The Long Hold Support Group

[[...]]

BarbaraAve,

 

Did you know Ambien is a Benzo?  For that reason, I switched to Lunesta and try to only use it for emergencies - like when I know I will have a tough day in the office - like 3 times a month.

 

For the rest of the time, I do pretty good with my sleep by:

 

Use Chamomile Extract and an aspirin just before bed (and some Tryptophan but I take that two hours before bed).

While in bed, I stop myself thinking each night by using YouTube guided meditations.  I set my TV to turn off automatically.  Here are some good ones:

 

I like Chamomile Extract better than the tea - here is a link to it https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00014GAF4/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Good luck - good sleep is helpful.

[[St...]]

Morning all I am hoping we all have a better day.

    Barbara if you feel you can't get off don't beat yourself up about it get to as low a dose as you can.Stay on that for as long as you need to.Perhaps when everything settles down you may feel you can move forward.l am perfectly sure if there are people who get stuck on a dose.That is the nature of these drugs.Do what you can there is nothing more you can do.

    Cant glad to hear the anxiety is passing quickly a good positive sign.

  To everyone else keep at it we will get through this and it will be a memory one day.

    Now l am going to vent haha.Read on chewing the fat a piece written by a psychotherapist that we are mainly alcoholics or attention seekers on this forum.l am absolutely shocked that someone who is supposed to be qualified in treating mental health patients could come out with garbage like that.She says that as we isolate ourselves we are setting ourselves  up for an excuse to fail.What a pile of crap.Does she not know that people suffering extreme anxiety and depression isolate themselves as they can not cope.l sometimes wander are these people really who they say they are or they just agitators who knows.

    Sorry for this rant.l feel very strongly about this.l am a health care professional or was.l was a nurse for many years and do you know what l see on this forum people trying their best to cope with extreme mental and physical suffering.There is a lot of despair,fear and hopelessness and instead of judging reach out and help.

    I will stop now.Please forgive me but I am angry at such ignorant comments.

[[Ba...]]

  Yes, that is really ignorant.

 

Attention seekers?  I think most folks here seek out a forum as they are feeling miserable and hoping for some answers.

 

Granted, there may be some folks who set themselves up as authorities or tell everyone what to do-- guess that can be a form of attention getting.  Still, yes, those comments are absurd!

[[St...]]

Couldn't agree more Barbara it's so insulting.l hope you have a better day.

  Stut X

[[Ca...]]

Yes, it did show her ignorance, to be polite... -it didnt go unnoticed..!!

 

Another thing i hate is how people assume opiates mean addiction...

Even at my doses, and time on med, physical dependence was the issue...

-my tiny rant over..!!

 

Well, I finally got the slasher on the tractor, only took a week.. lol...

Circles tomorrow...

A reminder how physical this all is... Once I got up and started i felt much better, but after some banging and clanging with a little lifting, it dropped me..!! Doing this wouldnt normally raise a sweat, today i was beyond soaked...

Step by step, as we can...

 

Wish everyone well...

How are your days going..??

 

 

[[St...]]

Agree Cant there is a massive difference between dependence and addiction.

  Anyway back to you well done for getting the tractor sorted.Have to say haven't been on one since l was about 16 definitely a great way to learn to drive.Even in withdrawal you are pushing through an example to us all.

  My day so far has been busy.I definitely have a pattern mornings all go, afternoons

not great and evenings relax.I will keep going no other choice in the matter.

    Hope you and everyone else have a good day.

    Stut X

[[Ca...]]

Agree Cant there is a massive difference between dependence and addiction.

  Anyway back to you well done for getting the tractor sorted.Have to say haven't been on one since l was about 16 definitely a great way to learn to drive.Even in withdrawal you are pushing through an example to us all.

  My day so far has been busy.I definitely have a pattern mornings all go, afternoons

not great and evenings relax.I will keep going no other choice in the matter.

    Hope you and everyone else have a good day.

    Stut X

Thanks Stut,

Yes, we push on as we can, hoping every step gets a little easier..

Hope your day goes well..

[[La...]]

Hope everyone is doing okay today.

 

MiYu - Happy Birthday--sorry for all your struggles. And, yes, my sister had horrible side effects from the Ativan, which is why we had to get her off. But, it was not just the Ativan, she's extremely sensitive to drugs, she had a horrible reaction to the lowest does of Trazodone,  bad reactions to 2 Lyme antibiotics (we had no choice but to treat it naturally), and just one Tamiflu pill blew out her gut and left her with SIBO/IBS (now gone)

 

Heath- sorry about your wrist, hope you feel better soon

 

Barbara- sorry you are struggling. As for feeling you are stuck at a certain level of V and worried you can't get off it, I do remember that someone new here (maybe Julliane?) posted a comment recently that she worried she would never get below a certain level of V, but did a long hold (not sure how long) and then was able to continue on

 

Bob7- Good to hear the Buspar is helping with the anxiety.

