10,9,8,7

[[Fr...]]

Hello ,

I was on the topic below but i think that it's closed. I didn't stop the withdrawal, now i am at 1 mg Valium at night. So hard, but i have to go on , i took a vacance from work.

 

HAVE A GOOD DAY

[[Ko...]]

wow- great job. How did you get from 9 mg of valium to 1 mg?

I am currently at 6.75 valium and decreasing by .5 mg each month.

What kind of symptoms are you having?

[[Fr...]]

I decresed 1mg every 1-2 weeks.

I have always diziness and problem of focus at work, sometimes needels in the arms and legs,diareheea, trow up,etc

 

I hope that all my sympthoms will dissepear relatively quick

Next week i will drop to zero normaly

Edited February 28 by [Fr...]

[[Fr...]]

Hello , yestarday i droped down to 0 Valium,no benzodiazepines and i could sleep a little bit. It's very hard but Ashton make a little bit easy to lean off. Wish you luck in your withdrawal.

I still am on 60mg/day Fluoxetine.

[[Ko...]]

congratulations! I am happy for you. I can't wait to be off this medication but I am scared to go as fast as you did.

[[Fr...]]

thank you , i think it's better if you take your time if you can.

[[Ko...]]

Were you able to work through this?  I am going slower than you. I have to work to support my family. I am at 6.5 mg and make decreases every 2 weeks. I am not sure whether to decrease by .5 mg or .25 mg this time. I feel tired and unmotivated in general.

Did you have much anxiety?

[[Fr...]]

I have to tell you it's not easy , now i have the same symphoms that i had before taking Xanax . i was on 8 mg daily on Xanax.

Now it's been a week with no benzodiazepines, depression,anxiety,tremor it's turning back but i have to go on. I don't want to turn back .

 

Take care of you

[[Fr...]]

You can decrease max 1 mg every 1-2 week, becouse i think long decrease it's not ok, you will suffer more.It's my opinion.

 

The last drop is difficult, i started to drink alchool for coping. Sad.....

Edited March 14 by [Fr...]

[[Ko...]]

I am sorry for your struggles. Best not to drink from what I have read.

I am scared that I will lose my job if I go too fast...so I dropped by .5 this time- will aim to decrease every 2 weeks.

 

[[Fr...]]

To answer your question, i am jobless, i can't work because of the withdrawal. 

[[Ko...]]

oh I am so sorry that you can't work. That is my worst fear. How do you survive?

[[Fr...]]

I did not took benzo since 4 months ago. I have still some symptoms, but not so much.  I take Olanzepine to counter this.I don't know if is a successful story yet. But I just found a new job and the life become at normality little by little. Thanks to forum and Slow Tapering by Ashton. Don't go Cold Turkey in my opinion. 

 

Hang in there. 

Edited June 5 by [Fr...]
Later edit,I drink everyday 200 ml de Vodka after 7:00 pm.Don't try this ,you can get hooked on Vodka.

[[Ja...]]

Franchguy. Well done man,.always good to see some1 that’s jumped of this crap

[[Fr...]]

Thanks, I wish u luck. 

[[Fr...]]

Hey Buddies,

I am free of benzo from 6 months. I hâd some bad news and I took for a week 0.5 mg Xanax at sleep. After I made CT, and 3 days în hell. Now it's ok,but I don't belive the Power of this meds. I don't know how I could get rid of them.thanks God.  Hang in there, slow tapering it's the key in my opinion. 

[[Ja...]]

Orite buddy,.good to see you with an update,.how’s the olazipine going?,.I’m only asking as I was offered that this week

is it helping to relax and sleep well again,.I’m very reluctant to start it just going what I’ve read about it online 

[[Fr...]]

I tried all meds , olanzepine it's working very well for me. 300 mg at sleep and 100mg in the morning. I also take Gabapentine and Fluoxetine. And vitamines. 

[[Fr...]]

Not Olanzepine,  Quetiapine.  Sorry

[[Fr...]]

