A little bit of my story, and a question about Flumazenil

[[Pr...]]

Hi Everybody! I'd like to share a little bit of my story and ask a question.  I have pretty severe OCD. In early 2017 I started taking 0.5mg of Klonopin twice a day.  A few months before I started taking the benzo, my anxiety was so severe that I started experiencing an extreme sense of derealization/depersonalization, which was terrifyingly uncomfortable.  I was extremely irritable, could barely function, and I had the inner sense that I was climbing the walls all the time. I could barely sleep.  It was pure hell.  Again this was before I started taking the benzo.  My doctor at the time prescribed them to me, and I VERY reluctantly agreed.  I knew it was a Faustian bargain, bur all I wanted to do is get some sleep.  I hated having to take the drug, but I felt like I didn't have a choice.  I quickly realized that I could get by on 0.5mg a day as opposed to 1mg, so I reduced the dose myself, and that's more or less what I have been taking since last July.  In July, my current doctor switched me to Valium 7.5mg once a day.  He reduced the dose to 7mg about six weeks ago, At first, I didn't notice that much of a difference but over the past two weeks my derealization/depersonalization symptoms have started to return.  I often feel irritable and restless.  I had an appointment with my doctor yesterday, and he is reducing the dose to 6mg once a day.  So that is where I am currently with my taper.  I work with a counselor on OCD stuff, and have been for quite a while, so I am doing that as well.  I am also strongly considering a rapid detox using low dose Flumazenil.  I figure it might be better to get this process over with sooner rather than later.  I reckon that If I am going to go through hell, I might as well get it over with.  If anyone out there, has used Flumazenil for rapid detox, and your situation is similar to mine, I would love to hear about your experiences, and what to expect, if I opt to go this route.  To be clear, I DO NOT think Flumazenil is a magical cure, and either way I get off the drug, whether it is the long, so taper, or rapid detox, it will not be easy.  Replying with statements like "if Flumazenil worked, we'd all know about it" is not helpful.

[[Id...]]

Hi @[Pr...],

Welcome in this place that helped me tremendously. Sorry if I am not much talkative but it’s time for me to log out. 
Our situations are a lot different so incomparable (I just had insomnia before meeting benzodiazepines and ended on higher doses of different benzodiazepines) but I wanted to answer your question. Theoretically I have been put under this solution 3 times. I say theoretically because last place was so horrible (a public founded specialized private clinic) that they weren’t even able to insert the pump correctly even from an hygienic point of view, and the med was continuously dripping all over me and… I don’t want to scare you with details. 
I can’t tell much about other two tries because I also got polidrugged while on it (once despite my doubts on it and once despite my initial accords with doctors), not just anticonvulsants that are usually associated with this “therapy”, and I don’t know what the results really were. Either way I exited the hospital with a lot of problems, some that weren’t there before, new symptoms, withdrawal symptoms and prescriptions (still including benzodiazepines once) so there’s no way to tell anything. 
I don’t even know what dosage they used, given that I was treated for different days every time, I think that should be a question before even answer “does it work?” I am not talking with you here, it’s a general observation.

I have never met someone that said it worked or helped.

Let’s wait other users

Edited November 9, 2023 by [Id...]
Clarity