a lifetime of decisions, and a long weird path back towards reinstatement

[[Ba...]]

Boy, Challis, sure would like to know what you did to get off.

Wonder i fyou had all the smptoms I have and for years...

[[va...]]

Xerxes, I've just been to a new GP and he was great, validating that what I'm going through is benzo wd. Just a rare experience. It felt amazing. He said why don't I just stay on 2.5 valium for life (if I ever stabilize because I'm having bad bad waves). I forgot to ask him about tolerance, and now I'd like to ask you : what about tolerance? If someone reinstated and then felt good for a while, won't he develop tolerance and have to taper anyway? I'd like to know what's your take on this because I'm sure you've considered it. Hope you're doing great and thanks for opening this discussion. I think we must consider all options.

[[Fi...]]

Xerxes, I've just been to a new GP and he was great, validating that what I'm going through is benzo wd. Just a rare experience. It felt amazing. He said why don't I just stay on 2.5 valium for life (if I ever stabilize because I'm having bad bad waves). I forgot to ask him about tolerance, and now I'd like to ask you : what about tolerance? If someone reinstated and then felt good for a while, won't he develop tolerance and have to taper anyway? I'd like to know what's your take on this because I'm sure you've considered it. Hope you're doing great and thanks for opening this discussion. I think we must consider all options.

 

I won't try to speak for Xerxes but I'll relate my experience: Over 10 years ago, I tried to cease Valium. That was a disaster & it looked certain that I would not be able to work or support my family. After several weeks, my doctor (who is now retired) reinstated me on Xanax and told me to NEVER stop taking them. I followed that recommendation until about a year or so ago when my current doctor suggested I try to cut my Xanax dose a bit. I followed that recommendation, suffered miserably from most of the recognized w/d symptoms, found BB, researched my heart out and read everything I could find regarding benzodiazepines.

 

Upon my current doctor's advise, I up-dosed and regained the mental and physical attributes which I lost due to w/d.

 

Xanax has a relatively short half life and I dose 4 times a day (every 6 hours). I start noticing tolerance at about 5 hours after the last dose but, the symptoms are relatively mild and subside after dosing. Coping with a little tolerance is so much better for me than living a miserable life 24/7/365.

 

I won't go into dosages because everyone is different and each benzo is different so, I don't think it is wise to compare individuals' dosages with others. 

 

I am now retired after successfully raising and supporting my family.

 

For me, up-dosing and holding was the correct decision. I am now able to enjoy life again.

 

Best Wishes

[[va...]]

Xerxes, I've just been to a new GP and he was great, validating that what I'm going through is benzo wd. Just a rare experience. It felt amazing. He said why don't I just stay on 2.5 valium for life (if I ever stabilize because I'm having bad bad waves). I forgot to ask him about tolerance, and now I'd like to ask you : what about tolerance? If someone reinstated and then felt good for a while, won't he develop tolerance and have to taper anyway? I'd like to know what's your take on this because I'm sure you've considered it. Hope you're doing great and thanks for opening this discussion. I think we must consider all options.

 

I won't try to speak for Xerxes but I'll relate my experience: Over 10 years ago, I tried to cease Valium. That was a disaster & it looked certain that I would not be able to work or support my family. After several weeks, my doctor (who is now retired) reinstated me on Xanax and told me to NEVER stop taking them. I followed that recommendation until about a year or so ago when my current doctor suggested I try to cut my Xanax dose a bit. I followed that recommendation, suffered miserably from most of the recognized w/d symptoms, found BB, researched my heart out and read everything I could find regarding benzodiazepines.

 

Upon my current doctor's advise, I up-dosed and regained the mental and physical attributes which I lost due to w/d.

 

Xanax has a relatively short half life and I dose 4 times a day (every 6 hours). I start noticing tolerance at about 5 hours after the last dose but, the symptoms are relatively mild and subside after dosing. Coping with a little tolerance is so much better for me than living a miserable life 24/7/365.

 

I won't go into dosages because everyone is different and each benzo is different so, I don't think it is wise to compare individuals' dosages with others. 

 

I am now retired after successfully raising and supporting my family.

 

For me, up-dosing and holding was the correct decision. I am now able to enjoy life again.

 

Best Wishes

 

Thank you so much for the input 

[[va...]]

