Stopped Klonopin one week, now too sick

[[So...]]

Hey All, 

 

I am going to the rheumatologist this afternoon - my doc is suspecting an autoimmune disease called Sjogern's. Probably more tests than answers. I am one week off Klonopin - you would think I'd be celebrating but I feel my body is falling apart. Have not slept well, BP is way up. I'm back on Propanolol 10-15mg/day. Doc wants me to try Melatonin but these both contribute to the dry mouth/throat and now eyes and burning chest symptoms I have.

 

I did just have a cortisol test - that will be back early next week. Dehydration is a symptom of adrenal stress or crisis. My thyroid checked out fine, as well as blood work and urine. Thyroid was low last summer - that's when I started the dry mouth/throat thing. I suspect my immune system was compromised and that may be one of the reasons my health is declining.

 

I am scared as I am close to wavering and going back on a low dose Klonopin just to get back my sleep. It's been a tough week.

 

 

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I'm sorry you're struggling.

 

Hopefully the test results will give you some answers.

 

Hang in there.

 

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My bets are on withdrawal being the cause of it all. Until we get the withdrawal done and over with, we don't really know.

 

I had terrible insomnia in withdrawal and every drug known to cause sleep was tried on me, and didn't work. But now that I'm well again, I get it wouldn't take but a sniff to work. But I don't need help with sleep anymore!

 

GABA receptors are everywhere in the body. Everyone is different in where their GABAs in withdrawal cause trouble. Keep a log of your symptoms. Go back a few months and record that too. It may make more sense once you see it on paper.

[[So...]]

My bets are on withdrawal being the cause of it all. Until we get the withdrawal done and over with, we don't really know.

 

.... Keep a log of your symptoms. Go back a few months and record that too. It may make more sense once you see it on paper.

 

Thanks for the kind words! Having a rough time of it today. My symptoms are worse, terrible fatigue and burning chest pain. But, good news is I slept 6 hrs straight - no pills! Feel like crap still but am just so exhausted from the insomnia.

 

I hope you are right re: getting a diagnosis for the Sjogren's. The dry throat actually started last summer, before all the benzos. I think I was misdiagnosed with hypothyroidism as my latest blood tests for T3, T4 were normal.

 

I am hoping this too will pass soon......

 

[[sw...]]

Hey there,

 

I am sorry to hear that you have been having such a rough time, but congratulations on being benzo free!!!!!!!!  I'm afraid that it is sadly very normal to really get hit once you go benzo free, but please allow me to personally reassure you that it will get much, much better.

 

I just wanted to give you some food for thought regarding your auto-immune diagnosis.  I have absolutely no insight into if you have anything else or not, but I think that it merits serious consideration that many people get diagnosed with a very wide range of things that they don't really have while in benzo withdrawal, from bipolar disorder to acid reflux and various muscular and nerve issues.

 

That said, withdrawal is such a brutal experience with so many side effects on so many different systems of your body, it would be difficult to know it if something other than the withdrawal actually was wrong with you.

 

My advice would be to start of making sure that your doctor is aware of your benzo withdrawal and the extent to which it is affecting you.  In fact, I would discuss it a bit just to make sure that the doctor truly understands and isn't just patronizing you.  Then, if the doctor tells you that s/he thinks you have this auto-immune problem, and them to list the reasons why.  If the reasons all correlate with benzo withdrawal then you should probably take it with a grain of salt.

 

Best wishes.

 

[[sw...]]

PS - Just so you know, some other people here post about their cortisol levels all the time and seem to be fairly convinced that withdrawal impacts it, though I have no idea, but I wouldn't want that to be the basis for an auto-immune disorder if it's just the withdrawal.  (I would suggest researching it if that does wind up being an issue.)

 

Also, I'm sorry to say that re-instating would be unlikely to resolve your sleep issue, and even in the event that it did, you'd just have to go through this, again, whenever you finally did get off.  You're going to have to do this, anyway, and you're already a week in- I'd suggest just rolling with it.

 

I've had serious insomnia and have had a lot of success with melatonin and benedryll (both of which are safe and can be used nightly without tolerance or dependancy). 

 

Another thing that made a big difference was when I got a home blood pressure kit and realized that my pulse would frequently be over 100 while I was just laying there in bed which is very prohibitive to falling asleep even with sleep aides.  My doctor rx'ed me a beta blocker when I showed her my log and it took care of the problem completely.

 

In the end, only time will restore full nights of restful sleep, but in the interim, I would suggest keeping an eye on your pulse in case that that is the culprit and trying melatonin and/or benedryll and/or any of the number of sleep remedies out there that people will recommend for you.

 

Best wishes.

 

[[bl...]]

Dry mouth and eyes are one of the worst side effects that I've had from benzos. Period. Tapering off, I'm salivating like CRAZY.

 

It could easily be impacting you, I would think.

 

Good luck!

[[So...]]

I am sorry to say that I reinstated on the Klonopin last night.

