ALL the Benzos

[[di...]]

Hi,

 

I've been on and off Xanax since I was 23 (I'm now 34), never for more than 2 weeks to 4 weeks and only .5 daily, sometimes only .25 a day. That was usually a 2 or 3 day recovery and then back to normal. This time around, I've been on .5 a day for 6 or 7 months...maybe even longer? Knew I was in trouble, and started tapering myself off, which was miserable. Got my hands on some .25 from a friend, and started halving those. During this period, I had such bad "episodes" at work that I was constantly leaving early...mixing it with booze all the time was clearly not a good idea, but it did help.

 

Landed in the ER 3 times where they just IV'd me Ativan and sent me home with Librium for 10 days, so I basically got bumped back up on the dosage. One time I landed in the ER twice in one day, the IV ativan didn't even phase me. When I went back at night, still on verge of a seizure, they gave me 100 mgs Librium and left me sitting in the waiting room in and out of sleep.

 

Went to my doc and said I wanted off, she of course wrote me another script for more xanax. Then more Librium (10 mgs) then 10 mgs Valium for 2 weeks, then 5 mg valium for one week, then one final 2 mg pill and that was that for the Benzos.

 

Then came the onslaught of other drugs to combat the withdrawal. I finally had a moment of clarity while staring at 9 pill bottles given to me in the course of 2 months, while she was trying to prescribe me 2 more drugs over the phone (which both ended up to be other taper off drugs after I did some research) and told her I'd get back to her on if I wanted to fill them or not. That was when I decided I wasn't touching another pill ever again.

 

I'm a month and a half deep in no benzos, 3 weeks deep in no pills at all. I'm scared to even eat a tums at this point! I've lost both of my jobs, my social life, lost my damn mind for a few weeks there lol...just waiting for it all to go away at this point. Reading everyone else's experiences is giving me hope, so thanks.

[[pi...]]

Hello discodez,

 

Welcome to Benzo Buddies! 9 different prescription bottles, wow, that might be a record.  Honestly, it's so wrong when more and more medication is thrown at people to combat the side effects of another, or it's withdrawal. Certainly, some people might need an adjunct medication, there is nothing wrong with that. Not only were you give multiple different benzos but also other medications. Sometimes you have to say 'what were they thinking?

 

I'm sorry this whole issue has caused such an upheaval in your life, sadly, this is not uncommon.  Here you'll meet others in the same situation as yourself and receive support and feedback.

 

It's still early days for you, being off a month and a half. Things will ease up as your brain resets from the changes that these types of drugs make. You'll find that life again.

 

I'll give you a link to the Post Withdrawal Recovery Board where you can post and receive feedback from members.

 

There is hope and knowing others walked the path and recovered is so helpful, it was for me.  Let us know how we can help.

 

 

Post-withdrawal Recovery Support 

 

pianogirl