 

As for us, we're hanging in there.  We had our best day in a long time last Sat, with 6+ hours of perfect calm (as in not even slightly nervous). Then last week, was kind of up and down. We had a better day on Wed, then rough again on Thurs.  Last night was really calm again.

 

 

[Guest [...]]

Thought I would stop by and ask here (noticing several on the tail end of their V taper) if anyone is or had experienced severe inner vibrations and muscle pain for which a hold helped?

Any OTC pain relievers or Flexeril help with trash compactor muscles?

 

All thoughts welcomed.....thanks

 

 

[[Ma...]]

Thought I would stop by and ask here (noticing several on the tail end of their V taper) if anyone is or had experienced severe inner vibrations and muscle pain for which a hold helped?

Any OTC pain relievers or Flexeril help with trash compactor muscles?

 

All thoughts welcomed.....thanks

 

Ss,  I am going to pt who is helping me a lot.  He has had a lot of experience with people in w/d

[[NJ...]]

Yes, Happy Birthday, MIYU.

 

I tried a little less valium and the next day had a panic attack.  Uh, is that even possible?  I mean valium stays so long in your body!  It was not a huge cut.

 

Starting to think will never get off.  Wondering if I stay at say 5 mg valium/day is that so terrible?

 

Try8ing not to do lyrica (which had hoped would get me off the benzo but now afraid I will get stuck on everything and still be on benzo)... and like a half of an ambien.

 

NO drug should be htis hard to get off of!  sheesh.

 

Barbara,

 

Staying at 5 mg of V a day is not terrible. Everyone needs to do what they need to do. Maybe someday further down the road you may want to taper it. Maybe not. Quality of life is all that matters in my opinion.

[Guest [...]]

Thought I would stop by and ask here (noticing several on the tail end of their V taper) if anyone is or had experienced severe inner vibrations and muscle pain for which a hold helped?

Any OTC pain relievers or Flexeril help with trash compactor muscles?

 

All thoughts welcomed.....thanks

 

Ss,  I am going to pt who is helping me a lot.  He has had a lot of experience with people in w/d

 

You are fortunate to have found someone with experience with this, Mary!  I have exhausted the medical field here. No luck; never heard of this.

What pt treatments are you finding helpful? 

[[Ca...]]

Stut.. -all ready to go...!!

 

[[St...]]

Oh Cant give me a sail on that.AMAZING.Happy days.

  Stut X

[[Ca...]]

Thought I would stop by and ask here (noticing several on the tail end of their V taper) if anyone is or had experienced severe inner vibrations and muscle pain for which a hold helped?

Any OTC pain relievers or Flexeril help with trash compactor muscles?

 

All thoughts welcomed.....thanks

Hi Ss,

Basically all my meds ended up being taken to stop severe abdomin cramping, -probably that the opiates created (simplisticly)... So cramping was a huge factor in my benzo and opiate taper.. I do get the fluttering too as a seperate thing...

For me its WD related, and governes my taper speed, for the most part...

The way I "managed it" was to slow my tapering to the speed that  kept it bearable, as I healed to match... I pill split, so that meant holding for a few months between cuts.. The cramps etc, flared and subsided each time...

Low dose has some extra SXs for me that have never been an issue before, but kinda just cycling through them...  But i do feel overall a bit  better or clearer below 0.5v..

Not sure of your recent tapering history by ur sig, but I would guess that holding will, in time help... -probably lots..?

 

 

[[Gr...]]

MiYU- Happy Birthday!  :smitten:

 

SS24-  Ah...Flexeril.  I have a love/hate relationship with Flexeril.  I was prescribed it for jaw clenching/teeth grinding by some specialist dentist my regular dentist sent me to last year.  I have used it on and off, with varying results.  WARNING:  you can get addicted to it, and you can have a withdrawal from it if you take it regularly.  (usually more than 2 weeks,everyday)

 

I took it for a week straight, two times last year.  As the week went on, the flexeril was much less useful and the side effects of being SO TIRED and out of it the next day became too much to bear.  I now keep it for times when my tension is so great that I am going to get, or already have a headache or just a lot of pain.  I find that taking it two days in a row is useless for me.  Once I have taken it, it won't work the same without at least a few weeks off. 

 

When I take it after not having taken it for a month, there is a TREMENDOUS amount of relief of tensions and pain, and for just one night, I usually sleep quite well, and pain free. 

[[He...]]

Thought I would stop by and ask here (noticing several on the tail end of their V taper) if anyone is or had experienced severe inner vibrations and muscle pain for which a hold helped?

Any OTC pain relievers or Flexeril help with trash compactor muscles?

