The Long Hold Support Group

[[St...]]

Hi Heath l was on Keflex for a UTI about 5 months ago and had no real ill effects other than a bit of nausea so l hope you are ok.

[[He...]]

Greencup,

Hi, well I had already picked up the prescription for macrobid when I read your suggestion to stay away from it.

The first  dose was fine, no side effects at all. But the second time I took it ,well I have terrible heartburn! I’m drinking lots of water and I did drink a full glass of eater when I took it too.

I guess the next time I take it i will take it with out food. ( it was about hour after I ate that I took it last time.

 

Greencup. Was it a feeling of heartburn that bothered you too when you took this macrobid?

 

Heath

[[He...]]

STUT,

Thanks for the top on kflex. But I already started the macrobid so I think I’m going to have to stick it out.  OUCH!l

 

Heath

[[Va...]]

Just joining this topic, and have a couple questions:

1.  With a slow taper, should I expect withdrawals after I jump to last a long time?

2.  If I'm direct tapering Xanax, at what mg should I jump?

Hi Ch33kyKK and welcome!  The effect of a slow symptom based taper, many if not most are able to gently slide off without any increase in sxs and many times no sxs at all. As far as what dose to jump from, why not go all the way to 0?  —V

[[St...]]

Hopefully Heath all will be fine it is only for 7 days and you will feel better.Let us know how you get on.

[[He...]]

Thanks Stut.

 

I’m trying hard. Have no choice!

 

Heath

[[Ch...]]

Thank you V and SS.  Just overthinking things the last 2 days, as I've been having some anxiety.  I cut 7 days ago, and my pattern is usually 1 good day, 1 bad day, and so on.  But, I guess I can't call it a pattern since this is only my second cut.  I just don't know if I want to drop.again at the 14 day mark, or drag it out to one cut per month.  As far as jumping off, I think the smallest I can go on Xanax would be . 0325 by cutting my .25 pill into 8 pieces.  I'm not doing liquid titration.

[[Gr...]]

Greencup,

Hi, well I had already picked up the prescription for macrobid when I read your suggestion to stay away from it.

The first  dose was fine, no side effects at all. But the second time I took it ,well I have terrible heartburn! I’m drinking lots of water and I did drink a full glass of eater when I took it too.

I guess the next time I take it i will take it with out food. ( it was about hour after I ate that I took it last time.

 

Greencup. Was it a feeling of heartburn that bothered you too when you took this macrobid?

 

Heath

 

I actually took macrobid a few times, and each time it got progressively worse.  My main symptoms were feeling very dizzy and nauseous.  I couldn't walk around the first hour or two after I took the pill- mind you this was the like the third or fourth time I took it,over a period of like 8 years.  My experience will a lot of medications that mess me with, are like this.  They start off bothersome but okay, and then each time I take it, it just gets worse.  Macrobid also made me feel anxious and gave me some depersonalization.  Also, it went away after a week of not taking it.  I recovered very quickly from all the ill effects. 

[[St...]]

Hi folks still trying to stabilise l thought the symptoms were easing off but the low mood and anxiety have hit hard.Before l started my taper l decided to de-stress my life and about 1 year and 3 months ago l ended a 10 year relationship which l have been trying to end for 3 years.For 8 months l got lots of messages which ended in arguments.Then nothing and l thought finally it's over.Sadly over the last 3 weeks it has started again.l haven't responded however it's really making me feel so bad.l can't deal with this on top of withdrawal.l feel as though I am trapped.l don't know how to continue and get through this process with this constant badgering.Sorry about this l know you have your own stress to deal with.

[[Gi...]]

Stut 55,

 

I'm sorry to hear of this new stress.  Is it possible to block these messages so you don't receive them?  You don't mention whether they are by phone or email.

You certainly don't need this now tapering and wd is hard enough.  I hope you can get back to some stabilization soon. G.

 

[[St...]]

Thank you Gingermint l blocked him off my phone so it's now emails which sadly if l block his emails they go to spam so l still see them.l was going to delete my email account but l don't know how to change my email on this forum etc.l think if l were less vulnerable l would cope better however this is just to much to deal with.Again thank you for your advice.

[[de...]]

Stut 55, I'm so sorry about the terrible hassle you're getting.  I think you can change your email on this forum, if you click on "Profile" and go to "Account Settings" in the drop-down menu, then looks like you can type in a new email address to change it from the old one.  That way maybe you can delete your old email to get rid of the pest, good luck. 

[[St...]]

Oh Delta that is amazing thank you so much.l will get that sorted.l find all the stress too hard to handle and l feel so guilty however I can't go back.l am far happier on my own.l don't need to be in a toxic relationship.Again thank you.

[[St...]]

Sorry forgot to ask Delta how's your mum doing?

[[de...]]

Stut 55, no problem, anytime, really, hope it works!  No need for toxic relationships, and yes, you're strong on your own!  And thank you for asking about Mum, not that great yet, will be posting a question next ...

[[de...]]

Hi, all.

 

How long did you hold before seeing any relief in symptoms, and what were these symptoms? 

 

Could you (1) give an example of a SYMPTOM that got better for you from holding, and also (2) how long you did the HOLD before you saw that improvement? 

 

Thank you!

