Arms & Legs Tingling - When to Cut Again

[[ia...]]

I've been tapering off of Diazepam for a few months. I'm on a 'low' dose (less than 1 mg daily) however, I've been holding at this dose for quite some time, and without fail every other day, I wake up and usually one of my limbs is COMPLETELY asleep. It is SCARY waking up without feeling a limb. My feet and hands regularly start to become numb during waking hours when sitting at my desk.

 

I've heard some horror stories of those who woke up and couldn't feel half their body. Are there ANY suppliments to help with this? Or any thoughts/feedback around how to work through this as I continue my taper? This appears to be my worst symptom. (other symtpoms include; intrusive thoughts, general anxiety, getting REALLY tired around hour 24 since my last dose etc.)

 

If I continue to get numbness and tingling... do I just ignore it, or proceed with taper? Thoughts? Thanks in advance for your time and energy, -F

[[Pa...]]

Are you still on Alprazolam?

[Guest [...]]

I have the same question as Pamster…

 

Where are you at… with the Alprazolam?

 

 

[[ia...]]

Hi All,

 

Thank you for taking the time to reply. I am stil on the Alprazolam. My plan is to taper slowly off the Diazepam FIRST, then make my way off the Alprazolam. I'm holding at .124 with the alprazolam. Actually my cuts with the Alprazolam are going better than the Diazepam.

 

I know this may seem odd, because many people transition TO Diazepam to get off their other Benzos, but Diazepam has been harder for me. "How do you know it's the diazepam giving you the symptoms?"< great question. Because I've tapered off Alprazolam once before and NEVER had tingling in extremeties/hurt scalp, losing hair etc. From the very first time I tried 'quitting' the Diazepam, it's given me these symptoms.

 

I'm REALLY close with the Diazepam and, transparently I do not have as much of the Diazepam as I do Alprazolam. I'm not in a position to ask my physician for more medication (it's a long story - happy to answer questions if relevant).

 

Appreciate your time and feedback! -F

[[Pa...]]

I have a different theory as to why you’re having difficulty with the Diazepam, it might be kindling, here is the definition. Kindling

 

As for supplements, I can’t recommend any because what helps one person hurts another but you could check out Alternative Therapies & Supplements, there are many members who put a lot of faith in supplements, I don’t because there are too many who are harmed by them.  But if the numbness and tingling aren’t too awful then yes, I’d continue tapering.

 

How often are you dosing, you mention feeling tired 24 hours after dosing.

[[ia...]]

Pamster - As always, I'm grateful for your input and energy. I read the article/detail on Kindling. Makes sense and could be applicable in this case. My body has bult a dependency very quickly. Although I do not use alcohol, I did historically and as early as college, after a couple days of heavy drinking I was struggling with withdrawls.

 

I consolidated my Diazepam dose last week from two doses, to one dose of diazepam. I don't know why, but it's just better/easier for me personally espically before bed. One of the really interesting WD symptoms I get, when I'm getting close to my 'time' to take my dose, is I experience a short, but very intense tired/exhuasted feeling. Like... I could just lay down and fall asleep. This only lasts a couple hours until it turns into anxiety.

 

So far... the worst symptoms from the Diazepam WD (I could be in for more - knock on wood) are the tingling/numbness and anxiety. I *think* I will expeience some more intense heart palps when jumping. Appreciate your thoughts. I like this plan; I'll continue my cut/hold. I'm really trying to eat health and exercize which seems to help. Appreciate you... bless you Pam.

[[Pa...]]

I’m glad to see you adjusting your doses, this is what tapering is, just kind of feeling your way.  Another thing I like is you seem fairly confident in your plan, too any members second guess themselves which can add tension which will add symptoms.

 

You’ll quite likely experience intense symptoms when you jump, but just like all of them, they’re miserable but not life threatening.  That’s one of the big problems with these symptoms, it feels like we’re going to die which increases the fear which increases the symptoms.  So, keep yourself from cascading and realize, these are all symptoms of your brain getting back in balance. 

[[ia...]]

Thank you so much Pamster. If I could sleep better... these symptoms would be MUCH easier. The anxiety... intrusive thoughts, joint and muscle pain etc is hard, but the lack of sleep and HEADACHES (Alprazolam) are brutal.

