Post Benzo Protracted Withdrawal Support Group

[[ve...]]

Vertigo it is kind of you to offer support and advice to others not so far along in the timeline to recovery...very helpful.  This is kinda like a book...I am on chapter 13 andd you are on chapter 27...you know more of what it is all about becasue you are further along in the book. Cngrats on 27 months off Vertigo...nice. You have been off Valium twice as long as i have at 13+ months.... I had some anxiety issues that translated to poor sleep so that is why I started with the Valium back in 2004.  It worked well for me for three or four years then needed to increase dose  becauseame tolerant...then I decided to stop and not go any further and glad i did that.  Enough is enough.....I fear Vertigo like cancer.  I have not had any attacks but hope I never do again....I had my Vertigo only in the morning when I woke up for ten days straight...sucked believe me. So far no more...like you..no more....whew!  Sleep is bad for me still.....I use suppliments a few times a week.  Had some success with Passion Flower....caps and tea.  Calms me right down if I feel stressed mostly right before bedtime and after dinner.  I will check out the thread yo are talking about...the info and supprt makkes this long and horrible process easier for me...thans so much..

Andy

 

Hi Andy.  Thanks for the kind words. Yes, the vertigo was also my worst side effect of using/going off valium.  I thought I was having a stroke when I first got it, went kind of numb and fell over on my bed with the room spinning (that was back in 2008).  It's why I found a doctor who helped me immediately get back on 5mg valium.  I didn't know anything about benzos, tapering... just felt that the vertigo had to do with going off that valium so quickly even though the moron ER physician said it couldn't be because it was longer than a week.  Don't they teach these people that it takes 3-4 weeks for valium to process out of the body? 

 

Anyway, fortunately the worst is behind me and I don't worry about vertigo other than when I occasionally read about an a/d or natural herb and see vertigo might be a side effect.  I think last year I was reading about St. John's Wort and vertigo might have been on there as a possible side effect, not sure, could have been some other herb or what not.  Anyway, I steered away from anything that had potential for vertigo and have only recently decided to try a few supplements to see if I can get more than 5 or 6 hours sleep. I've mostly been trying melatonin and L-Tryptophan the last week or two.  I took 2mg melatonin before bed last night and slept about seven hours which was pretty good.  However, I'm a little groggy this morning.  My previous pattern before I tried any supplements was to go to bed and wake up about 5.5 to 6 hours later very awake but then get very tired in the late afternoons, sometimes requiring a nap.  Yesterday I thought I was feeling like I needed a nap but found that I was not sleepy and got right back up. So maybe the melatonin has been helpful so far, too early to make a final judgement on it. 

 

Glad the Passion Flower has been helpful for you.  Do you get any fatigue?  How many hours can you sleep consecutively these days?  By the way, I had a couple times when I really started turning the corner in my healing.  The first was at about 4 months.  Then at about 11 months after I had lost a bunch of weight and was eating better and finally at about 16 months when I first started feeling about 90% consistently (wrote the success story at 18 months).  So at 13 months, you may very likely make much progress in your healing before summer!

 

Vertigo (no more!)

[[ch...]]

thanks for getting back to me vertigo.the tablets the doctor gave me are not betterblockers.i cant take them cos i have asthma.they are just for blood pressure.he said it may be to do with the w/d we will have to see when i finish w/d.i am not over weight,iv lost a stone over the last 12months dont know why,must be the stress of it all.only  just over 9 stone now.thanks anyway.its nice to know all u bbs are here to help.cant really speak to people who have not been in this place.they dont understand what hell we are going through.they just give up on you and think you should be well after such a long time of illness.you will know what i mean.you sound like you are nearly done with w/d now.you have done really well.keep going.thanks for being there.

[[ve...]]

thanks for getting back to me vertigo.the tablets the doctor gave me are not betterblockers.i cant take them cos i have asthma.they are just for blood pressure.he said it may be to do with the w/d we will have to see when i finish w/d.i am not over weight,iv lost a stone over the last 12months dont know why,must be the stress of it all.only  just over 9 stone now.thanks anyway.its nice to know all u bbs are here to help.cant really speak to people who have not been in this place.they dont understand what hell we are going through.they just give up on you and think you should be well after such a long time of illness.you will know what i mean.you sound like you are nearly done with w/d now.you have done really well.keep going.thanks for being there.

