Benzo Free

[[Ma...]]

That was a great success story, whoever said you can hear the joy in your voice was right.  It's close to making me feel "serene ".

Thank you so much for posting and hope those wonderful feelings stay with you.

 

Mary💟☮️💜

[[Se...]]

Hi all, time for my 5 month update. I had a really good month. Took two separate weekend getaways 5 hours north to visit with friends and family. I drove the whole way there and back. Very little waviness. It seems any waviness is limited to short periods of time. 5 minutes, maybe a couple of hours.

 

I continue to get PT for my neck which is improving.

 

The most interesting thing is that I now find myself looking forward to events. I also find myself planning projects and looking forward to working on them. I feel like I have a lot of time to make up for, but in a good way.  I think the best description I can give is that I feel alive again.  It's just incredible. Hopefully this continues.

 

I want to say Hi to all my friends here. I know many are continuing to suffer through long tapers. Keep up the good work. It will be worth it in the long run.

 

Best Wishes everyone.

[[Su...]]

This si such good news Serenitee!

I'm so happy for you and so impressed with how your perseverance and courage are playing out for you.

Inspiration to others who will be walking off as well.

May you have many events to look forward to and weekends away!

All the best

SS

[[Ma...]]

Hi all, time for my 5 month update. I had a really good month. Took two separate weekend getaways 5 hours north to visit with friends and family. I drove the whole way there and back. Very little waviness. It seems any waviness is limited to short periods of time. 5 minutes, maybe a couple of hours.

 

I continue to get PT for my neck which is improving.

 

The most interesting thing is that I now find myself looking forward to events. I also find myself planning projects and looking forward to working on them. I feel like I have a lot of time to make up for, but in a good way.  I think the best description I can give is that I feel alive again.  It's just incredible. Hopefully this continues.

 

I want to say Hi to all my friends here. I know many are continuing to suffer through long tapers. Keep up the good work. It will be worth it in the long run.

 

Best Wishes everyone.

 

Thank you so much for jumping on here and lifting us all up and giving us hope.  It's wonderful that your life is changing so quickly and you feel so well.  Excellent news!!  Love Mary, 💜☮️🙏

 

[[be...]]

Hi all, time for my 5 month update. I had a really good month. Took two separate weekend getaways 5 hours north to visit with friends and family. I drove the whole way there and back. Very little waviness. It seems any waviness is limited to short periods of time. 5 minutes, maybe a couple of hours.

 

I continue to get PT for my neck which is improving.

 

The most interesting thing is that I now find myself looking forward to events. I also find myself planning projects and looking forward to working on them. I feel like I have a lot of time to make up for, but in a good way.  I think the best description I can give is that I feel alive again.  It's just incredible. Hopefully this continues.

 

I want to say Hi to all my friends here. I know many are continuing to suffer through long tapers. Keep up the good work. It will be worth it in the long run.

 

Best Wishes everyone.

Oh I am so happy to hear of your trips, and Yay "5 Months Off". I am so glad that you are enjoying and engaged in Life, and looking  ahead to many wonderful days.. I know you had struggles...but you overcame so much...and look at you now. No matter how hard things can be..."we must never ever give up"...and you are testimony to this and an inspiration for all of here at BB. 💖 Peace and Healing.

[[Se...]]

Hi Begood, Mary and SS. Thanks for the posts. I’m following you all everyday. Don’t ever think You won’t make it.

 

Stay determined, persistent and allow time to make you whole.

 

And Never, Ever, Give up!   

[[ci...]]

Yay Serenitee!

 

Thanks for reporting in!  You give us great encouragement!

[[Pi...]]

Am so very happy for you Serenitee! Thank you for the update and nice progress you are having like taking trips, driving and looking forward to events.This is very encouraging!

 

Hoping and praying you’ll have more of those good days continue coming!

 

 

Blessings

Pi

[[fr...]]

:thumbsup:

[[Se...]]

It's time for my 6 month benzo free update. This also happens to coincide with the 2 year anniversary of the start of my taper. The taper I refer to is the one after I joined BB's. Previous to that, there was my decent into hell around the 2010 time frame which I have not talked about much. It was only a couple of months after I started my final taper two years ago that I put two and two together and realized what had happened back then. If only I had discovered BB's back then and made the connection, I would have saved myself an enormous amount of suffering.