Xerxes, I've just been to a new GP and he was great, validating that what I'm going through is benzo wd. Just a rare experience. It felt amazing. He said why don't I just stay on 2.5 valium for life (if I ever stabilize because I'm having bad bad waves). I forgot to ask him about tolerance, and now I'd like to ask you : what about tolerance? If someone reinstated and then felt good for a while, won't he develop tolerance and have to taper anyway? I'd like to know what's your take on this because I'm sure you've considered it. Hope you're doing great and thanks for opening this discussion. I think we must consider all options.

 

I won't try to speak for Xerxes but I'll relate my experience: Over 10 years ago, I tried to cease Valium. That was a disaster & it looked certain that I would not be able to work or support my family. After several weeks, my doctor (who is now retired) reinstated me on Xanax and told me to NEVER stop taking them. I followed that recommendation until about a year or so ago when my current doctor suggested I try to cut my Xanax dose a bit. I followed that recommendation, suffered miserably from most of the recognized w/d symptoms, found BB, researched my heart out and read everything I could find regarding benzodiazepines.

 

Upon my current doctor's advise, I up-dosed and regained the mental and physical attributes which I lost due to w/d.

 

Xanax has a relatively short half life and I dose 4 times a day (every 6 hours). I start noticing tolerance at about 5 hours after the last dose but, the symptoms are relatively mild and subside after dosing. Coping with a little tolerance is so much better for me than living a miserable life 24/7/365.

 

I won't go into dosages because everyone is different and each benzo is different so, I don't think it is wise to compare individuals' dosages with others. 

 

I am now retired after successfully raising and supporting my family.

 

For me, up-dosing and holding was the correct decision. I am now able to enjoy life again.

 

Best Wishes

 

Addendum, looking at your signature, you were cutting fast weren't you? I did a big updose same as you did. You're still on a much lower dose than when you started!!! I'm holding for six months or one year. if I'm better then, I'll start cutting very very slowly.

[[xe...]]

xerxes,

 

So, you were off, reinstated at .5  but then it took a jump to 2 to help?  You did not try in between dosages?

I did not. In fact, I had wanted to jump straight to 2mg, my thinking being that I wanted to see if my old long-term dose would be helpful, while taking it for as short a period as possible. However, my doctor did not want to just throw me on 2mg. When it became clear that 0.5mg was pushing things in the wrong direction he became more open minded, especially since we were already a month in at that point.

 

I forgot to ask him about tolerance' date=' and now I'd like to ask you : what about tolerance? If someone reinstated and then felt good for a while, won't he develop tolerance and have to taper anyway?[/quote']

The thought has occurred to me. I will cross that bridge if necessary when I get there. If I became as paradoxical on 2.0mg as I was on 0.5, I think my impulse would be to go off, at least for a period of time, rather than escalate the dose further, but we never know until we know.

 

 

[[va...]]

Xerxes I really hope this works well for you. It's nice that you shared and at least we know there are other options if the taper falls for whatever reason. I'm glad you're getting peace and silence.

[[...]]

Hello, ...... I had initially kept this post to a handful of staff members, but was encouraged to feel free to make a more public post. ...... Put simply, I am back on benzodiazepines after an extended period off, and while I have deep reservations about this, after eight months it does not yet seem to have been a mistake.

 

Hi Xerxes,

 

Thanks much for posting your compelling story.  I totally understand and respect your decision making in regards to reinstating.  I would probably have done the same if I were in your shoes. -- I tapered off clonazepam several years ago, but 1 1/2 years ago was hit with a severe case of tinnitus, which I'm currently trying to address as well as I can.  I'm even occasionally taking tiny doses of valium about 1-2x / month to help ease it when it gets out of hand.

 

I wanted to let you know I'm now getting ready to retry an Alpha-Stim microcurrent device I've used in the past to see if that might help.  I just made another post (link below) where I was giving some information on my Alpha-Stim experiences, and how it helped me with my protracted clonazepam withdrawal several years ago.  Thought I'd leave you a link in case you might be interested.

 

Thanks again for sharing your story!

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=228225.msg2933335#msg2933335

 

[[Up...]]

Xerxes

 

How are you now?

 

U

[[va...]]

Xerxes

 

How are you now?

 

U

 

I'd also like to know.