 

 

Hello Guys ,

Sorry for my english.

I want to share my story with you : WHY SUFFERING ? There are coping skills and coping substances, all you need is  google.

I worked like crazy for 10 years, i had my company, i was secretary, director, accountant, worker, etc, I worked 12-14 hours a day. I had a BurnOut in 2018 followed by a severe depression . I went to a psychiatrist , and the "story" begins :

*Chapter 1 -  My situation :

- I didn't read the adverse effects of benzodiazepines,big mistake, I hadn't even heard of them, I just said they were normal pills, I trusted the doctor.

- I felt so bad that I was able to take even poison only to escape from the suffering.

-doc put me at the beginning 2mg of X, I was confident 100% because he is a doctor.

-After another week, still in severe depression->doc put me on 4mg X + Ambien at bedtime. (Do not take Ambien if you take Benzos, in my opinion do not take Ambien at all,Ambien is worse than benzos, it's called Z-drugs, when you taper you won't be able to sleep for days).

-After one week, still in severe depression-> doc put on 6mg X and Ambien (after i googled Ambien  I stopped by my self Ambien->didn't sleep for 3 days in a row, only for one week of Ambien, imagine how hard is this drug )

-After another week, still in severe depression -> doc put on 8mg X and Ambien( I stopped taking Ambien, but I kept it ).

-After one month of 8 mg X, still in severe depression 

-After 6 month of 8 mg X, still in severe depression  --> suicide attempts(with overdose from the stock of Ambien that I hadn't taken, but I had gathering . In France pills are free, 0 euros ).

-I was still alive,Ambien didn't kill me, so  I told myself that it's time to do something.

-For a period of one month I googled it, when all day in bed we have time to read : I found Ashton Manual:tapering plans that worked for a majority of people, how benzodiazepines acts , if you understand how it works you will be less scared. If you will find your coping skills it will not be so hard. Just google it, and watch the successful stories :).

*Chapter 2: How benzodiazepines work,in my opinion

-Being an Engineer i tried to approach a scientific way , doctors give you only statistics (you have 25% chances of benzodiazepines PAWS, you have X% chances to have X  disease ). They are right because everyone is different , it depends which benzo you take, for how long, which amount daily, etc.

-Even in engineering, nothing is 100% perfect and there are margins of error,maybe in quantum physics at the atomic level, things become somewhat more precise, but we still have more to learn,but this is another topic. The important thing is that all matter tends to go to equilibrium, no matter time.

-Healthy people have an equilibrium state of the chemicals in the brain. People with depression (I didn't search for other mental diseases) have an imbalance, what i understand it's that in the brain you have two types neurotransmitters, ones that acts like a brake pedal, and others that acts like a throttle pedal. in analogy you have to maintain a constant speed of 50 km/h using this two pedals. If you are healthy your brain keeps the constant speed using these two pedals, if you break too much (depressant effect,calm,etc), or increase the speed too much (anxiety,panique,agitation,etc).

Benzodiazepines enhance the activity of the neurotransmitter GABA, a chemical in the brain that helps you to feel calm,it releases Dopamine, so it acts like a brake pedal in a car.Our brain is sometimes lazy, and it likes Dopamine.It wants also sugar,chocolate,coffee,etc(weak drugs ),it likes to get stuff for free. So if you give it substances like Benzo or other drugs (legal/not legal) it will not produce by itself any more Dopamine or Serotonin because you give it to it for free Ok,but the problem is that it gets used to it in time, and if you don't give it to him anymore, then it can't compensate immediately and enters, let's say, in emergency mode (it has no more brakes or it accelerates too much). So without breaks the neurons fire like crazy and you will feel symptoms of withdrawal. There are people born with brake/throttle pedal broken, or who have suffered a trauma.

*Chapter 3: My withdrawal/My coping skills

- no matter what medicine or substance you take, always CHECK the side effects and which organs it affects.

- I started a withdrawal like Asthon, 10% every week, I wanted to go faster.very hard withdrawal, at the beginning in the bed all day.