 

All thoughts welcomed.....thanks

 

 

Hi ss24,

I am very low on Valium taper. Going real slow.

When I first started my tapering, two years ago, I went much too fast.

The first wdsx I got  was inner trembles.

Didn’t know what it was.

Finally realized the trembles started right before I had started my taper... realized I was in tolerance from the valium that was prescribed, and had to get off.

I started my taper and went 2ay to fast.

The trembles got worse until they were with me all day long.

 

A very informed buddy on this forum told me I needed to hold and get stable . That would get rid of my trembles and, now, even more wdsx.

 

WeLL, A FOUR MONTH HOLD DID GET RID OF MY TREMBLES, ALSO GOT ME STABLE!

 

The trembles didn’t disappear at first. I guess it wasn’t until close to the end of the four months that I one day....just all of a sudden...realized they were gone! Bingo! It was like a miracle.

 

To this day I am going very slowly. The trembles came back only two times, both times when I tried to rush my taper. So I held in place for about only 2-3 days and the trembles disappeared again. But it’s always safer to hold your taper as soon as any trembles appear..and maybe even hold a week or longer

, whatever it takes to give your brain a break. Listen to your body and let it lead you.

 

Good luck SS24.  I hope all goes well for you.

 

Heathcliff. 

 

PS, I N THE VERY BEGINNING OF MY Tper, two + years ago, I tried L-Theanine. And 5HTP  NEITHER DID ANYTHING FOR ME. . And my philosophy NOW is,  no more drugs for me. I don’t take anything else. When things go south, I just hold until I stablize again and then go forward. It works fo me

 

Extra drugs just don’t do it for me......

EXCEPT I do take 3.75 mg remeron on rare occasions when my sleep is very bad, about once every 4-6 weeks, not often.

[[St...]]

Hi SS good advice from Heath ,Cant, Greencup,Mary etc.Internal tremors are caused by adrenaline surging through the body.Due to your taper your anxiety is probably high and you are getting adrenaline surges.lt is a very common symptom so as everyone has said stabilise and let it pass.Also practice relaxation techniques if you can.

   

[[...]]

THAnk you all for your kind Birthday wishes!! :smitten:

ALso thanks for your other responses regarding side effects etc 

 

I find in the end it all comes down to managing the fears and "what ifs". The situation is what it is , and the only way is forwards , however slowly that may be, ( that probably sounds more philosophical than I actually feel!) It would be SO nice to get a break and some quality of life back though...

 

Sending love and healing thoughts to everyone today

 

MiYu

 

[Guest [...]]

Thought I would stop by and ask here (noticing several on the tail end of their V taper) if anyone is or had experienced severe inner vibrations and muscle pain for which a hold helped?

Any OTC pain relievers or Flexeril help with trash compactor muscles?

 

All thoughts welcomed.....thanks

Hi Ss,

Basically all my meds ended up being taken to stop severe abdomin cramping, -probably that the opiates created (simplisticly)... So cramping was a huge factor in my benzo and opiate taper.. I do get the fluttering too as a seperate thing...

For me its WD related, and governes my taper speed, for the most part...

The way I "managed it" was to slow my tapering to the speed that  kept it bearable, as I healed to match... I pill split, so that meant holding for a few months between cuts.. The cramps etc, flared and subsided each time...

Low dose has some extra SXs for me that have never been an issue before, but kinda just cycling through them...  But i do feel overall a bit  better or clearer below 0.5v..

Not sure of your recent tapering history by ur sig, but I would guess that holding will, in time help... -probably lots..?

 

Hi, Cant.

Are your “flutterings” similar to inner vibrations?

 

My history is fraught with benzo medical  blunders with a c/t as a grande finale. With that as a backdrop, I’ve been symptomatic from the on set of my 3rd taper. I held several months once I reinstated and noticed despite a substantial updose, I could not stabilize.

 

So, plugged along frying, burning, vibrating and blasted every morning at 3:00 am since 2014.

Yup, been at this for a while.

 

I never want to reinstate, again.  Ever.

 

Thanks for your input.....

 

 

 

 

 

[[Ca...]]

Thought I would stop by and ask here (noticing several on the tail end of their V taper) if anyone is or had experienced severe inner vibrations and muscle pain for which a hold helped?

Any OTC pain relievers or Flexeril help with trash compactor muscles?

 

All thoughts welcomed.....thanks

Hi Ss,

Basically all my meds ended up being taken to stop severe abdomin cramping, -probably that the opiates created (simplisticly)... So cramping was a huge factor in my benzo and opiate taper.. I do get the fluttering too as a seperate thing...

For me its WD related, and governes my taper speed, for the most part...

The way I "managed it" was to slow my tapering to the speed that  kept it bearable, as I healed to match... I pill split, so that meant holding for a few months between cuts.. The cramps etc, flared and subsided each time...

