With hope

[[Au...]]

After a slow taper I jumped from .5 mg of Clonazepam per day to 0 per day on February 4 while under a physician's supervision. I am still taking 1 mg of Xanax twice a day (I'll be working on coming off of this next once I stabalize) and 175 mg of Trazadone once a day in the evenings.  I have been on these medications off and on since I was 13 diagnosed with depression and anxiety. Most recently I've been on them for the past six years. It turns out the symptoms I was experiencing was not the result of an anxiety disorder but that of Graves Disease which I was not diagnosed with until 4 years after being put back on anti-anxiety and depression medications.  I am joining Benzo Buddies for support, friends, hope, coping mechanisms, and positivity.

[[Pa...]]

Hi AuntBee, Welcome to BenzoBuddies!

 

So glad you're here and relieved you were finally given a diagnosis that makes sense to you, now you just need to see the last of these nasty drugs.  How are you feeling, .5 mg is a fairly large dose to jump off of, is the Xanax keeping you steady at the moment?  What has your taper looked like, we typically suggest cutting your dose by about 5-10% every couple of weeks.

 

Would you like to see our taper methods, if so, here they are:  Planning Your Withdrawal (Taper Plans)

 

You can post on the Withdrawal Support (during your taper) board if you'd like to discuss your symptoms with our other members, they know what you're feeling.

 

Let us know how we can help you.

 

Pamster

 

[[Au...]]

Thank you for the warm welcome, Pamster 

 

I started tapering from 1 mg of Clonazepam 2xdaily, 1 mg of Xanax 3xdaily, and 200 mg of Trazadone at night. For the Clonazepam I would reduce by .25 mg monthly so I have been tapering for 7 months on that. I began to try to taper off of all three at once cutting the Trazadone by .25 mg and the Xanax by .5 mg but it all proved to be too much, especially with the varying symptoms of withdrawal from the Trazadone. I think the Xanax is keeping me just stable enough to allow me to continue to be able to work.

 

My current symptoms of withdrawal so far have been:

-sweating

-diarrhea

-tingling in left hand

-headaches

-stomach pain

-anxiety (worst when I lie down and at morning and night)

-panic attack (1)

-tightness in chest

-rapid heart rate

-social withdrawal

-frequent urination at night

-insomnia

-fear

-wringing of hands/can't keep them still/fidgeting

-nightmares (this developed about 3 days ago)

-depression

-crying (this has gotten better)

-paranoia (this started on 2/12)

 

Thank you so much again. I feel so blessed and happy to be here with you all.

[[Pa...]]

Yep, you've got almost the entire list of symptoms, aren't they awful?  I hope you'll consider slowing things down a bit for this next round of reductions, if your Dr is agreeable.

[[Au...]]

Yes, it's been pretty rough.

 

I see my doctor again on Monday and am going to request that we wait a month to begin to taper the Xanax, if I feel okay at that point.

[[Pa...]]

Perfect.  Our tapers need to be in our hands, we're so powerless when it comes to the symptoms and the next unknown lurking around the corner, we should at least be able to dictate how slow or fast we need to go.