Help please

[[Bu...]]

1 hour ago, [[L...] said:

Hi, Yes,I have. I also just started therapy.  I however feel so numb at the moment to everything.  Now I'm starting to feel Physical symptoms.  I have an old injury in my rotator cuff that healed. Now all the sudden I feel it again after 7 years. I'm wondering how I will eat? I can't even look at food . Thank you for writing me 

I remember panicking about eating at the start of withdrawal. 
it ended up being just a fear. I’ve been able to eat everyday, more on days with better sleep.

liquid food on terrible days. 

try not to panic if you vomit - you will still hold onto a lot of your nutrients and energy 

just try a bit of easy to digest food whenever you can

i would try to avoid too much sugar if you can

A lot of us lose weight during withdrawal, I’ve lost a lot of muscle mass in particular but I am unable to exercise. Are you able to exercise/be active? 
 

if so is there any green space you can go to? Could be distracting and soothing

i would definitely be in my garden if I could

i hardly ever feel at peace these days, apart from the occasional window. My symptoms are changing a lot. currently im anxious and impatient at rest. 
 

Getting through this involves a lot of acceptance about very uncomfortable feelings 

hope you get a window of peace very soon

[[Li...]]

How long were you on them for?  cold turkey? I'm sorry to hear about your situation?  Any tips on sleep. I sleep for 10 minutes and I'm up.  Sort of like nightmares 

[[Li...]]

1 hour ago, [[B...] said:

I remember panicking about eating at the start of withdrawal. 
it ended up being just a fear. I’ve been able to eat everyday, more on days with better sleep.

liquid food on terrible days. 

try not to panic if you vomit - you will still hold onto a lot of your nutrients and energy 

just try a bit of easy to digest food whenever you can

i would try to avoid too much sugar if you can

A lot of us lose weight during withdrawal, I’ve lost a lot of muscle mass in particular but I am unable to exercise. Are you able to exercise/be active? 
 

if so is there any green space you can go to? Could be distracting and soothing

i would definitely be in my garden if I could

i hardly ever feel at peace these days, apart from the occasional window. My symptoms are changing a lot. currently im anxious and impatient at rest. 
 

Getting through this involves a lot of acceptance about very uncomfortable feelings 

hope you get a window of peace very soon

How long were you on them for?  cold turkey? I'm sorry to hear about your situation?  Any tips on sleep. I sleep for 10 minutes and I'm up.  Sort of like nightmares 

[[Bu...]]

49 minutes ago, [[L...] said:

How long were you on them for?  cold turkey? I'm sorry to hear about your situation?  Any tips on sleep. I sleep for 10 minutes and I'm up.  Sort of like nightmares 

3.5 weeks of daily zopiclone use 7.5mg 

then stopped it over three days

im very sensitive to meds cos of long covid (worked this out the hard way!)

my best tips on sleep (none of which I can do myself anymore due to severe long covid fatigue lol) that used to work for me

- morning sunshine to stimulate melatonin 

- exercise to make yourself physically tired and distract from mood

- no screens one hour before bedtime - regular bedtime

- no caffeine 

- warm bath to relax muscles before bed - could try Epsom salts

- evening walk

- burn candle just before bed 

sadly a lot of people withdrawing including myself get light sleep with very vivid dreams. I often wake with palpitations/ anxiety not feeling refreshed. Sleep often feels stressful for me but that is much better than when I don’t sleep at all.

i find it helps to stretch and lie on my front sometimes hugging a pillow when I have a lot of anxiety at night

i also try to get bedroom to the right temperature before I sleep as much as possible 

good luck

feel free to send me a message to let me know how your sleep goes 

 

[[Li...]]

19 hours ago, [[E...] said:

@[Li...] Please don't panic! After reading your previous posts, it appears that until Monday you were dosing 1.5-2 mg per day. On Tuesday you started splitting your doses to 0.5/0.5/0.5 at 7, 2, 9 for a total of 1.5 mg per day. Is that correct? If so, you have make 2 rather significant changes in just 2 days – now maintaining a 1.5 mg dose and splitting your morning 1 mg dose . I would suspect that your nervous system is struggling to adjust to these changes. Since you no longer take a “rescue” dose of 0.5 mg, your body is essentially adjusting to a "25%" reduction. In addition, people often experience what feels like withdrawal when they first split a dose (even if the daily dose remains the same). I think it is also significant that your doses are not spread evenly apart. I have found dosing at 8 hour intervals very helpful (6am/2pm/10pm) so that my blood serum levels remain constant. Since you apparently felt well yesterday, I would suspect that if you have patience, your system will stabilize within the next 1 to 2 weeks. It is an unfortunate fact that it takes time for our bodies to adjust to change. And, again unfortunately, the only thing we can do is wait.

It will get better! Just be patient!

Thank you so much. Do you think 25 percent of a reduction was to much? I started taking them about 5 weeks ago. Sometimes just a .5 a day. Then I would just take another dose if anxiety came up. I just randomly would take them if I would feel panick. I don't think I ever exceeded 2mg 

[[Bo...]]