Low dose has some extra SXs for me that have never been an issue before, but kinda just cycling through them...  But i do feel overall a bit  better or clearer below 0.5v..

Not sure of your recent tapering history by ur sig, but I would guess that holding will, in time help... -probably lots..?

 

Hi, Cant.

Are your “flutterings” similar to inner vibrations?

 

My history is fraught with benzo medical  blunders with a c/t as a grande finale. With that as a backdrop, I’ve been symptomatic from the on set of my 3rd taper. I held several months once I reinstated and noticed despite a substantial updose, I could not stabilize.

 

So, plugged along frying, burning, vibrating and blasted every morning at 3:00 am since 2014.

Yup, been at this for a while.

 

I never want to reinstate, again.  Ever.

 

Thanks for your input.....

Yep, That makes sense...I have had the backdrop of opiate PAWS through all this...

I think we just have to find the best speed we can by trial and error, and many questions and reflection...

 

I got/get a range... flutters pulsating vibrating tension cramps.. but more than just the muscles, -my whole inner core.. -prob the GI smooth muscle... ??

My flutters seem different to the vibration...

Flutters are more "good" -muscles/nerves relaxing or resetting type thing..

And I would guess at the vibration type being more CNS and anxiety/tension related...

If that makes sense..??

-Though who really knows..?? Some more EEG or whateva testing would have helped...

 

Hope you find that bearable tapering speed...

 

 

[[Wo...]]

Hi everyone I am finally feeling better!! I didn’t updose just kept holding on and even went down .004 a few days ago during a window. My windows have been increasing and I’ve been doing tons and tons of quantum field meditations, positive thinking, feeling myself healed, listening to Joe Dispenza, Mary Morrissey and other metaphysicians and went back to my Science of Mind church. It has really helped. I’ve also been going to my 12 step meetings daily. Just staying in the solution not dwelling on symptoms and I feel way better. I met with an addictionologist who is an awesome counselor. He’s seen a lot of people get off massive quantities of benzos and he was super reassuring.

 

Yay for the long hold! Thanks everyone for encouraging me to just hold on.

 

We can do this.

[[Ca...]]

Hi everyone I am finally feeling better!! I didn’t updose just kept holding on and even went down .004 a few days ago during a window. My windows have been increasing and I’ve been doing tons and tons of quantum field meditations, positive thinking, feeling myself healed, listening to Joe Dispenza, Mary Morrissey and other metaphysicians and went back to my Science of Mind church. It has really helped. I’ve also been going to my 12 step meetings daily. Just staying in the solution not dwelling on symptoms and I feel way better. I met with an addictionologist who is an awesome counselor. He’s seen a lot of people get off massive quantities of benzos and he was super reassuring.

 

Yay for the long hold! Thanks everyone for encouraging me to just hold on.

 

We can do this.

 

Great news WW...

I hope this will give you confidence as you move forwards..

 

[[St...]]

Hi folks how are you all doing today?WW great news you are really taking control.Well done.Miyu you are still pushing forward that is amazing.Heath as always an inspiration.Bob l see you have been through the mill l hope a long hold settles everything down for you.

  Cant l hope you have got your strength back from all your tinkering yesterday.Have to say that tractor is before my time haha.Hardly a Massey Ferguson.

    To all the buddies on this site l hope you all have an uneventful day.

    Stut X

[[NJ...]]

WW that is great news and glad you are doing better. Do you go to the 12 step program for benzos only or another substance? I have often wondered if these would help.

 

Not a great morning so far, Sundays seem to be my most challenging day of the week. Have already had diarrhea this morning, so woke up early with that. Trying to get more positive for the day ahead, but not doing well. Yesterday I met with my therapist and I shared I have been feeling very depressed; she said that she thought it was time to consider an antidepressant. I actually already am on an antidepressant, remeron, and I said if I thought there was another drug that would actually help I would try it, but I don't think this is the answer. She said that while she understands why I am tapering klonopin and that she doesn't like benzos, maybe it is time to just put this behind me. I am not sure what to do with that. If I thought that updosing a bit and then holding there either forever or for quite a while would help, I think I would do that. But I don't think it would help at this point. I don't really know what to do. I am almost two months into this hold and still feeling very much up and down in all of this.

 

What I really need is relief from the GI symptoms, but don't know how to get that.

 

Then had lunch with my sister, who said she is having more panic attacks and she wants to go out on FMLA leave for anxiety.  She also said she has done a lot of reading about how people cannot get off these meds.

 

Feel like I have been such a downer on BB lately, but I am really struggling. The depression is worsening simply because it has been so long since I have felt well--I started having a lot of GI problems in early February, even before I knew I was changing jobs. If only I could stabilize those symptoms ....