 

But anyways, back to how I am doing today. The first week or so after my last update I was doing fine, but I had a pretty rough patch for the last couple of weeks. Let me explain. So, I just got back from a vacation in New York City. Yea, wow, overload. Great time there though. It was a family vacation. My wife and kids. New York city at Christmastime.

 

I had actually been looking forward to the trip, but a couple of weeks before, I injured my foot and it was starting to weight on my thoughts. My old nemesis, worry and fear began to creep into my consciousness.  How was I going to keep up with everyone during this trip. All the walking. Will I be able to do it. On top of that, I had wanted to lose some weight for the trip, but just didn't get er done and that compounded the worry. Then a couple of days before the trip, an old trigger popped up. I won't say what it was, but it caused my anxiety to go in to overdrive. On the two hour trip to the airport, I was having severe panic attacks. To make a long story short, the first couple of days were very unpleasant. Although I should say it was only the mornings. Right around noon or so, it seemed like a switch would turn off and I would exit flight/fight mode and feel vastly better.

 

Since I have returned, I am back to normal. Took a couple of days, but I have little to no anxiety. The old trigger has faded to nothing. Other than a bit of a cold, I am feeling great..

 

So there you have it. Would have been nice to report a smooth uneventful month, but I made it through it. While extremely unpleasant, I recognized what it was, did not panic, so to speak. I let it run it's course. Deep down, I new it was the situation that temporarily raised my baseline anxiety, which caused all the unpleasantness.

 

I think we all have triggers, circuits in the brain that have been hard wired from past experiences. I don't know that they ever go away completely, it is part of who we are, who we have been. but they do fade over time. Or at least they are less and less likely to provoke physical or mental reaction from your body. And most importantly, the farther you get away from getting off benzos, the less likely they are to be provoked simply because your mind/body has a lower baseline of anxiety. When one is tapering, that baseline anxiety is artificially high. Eventually, your body returns to a lower baseline in response to the lowering or elimination of benzos. Anyways, that's another whole chapter. My take on this whole thing.

 

So, as of now, I am doing great. Full of confidence, looking forward to things. Making plans.

 

I wish all of you the best on your journey's to being benzo free. Keep the faith. I've said this before, but if you have not seen Colins avatar, BenzoBuddies founder. Take a look. It is an image of a person walking forward, one step at a time. one step at a time. When things would get really rough, I would be reminded of that avatar. Put one step forward at a time and keep on truckin. AND Never. Ever, Give up! Your time will come.

 

Best Wishes.

[[Fp...]]

Serenitee,

Glad to hear that one little hiccup didn't slow you down. Like you said - Keep putting one foot in front of the other. Hope you have a great Christmas.

Take care,

Fp

[[Ma...]]

That was a great post Serenitee.  I totally agree we all have those triggers , but I think now each time you do, it will effect you less.  So glad you were able to enjoy your trip . Please keep updating us, your success is our Christmas present.  Mary 🎁 🎄☮️💜🙏

[[Se...]]

Serenitee,

Glad to hear that one little hiccup didn't slow you down. Like you said - Keep putting one foot in front of the other. Hope you have a great Christmas.

Take care,

Fp

 

Wishing you a joyous Christmas and better days to come.

[[Se...]]

That was a great post Serenitee.  I totally agree we all have those triggers , but I think now each time you do, it will effect you less.  So glad you were able to enjoy your trip . Please keep updating us, your success is our Christmas present.  Mary 🎁 🎄☮️💜🙏

 

Hey Mary, how are you doing these days?

[[Ma...]]

That was a great post Serenitee.  I totally agree we all have those triggers , but I think now each time you do, it will effect you less.  So glad you were able to enjoy your trip . Please keep updating us, your success is our Christmas present.  Mary 🎁 🎄☮️💜🙏

 

Hey Mary, how are you doing these days?

 

Most of the time I am okay, not great, but ok, have to taper really slow and have come to terms with it.  Try hard to keep my attitude good, read lots of success stories, like yours 🎄☮️💜🙏

[[be...]]

Serenitee, thanks for keeping us up to date with your Journey forward. Sounds like it was hard there for a bit, so glad things are better now. I think once our taper is over and we continue to heal, Our Brain has to have time to adapt to being back in real life and not in semi sleep, I read that once that while on benzo's Our Brain is sleeping...so when I walk off, I am going to try to remember that when things get wonky. Lordy I know how to taper for my needs...but I forgot how I was before benzo's, but as we all do...we get back to life one step at a time.💖 Peace and Healing.