 

We are about 2 months into holding.  We updosed back to 1.5mg Xanax at start of January, a week later started crossover to Valium while holding steady at 30mg Valium equivalent (=1.5mg Xanax).  We're partially crossed over, currently at 0.75mg Xanax + 15mg Valium daily, and still holding at 30mg Ve.  We did stray a little during this hold, missing a few night doses and doing a week and a half of dallying with 27.5mg and 25mg daily, but otherwise have kept at 30mg Ve.  Only adjustment I'd make in the foreseeable future is to change from 4 daily doses to 3, again holding at 30mg Ve. 

 

My mother's most agonizing symptom currently is an unholy coming-together of touch sensitivity, "dirty" phobia, "spit" phobia, and "OCD" where she can't touch anything without feeling "dirty" so has to wash repeatedly, can't be touched by anyone, can't talk near her, and takes her hours to shower and must do her own laundry even though she's weak and has no energy.  And no, she was never like this before.  We're hoping the holding will help relieve this godforsaken symptom, but 2 months into it, don't know. 

[[St...]]

Hi Delta l wouldn't have phobias as such however high anxiety.Starting to ease off.Insomnia much better, sweating comes and goes, muscle and joint pain no where near as painful, depression and obsessive thoughts not as bad but have a long way to go, nausea comes and goes and dizziness not as bad.l know this is hard and despair does set in but l would definitely sit for at least another couple of months and reassess the situation then.l would hope she will level out a bit more by then.l think it is absolutely disgusting that your mum was put on such a high dose at her age.l just want to say you are doing a wonderful job.Try to stay strong.

[[Ch...]]

Oh Delta, it breaks my heart knowing your poor mom is going through this hell.  I lost my mom 3 years ago, she was 78, and I watched her suffer with her own meds for chronic pain.  I'm scared to death to this day of Ativan, as I watched what it did to my mom when she was hospitalized.  They like to pass that stuff out like candy in there, and it literally made my mom psychotic.  Definitely not the sweet person she was.  I will pray for your mom, and for you to have the strength to help her through this.  💕

[[de...]]

Thank you, Stut 55, for your kind words.  Yep, trying to stay strong, so hard, but it helps to have you and the other buddies here!  Helps a lot!

 

How long were you holding when your high anxiety started to ease off (Mum has this too)?  What were your obsessive thoughts like (Mum has these too, and intrusive memories, and not good ones, either)?  If you don't mind my asking ...

[[de...]]

Ch33kyKK, how kind, thank you, so much.  This hell, this nightmare, just makes me so angry!  And I'm so sorry about your mom, bad enough losing her, but to have had to watch her suffer so much!  I totally believe the Ativan made your mom psychotic; these things are toxic, just poison.  You are all so strong battling this, and it helps me just to loiter among you

[[St...]]

Hi Delta the anxiety started to ease of gradually probably last week was when l noticed a big difference.Thoughts were strange if l got a negative thought about myself or something bad happening to my daughter l could not stop thinking about it especially the moment my eyes opened in the morning.l tried doing crossword puzzles, cleaning out cupboards, listening to music and walking.lt helped to a certain degree however l have noticed it has started to come and go in the last week where as it was constant for the last 3 or 4 months.l think it happens so gradually you don't even realise it is easing off a bit.Keep a journal and document each day if you can.Do not give up there is an end to all this and you will get through.l promise you that.

[[Gr...]]

Hi folks still trying to stabilise l thought the symptoms were easing off but the low mood and anxiety have hit hard.Before l started my taper l decided to de-stress my life and about 1 year and 3 months ago l ended a 10 year relationship which l have been trying to end for 3 years.For 8 months l got lots of messages which ended in arguments.Then nothing and l thought finally it's over.Sadly over the last 3 weeks it has started again.l haven't responded however it's really making me feel so bad.l can't deal with this on top of withdrawal.l feel as though I am trapped.l don't know how to continue and get through this process with this constant badgering.Sorry about this l know you have your own stress to deal with.

 

Hey Stut 55-  Can you block the messages?  I really think that would be the best thing.  Or just set them up so you do not get notifications and they all just go to some folder, where you don't see them? 

[[Ch...]]

I don't always feel strong, in fact, this weekend I cried on my husband's shoulder like a child.  I'm angry too, that my doctor just threw meds at me, and even madder at myself sometimes for taking them.  Luckily, I got in with a caring psychiatrist who recognized that I don't have a panic disorder, I just had some nervousness brought on possibly by my hormones (my initial panic happened during my cycle).  My doctor jumped the gun and told me it was stress and "here, this will fix you in 3 months".  My lsych js getting me off the meds.  I thank God for him.

[[St...]]

Thank you Greencup l am going to do what I can to stop this l just can't keep going like this every time l get an email l take an anxiety attack.I just want it to end.l don't like hurting anyone but l do not want to be in a relationship with this person.Again thank you.

[[Gr...]]

Thank you Greencup l am going to do what I can to stop this l just can't keep going like this every time l get an email l take an anxiety attack.I just want it to end.l don't like hurting anyone but l do not want to be in a relationship with this person.Again thank you.

 

If it's just through email, you can set up a filter, to mark the messages as read and direct them to go directly into a special folder.  That way the person sending the messages doesn't know if you got them, or read them or not, and you are not notified- and you NEVER have to read them if you don't want to.  I've been there.  Nasty breakups in the past.  Sending hugs to you.