1.5 months off benzos

[[kp...]]

I am a 28 male and have been completely off benzos for about a month and a half now. I took Klonopin for 6 years straight, a dose of just .5 mgs daily. I always thought due to the low dose there would be no issue getting off, unfortunately that was an incorrect assumption.

 

The first time I had an issue with Klonopin was while working a high pressure finance job. At this point I had been on the drug for over 5 years and had just graduated from my masters a few months prior. I decided due to the nature of the new job I would should break my .5 pills up, and just take 3/4 of my dose to have a clearer head. A few months into the job I started having some odd health issues. I would lost my peripheral vision for 10/20 minutes at a time, which would turn into a migraine. My stomach was hurting constantly and I had to urinate more frequently than usual.

 

As my dose was steady things got better, I left the job after a year and went back to my normal dose. I went to an optometrist who told me the vision issues were ocular migraines, just caused by stress.

 

A few months after leaving the job in the city I got a job closer to home, no more 2+ hours of commuting daily or 12/13 hour days. Here I once again started cutting my dose. Once again I started having vision issues and odd bodily sensations. This was when a concerned family member showed me what benzo withdrawal syndrome was. At first I was very resistant to that idea, convinced my low dose insulated me from that possibility.

 

After a couple months of struggling I finally accepted it was benzo withdrawal. I decided I wanted off as soon as possible, yet wanted to do so responsibly. After a couple months of breaking my pills down with an imprecise taper I switched to librium to get off completely. I was supposed to start at a dose of 15mg, yet due to this dose seeming to interfering with my mental clarity I started at 10. From here I went down 1mg at a time to 6 mg, then dropped to 4, to 2, to 1, then off. I was having them compounded in batches of 15 at each dose, yet I was impatient and dropped about every 10 days. Only did 5 days on the 1mg.

 

Once at 8mg things got very intense, I left my job to focus solely on tapering. This was a stressful decision to make so early in my career, yet I decided I wanted to do it right and working was becoming impossible. Luckily I had saved some money to live off as well. I have not worked in a few months now, having been completely off for 1 and a half months currently. It has been an extremely difficult endeavor, yet I am feeling significantly better than I was months ago.

 

I do not take any other prescription drugs, have just been smoking pot at night to sleep, and taking melatonin. I do think the pot helps me sleep but always worry if it could prolong symptoms. So far the main symptoms I have left are tightness / dull pain in chest, some stomach issues, sleep issues on and off, and some odd bodily sensations. I am just starting to interview for jobs again and this has certainly been the journey of a lifetime. Very excited to have all of this behind me and for all these symptoms to be gone for good.

[[Gr...]]

Hello, kpinsbegone - Welcome to BenzoBuddies!

 

Congratulations on  becoming benzo-free!  You are so smart to quit benzos while you are still young. I'm so sorry you had to stop working but it sounds like it was definitely the best decision for you right now.  A few of our members have also found cannabis to be helpful during withdrawal.  I'll put the link to that forum below for you to check out. 

 

I'm so glad you decided to join the forum - you'll find plenty of information and support here. Our members have gone through all aspects of benzodiazepine use and withdrawal, so you'll be able to connect with others who understand what you're going through and can tell you what has worked for them.

 

Please feel free to post to any of the specialized boards, which can all be accessed from the BenzoBuddies Community Forum homepage. Based on the information provided in your introduction, the following links may be a good starting place for you:

 

Post-withdrawal Recovery Support

 

Medical Cannabis

 

When you have a chance, I highly recommend that you take a look at The Ashton Manual, which is an authoritative source on what to expect during withdrawal and recovery, authored by Dr. C. Heather Ashton, who is an expert in the field. It provides a great deal of information that can be very reassuring during any stage of this process, including a list of common symptoms with helpful explanations on the reasons for their existence.

 

For those who are currently tapering, we suggest reducing no faster than 5-10% every 10-14 days, and some taper even slower than that. One exception: very short-term users of a few weeks or less may be able to taper faster than that. 

 

Please take the time to Create a Signature. This will allow members to see where you are in the process, so that they can better support you.

 

Again, welcome!

Greencup