacs. Do people really feel withdrawal a year later? I'm not buying it. Do you really need to taper for years? I doubt it.

 

matt1162, are you trying to go cold turkey and trying to psych yourself up for it? Any chance you can find another psychiatrist?

 

  I agree, LF, this was my instinct as well and I'm really pulling for Matt.  It's beyond barbaric and quite unfathomable to me how this can even be legal. 

[[me...]]

Matt,

 

If it's true you're considering c/t'ing benzos, that would not be a good move.  As one who has done it in the past, I can tell you firsthand you'd most likely be facing symptoms so bad and so long lasting they would make most of the complaints on this forum seem insignificant.    Symptoms from a benzo c/t can be hellish and unrelenting, totally disabling, and go on for months.  So, if you have a choice, please taper slowly.

 

[[Fl...]]

Trust me....you do NOT want to be in my shoes. I am feeling better these days but this has been far worse than anything I could have ever imagined and I think it is very possible that part of the reason why my illness has been so severe and protracted is because I didn't taper properly.

[[Rx...]]

I don't know what the incentive would be of being a hypochondriac based upon what so many of us sick people endure aside from the sickness itself. 

[[Na...]]

If you get hundreds or thousands of people in a group of course there will be some hypochondriacs amongst them, and this group is no different.

 

But there seems to be a core of symptoms/experiences that are too similar for chance. And another clue is that hypochondriacs tend to never get better, at least not without psychiatric treatment, and the vast majority of people here do get better even if it takes them a few years.

 

So, I do believe that the vast majority of people here are experiencing real physiological symptoms related to the use of these drugs.

 

 

[Guest [El...]]

Of course there are but unfortunately there are also a lot of people who still have symptoms.

 

I still have neuropathy in my feet. I know I feel it, I never had it before the BZD. I also have irregular heart beats that I am being tested for. The docs have no idea why I have it and refuse my explanation of the benzo. They have given me 3 different diagnoses and none are right, obviously. I have had 5 holter monitors this year alone because they think it's "fascinating" that one day my heart has 30,000 extra beats and the next only 600.

 

 

[[be...]]

Matt,

 

If it's true you're considering c/t'ing benzos, that would not be a good move.  As one who has done it in the past, I can tell you firsthand you'd most likely be facing symptoms so bad and so long lasting they would make most of the complaints on this forum seem insignificant.    Symptoms from a benzo c/t can be hellish and unrelenting, totally disabling, and go on for months.  So, if you have a choice, please taper slowly.

 

 

I agree with Megan, per usual.

[[ma...]]

Guys and gals, my apologies. I spoke too soon. I'm done tapering and I'm miserable. Depression and anxiety are horrible. I'm not sure if I'll live.

[[...]]

Hey Mat

It is possible to CT but it is very intense and rather dangerous.

There are lingering issues, but I agree with you that hypochondria is not productive, and is rather cringe worthy.

From my own experience I would not recommend CT, but would encourage others to taper off as fast as possible.

I believe there are many psychological problems with dragging it out for too long.

A bit like a perpetuating a toxic relationship.

Keep it real.

 

Relaps is real, and very unfortunate.

 

My current strategy to get to a year, is whenever I feel shit, I try not imagine symptoms that don't exist. And certainly not become neurotic about the real stuff.

Strangely enough, it is the hypochondriacs you mention that make this strategy clear.

 

[[be...]]

24 mg? My that's even worse than me..Sorry you feel this way but err, well, err.