 

Hi Chrissy. Yes, the whole experience was hellish at times but thankfully, for most, it does get better and better for most (though not in a linear way as we all know).  I would say that the worst of my withdrawal was really done with by about six to seven months.  It was then that I felt so well, that I went back to some bad habits of not eating well, imbibing... where my body told me I was not quite ready for those things in that volume.  I wasn't really drinking that much, maybe two glasses of wine a few times a week in the summer of 2010.  My nervous system was still recovering, but the withdrawal was pretty much done (I think there is a difference).  I know it might be semantics but another buddy here (Wonderwoman) also made some good points about this in a thread I started on "cold turkey" about a year ago. I don't mean to invalidate anyone's experience, just think there is a difference between withdrawal and the CNS that is in recovery mode after acute withdrawal.

 

No doubt, the CNS can remain vulnerable to stress and be more reactive in the first two years off the benzo, but it may not technically be "withdrawal".  Everyone is a little different, some may be lucky for it to only be a year or a little less.  Anyway, sorry you are still struggling with this at 2 years out, Chrissy.  I hope your blood pressure settles down.  Yes, I do feel like the worst is over, despite still having a few minor sleep troubles, nothing like what they were just before I tried valium and in that first year when I tapered off.  I've ocasionaly read around forum that some are able to have a spontaneous window and wake up one day and feel mostly better.  Hope this might happen for you or others who are still struggling at more than 18 months out.

 

Best wishes,

 

Vertigo

[[ws...]]

Albie you started this thread at 18 months out...you are now 20 months out....have you had any improvments over the last two months?

 

Andy

[[pa...]]

Regarding vertigo.  I was put on a clorazepate after a bad attack of vertigo - I felt as if someone had shoved me off a tall building - that didn't go away for a week.  I also experienced the room whirling around me and felt as if I were walking in a rocking boat.  Nothing helped, but when I took my first benzo the whole thing cleared up almost immediately.  I seem to have a supersensitive perceptual nervous system.  All my discomfort revolved around too much visual stimulation - movies, strobe lights, art museums and so on. I took benzos as needed for 17 years and then reached tolerance 2 1/2 years ago.  I've had a long siege which is finally getting better.  Obviously my vertigo got worse.  In the past month I've found relief from Passionflower.  It's not total relief, but a lot better than it was.  PF also calms down my burning skin.  I had physical therapy for vertigo too which was helpful.  If you begin to feel the room spinning, look at something and keep your gaze on that one thing.  I haven't had many episodes and nothing like the first one almost 20 years ago.  They say the initial episode is usually the worst.  The main thing is to do what you can to stay calm.  It will pass.  Good luck to all of you dealing with this symptom.  Paresthesia

[[ws...]]

Para the vertigo i had in my first month off  lasted 10 days....each morning I was spinning bad but each day it started to get better until the 10th day it was almost gone.  But he first day was so bad i wont forget it it...so scary and hard to figure it out.

]

You are right.,...the key is to stay calm and not panic.....it will go away...just when it is ready to...could be an hour...could be longer....awful feeling and the worst benzo w/d symptom I have had so far at 13 months off.  I remember the room was spinning so fast and i got sick and panicked and it sucked....then I made it into the living room by holding on to the walls and sat there on the couch wimped out totally.  WOW.

 

Things are getting better slowly now.  I use that Passion Flower and it is pretty good for relaxing me.  I need that becasue for 6 years I was using toxic chemicals to ARTIFICIALLY RELAX MYSELF...what a knucklehead i was.

 

Andy

 

 

 

 

[[ch...]]

vertigo        thanks for that.yes i think im still healing and it will take time.think i may have that kindling effect cos it is the second time i have w/drew from them drugs.i went very ill the first time and doctor put me back on the valiam for three months to bring me back.then it aws another 12mths to taper off again.have you heard of kindling.just my luck if i have that too.i do believe that my body will heal its self though.just  sick of waiting so long.                                                                                                                                                      sagemom    thanks for your reply as well.i think you know what its like to be menopausal as well as w/d.its no fun!