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

Thank you so much. I can't eat

Try soup. Things that are light and that you don't have to chew. I could not eat either. Had terrible nausea and pain in my jaws. But i forced myself. Little bits all day long. Felt better after eating. 

[[El...]]

@[Li...] All the symptoms you have described (nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, dizziness, panic, manic episodes, insomnia, numbness, etc) are classic withdrawal symptoms. I (as well as most others in this community) have experienced some or all of them to some degree.  @[Pa...] is correct. These are very powerful drugs which can lead to dependency in as little as 5 weeks (even at low and sporatic dosing), resulting in all the symptoms you have described.

So, you really only have two choices. You can wait until you become stable at 1.5 mg. This will take time and patience. Or you can updose to 1.75 mg. Again, you are going to have to wait. And it will also take time and patience. Unfortunately, this is not a process that you can wish away or find some “magic” formula to take away. There are, of course, various coping mechanisms which many find helpful.  But the only real path is patiently waiting until your body adjusts. I would caution you that you need to decide if you are going to either stay at 1.5 mg or updose to 1.75 mg. Once you decide, you need to stick to it regardless of how you feel. Every time you make another ”adjustment” your body has to restart the stabilization process.

Hoping you begin to feel better!  Please keep us up-dated.

 

[[Li...]]

6 minutes ago, [[E...] said:

@[Li...] All the symptoms you have described (nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, dizziness, panic, manic episodes, insomnia, numbness, etc) are classic withdrawal symptoms. I (as well as most others in this community) have experienced some or all of them to some degree.  @[Pa...] is correct. These are very powerful drugs which can lead to dependency in as little as 5 weeks (even at low and sporatic dosing), resulting in all the symptoms you have described.

So, you really only have two choices. You can wait until you become stable at 1.5 mg. This will take time and patience. Or you can updose to 1.75 mg. Again, you are going to have to wait. And it will also take time and patience. Unfortunately, this is not a process that you can wish away or find some “magic” formula to take away. There are, of course, various coping mechanisms which many find helpful.  But the only real path is patiently waiting until your body adjusts. I would caution you that you need to decide if you are going to either stay at 1.5 mg or updose to 1.75 mg. Once you decide, you need to stick to it regardless of how you feel. Every time you make another ”adjustment” your body has to restart the stabilization process.

Hoping you begin to feel better!  Please keep us up-dated.

1.5.  Do you know how long it might take to adjust? 

[[Li...]]

7 minutes ago, [[E...] said:

@[Li...] All the symptoms you have described (nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, dizziness, panic, manic episodes, insomnia, numbness, etc) are classic withdrawal symptoms. I (as well as most others in this community) have experienced some or all of them to some degree.  @[Pa...] is correct. These are very powerful drugs which can lead to dependency in as little as 5 weeks (even at low and sporatic dosing), resulting in all the symptoms you have described.

So, you really only have two choices. You can wait until you become stable at 1.5 mg. This will take time and patience. Or you can updose to 1.75 mg. Again, you are going to have to wait. And it will also take time and patience. Unfortunately, this is not a process that you can wish away or find some “magic” formula to take away. There are, of course, various coping mechanisms which many find helpful.  But the only real path is patiently waiting until your body adjusts. I would caution you that you need to decide if you are going to either stay at 1.5 mg or updose to 1.75 mg. Once you decide, you need to stick to it regardless of how you feel. Every time you make another ”adjustment” your body has to restart the stabilization process.

Hoping you begin to feel better!  Please keep us up-dated.

Thank you so much. 1.5. Do you know how long it takes to stabilize 

[[El...]]

@[Li...] It is very difficult to set a time frame on stabilization.  It may take only days or it could take a few weeks.  For some, it has taken a few months.  You already had a little "mini" window on Wednesday, so I would suspect it will take just a few weeks.  But we are all different and unique.  Please just be patient, wait, and trust your body "to figure this out".

So very sorry you have to endure this!

[[Li...]]

4 minutes ago, [[E...] said:

@[Li...] It is very difficult to set a time frame on stabilization.  It may take only days or it could take a few weeks.  For some, it has taken a few months.  You already had a little "mini" window on Wednesday, so I would suspect it will take just a few weeks.  But we are all different and unique.  Please just be patient, wait, and trust your body "to figure this out".

So very sorry you have to endure this!

Thank you.  If it takes months to stabilize on that dose let's say? Isn't that just more use of the Ativan in my system. I'd have to possibly wait months to taper? 

[[Pa...]]

1 minute ago, [[L...] said:

Thank you.  If it takes months to stabilize on that dose let's say? Isn't that just more use of the Ativan in my system. I'd have to possibly wait months to taper? 

While we hoped you might be able to taper quickly due to your short usage, there was always a possibility that your symptoms would be too severe to allow this.  Right now, we're in the process of finding out if you can do a rapid taper but first we're working to stabilize you so you can begin this experiment. 

[[Li...]]

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

While we hoped you might be able to taper quickly due to your short usage, there was always a possibility that your symptoms would be too severe to allow this.  Right now, we're in the process of finding out if you can do a rapid taper but first we're working to stabilize you so you can begin this experiment. 