 

Just out of curiosity,  from your experience/speaking with other members, when people jump from Diazepam (non-liquid/ I'm on pill form), does this stuff tend so stick around in the body for awhile? My understanding is it has such a long half life, that even when I DO jump, it could be a couple days before I really start to feel like crap. (I mean I alrady feel like crap lol... but you know... REALLY feel icky)?

 

Just curious if jumping from Diazepam creates sort of a delayed onset of additional WD symptoms? No rush on the response. Thanks for your support as always.

[Guest [...]]

Hi IATOAG

 

It could be a couple of days before you experience the onset of additional symptoms after jumping from the diazepam, but it could be around 10 days or so before the drug has completely left your system. Of course, you won’t have really jumped altogether, because you’ll still have the Alprazolam to taper.

 

My concern would be… how you will feel dosing the Alprazolam only once per day ( with such a short half life) and whether that leaves you with more pronounced inter-dose withdrawals as the diazepam will no longer be there to act as a buffer. It may or may not be something you have to look at…

[[ia...]]

I'm gald you brought this up as I've been thinking about this. I wish I could consolidate both of the medications into one (for example, just consolidate into the Diazepam at a slightly higher dose then taper...) but unfortunately I do not have enough medication (I don't think?) to successfully taper slowly on just Diazepam. I have more of the Alprazolam than Diazepam. Anyway...

 

I'm interested in hearing your thoughts/feedback on this topic: The reason behind consolidating to one dose of Alprazolam, is sleep. When breaking the .125 dose into two equal doses daily, particularly in the AM, I felt like I was doing worse. I feel pretty cruddy all day, but when I take my one dose at night, I'm able to get about 5-7 hours of sleep.

 

When I take two smaller doses , one in the AM/PM respectively, I REALLY struggle with sleep.

 

Another observation I've made about my body over the years... I *think* my WD symptoms appear to be a bit more delayed. I *think* this is beaucause I have really sluggish digestion. I could be wrong. Any thoughts on how to stagger two doses? Open to ideas. Thank you for your time.

[Guest [...]]

I'm gald you brought this up as I've been thinking about this. I wish I could consolidate both of the medications into one (for example, just consolidate into the Diazepam at a slightly higher dose then taper...) but unfortunately I do not have enough medication (I don't think?) to successfully taper slowly on just Diazepam. I have more of the Alprazolam than Diazepam. Anyway...

 

I'm interested in hearing your thoughts/feedback on this topic: The reason behind consolidating to one dose of Alprazolam, is sleep. When breaking the .125 dose into two equal doses daily, particularly in the AM, I felt like I was doing worse. I feel pretty cruddy all day, but when I take my one dose at night, I'm able to get about 5-7 hours of sleep.

 

When I take two smaller doses , one in the AM/PM respectively, I REALLY struggle with sleep.

 

Another observation I've made about my body over the years... I *think* my WD symptoms appear to be a bit more delayed. I *think* this is beaucause I have really sluggish digestion. I could be wrong. Any thoughts on how to stagger two doses? Open to ideas. Thank you for your time.

 

Hi IATOAG

 

I do apologise if I’m about to ask for information you’ve already provided on the forum, but it’s difficult (time consuming to go through past posts).

 

How is your relationship with your prescribing practitioner? Do they truly understand how to taper benzodiazepines?

 

The reason I ask is because I would’ve tapered the Alprazolam first… using the long half life of the diazepam to cushion the Alprazolam taper, or just crossed to an equivalent dose of diazepam. The fact that you are already dosing diazepam says to me that your body is already reasonably comfortable with the diazepam, so the chances of you tolerating such a crossover would probably be good. That’s not to say it would be symptom free… but potentially smoother than some other members experiences.

 

At some point… your sleep will probably suffer as you taper down anyway, it’s just a matter of at what dose that begins to happen.

 

However, I can’t dismiss the possibility that you may do okay tapering the way you are at the moment. It comes down to dependence and how long the therapeutic effect of each dose lasts for you. I’m just concerned that you seem to be tapering away the only long half life benzo, which will eventually leave you dosing only the short half life benzo once per day. (Night)

 

This may be worth discussing with your practitioner… You just want to avoid inter-dose withdrawals.

 

How are you feeling over a 24hr period? Do you notice an increase in symptoms in the morning or as your day moves towards your next nightly Alprazolam dose?

[[ne...]]

I am now 24 weeks off and still deal with the numb limbs during the night, upon waking and with numb patches during the day. My advice is to march on anyway and get to the healing phase. Tingling, burning and buzzing come along with it as well.