Jump to content
Please Check, and if Necessary, Update Your BB Account Email Address as a Matter of Urgency ×
New Forum: Celebrating 20 Years of Support - Everyone is Invited! ×
  • Please Donate

    Donate with PayPal button

    For nearly 20 years, BenzoBuddies has assisted thousands of people through benzodiazepine withdrawal. Help us reach and support more people in need. More about donations here.

acute withdrawal


[...]

Recommended Posts

Hello,

Does everybody have acute withdrawal symptoms after getting of clonazepam?

Does it matter then if you do a slow or fast taper?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No. Some people have little to no withdrawal symptoms, particularly after short term use or on their first withdrawal.  A slow taper minimizes the withdrawal and if done properly, usually ends with little to no new symptoms upon finishing.

 

Yes, a careful taper will make a huge difference for most people. It allows the body to start healing from benzodiazepine use as the taper progresses. Cold turkey withdrawal doesn’t allow the body any time to adjust to the lessening amount of the drug.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm tapering K. Finally got down to .25K this week. I was down from 1.25 k to .25 k last December in one week!!! Horrendous!!! I held 2 weeks (didn't sleep at ALL for 2 weeks and blood pressure soooo high) and had to updose to .5, which still was a cold turkey off .75mg. I feel LOADS different now at .25mgK than when I got there too fast in December. I know I've healed off the .75 cold turkey portion and I know I've healed as I've gone down in taper. I don't know what awaits me on the other side of taper. I also have to take Remeron (it helps with sleep, but i take for severe taper nausea AND pre-existing GI conditions I had prior to Benzos). The Remeron has helped me. Slow, liquid taper has helped me. Ashton is too fast for me. I've only been able to cut about 5% per month of original starting taper dose in January of .5mgK. I'm doing okay. I'm still holding down my job. It's what my body can handle. I feel better now than I did in February at the beginning of my taper. I've found my taper speed. I've learned I have to dose 3 times per day, even doses. We DO heal as we go, we just don't completely heal until we're off. Hope that helps. ❤
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks,

Can gaba receptors heal while you taper?

 

Yes, that’s exactly the purpose of a taper.  :thumbsup:

 

 

Professor Ashton says no true healing begins with CNS and Gaba until you have stopped taking the benzo.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello,

Does everybody have acute withdrawal symptoms after getting of clonazepam?

Does it matter then if you do a slow or fast taper?

 

a minority of ppl can get away with a faster taper. But everyone would recommend Ashton Regime or even DLTM to keep it safe.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks,

Can gaba receptors heal while you taper?

 

Yes, that’s exactly the purpose of a taper.  :thumbsup:

 

 

Professor Ashton says no true healing begins with CNS and Gaba until you have stopped taking the benzo.

 

I truly believe that the GABA receptors do heal even as we taper. If it low and slow it gives them time to up regulate and therefore heal. I am sure the rest of the healing continues once off of the drug.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks,

Can gaba receptors heal while you taper?

 

Yes, that’s exactly the purpose of a taper.  :thumbsup:

 

 

Professor Ashton says no true healing begins with CNS and Gaba until you have stopped taking the benzo.

 

I truly believe that the GABA receptors do heal even as we taper. If it low and slow it gives them time to up regulate and therefore heal. I am sure the rest of the healing continues once off of the drug.

 

 

if youre right well thats good for us all. i just remember Ashton saying otherwise. I spose her version of true healing could mean something different

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks,

Can gaba receptors heal while you taper?

 

Yes, that’s exactly the purpose of a taper.  :thumbsup:

 

 

Professor Ashton says no true healing begins with CNS and Gaba until you have stopped taking the benzo.

 

I truly believe that the GABA receptors do heal even as we taper. If it low and slow it gives them time to up regulate and therefore heal. I am sure the rest of the healing continues once off of the drug.

 

 

if youre right well thats good for us all. i just remember Ashton saying otherwise. I spose her version of true healing could mean something different

 

Unfortunately I see many people refer to this statement from Ashton which drives fear that one “must get off” as quickly as possible.  I believe she is saying you can’t 100% heal until free of the drug.  That is true of course.  Ashton emphasizes in many places that there is no rush, do a slow taper, and you are recovering as you taper and avoid fast tapering actually.

 

Here is a quote from the Ashton manual indicating recovery happens as you taper:

 

“...However, a sufficiently slow, and smooth, departure of benzodiazepines from the body permits the natural systems to regain control of the functions which have been damped down by their presence. There is scientific evidence that reinstatement of brain function takes a long time...”

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think this is the statement that confuses people and I don't think it says what people think:

 

"full recovery cannot begin until you have got off your tablets completely."

