The Long Hold Support Group

[[He...]]

Lainek,

I just saw your profile and see that you are on Valium.

One thing I know Valium does is help to relax muscles.

Do you think that your body was used to letting the Valium relax your neck muscles, and now that you are withdrawing from Valium, your muscles are getting tighter?  (Because they are used to being relaxed with the Valium and the Valium is being taken away.)

Just one of my theories. I have no factual basis. But that's what I think may be happening with me .

I also want to add that my neck pain really did get worse when I started to taper, and I knew I had degenerative disc disease in my neck before this, but it was never nearly as bad as it is now that I am tapering off the Valium. I am looking at it as a withdrawal symptom and look forward to the end  of my taper, when I really do think it will go away.

Heathcliff

[[ly...]]

Hi Heathcliff,

 

Here is my experience from cutting 10% after my long hold :  I had pretty minimal sxs.  The throat choking and chest pressure came back and tinnitus ramped-up.  I then had some stomach pain that came and went.  These were pretty minor compared to how they were after my prior cut(s).  And I had none of the other prior sxs re-appear.  All-in-all is was pretty light.  If I were you I would compare what you have now to what it was like in the past.  Do you have fewer sxs?  Are they lighter?

 

If these answers are yes, then I would consider your hold a success.  If it were me, I would probably make that last cut (caveat - I've never been overly cautious) and then hang tight until you are back to where you were before these latest cuts.  I don't expect zero wd when I cut.  I expect it to be light and in my case it was.  I don't feel it necessary for me to hold more than 30 days this time.  I think I am in a better state to continue tapering every 30 days - but I will hold if it gets bad.  Hope this helps.

[[ly...]]

 

Re:  Neck muscle pain

 

This was one of my worst, most intractable sxs.  My neck muscles were very strained for 15 months - since day one of taper.  I was in pain from this all the time.  It's gone now.  Went away over 2 months ago and did not come back on my latest cut.

 

I, too, have osteoporosis and degenerative disk baloney in my neck - found out when I was having a lymph node examined by CT a couple of months ago (HA! Nothing wrong and I was convinced I had cancer!  Health anxiety!).

[[de...]]

 

Today was my first appointment with the speech therapist for the swallowing..and she looked at all 4 of my swallow tests and the digital swallow with food.. and her conclusion is from getting off the benzo that it has heightened my sensitivity to swallowing cause from watching the swallows she can see nothing there...she said that she truly believes that i feel what i feel but she works with alot of chemo patients that get this and says it has to be worked through physically as well as mentally.

 

I start 2 times a week next week and shes going to work or relaxation, breathing, swallowing and excepting that i can eat..today she had me swallow not only water but sliced peach, water thickened with corn starch, and graham cracker and it went down easily even though it gave me that feeling. She said also from going so long without eating that shes sure my throat is weak also along with my body so shes also putting me into physical theraphy.

 

its sad that my doctors couldnt tell me why my heart rate would go up when i swallowed and she told me its due to it being weak so it takes more energy now and that of course makes the heart rate go up..

 

so lots of work ahead of me..she wants me to also go to a psychologist to get some help to work through things also..she said she has to help me program my brain that the food is going down and not to think so much about it..that she has had people make great turn arounds in like 6 weeks that would be so awesome. she said my stomach will also be sensitive to whole food again so it will be a slow go also.

 

she wants me up and moving more and shes also going to give things to terri to work with me with to help. i weighed today and weighed 101.5..i had hit 100 so thats a positive now if i can just hold onto it. and get back to 125 one day.

 

i wish now i would have held on at 1.75mgs instead being at 2.75mgs now and not sure how i will ever start my taper again i am terrified of it.

 

monday i go to the new cardio doc and hopefully will know more after that about the SVT and hope she knows some things about benzos..

 

i keep reading about things changing with scripts for benzos and i am now terrified especially if they make it a class III drug next yr..i could never taper off in 2 yrs i dont think..not as slow as i was going..terri tells me to stop worrying before i need too..

 

 

will catch up later with everyone..

just hope i get to taper soon again..i wanted a long hold but not because i was to physically sick to do anything but hold.

 

everyone here is in my thoughts

 

hugs

deep

[[He...]]

Hi Heathcliff,

 

Here is my experience from cutting 10% after my long hold :  I had pretty minimal sxs.  The throat choking and chest pressure came back and tinnitus ramped-up.  I then had some stomach pain that came and went.  These were pretty minor compared to how they were after my prior cut(s).  And I had none of the other prior sxs re-appear.  All-in-all is was pretty light.  If I were you I would compare what you have now to what it was like in the past.  Do you have fewer sxs?  Are they lighter?

 

If these answers are yes, then I would consider your hold a success.  If it were me, I would probably make that last cut (caveat - I've never been overly cautious) and then hang tight until you are back to where you were before these latest cuts.  I don't expect zero wd when I cut.  I expect it to be light and in my case it was.  I don't feel it necessary for me to hold more than 30 days this time.  I think I am in a better state to continue tapering every 30 days - but I will hold if it gets bad.  Hope this helps.

