What is causing this fear

[[Re...]]

I am having continuous fear everyday.What causes this fear that makes me not want to leave my house or do the things I enjoyed doing before? I get this fear and feel like I can’t go to Church or keep my grandchildren. I was on 2mg of Valium and tapered to 1mg 5 times out of 30 days. I tapered 1 mg two days straight and I have had this fear that won’t go away. I am now just taking 2 mg  until I get my Dr. advice what to do next.Does anyone know what is causing this fear ?

[[Pa...]]

I was afraid too, fear is a huge withdrawal symptom, this member wrote about what causes it.  What is happening in your brain

[[gr...]]

Redbird,

I am sorry you are going through this.  A sense of fear, impending doom, random terror --- all of these are hallmarks of benzo withdrawal.  The fear is generated by a limbic system (your stress response system) malfunctioning as your brain is trying to adapt (neuro-adaptation) to its existence without the medication.  When the limbic system is not working properly (and one reason for this is that the limbic system is LOADED with GABA-A receptors, which is the receptor that is down-regulated over time as we ingest a benzo -- when you try to remove the benzo it takes time, sometimes a very long time, for those receptors to heal......as a result you have free floating GABA - your bodies natural calming neurotransmitter -- with no receptor to bind too thus we feel afraid.  In addition, our glutamate is out of balance and glutamate is our excitatory neurotransmitter-- it is supposed to work in concert with GABA - so that whole mechanism is off).  So in your limbic system you have what is called your amygdala, which is the part of the brain that acts like a fire alarm -- in benzo withdrawal, this fire alarm keeps sounding and we continue to feel DANGER where none exists. 

 

in time, things will settle - but this is a very brief explanation of why you might be experiencing fear at this time. 

[[Ka...]]

Redbird, I had the fear thing also.  Getting completely off benzos was the cure for me.  I now know that I was in a constant state of withdrawl because even when I took my dose, it had mostly quit working for me.  Once I was off benzos and had just a little bit of time under my belt, I began to notice that I could do things without shaking in my boots - like driving on the freeway and going in crowded public places.  My world had become very small but now that I am off for almost two years, I can go anywhere I want to without the terrible angst I used to have.