[[ws...]]

can you tell me what kindling is?

 

Andy

[[pa...]]

wss5900 - The spinning room sensation is pretty weird.  I've only had it twice during w/d.  What makes it weird is that you think the whole room is spinning around you, but if you pay attention you'll notice it's only the part that you can actually see that appears to be spinning.  I found that when I was able to observe what was really happening instead of panicking the sensation calmed down - and so did I. 

 

Hope you never have to test my way of looking at spinning:)  Para

[[ws...]]

Thanks Para.......it is all so weird to me.  One day it will all be over with and I will pick up the pieces of my life...whats left.  This is serious business and I greatly underestimated the Benzo power.  But I have it beat.

 

Andy

[[ch...]]

andy    the kindling effect is when u have w/d coming off the tablets and go back on them again.then you w/d again .it is surpose to be harder and your more sensitive.the more u come off tablets and start them again the harder it is .thats all i know maybe some of the bbs can explain better than me,or you could serch the word kindling.hope that helps you

[[ws...]]

ok thanks Chrissy,.....good.  i understand.  Sounds like another good reason to never ever go back on the pills again.

 

Andy

[[ch...]]

Hi...my name is Chrisw...and I am in protracted w/d.  *single clap turns into slow progression of clapping from others to thunderous rore from crowd* 

 

 

Thank you...thank you.    *bows* 

 

Just figured I would stop in and say hello. Mine as well reserve my seat in here. 

 

 

YAY withdrawal !!!!!!

 

 

Okay....I will be back later.

 

 

Chrisw

[[Co...]]

*waving hi to Chris* lol,  :smitten:Colleen

[[bu...]]

  Hi ,

Am really struggling with the pins & needles in face hands and especially feet, awful pains in thigh muscles and it's 16 mths since last diazepam, codiene & citalapam, these drugs given to get me off Clonazepam, given for chronic pain !!  Pins & needles get worse in the evenings & thich muscles feel like they will snap.  Legs still feel like lead WHY!!. Does anyone else feel like they are in a bubble when talking to friends and family, it's horrid.  BUT I have my life back and so so happy that there are 20hrs in day awake instead of 20 hrs asleep life is genuinely so much better.

[[sa...]]

Support please! 

 

It's PMDD time, and I'm really, really sick.  I didn't sleep last night and had dry heaves this morning from stress.  I also have a possibly serious infection that is scaring me, and I don't want to have to go on anitbiotics because my system is already so messed up.  I tried to draw it with bentonite clay yesterday and last night, but I think that just messed up my liver.  I'm a total freaking mess and I'm scared to death.  I was doing so well, and then I got hit really hard with this all at once.  :'(  Help!

[[st...]]

Hi sagemom,

 

Many female members have stated that that time of the month causes a big flare-up. 

 

IMO, you should see your doctor if you think you have an infection.  My sinus infections really revved up my symptoms.  I was able to take amoxycillin with no problems.

 

I know you are scared but please take care of yourself.  Arms are around you.

 

Patty  xoxo

[[sa...]]

Hi sagemom,

 

Many female members have stated that that time of the month causes a big flare-up. 

 

IMO, you should see your doctor if you think you have an infection.  My sinus infections really revved up my symptoms.  I was able to take amoxycillin with no problems.

 

I know you are scared but please take care of yourself.  Arms are around you.

 

Patty  xoxo

 

Hi Patty!

 

I went to the doctor this morning, and he said there's no infection.  He thinks it might be autoimmune related since I have psoriatic arthritis.  I think my autoimmune flares cause panic just like an infection would.  At least infections eventually clear!  I'll have this nasty arthritis the rest of my life. 

[[Ja...]]

Wonder if anyone 2+ years off still gets dizzy? Seems like the only symptom that still bugs constantly is the dizziness.

 

Ed

[[Th...]]