- First I tried psychic techniques like CBT, which did not work for me.

- sport, impossible , even going to the bathroom was a big challenge.

- I did a blood test,liver,heart and lungs : everything Ok.

- so I started to search for substances that can operate at the same receptors,or that increase Dopamine/Serotonin, and also CHECK  the side effects of those substances, as well as which organs they affect.

- I was put on RSSI drugs, like Prozac, a little better after one month.

- Then I found CBD oil (legal ,CBD may help people overcome various addictions. People commonly report that oral CBD helps relieve anxiety and pain and can lead to better sleep. CBD can be taken as a pill, found in a gummy, taken as a tincture, or smoked (which isn't a healthy way to consume it)  . It has a calming effect and it helped me a little bit.

- after I tried "green stuff" (CBD+THC) ,dangerous,don't try,but much much better for me.Don't get high, only to feel the relief, don't use drugs to get high, you will get hooked maybe.

- I also found alcohol that acts at the same receptors GABA. A very dangerous,don't try , but much much better for me, don't drink heavily like to start dancing,etc., just to feel the relief .

- so during my withdrawal , i oscillated, one week "green stuff", one week alcohol, i don't want to get stuck on one substance.

- Don't abuse, read the side effects of those substances, make blood tests,liver,hearts, lungs.

- With RSSI(Prozac),CBD oil , "green stuff" and "alcohol" my withdrawal was not so hard,so I could have a job.

- Now I am already +half a year off Benzos, i have a job, new girlfriend, stopped "green stuff" and "alcohol", i use only CBD oil and i am in RSSI (Prozac) tapering,but .

- I don't have any addiction at all anymore. Just smoking cigarettes.

 

 That's my story, I am not a doctor, if you try this it's at your own risk.

 

Hang in there, the time is also a good drug.you will not die in benzo withdrawal, the  only addiction where you can die is alcohol (Delirium Tremens 5%-10% risk to die if not under medical supervision)

[[JA...]]

Really Good to hear your doing well buddy,..you done it your own way and nailed it

There's not a perfect way to get through this but looks like it worked out for you

A week on the booze then a week on Bob marleys funky stuff is a nice thought if i knew it would work for me 😆 

[[Ta...]]

What form of alcohol did you use...and how much? And what form of the green stuff, and how much, please? Really curious. Glad you are well!

[[Fr...]]

1.Doesn't matter, what do you like to drink alchool it's alchool no matter it's beer,wine, vodka or else. Don't drink to get high, just to go away the symptoms. Alchool kicks in 30-40 min. I drunk a little bit, waited for 30 min,if no relief, another little bit and so on. I want to remind you that benzo+alchool it's very risky combination.  You take at own risk. 

2. Weed ,like alchool, a little bit,wait, another little bit.

Don't get drunk or too high, use like therapy not like drugs to get high. 

Better it's not to take any of these. But when you are in withdrawal you are ready to sell your soul to hell,just to feel some relief.

hang in there buddy's. 

[[Ta...]]

On 07/09/2024 at 05:45, [[F...] said:

1.Doesn't matter, what do you like to drink alchool it's alchool no matter it's beer,wine, vodka or else. Don't drink to get high, just to go away the symptoms. Alchool kicks in 30-40 min. I drunk a little bit, waited for 30 min,if no relief, another little bit and so on. I want to remind you that benzo+alchool it's very risky combination.  You take at own risk. 

2. Weed ,like alchool, a little bit,wait, another little bit.

Don't get drunk or too high, use like therapy not like drugs to get high. 

Better it's not to take any of these. But when you are in withdrawal you are ready to sell your soul to hell,just to feel some relief.

hang in there buddy's. 

 

Thank you for this, Mr. French, beautifully stated.

[[Fr...]]

If you use alcohol (i repeat, very dangerous, you do this at your ownrisk), buy please drink à lot of whater and take B vitamines.

Hang in there, find your coping skills.

It will be nice to create à sub-forum "coping skills ".