 

Oh Lynne !

Yes! Thank you for your support!

I really want to go for that  last .01 mg, but I thought maybe it was maybe just my benzo body telling me to go ahead and do that last .01 cut when my brain was saying " stop ". 

But I also thought ( as you confirmed) that since side effects are to be expected with any cut and  my cut is not terribly big, and the sfx are not really that bad, that I should go ahead with the last .01mg cut.

Ok tonight it is!. Good luck to me and to all of you out there! 

Thanks again Lynn!.

 

And....Then I'll hold at least two or three weeks and see what happens. Hopefully that will do the trick! And if not, it's another hold. As I said, i am finally convinced!

 

I'll go as fast as I can, BUT ILL HOLD AS LONG AS I NEED TO TOO, BECAUSE LONG HOLDS WORK WHEN THEY ARE NEEDED! :smitten: :smitten:

 

[[ly...]]

 

Best of luck Heathcliff!  We are all pulling for you!  :smitten:

[[ly...]]

 

Good news Gard!  I think your swallowing problems will soon be in the rear view mirror! 

[[Va...]]

Hi Heathcliff,

 

Here is my experience from cutting 10% after my long hold :  I had pretty minimal sxs.  The throat choking and chest pressure came back and tinnitus ramped-up.  I then had some stomach pain that came and went.  These were pretty minor compared to how they were after my prior cut(s).  And I had none of the other prior sxs re-appear.  All-in-all is was pretty light.  If I were you I would compare what you have now to what it was like in the past.  Do you have fewer sxs?  Are they lighter?

 

If these answers are yes, then I would consider your hold a success.  If it were me, I would probably make that last cut (caveat - I've never been overly cautious) and then hang tight until you are back to where you were before these latest cuts.  I don't expect zero wd when I cut.  I expect it to be light and in my case it was.  I don't feel it necessary for me to hold more than 30 days this time.  I think I am in a better state to continue tapering every 30 days - but I will hold if it gets bad.  Hope this helps.

I agree with lynn. Make the last cut and see what your sxs are. You can choose to hold anytime they ramp up and wait for them to subside. --V

[[la...]]

Heath & Lynn, this pain is not new..have had arthritis in neck for a couple years...the herniated discs on the other hand are new. DDD can be reversed and not worried about that. Herniated discs can not without surgery...UM NO THANKS

 

I have used BedBuddy on my neck for forever along with Epsom salt baths

 

my body was not accustomed to the V. I had tapered from 15mg to 4 and in march 2015 gave up and went to lorazepam until Dec 2015 when I went to V again to taper (easier to cut from)

 

all I know is that the cog fog/woozy/ spaced out/dizzy is my biggest complaint right now

 

Deep, sorry that you are suffering so, but sounds like you have a sound plan in place and now maybe you can have hope again

 

Lynn33 funny, I went to ER because of my lymph nodes...LYMPHOMA!!!!  but that was not even an issue at all

[[Va...]]

 

Today was my first appointment with the speech therapist for the swallowing..and she looked at all 4 of my swallow tests and the digital swallow with food.. and her conclusion is from getting off the benzo that it has heightened my sensitivity to swallowing cause from watching the swallows she can see nothing there...she said that she truly believes that i feel what i feel but she works with alot of chemo patients that get this and says it has to be worked through physically as well as mentally.

 

I start 2 times a week next week and shes going to work or relaxation, breathing, swallowing and excepting that i can eat..today she had me swallow not only water but sliced peach, water thickened with corn starch, and graham cracker and it went down easily even though it gave me that feeling. She said also from going so long without eating that shes sure my throat is weak also along with my body so shes also putting me into physical theraphy.

 

its sad that my doctors couldnt tell me why my heart rate would go up when i swallowed and she told me its due to it being weak so it takes more energy now and that of course makes the heart rate go up..

 

so lots of work ahead of me..she wants me to also go to a psychologist to get some help to work through things also..she said she has to help me program my brain that the food is going down and not to think so much about it..that she has had people make great turn arounds in like 6 weeks that would be so awesome. she said my stomach will also be sensitive to whole food again so it will be a slow go also.

 

she wants me up and moving more and shes also going to give things to terri to work with me with to help. i weighed today and weighed 101.5..i had hit 100 so thats a positive now if i can just hold onto it. and get back to 125 one day.

 

i wish now i would have held on at 1.75mgs instead being at 2.75mgs now and not sure how i will ever start my taper again i am terrified of it.

 

monday i go to the new cardio doc and hopefully will know more after that about the SVT and hope she knows some things about benzos..

 

i keep reading about things changing with scripts for benzos and i am now terrified especially if they make it a class III drug next yr..i could never taper off in 2 yrs i dont think..not as slow as i was going..terri tells me to stop worrying before i need too..

 

 

will catch up later with everyone..

just hope i get to taper soon again..i wanted a long hold but not because i was to physically sick to do anything but hold.

 

everyone here is in my thoughts

 

hugs

deep

So glad you're getting answers deep! It must be a relief. 

[[Va...]]

