a little advice re 'holding'

[[fu...]]

Hey, So i crossed over from xanax 1mg to valium as per the ashton manual in february this year, i have held at this 10mg am and 10mg pm since then.  the plan was to start tapering at the beginning of 2024 as i have a big family holiday in December (a surprise holiday for my wife and son to the Dominican republic).

Over the past month my anxiety has been all over the place, i have frequent bouts where i cant get out of bed, i am absolutely terrified that this will continue over and into this holiday and ruin it for my family.

I have stuck to the regime and haven't taken anything out with my 20mg per day even whilst in the midst of these bouts of crippling anxiety. could this be me getting a tolerance to the Valium?

I guess i am just looking for some advice regarding how to get to 2024 without experiencing any of these troughs. Can i supplement my daily 20mg of Valium with something, has anyone else ever done this or even experienced a tolerance with Valium?

 

Your advice is greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you  

[[ia...]]

Hi @[fu...] 

I'm a little suprised to see so many people viewed your post and didn't respond. I'm going to respond as best I can - having not crossed over to valium per se, but i have some experience with Valium. 

I'm sorry you're experiencing such crippling anxiety... but take heart, you will have a beautiful time on your trip. 

Couple questions for you before I reply about tolerance. How many years were you on Xanax before crossing over? When exactly did you crossover to the valium? Did you have any issues when you crossed over? Are you having any other symptoms in addition to the anxiety? Example - Sleeplessness etc. 

Pending responses to your questions, I think it's unlikely you've hit tolerance (But I'd like to hear your responses.) Hang in there... things will improve. 

[[fu...]]

7 hours ago, [[i...] said:

Hi @[fu...] 

I'm a little suprised to see so many people viewed your post and didn't respond. I'm going to respond as best I can - having not crossed over to valium per se, but i have some experience with Valium. 

I'm sorry you're experiencing such crippling anxiety... but take heart, you will have a beautiful time on your trip. 

Couple questions for you before I reply about tolerance. How many years were you on Xanax before crossing over? When exactly did you crossover to the valium? Did you have any issues when you crossed over? Are you having any other symptoms in addition to the anxiety? Example - Sleeplessness etc. 

Pending responses to your questions, I think it's unlikely you've hit tolerance (But I'd like to hear your responses.) Hang in there... things will improve. 

Hey, Thank you for your reply x, Perhaps the people who have looked just didn't feel that they had the experience to share.

 

I was on 1mg of Xanax for 9 months, I crossed over in February 2023, I had a completely trouble free crossover (small mercies).

The only other thing going on right now is a terribly upset stomach, I have suffered from depression/anxiety for years and am prescribed Venlafaxine and quetiapine for these.  At the moment I am not sure if its my gut that is causing the anxiety or the Anxiety that is causing the gut, the 2 are so intertwined its hard to tell.  However my experience is that its not 'anxiety belly' that I am suffering, We came back from Cyprus in late October and since then my wife and Mother-in law have both been suffering stomach issues.

I havent been suffering sleeplessness as in general the 10mg of Valium I take at night does what it is supposed too. 

 

Thank you

 

F

[[me...]]

Hi fuzzyhead1977.  I'm quite new on here but I understand were you are coming from I'm tapering clonazapam1mg I was on it 7years for a dental procedure that went wrong.... I spend days in bed in so much discomfort. Plus the dental trauma is impossible to live with......I try and take things a day at a time..mornings seem to be the worst.....don't want to do anything...I live alone so it's ideal for me......you will enjoy your holiday what a lovely surprise for your wife and family 

Wishing you the best🙏

[[fu...]]

40 minutes ago, [[m...] said:

Hi fuzzyhead1977.  I'm quite new on here but I understand were you are coming from I'm tapering clonazapam1mg I was on it 7years for a dental procedure that went wrong.... I spend days in bed in so much discomfort. Plus the dental trauma is impossible to live with......I try and take things a day at a time..mornings seem to be the worst.....don't want to do anything...I live alone so it's ideal for me......you will enjoy your holiday what a lovely surprise for your wife and family 

Wishing you the best🙏

I envy you (at the difficult times) that you live alone, the pressure of being the bread winner in the family compounds the panic and overall worry that these episodes will lead me to a period where i am unable to work, the consequences of that would be dire for my family 

[[me...]]

I know it must be difficult you are being very strong I'm lucky I'm retired....had abad fall (due to the  (clonazapam) so full of metal lol so much for retirement I was a hiker long distance was planning to do the sancamino way but fate always steps in doesn't it..my family live away and my parents passed ,2017 so my times my own but stuck 

I do hope things work out for you you are doing really well I'm fairly new on here but I've learnt alot onbbs. So there is plenty of people to support you if you are not coping 

Wish you well 🙏

[[fu...]]

Just thought i would post an update in this in the hope it would help others.

 

I know it seemed to be the general consensus that IDW or tolerance to Diazepam couldn't be causing the symptoms i listed above but in a desperate effort to get table again so i didn't ruin our upcoming holiday and was not lying in bed feeling suicidal all day I tried up dosing and it seems to have done the trick, I now have three days behind me with no feelings of abnormality, I am certainly not in the place i was.

 

After i return from the holiday the plan is to go and speak to my PD and put a plan in place to withdraw from these although given the side effects of only reaching 'tolerance' i will be asking them to prescribe something to help that process, I have been reading positive studies about pregabalin being used to assists from Alcohol and BZD withdrawal so i will print these off and take them with me.

I cant believe (as most of you may agree) that i reached anxiolytic tolerance on Diazepam. Each of our bodies are different but it doesn't bode well for me that i was able to reach that stage.

 

Have a great day

 

Thank you

[[he...]]

On 21/11/2023 at 02:46, [[f...] said:

I envy you (at the difficult times) that you live alone, the pressure of being the bread winner in the family compounds the panic and overall worry that these episodes will lead me to a period where i am unable to work, the consequences of that would be dire for my family 

Hi @[fu...], I'm sorry you're going through this. It can be so awful, but it does get better if you can just get off and do some healing. I took clonazepam as needed (Klonopin/Rivotril) after a bout of panic attacks following a heart event, at usually .25 to .5 mg max per day. I began having an adverse reaction right away with a couple symptoms (severe palpitations and chest pain), and so my doctor and I decided going to a daily dose was the right thing to do. As more symptoms showed up, and my doctor didn't recognize it for what it was, I ended up at .875 mg. Once the chemical anxiety showed up and I couldn't sleep, I did my research, realized what was happening, told me doctor (who didn't believe me and told me to just stop taking it but agreed to let me taper at my own speed), and I tapered as fast as I could over 19.5 months. I've now been off just over a year, and the majority of symptoms are gone. The broken sleep got better fast while tapering, and the chemical anxiety actually disappeared a month before I jumped, but the majority of my taper was the worst torture I can imagine. Holding did not help me, because I was already in the midst of an adverse reaction, neuro injury, or "tolerance withdrawal" (whatever you want to call it).

Long story short: the fact that you can hold and feel OK is a good sign that you have not entered this stage, and if you taper at a rate that works for you, it may not be that bad. I wish you all the best in getting off this crap and the Effexor and Seroquel (in due time).