Intrusive thoughts starts random

[[Pa...]]

Hi everyone,

 

I quit benzos 3 months ago and it was brutal.

After 3 months of beeing Home i was go back to work. After one week of work Intrusive thoghts starting. Is that possible that Intrusive thoughts starting aber 3 moths?

I Never had this before. First i thought its the Remeron which i cut the Dose from 8-4mg, but i took it before benzos and Never had a problem with going up or down.

What u guys think? Sorry for my englisch i am from Germany.

[[Bu...]]

Hi @[Pa...],

Welcome to Benzobuddies.

I'm sorry for everything that you are dealing with.  It is fairly common for new symptoms to pop up throughout the withdrawal process and generally speaking, 3 months off is still fairly early in recovery.

Can I ask what benzo you were taking and for how long?  Did you taper off or just quit taking it?  These things can have an impact on withdrawal.

I also took Remeron many years ago and I didn't have any issues with it either, but I know that everyone is different.  I'm sure that other people will have some experience with that as well and respond soon.

I am really glad you found us and we'll do our best to support you.  And your English is fine.  

[[Pa...]]

I was on Xanax for 2 months and had withdrawal for 6 months and everything was fine. My Anxiety game back so i start taking a GABA supplement for 3 months, after 3 months taking it i stopped it cold turkey and since that i have pure withdrawal hell. 
Only a little Stress now trigger intrusive thoughts and audical hallicunations. If i am doing nothing and take enough remeron its ok. Maybe my Stress System is overactive.

[[Bu...]]

@[Pa...],

21 minutes ago, [[P...] said:

Maybe my Stress System is overactive.

Yes, I would agree with this.  Our central nervous systems can get very over active during withdrawal and cause many strange symptoms.  It is not surprising that your return to work caused some new symptoms.  Often we experience either an increase in current symptoms or new ones appear when we make changes to our routines.  Usually, given enough time, things settle back down, but I know how frustrating and frightening it can be when it happens.

[[Pa...]]

Thanks alot to your answers, it gives me hope that everything turns back to normal.

The Intrusive thoughts und audical hallicunations are scary, like a loud loughing inside my head. I know i should be ignoring it but its diffucult. How to cope with that? And ideas? I read that this Symptoms are a good sign that the nervous System is going back to normal.

[[Pa...]]

By the way thanks a lot to helping me out.

Edited March 27 by [Pa...]

[[ve...]]

The issue with intrusive thoughts is the fear of losing one's mind or acting on them.  Just let them pass, without identifying with them or getting angry from getting them.

The point comes when a thought pops up that is so absurb that you just laugh it off.  Then the whole thing subsides on its own.

The good thing is that you're dealing with them when you're at work. It's much better than at home alone for 2 reasons:

- Thoughts bounce between 4 walls.

- The need to not freak out in front of people forces you to be in control. 

You become stronger as a result.

[[Pa...]]

I was at home for another 2 weeks, cause everything seems like stress. But i know it beeing a home doesn‘t make it better.

Everytime this laughing  come up which sounds like a Clown is in

my head my anxiety flares up. I know its sounds stupid but it is what it is. I never had Problems with intrusive thoughts and Sounds before i go on withdrawal with GABA supplements. 

[[Bu...]]

@[Pa...],

3 hours ago, [[P...] said:

I read that this Symptoms are a good sign that the nervous System is going back to normal.

Yes, this is true.  All of the symptoms that we deal with are signs that our brain is sorting through things and healing.  It can cause some very, very strange things, though.  Sometimes I hear the sound of a carnival or random music.  Turning on something else during the day such as the TV or listening to music helps to drown it out.  At night a sound machine helps a lot.  The sounds in my head just sort of fade into the background of the noise machine.   Also, when it starts, sometimes I deliberately think of a song and start singing that in my head or out loud to drown it out.   And @[ve...] is right, trying not to react too much to it seems to help it pass more quickly.

[[Pa...]]

Its a very tough Challenge, to stay calm as good as you can. I hope that one day we back to normal and can be happy again.

[[Bu...]]

It is very challenging, but we can do it.  And I really do believe that we will heal.  You might want to read some of the Success Stories on this site; they are very inspiring and full of reassurance and hope.  Many, many people, who had terrible withdrawal have now healed and are back to living their normal, happy lives.

 

[[Pa...]]

I will do it. Remeron seems to help a lot, it keeps the anxiety and Intrusive thoughts at bay. At one point today, i thought it was the Remeron that trigger the Intrusive thoughts cause i was changing my Dose from 8-4mg, but i had never problems with it so i guess it just a better day today.

[[Bu...]]

I'm glad that you are getting some relief from the Remeron.  Changing the dose could be contributing to your intrusive thoughts just because it seems that during withdrawal any changes that we make, big or small, can have an impact on our symptoms.  Even things that didn't bother us before.  But, it will most likely settle back down with time.  

If you just made the switch to 4 mgs, it may just take some time for things to calm down.

[[Pa...]]

As soon as the Remeron drug level drops down the full withdrawal from the GABA hits me…. thats crazy.

[[...]]

I am also dealing with intrusive thoughts, different thought processes, vivid memories from a long time ago.  I will say my symptoms have changed a lot over my withdrawal course.  Just a month ago I was delusional, SI, depressed, no energy.  Now I have heightened anxiety, OCD tendencies, memories popping up, "motor mind", hyperactive energy.  Though overall I am doing SO MUCH better than I was.  I am 6 weeks off of a 6+ year relationship with benzo/z-drugs.  I had a real talk with my psychiatrist  recently.  They said average withdrawal timeline for my period of use was 6 months.  So seems like I have months to go with hopeful continual improvement along the way.  I am not working which helps significantly.  I don't think I could handle the day to day grind as this would take all the energy that I am currently using to heal and get well.

 

Hope this helps.

[[Ri...]]

This may sound silly but I make friends with my intrusive, scary thought and welcome them all into my awareness to hang out. The thought then lose their hold on me.

[[Pa...]]

 

@[Ri...]

 

it sounds perfect to me, thats the only way. If you push it away it comes back stronger.

 

[[Pa...]]

@[...]
 

Ya that help i didn‘t know that the withdrawal symptoms can change from week to week. I just took it 3 months and still have heavy withdrawal. I read that everything about 2 months of use have withdrawal from 6-12 months If you are unlucky a way more.

[[Ri...]]

On 28/03/2024 at 13:27, [[P...] said:

@[Ri...]

it sounds perfect to me, thats the only way. If you push it away it comes back stronger.

Yep. I just let the thoughts in, or welcome them in, throw a party for them, so to speak. They then usually leave one I disarm them and tell myself I’ve had them before and their all (thoughts) liars.