Going at it alone!

[[ta...]]

Having brain zaps, body pain, headache, lethargy, and tremors. Sensitivity to light, and sound.

[[Pa...]]

It sounds like you're under medicated, typically when people crossover to Valium they feel sedated and depressed, how long have you been at the 10 mgs?

[[ta...]]

15 days

[[Pa...]]

That's more than enough time for the Valium to have built up in your body.  You have three choices and none of them are good.  Stay at this dose and hope you stabilize, begin your taper and hope things settle down or go up to a higher dose.

 

I'm sorry you're suffering, you sound awful. 

[[ta...]]

I see! I added some melatonin a few nights ago for sleep, and that really seemed to make things worse. I didn't take melatonin last night and felt a little better today. What dose should I add a day to stabilize?

[[Pa...]]

Supplements are tough during this process, our central nervous system is highly sensitized so we don't react to things like we normally would, I'm glad you figured out it wasn't helping you.

 

I have no idea what dose you should shoot for, are your pills the 5 mg?  My only advice is to start small, you don't want to go up too much because you have to taper off any increases and I want you to make sure you have enough pills to get you through.  The trouble is, it takes awhile for Valium to kick in so you won't know if it's enough or too much for a few days, hopefully less. 

 

I wish I could be more helpful but I'm just a bystander and you're the subject of this torturous experiment. 

[[ta...]]

[[ta...]]

Would it do harm to reinstate some Lor?

[[Pa...]]

There are some who can't make the transition to Valium and end up going back on their original drug, I'm not saying this is the case with you but it happens.  Adding back in some Lorazepam might be helpful, what would be your plan if you were to stabilize, would you want to reduce the Lorazepam first?

[[ta...]]

Maybe reconstitute .5mg Lor a day(morning) until more stable? I am worried about mixing the two in the same day

[[Pa...]]

We have many members on more than one benzo, I don't feel that will be a problem, adding back in .5 would be like adding another 5 mgs of Valium, that might work.

 

I hope you feel better.

[[ta...]]

Thank you Pamster for your concern, and your wisdom! 

[[Pa...]]

Please keep us posted on how you're feeling, what you write here will help me and others know how to help going forward.  I've been here for many years and while we all travel the same path, no two journeys are alike, it's tough to help guide others through this when there are so many twists and turns to navigate. 

[[ta...]]

Hello! 21 days on 10mg Val a day. The depression and is absolutely horrific, and windows never seem to come very often. I at least could function as a human being with the 1mg of Lor.  Any attempt at a taper at this point would not be wise.  Would it be okay to stop the Val and return to the Lor, in the hopes that I could somewhat function?

[[Pa...]]

I'm so sorry to hear how bad it is for you, I know its a dark and scary time, there are many members who can't make the crossover for just this reason.  You can of course do whatever you need to do but before you make the switch would you ask your question on the  Valium Support Group thread, maybe they can tell you how long this phase lasts, I'd hate to see go back on the Lorazepam if you're close to getting past this stage.

 

Valium Support Group

 

If you can, it would be helpful for them if you'd fill out your medication history and put it in your signature so they'll know where you're at.  Here are the instructions.  Add your history/signature 

[[ta...]]

I would also add for reference. I have been taking the supplement Willow Bark for quite some time to keep my liver detoxed. I discovered it was making my anxiety worse in the mornings. I googled it and learned that the same enzyme that broke it down in the liver, also broke down Benzo.

[[Pa...]]

Interesting, I've not heard of that supplement, are you considering discontinuing it?

[[ta...]]

Yes, I discontinued!

[[Pa...]]

Good, I've seen so many members cause themselves issues by experimenting with supplements, for some they seem to work well but the next person who tries the same thing will run into problems.  We're just so sensitive during this process, we don't react to things the same as we used to.

 

 

[[ta...]]

Hello! I have really screwed up. I started dosing 50-80 mg of Zol just to get some sleep. It helped for a while, now I am miserable and afraid. I am still dosing 20mg of val a day. 10mg in morning and 1omg in evening. What have I done?

[[Pa...]]

You've done almost exactly the same thing I did, I turned to Zolpidem 7 months after my cold turkey and it was a huge mistake!  The fear, the inner trembling, the anxiety, the depression was horrible and I could only sleep about 2 hours at a time, the interdose withdrawal is brutal.

 

Do you think you can taper from the Zolpidem then resume your Valium taper?

 

 

[[ta...]]

I am not sure what to do. Should I up my dosage of val, and go back to my normal dosage of zol at bedtime?

[[Pa...]]

Professor Ashton suggests tapering z-drugs by converting to Valium but frankly, I think Valium is the harder drug to get off of so I'm not sure going up on the Valium is the best idea. 

 

I quit the Zolpidem cold turkey, I'm not advocating that for you because our situations are different, I was benzo free at the time, 14 months past my cold turkey so my chances of recovery were better and boy did I.  I didn't sleep for a few days and when I did it was filled with awful nightmares but within a week, I felt better than I had since my cold turkey from Klonopin.  All of the symptoms I'd been attributing to the Klonopin disappeared, I declared myself recovered from all of it.  My reason for telling you this is to let you know how bad z-drugs are, the Zolpidem kept me from healing.

 

I feel tapering the Zolpidem would be the wiser choice, do you take it at night or are you taking it in the day as well in order to get a nap?

[[ta...]]

I was only taking at night up until last 2-3 weeks then through stupidity I started taking pretty much as needed. I felt confident and my old self while taking so much zol, but my inventory has run low.  I don''t it's best to not just stop the zol at this point?  I feel like I am dying at times with panic. Your testimony is incredible!

[[Pa...]]

The Zolpidem took away my withdrawal symptoms from the Klonopin, at first I used it for sleep like you did but then the interdose was so bad, I started taking it in the daytime too but the hypnotic effects of it had me losing big chunks of time, not good.

 

The Zolpidem is your biggest problem right now and the sooner you can get off of it the better you'll be.  The thoughts I had when I was taking so much were the darkest and scariest of my life so I know what you're thinking and feeling so please, take this seriously and find a way to get off of it.

 

I know the fear of running out, I faced it too but running out was the best thing that happened to me, it forced me to quit and in my typical style, that was cold turkey and I'm so grateful I did.  If you have the self control to taper what you have left then I suggest you start right away.  I have addiction issues so that wasn't a possibility for me but however it happened, I'm free and happy off of benzo's and z-drugs.