Hi

 

3 years off and daily dizziness is one of my main remaining symptoms a real pain everyday to live with ... been like this since 2004 .. so yep definetly a few of us past the 2 year mark with this ...

 

Mike

[[Ja...]]

Hi

 

3 years off and daily dizziness is one of my main remaining symptoms a real pain everyday to live with ... been like this since 2004 .. so yep definetly a few of us past the 2 year mark with this ...

 

Mike

Jeeze Mike sorry to hear...I started worrying went to a doc and he did find a urinary tract infection that might make the dizziness worse so we'l see if I see improvement after treatment.

 

Ed

[Guest [ru...]]

I wondered why I'm no longer getting notifications to this group lately???

 

I'm now looking into "Bovine Colostrum" (or Cow's Colostrum) to help heal the damage to my entire CNS.  It makes sense to me that if I can heal that all these major problems will be helped!!!  As thats entirely what I believe it is now - the nerves (entire CNS) are just totally RAW & dont have "protection" around them anymore hence everything is amped x1000 (senses, stimulation etc).  Here's a link to my new post on the full story http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=48672.0.

 

The Whole NATURAL Thyroid meds have lifted that blackest blackest fight-every-moment depression & anger too!!!  I still feel low just not AS incredibly low.  I actually have a bit of respite from it now!!!!

 

I dont just want to sit back & wait for natural healing cos this is entirely too lonely & frustrating to keep waiting...I have to keep researching & taking scary trial & error proactive steps in order to help myself heal.  I've heard this stuff can even help cure MS! in as little as a month (time will tell,  the proof is in the pudding).  I sure hope I am on the right track with this!!!  Just wanted to share that in case others are interested in healing the damaged nerves/cns etc.  I will certainly be reporting back if I have success with that, like I have with the Natural Whole Thyroid!!!

 

Love Hugs and Prayers to all Benzo Buddies!!!

[[sa...]]

I wondered why I'm no longer getting notifications to this group lately???

 

I'm now looking into "Bovine Colostrum" (or Cow's Colostrum) to help heal the damage to my entire CNS.  It makes sense to me that if I can heal that all these major problems will be helped!!!  As thats entirely what I believe it is the nerves are just totally RAW & dont have "protection" around them anymore.  Here's a link to my new post on the full story http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=48672.0. The Whole Natural Thyroid meds have lifted that blackest blackest fight-every-moment depression & anger too!!!  I still feel low just not AS low.

 

I dont just want to sit back & wait for natural healing cos this is entirely too lonely & frustrating to keep waiting...I have to keep taking scary trial & error proactive steps in order to help myself heal.  I've heard this stuff can help cure MS! in as little as a month (time will tell,  the proof is in the pudding).  I sure hope I am on the right track with this!!!

 

You go girl!1      I know you'll get better, you're a real fighter!

[Guest [ru...]]

Damn straight I am matie  but in a good way to save my life.  Thanks sweetiepea & KNOW I am praying for & thinking of you re guidance for you!!! xoxoxo Ruth xoxoxoxo

[Guest [ru...]]

I am in a HUGE wave yesterday and today (is that the right word???).  Way more Mental Confusion & Cog Fog has gotten HEAPS WORSE along with more shitty feelings  :'(  .  I can vaguely recall that these setbacks are more signs of the brain healing??? 

 

Anyway I wanted to offer this below.  I will be trying MORE WATER to help flush out the stress hormones thats for sure!!!  I think I better lay super low today in this state & keep trying to ride it out til it changes again-grrrrr! so frustrating!!!

 

Here's the link on drinking HEAPS MORE WATER to help reduce the cortisol (or stress hormones) reactions in our body to alleviate depression/anxiety.  The upshot of all this is:

 

1/ Drink more WATER 2-3 litres a day (to FLUSH OUT the stress hormones).

2/ Eat Protein for Breakfast (to do other stuff far too technical for my brain right now).

 

It says the link doesnt work but it does - if you click on the report button.  You will need speakers for it to listen.

 

http://www.radiolive.co.nz/Jimi-Hunt-Bacon-and-eggs-and-depression/tabid/506/articleID/25472/Default.aspx

 

I hope that helps others xoxoox