Body weak, tongue twitches and spasm like crazy

[[iz...]]

Hey everyone. I pray you are all well and successful in your journey. I tapered of valium successfully 3 weeks ago. Had palpations, headaches, depression, fatigue, anxiety, basically the works. One symptom which has freaked me out is my tongue spasms/twitches. Even when I'm laying down my tongue is break dancing and doing all sorts of things. Anyone else have this? Went to the E.R today and was dismissed and told it's most likely from withdrawal. Argh I've never felt like this before, it feels like torture. Also quit alcohol 3 months ago and smoking. 

[[Pa...]]

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

My tongue symptom wasn’t quite like yours but it drove me nuts!  The tip of my tongue was always sore and come to find out, I was rubbing it on the roof of my mouth enough to form a blister.  I couldn’t stop myself from doing it even after I became aware of what was happening.

Like I said, mine was different but it just goes to show how many ways this process and its symptoms presents itself.  We have thousands of pages describing symptoms that we’ve felt and each of us feel them differently.

We’re glad you’re here and hope we can reassure you that what you’re feeling is normal, well, normal for this process. 

[[iz...]]

Hey @[Pa...]Thank you for the message. Yes, the tip of my tongue is sore too, feels like I have burnt it. I'm doing that as we speak lol my tongue keeps pushing towards my front tooth, and I'm aware of this yet I keep doing it. 

 

Yes you're right, this is insane. I've never felt like this before. The constant new symptoms on a daily is rather alarming. Right now my face is tingling, my muscles feel so tense and weak. It's a struggle to even type right now. I hope we can all fully recover or somewhat recover and heal. I'll never touch a benzo ever again. Alcohol wasn't even that difficult to quit, this stuff is on another level. 

 

Did you get the muscle tension also? I feel like my limbs are weak and so tense. 

[[Pa...]]

I had muscle tension but not to the extent some of our members do, its brutal but understandable since benzodiazepines are excellent muscle relaxers.

May I ask, how long your taper was, and how long were you on Valium?  I agree, alcohol was much easier to quit, not the social aspect but after a few weeks I felt great, with benzodiazepines, the recovery took months. 

Your symptoms will continue to wax and wane, new ones will show up, only to be replaced by others at some point.  It’s maddening and scary but normal. 

[[iz...]]

@[Pa...] Mine last week were intense, they've some what subsided this week. 

My taper was 2 months. I quit cold turkey 2 weeks before that and the reason I went back on is because I didn't know you had to taper of these damn things. My dr didn't tell me anything. So yeah, when I quit, 2 weeks later I had to call ambulance because I thought I was having a heart attack, turns out it was withdrawal from this poison. I took valium off and on for about 5 years, so there was a time when I was just taking 5mg here and there, not consistent like I did this time which urged me to quit. 

Thank you for the reassurance that this is all normal in withdrawal (which certainly doesn't seem it at all). I can't believe what this stuff does to us mentally and physically. 

 

 

[[Pa...]]

Oh my, that was a rapid taper, pretty much a continuation of your cold turkey but I’m relived to know your symptoms are milder this week.  As I mentioned, your symptoms will wax and wane which is really discouraging because you’ll think you’re finally getting better, then something will pop up.

I want to make you aware of how sensitive your central nervous system is right now, and stress seems to be what ramps our symptoms up, so avoid it if you can.  

Also, some members have mentioned sensitivity to certain foods, medications and supplements so pay attention to what could be triggering yours and avoid if you can.  But a note of caution there too, try not to over-react because another one of our symptoms is fear, irrational, and oftentimes unreasonable fear.  This can have us making shortsighted decisions when holding steady and evaluating would be wiser.  

[[iz...]]

@[Pa...] Yes the symptoms are definitely much milder this week. I do wake up with panic attacks every morning which I am learning to manage with simple breathing exercises and simply just accepting then as the process of recovery. 

Thank you so much for the advice and information you have provided, much appreciated. 

I've noticed the more you thing about the symptoms, the worse they get. It's hard to ignore them, but once you do they eventually fade. I hope we can all over come this and heal/recover 

 

[[Pa...]]

You’ve discovered distraction @[iz...], good for you!  Yes, anything you can use to distract from the symptoms is great, even a few moments of relief can help.

It sounds like you’re dealing with morning cortisol, our body systems rely on cortisol to get us going in the morning, but when we’re feeling like this, its quite the jolt which many members say lasts well into the afternoon.  I’m happy you’re able to breathe through your panic, that’s an excellent tool. 

[[iz...]]

@[Pa...] Yes distraction, it works to an extent. Today has been hell to be honest, started ok but for the last 2 hours I've been having muscle tension, tongue feels numb, face twitches, leg weakness, the lot.

Your right, when you get even just a minute of relief you feel human for that moment and then boom, back to reality.

This is literally a living nightmare