Hello there... Very new to this... And very scared

[[Si...]]

Silly Boy, I may be wrong in saying this but from observation and your posts on here it honestly sounds like you were not prescribed any Xanax at all and obtained it "other-ways" so with that being said, the past is the past, but if you were on a prescription of Xanax and used it for say weeks at a time then switched over to valium then yes I would defitinely concur and to cross over slowly to valium via the Ashton recommendation HOWEVER if you only obtained a few Xanax pills on the streets and just used them for a week but mainly used valium then no I do not suggest in my non professional opinion to cross over slowly with your Valium and Xanax together etc...

 

I would honestly just stick to the Valium if that was your "prescribed" Benzo however you just took Xanax for the kicks it gave and obtained not much of it and just abused it for daily life to work and function.

 

Mary offers great advice however truthfully Silly Boy we do not know your history or how long on each of the benzo you were taking, I think it would be very counter productive and hurt your CNS to take both X and V at the same time if you did not take Xanax for a long duration and are currently only using Valium at this current moment. I am also not posting this to confuse you and debate other members either just we do not know how long you started taking Xanax and how long ago you stopped taking Xanax and started back to Valium by itself etc...

 

Hope that wasn't confusing lol

 

No it's not confusing, well it is in a way but that's simply because my brain isn't in the best shape right now but that's my fault.

I have to state though that neither the xanax or the valium I took was prescribed to me, i simply and stupidly chose at a very low point in my life to get hold of them myself.

I used to wonder why UK docs were so resistant to prescribing them when other countries are awash with them.

Of course now I know why, and they're completely right.

It was valium I started off on, 10mg if I remember correctly although this soon went up to 15 and then 20mg, this was maybe twice a day, perhaps 3 times for maybe say 3 or 4 months for I switched to trying xanax where I would take half a 2mg bar, again probably a couple of times a day for another 3 or 4 months, perhaps even a full 2mg once or twice........ Then of course in my ignorance I stopped thinking there would be no repercussions.

I mean i'd tapered off several antidepressants and Pregabalin in the past no problems so what could go wrong...... Well everything could go wrong as it turned out but everyone here will already know that, I certainly should have known but didn't.

I laboured under the illusion I was taking medicine, or self medicating if you will, really it was drug abuse and I've only recently accepted that.

I'm going to study more of the Ashton manual as I want to go into this meeting with the counsellor prepared, I don't want to be sent away with a "Just quit them" ringing in my ears.

Again thank you for all your messages and I apologise if I've been confusing and also for taking up your time. You've all been so kind to give advice and it really means a lot to me, although I probably don't deserve it as this is a mess of my own making but thank you nonetheless 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿😊😊

[[Ma...]]

Silly Boy, I may be wrong in saying this but from observation and your posts on here it honestly sounds like you were not prescribed any Xanax at all and obtained it "other-ways" so with that being said, the past is the past, but if you were on a prescription of Xanax and used it for say weeks at a time then switched over to valium then yes I would defitinely concur and to cross over slowly to valium via the Ashton recommendation HOWEVER if you only obtained a few Xanax pills on the streets and just used them for a week but mainly used valium then no I do not suggest in my non professional opinion to cross over slowly with your Valium and Xanax together etc...

 

I would honestly just stick to the Valium if that was your "prescribed" Benzo however you just took Xanax for the kicks it gave and obtained not much of it and just abused it for daily life to work and function.

 

Mary offers great advice however truthfully Silly Boy we do not know your history or how long on each of the benzo you were taking, I think it would be very counter productive and hurt your CNS to take both X and V at the same time if you did not take Xanax for a long duration and are currently only using Valium at this current moment. I am also not posting this to confuse you and debate other members either just we do not know how long you started taking Xanax and how long ago you stopped taking Xanax and started back to Valium by itself etc...

 

Hope that wasn't confusing lol

 

No it's not confusing, well it is in a way but that's simply because my brain isn't in the best shape right now but that's my fault.

I have to state though that neither the xanax or the valium I took was prescribed to me, i simply and stupidly chose at a very low point in my life to get hold of them myself.

I used to wonder why UK docs were so resistant to prescribing them when other countries are awash with them.

Of course now I know why, and they're completely right.

It was valium I started off on, 10mg if I remember correctly although this soon went up to 15 and then 20mg, this was maybe twice a day, perhaps 3 times for maybe say 3 or 4 months for I switched to trying xanax where I would take half a 2mg bar, again probably a couple of times a day for another 3 or 4 months, perhaps even a full 2mg once or twice........ Then of course in my ignorance I stopped thinking there would be no repercussions.

I mean i'd tapered off several antidepressants and Pregabalin in the past no problems so what could go wrong...... Well everything could go wrong as it turned out but everyone here will already know that, I certainly should have known but didn't.

I laboured under the illusion I was taking medicine, or self medicating if you will, really it was drug abuse and I've only recently accepted that.

I'm going to study more of the Ashton manual as I want to go into this meeting with the counsellor prepared, I don't want to be sent away with a "Just quit them" ringing in my ears.

Again thank you for all your messages and I apologise if I've been confusing and also for taking up your time. You've all been so kind to give advice and it really means a lot to me, although I probably don't deserve it as this is a mess of my own making but thank you nonetheless 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿😊😊

There is no judgement here Silly Boy or most of us would not be here.  You owe us no apologies, we are just here learning our way with others.  Good luck at the Dr 's appointment 

[[Ni...]]

Still didn't get to the desired above question, WHAT exactly right now are you taking today?

 

How long ago did you stop taking the other medication?? How long did you polydrug for (take 2 pills maybe not on same day but within same week)

 

Yes going into your appointment with the most knowledge is best option however for yourself right now until then stick to one benzo only unless somehow you take two Benzos together within say the last week and continued to do that for the past two weeks prior etc....

 

This is what I meant by saying do not take both benzo at same time to cross over, April 30th is 6 days away and if you do two different benzo for that long that little bit could already hurt your CNS more than you have to hurt it. Stick to Valium my friend and only take the majority of it at night so you can still live life the best way you know until you can get better advice from a professional not an internet thread. God Bless!!!

[[Ca...]]

Good luck getting better advice from a professional, but yes, we have to try... (-It can happen...)

-A continued supply for tapering and some support is often the best we can get.. Which is no small thing... Drs have "tools" that we simply dont have, and if something is going on (at any point) that isnt WD related, they are probs our best chance at identifying this in a timely fashion...

-Everything isnt always WD..

 

I dont think we have the info to determine a cross over protocol at this point, but if one is discontinuing a benzo that has recently been significant (ie. 3-4 wks/mths), I would humbly suggest some appropriate transition time, -if possible...

A big factor will be just how sensitive you are to changes and discontinuation, I know a CT sucks, But for some of us it can go well beyond that, while for many an Ashton type (speed) taper will do the trick just fine.. SB, as you proceed it will become clearer as to where you sit with this, and Symptom intensity can be a good guide...

 

Sorry, I imagine its a bit over-whelming atm, and if you are unsure of your past med details, thats ok, we all work with what we have... Step by step, you will get there...