Thank you 😇.  One more IMPORTANT question? I can't pick up the .5 prescription until tomorrow. I've been dry cutting the 1MG with a pill cuter. My concern is that it may not be perfectly cut. ? Could this be causing a issue. T.Y. So much

[[Li...]]

Just now, [[L...] said:

Thank you 😇.  One more IMPORTANT question? I can't pick up the .5 prescription until Monday I've been dry cutting the 1MG with a pill cuter. My concern is that it may not be perfectly cut. ? Could this be causing a issue. T.Y. So much

 

[[Li...]]

Just now, [[L...] said:

1 minute ago, [[L...] said:

Thank you 😇.  One more IMPORTANT question? I can't pick up the .5 prescription until Monday I've been dry cutting the 1MG with a pill cuter. My concern is that it may not be perfectly cut. ? Could this be causing a issue. T.Y. So much.   PS. I've been cutting the pill in half for a weeks now. I'm sure it isn't equal measurements 

 

[[Pa...]]

Inexact cuts are a typical bi-product of this process and yes, they can play a role in how we feel. 

Tell me how you use the pieces you cut, do you use them all in a day?  By this I mean, sometimes we'll cut a pill into halves and one side will be larger than the other but if we take both sides during the same 24 hour period, we're getting the whole pill at some point.

[[Li...]]

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

Inexact cuts are a typical bi-product of this process and yes, they can play a role in how we feel. 

Tell me how you use the pieces you cut, do you use them all in a day?  By this I mean, sometimes we'll cut a pill into halves and one side will be larger than the other but if we take both sides during the same 24 hour period, we're getting the whole pill at some point.

Ahh good point. I have to make sure of that. I have cut 3 or 4 at a time but not today. It's the same pill

[[Li...]]

18 hours ago, [[L...] said:

Ahh good point. I have to make sure of that. I have cut 3 or 4 at a time but not today. It's the same pill

Improvement since 6 pm last night. I was actually able to sleep. Not straight through, but I would have a couple of hours, and then I could go right back to sleep. My muscle aches also subsided so much. I was also able to vacuum, shower, and do some tasks. However, i'm starting to notice this morning other things creeping in. It's hard for me to focus on one thing, I'm slow to do anything, and at times, I feel like I can't properly or don't want to talk. I'm noticing my speech is weird or at least I'm thinking so ( maybe it's anxiety telling me this). I definitely can't talk long. 

[[Li...]]

Improvement since 6 pm last night. I was actually able to sleep. Not straight through, but I would have a couple of hours, and then I could go right back to sleep. My muscle aches also subsided so much. I  was  also able to vacuum, shower, and do some tasks. However, i'm starting to notice this morning other things creeping in. It's hard for me to focus on one thing, I'm slow to do anything,  and at times, I feel like I can't properly or don't want to talk. I'm noticing my speech is weird or at least I'm thinking so ( maybe it's anxiety telling me this). I definitely can't talk long. 

[[El...]]

So glad to hear you are improving and that you were able to return to a somewhat normal routine!  Your symptoms, again, are classic withdrawal symptoms. Please try to not focus on them.  It is so hard not to, I know!  But anxiety feeds more anxiety.

Seems like you are turning a corner towards stability.  Hoping your day continues to improve!

[[Li...]]

7 minutes ago, [[E...] said:

So glad to hear you are improving and that you were able to return to a somewhat normal routine!  Your symptoms, again, are classic withdrawal symptoms. Please try to not focus on them.  It is so hard not to, I know!  But anxiety feeds more anxiety.

Seems like you are turning a corner towards stability.  Hoping your day continues to improve!

Thank you. Do I wait a few more days or a week for stability in order to taper if things improve? 

[[El...]]

To ensure you are really stable, I would wait at last a week.  I find my most successful reductions are done from a place of stability.

Hope your day is going well!

[[Li...]]

2 minutes ago, [[E...] said:

To ensure you are really stable, I would wait at last a week.  I find my most successful reductions are done from a place of stability.

Hope your day is going well!

Thank you Ellie, I agree because Although I am doing a bit better today. It still comes in waves, but I have about a 30 percent window so far today. Fatigue is still here. 

[[Li...]]

On 03/08/2024 at 02:30, [[B...] said:

That happened to me while tapering. First day was ok and then it got worse. I just accepted it. Took a couch day and waited it out. It would take a week or more to stabilise. Once stable i waited another few days for the next cut. I only did a cut on one dose at the time. Stabilize and cut another dose. And so on. I found that the middle dose was the easiest. That was the first to go entirely. Night one the last. But that maybe different for you. Try to keep to the hours. Otherwise you end up having to take in the middle of the night. Even if it gets bad. Just ride it out till its time. Its going to be unpleasant, but I am now 16 days post jump and improving a lot. I still have bad days, but I will never touch ativan again. I threw them all away. 

How Long were you on them ? and how long did it take you to taper? I hope you're feeling better 

[[Pa...]]

I’m glad you’re seeing some improvement but I see other symptoms are creeping in, this is how it goes.  Sometimes the symptoms will leave then return, sometimes they’ll leave and get replaced by another.  Our symptoms wax and wane, we never know how we’re going to feel from one minute to the next.  Just letting you know what to expect.