Oxazepam daily use for 2 months (sporadic use for 18months beforehand)

[[Ox...]]

Hi all, 

Firstly I've tried to add my history onto my profile but can't figure out how so apologies. 

I've been quite unwell the last 18months and despite my best intentions have found myself having been on daily oxazepam consistently for the last 8 weeks. 

At first it was 15-60mg a day. Since my last discharge from hospital 3 weeks ago it's been 15mg a day at night. No more. 

I am also currently on 150mg ER Seroquel, 100mg IR seroquel, 100mcg Clonidine and 2mg melatonin (and an antidepressant in the morning) 

I intend to wean completely off the clonidine, reduce the seroquel...and obviously off the Oxazepam. 

Now from what I read Oxaz is relatively short half life? So the fact I only take it once a day is probably a good thing that I can't be that dependant? Or at least I'm hoping? 

I do have a psychiatrist...but they're kind of leaving it up to me what I taper and when/which order etc. 

So what would you do? Start the Oxaz wean first and stay on the other shit for now? Or get rid of something else first? I'm sure I'm overthinking all of this but...my dad was an alcoholic, I saw him end up in the ICU with the DTs and I've always been scared to end up in a situation where I may be dependent on a similar kind of substance - yet here I find myself. 

[[Pa...]]

Hello @[Ox...], welcome to BenzoBuddies,

Now that your membership has been approved, you’ll be able to add your history, and thank you for understanding this is an important part of our being able to help you.

May I ask how long you’ve been on the Seroquel ER and IR and also how long you’ve been on the Clonodine?  And is your doctor supportive of you tapering off all of these medications?

I would think since you may have been on the Oxazepam for 8 weeks that it might be the best medication to start with.  While 8 weeks is past the time the manufacturers recommend to be on this drug, I’m hopeful your brain hasn’t become fully dependent on it and you may be able to taper off with minimal difficulty.

Let’s keep talking so we can help you figure this out.  

[[Ox...]]

Hi, 

I have been on seroquel in some form for around 5yrs now. However two months ago I got the 150mg extended release re-added as a daily dose (I was taking immediate release for sleep at 100mg before that but I have been on ER before thats how i originally started it). 

I still find I need the IR for sleep initiation, but I'm planning on weaning that off once I've worked on some of the other stuff and just staying on the extended release 150mg for anti-depressant augmentation. I will keep the IR going whilst I do my benzo wean though. 

The clonidine was randomly started about 4 months ago, for intense night sweats I was having at the time on a different anti-depressant (lexapro, which I've now switched to Brinitillex 10mg). It never worked for the night sweats, but I kind of just stayed on it. I've actually cut it from 100 to 50 in the last two weeks which I didn't mention in my original post sorry. So far it's been pretty painless to reduce and I'm planning on being off it in the next week. 

I have had 7 hospital stays in the last 2years basically, for depression anxiety and an eating disorder. So I'm a bit of a walking pharmacy now as things just got added and increased etc during my stays. I'm now trying to sort out the mess and the handful of pills I'm taking nightly. 

My psychiatrist is supportive of what I want to do. She never wanted me on the clonidine (that was started in hospital), obviously is keen for me to get back off the oxaz and reduce the seroquel but stay on the ER 150mg. 

My plan with the oxaz was to wean by quartering the 15mg tablets. But I realise this is more than the 10% recommended. Do you think it would be ok because I've been on it a relatively short amount of time? 

I have been using oxaz intermittently for 2 years but only daily for 8 weeks. I'm just scared and kind of frustrated I've ended up in this situation. People had been trying to prescribe benzos to me for years and I'd always refused until this time...because I've seen what alcohol did to my dad and I know I have a tendancy to become dependent on things too and also I'm a chronic insomniac with anxiety. I knew it would be too easy for me to become reliant on benzos, and it's true that I love oxazepam and how it helps me. I also know, for these reasons alone I need to get off before it becomes more of a long term issue and will only get harder with time. I'm glad to have found this board.

Sorry that was so long. 

[[Ox...]]

Side note. I am working in a job where I need my wits about me. So thats been protective in that I don't get tempted to take oxaz in the day if I'm at work - because I just can't. It also means I can't feel too unwell with withdrawal and do need to take things slow. I've had enough time off in the last couple of years already. 

[[Pa...]]

Hi @[Ox...], thanks for filling in your history a bit and I’m so glad you mentioned how long you’ve been taking Oxazepam, this is important information!  It’s possible for the body to become dependent on benzodiazepines even taken sporadically or PRN.  This says to me that you may need to go slower than you intend.  The fact that you need to have your wits about you for work is another reason for doing this slowly.

You could try a one quarter cut to see how you’re going to react but I’d opt for a smaller one because its easy to increase the cut but not so easy to pull back from intense withdrawal symptoms.

 

[[Ox...]]

Ok, so I would need a scale right? Maybe I'll order one and try the 25% cut then if it's too fast at least the scale will hopefully have arrived in the meantime for me to cut slower. Just feels counterproductive for 'getting off' to take longer than the whole time I've been on daily. But I'm overthinking it like I do everything lol 

[[Pa...]]

Hi @[Ox...], I’m sorry I didn’t see your response.  Did you order the scale?

I agree, it’s insane to taper the drug for longer than you took it and we hate to see that but functionality is important and your job is important so we have to do what it takes to keep our lives intact. 

[[Hu...]]

I took it for about 3 weeks and was having all kind of scary interdose withdrawal effects. It depends for which purpose you were put on them, for me it was anxiety. Then it's just a band-aid that is put on and pulled off every 5-6 hours. Terrible. I then was prescribed Lorazepam, which was.. better, in terms of duration.