Heath & Lynn, this pain is not new..have had arthritis in neck for a couple years...the herniated discs on the other hand are new. DDD can be reversed and not worried about that. Herniated discs can not without surgery...UM NO THANKS

 

I have used BedBuddy on my neck for forever along with Epsom salt baths

 

my body was not accustomed to the V. I had tapered from 15mg to 4 and in march 2015 gave up and went to lorazepam until Dec 2015 when I went to V again to taper (easier to cut from)

 

all I know is that the cog fog/woozy/ spaced out/dizzy is my biggest complaint right now

 

Deep, sorry that you are suffering so, but sounds like you have a sound plan in place and now maybe you can have hope again

 

Lynn33 funny, I went to ER because of my lymph nodes...LYMPHOMA!!!!  but that was not even an issue at all

So sorry about the neck pain lainey. It must be a benzo thing as I've had terrible neck pain since I started and even had an MRI as I was convinced I had a herniated disc (self diagnosed). The MRI came out fine so I'm sure it's just withdrawal for me and I'll likely have to CT Netflix so I don't kink my head looking at an iPad for hours   Sounds like you have an actual disc problem which is probably made worse by withdrawal. Hope you get some help and relief asap!  If it were me, I'd hold off on cutting anything until you get past the medical procedures. I wish you could get past the fogginess and other withdrawal crap. I know it makes this even harder especially knowing what to do next. I hope it gets better soon! --V

[[Va...]]

Woo hoo! Finally got my valium scrip after close to 24 hours from my last dose. It was getting kinda scary there for a while. The shakes were coming on pretty hard as well as body jerks. I thought the half life of V would carry me over. Makes me not want to start cutting again lol. Looks like I'm going to have to though so I have a stash for the next time. 

[[ly...]]

 

Yikes V!  You were remarkably calm.

[[be...]]

Valley, another good reason to get off of Benzo's the agony we go through getting a darn script, and like I said last night I have tons of it, yet I want more to add to my stash, fear of a dumb pill really p.... me off :tickedoff:

[[He...]]

Thanks for your undying and unending support, VallyUm, Lynn and others,

Yes I am going for it and cutting the fifth day's .01  mg tonight.

I'll keep you all posted.

 

Heathcliff

[[fr...]]

  Good luck Heathcliff and so happy Lainey no lymphoma.  We told you so lol.  Also glad Deep you are getting therapy and wish you the best of luck with that.  It is also terrifying to me to be so afraid of not getting the drugs we need.  I face this also.  I have some but I also have some really old valium, like 5 yrs old and the pharmacist said it was probably still good anyway, he said they want you to get more thats why they put those expiration dates on them of a year. He said he read that most meds last over 10m yrs but wouldn't trust an antibiotic that old.  Anyway, hoping everyone has a good evening and big windows tomorrow.

[[He...]]

Question ( maybe premature)

 

I switched to liquid Valium so I could get an accurate dose because I am micro tapering.

1 am at 1.2 mg.

 

When I get down to 1mg, could I go back to splitting a 2mg pill in half, just until I get below 1mg. ?

 

Actually, I just want to know if going back and forth from liquid to pill splitting would cause problems?

 

Thanks, Heathcliff

[[Va...]]

Question ( maybe premature)

 

I switched to liquid Valium so I could get an accurate dose because I am micro tapering.

1 am at 1.2 mg.

 

When I get down to 1mg, could I go back to splitting a 2mg pill in half, just until I get below 1mg. ?

 

Actually, I just want to know if going back and forth from liquid to pill splitting would cause problems?

 

Thanks, Heathcliff

It may and may not but with benzos consistency is the key so changes can cause problems but it is up to you if you think it's easier and haven't had issues when switching from pills to liquid in the past.  --V

[[be...]]

Valley, [glow=red,2,300]"WOW", [/glow]I just read something you posted, on someones support site, and just wow .....I am seeing a Real Deep Valley. :smitten:

[[Va...]]

Valley, [glow=red,2,300]"WOW", [/glow]I just read something you posted, on someones support site, and just wow .....I am seeing a Real Deep Valley. :smitten:

Thanks BG. I hope it was a good thing lol.  --V

[[Va...]]

Hi all. I'm updating my hold status. I've made it to the 6 month mark and feel good so I made my first cut yesterday.    Small cuts and long holds will definitely be the plan.  I'm stil in chicken/turtle mode.  Hope all have a great day! --V

[[Va...]]

Thanks for your undying and unending support, VallyUm, Lynn and others,

Yes I am going for it and cutting the fifth day's .01  mg tonight.

I'll keep you all posted.

 

Heathcliff

:thumbsup:

[[be...]]

Valley I am sure you will figure it out.

 

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f361/rroi/Congratulations/CongratSmiley2DLMG2.gif

[[be...]]

Valley, [glow=red,2,300]"WOW", [/glow]I just read something you posted, on someones support site, and just wow .....I am seeing a Real Deep Valley. :smitten:

Thanks BG. I hope it was a good thing lol.  --V

Could Be.

[[Sh...]]

Good luck Valley on your next cut !