[[Su...]]

 

serenitee,

thanks for the update and the honesty about what you are facing so beautifully and courageously. 

It's in this moments of honesty that we really and truly help each other through this.

I hope the rest of this season is fantastic and that you continue to do well.

:smitten:

SS

[[ci...]]

Serenitee,

Thank you for sharing your journey and your wise words.  I really like your assessment of baseline anxiety going down once you get off the benzos.  It gives me a lot of hope.

 

Best to you for a happy holiday season.

Circlestar

[[Se...]]

Hi all,

I am a little late with my 7 month update from being benzo free. Other than some health anxiety I had for a couple of days because I tore my meniscus last month, I have been doing very well. Vitually zero anxiety, even in the mornings. I realized the last couple of months that I feel normal. It has been a long time and it took awhile for me to realize it, but, yea, for the most part I feel normal. The biggest thing I notice is that I look forward to going to events and even planning events. I find myself looking forward to taking on projects. I am doing things I would never have even attempted in the recent past.

 

I wish all of you the very best as you move forward in your quest to be free from benzos and back to your normal selves. Keep moving forward and Never, Ever Give Up.

[[ci...]]

Serenitee-

Excellent to hear such positive news from you!

May I ask?  Are you still taking Lexapro 10mg?  Wondering if that helps the sxs?

Thanks

 

[[Se...]]

Serenitee-

Excellent to hear such positive news from you!

May I ask?  Are you still taking Lexapro 10mg?  Wondering if that helps the sxs?

Thanks

 

I am still taking lexapro. I am currently tapering meterparol, a beta blocker that was prescribed for single a-fib incident about 6 years ago. After the meterparol, I will taper the lexapro. I was prescribed lexapro back in 2010 when all hell broke use. I had suddenly developed akathisia, and severe anxiety which I now recognize as reaching tolerance on ativan. I was given Xanax and lexapro by my doctor in response to this situation.

 

How much lexapro helps or helped the symptoms is the million dollar question. I’ve obviously been on lexapro all throughout the taper and still, I went through hell tapering off of Xanax. So I don’t know. Guess I’ll find out.  I will be taking my time. If I was not on lexapro I would be writing up a success story, but I feel I have unfinished business.

 

How are you coming along?

 

[[be...]]

Hi all,

I am a little late with my 7 month update from being benzo free. Other than some health anxiety I had for a couple of days because I tore my meniscus last month, I have been doing very well. Vitually zero anxiety, even in the mornings. I realized the last couple of months that I feel normal. It has been a long time and it took awhile for me to realize it, but, yea, for the most part I feel normal. The biggest thing I notice is that I look forward to going to events and even planning events. I find myself looking forward to taking on projects. I am doing things I would never have even attempted in the recent past.

 

I wish all of you the very best as you move forward in your quest to be free from benzos and back to your normal selves. Keep moving forward and Never, Ever Give Up.

Thanks for the update...oh I know that feeling "Normal", I had it once for half a day about a year and half ago, but it felt wonderful. Yes Normal is good and you so deserve it, your benzo was one of the hardest to get off, and look at you, so proud of you, You never ever...gave up!. 💖 Peace and Healing.

[[Co...]]

Hi all,

I am a little late with my 7 month update from being benzo free. Other than some health anxiety I had for a couple of days because I tore my meniscus last month, I have been doing very well. Vitually zero anxiety, even in the mornings. I realized the last couple of months that I feel normal. It has been a long time and it took awhile for me to realize it, but, yea, for the most part I feel normal. The biggest thing I notice is that I look forward to going to events and even planning events. I find myself looking forward to taking on projects. I am doing things I would never have even attempted in the recent past.

 

I wish all of you the very best as you move forward in your quest to be free from benzos and back to your normal selves. Keep moving forward and Never, Ever Give Up.

 

 

Serenitee, thank you for posting and sharing and ecouraging!

Good luck with the meniscus.

[[ci...]]

Oh!  You definitely are a success story!  It can’t be viewed any other way!

[[Un...]]

Serenitee,

 

Wonderful news and so happy for you, thank you for sharing with us    Reading that you look forward to things and have the desire to take on projects is soooo cool!  Gives me a lot of hope.  So glad you are feeling normal.  Wowwww, sounds like a dream come true.  You’re a huge inspiration.  It’s great to hear from you on how you’re doing and just oh so wonderful.

 

Love,

 

Uni❤️