 

Notice she is saying "full recovery" .... not that healing does not occur in tapering.

 

.... As AZBill points out above.

 

What she does do is discourage drawing out the last part of the taper. This is a point of contention, that her schedule may be too fast for many at the end.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I read this quote from Builder which makes a lot of sense. "The rate of reduction should be in synch to the body's CNS recovery rate."  Maybe not his words exactly. I can't remember. Close enough.  That way, the receptors can have time to up regulate and therefore healing can take place. A symptom based taper that will of course be unique to each of us is is crucial for coming off safely and successfully. I am not saying it will be a bed of roses, but it is the best way to do it.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What is meant by not drawing out the last part of the taper ?

 

It means going too slow. Dragging it out. I guess some people can jump or walk off at a certain dose. Some people take it all the way down and they do fine. Others can jump at a higher dose. It is so individual.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So it is hard to know which taper plan is best ?

 

Taper should be symptom based and you should listen to your body. It won't be easy, but discomfort  can be minimized with finding your taper rate. It takes time to figure out what method to use (liquid, dry cut, C&H), how many times a day to dose, and how much to cut. It's easier to go slow and speed up a little, than to go too fast and go through bad symtoms while your CNS catches up. We do heal as we taper, otherwise we could all cold turkey, never reinstate, and be just fine. Taper does allow for healing. It also allows you to be more functional an less symptomatic. I'm still holding down my job. I'm grateful to be able to do so and it has NOT been easy on me, but I'm functioning.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

NO ONE can tell you how to get off benzos and be reliably sure you will have fewer symptoms. ALL of this is simply a guessing game. Dr Ashton designed her tapers, hoping to avoid serious  side affects like seizures. But reality is that seizures are extremely rare, and usually happen if someone also drinks a lot or takes street drugs.

There is no one who can tell you in all certainty that this taper or that taper will help you any better. I happen to be perhaps the one person on BB who is NOT afraid to say that some people will do better going cold turkey. Going CT WAS my only chance of living a healthy life again. I was that far gone. I doubt most of you are in THAT bad!!

What I do think now, after 7 years here on BB is that getting off benzos s quickly as possible is the BEST route. Long tapers seem to cause MORE troubles for those who choose this route.

I have come to these conclusions slowly and after reading thousands of posts here. No matter what way you choose, be prepared for wd symptoms. If you are one of the unlucky ones, you will have them. But rest assured that bwd does end, you will heal and life will once again become normal.

God Almighty, what a long strange trip this has been for me.

east

Never give up. Gettingoff benzos forever maybe the best thing yo ever did.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Following

Hi. I have been doing a pretty slow taper going down by approximately 10% every two weeks and then I switched to 15% every two weeks in May. I kind of didn't realize that this had happened, but my doctor reminded me that we had agreed I was going to start going down by 15% at some point. Anyway I am now going to jump at 0.047.

My experience with this is that a symptom based taper simply does not work for me. I have had wretched symptoms throughout this entire process. Some days are much worse than others but I have had no days that are good or even ok. I have little windows but they're brief. I have held doses at times up to 30 days, and it has not reduced my symptoms. I know that a lot of people do a symptom based taper and they seem to notice when they hold that things get better, but I have never stabilized in this process.

Good luck to you. There are some very incredible people on this board.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

“If withdrawal symptoms are still present, it means that the GABA/benzodiazepine receptors have not fully recovered. Further benzodiazepines cause further down-regulation, strengthen the dependence, prolong withdrawal, delay recovery and may lead to protracted symptoms. In general, the longer the person remains on benzodiazepines the more difficult it is to withdraw. On the whole, anyone who remained benzodiazepine-free, or has remained on the same dose, for a number of weeks or months would be ill-advised to start again or to increase dosage. ”

 

quote from Ashton Manual Supplement 2011

 

I think she doesn’t mean that we don’t have any healings during tapper, full recovery means we don’t have withdrawal symptoms anymore. She just encouraged people to get off the meds asap to avoid further downgrade of our GABA receptors. But people who needs to functional of their life should listen to their bodies

 

“ This is a difficult situation which, like all benzodiazepine problems, depends to some degree on the circumstances and the individual, and there are no hard and fast rules” as professor Ashton said

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Who's Online (See full list)

    • [Mi...]
    • [Ab...]
    • [GS...]
    • [...]
    • [be...]
    • [El...]
    • [Re...]
    • [el...]
    • [He...]
    • [Le...]
    • [ge...]
    • [No...]
    • [...]
    • [Lo...]
    • [PE...]
    • [Ca...]
    • [Ne...]
    • [be...]
×
×
  • Create New...