 

After sleeping on my own for around 3 hours I woke up w/ bad s/x of dryness. Tried 10mg Trazodone first and that made my heart rate speed up. Figured I needed the Propanolol (for blood pressure, a beta blocker) and took 5mg that. Was lying there suffering and just could not take it any more. No sleep and my body slowly falling apart. 

 

After about 3 hrs, I caved and went for the Klonopin, a low dose of .0825mg. I did get back to sleep and ended up sleeping for 3 more hrs.

 

This morning my dryness and burning chest feel better, as well as I don't have that debilitating fatigue I had yesterday. Not sure if this is mostly w/d or the Sjogren's or what. Confused and emotionally exhausted. I feel like a failure.

 

I can't take not sleeping, which for the past week I've had one good night of 6 hours. Each day a steady decline in my body until yesterday I felt I could not even get out of bed.

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Don't be so hard on yourself, SonicEm.

 

You're not a failure. 

 

Take some deep breaths and be kind to yourself.

 

[[So...]]

Don't be so hard on yourself, SonicEm.

 

You're not a failure. 

 

Take some deep breaths and be kind to yourself.

 

 

Thanks mmgc, I needed that! I just want to heal and get my life back on track. Feel like I'm in a deep hole.

 

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You're not alone.

 

PM me anytime you need to talk.

 

Take care.

[Guest [de...]]

I really doubt that you have Sjogrens syndrome. It would be a weird coincidence if you had an autoimmune explanation for a very common w/d symptom just when you happen to be withdrawing.

[Guest [de...]]

Just read that you said your mouth dryness predates your benzo issues. There are alot of reasons for xerostomia (medica term for dry mouth). They are relatively easy to sort out. There are a few lab tests which are exquisitely accurate for excluding Sjogren's syndrome. A far more common cause is salivary gland stones/protein impaction. Your ENT doctor may tell you to suck on some lemon candy. this loosens up blockages in the salivary gland.

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By the way, I went through a lot of totally grim feelings about myself. It's one thing to be 25 and screwing up your life, but a 59 year old screw up (and also a medical professional) is beyond imagination. But then again, in w/d, all kinds of "stinking thinking" takes place. You'll feel differently, and think differently, in time.

[[sw...]]

Don't be so hard on yourself, SonicEm.

 

You're not a failure. 

 

Take some deep breaths and be kind to yourself.

 

 

Thanks mmgc, I needed that! I just want to heal and get my life back on track. Feel like I'm in a deep hole.

 

oh, I agree with that, you're not a failure at all- it's very hard to have come even this far!  I would still recommend finding alternate strategies on falling asleep, like the ones I mentioned.  I agree- sleep deprivation is truly awful!  Not to mention all of the hours and hours of just laying there.

 

Best wishes.

 

[[bl...]]

Don't even feel like a failure!

 

I've been on benzos for 16 years straight. I've had a grand mal seizure once from a c/t withdrawal, and about a half dozen false starts with tapering over the past few years.

 

I am now finally tapering off. I've cut 10% of my dose in ten days without unbearable symptoms (other than a few tough, tough first days). But there were a lot of false starts too. What's been different for me this time -- after 16 years on 3 mg of Xanax per day -- has been a very slow, steady water titration. Have you tried this?

 

For dry eyes, I use lubricating eye drops. For dry mouth, I use a special toothpaste and sip water all the time.

 

If you fall off the horse, you know what they say. You have to go off when the time is right for you. I truly believe that was the other reason why I didn't go off well in the past: I wasn't determined yet enough to go off.

 

Don't beat yourself up.

[[So...]]

Thanks all! I really do appreciate all your kind uplifting words.

 

Am finally coming out from the dark cloud. The sunshine today helped. Some of my physical symptoms eased up. I am still too weak to go for a walk, but will try tomorrow.

 

I am trying not to let sleep be a personal battle ground. Sometimes just the thought of going to bed makes me anxious!

[[So...]]

 

...I've had serious insomnia and have had a lot of success with melatonin and benedryll (both of which are safe and can be used nightly without tolerance or dependancy). 

 

Another thing that made a big difference was when I got a home blood pressure kit and realized that my pulse would frequently be over 100 while I was just laying there in bed which is very prohibitive to falling asleep even with sleep aides.  My doctor rx'ed me a beta blocker when I showed her my log and it took care of the problem completely.

Thanks for your good suggestions. You are right - I need to solve this sleep issue thing. I've taken melatonin - it does help a little. I heard you can't take this more that 2 weeks.

 

Benadryll dries you out - my problem has been the whole dry mouth/throat and now eyes. Taking this would make it worse.

 

I just can't afford to loose any more sleep. The less sleep I have, the more serious my symptoms get.

 

Confused as to what to do now. If I went back on Klonopin one night, I should start to taper, right? Or hold, ride this physical stuff out, and start the taper again later?

 

 

[[sw...]]

 

...I've had serious insomnia and have had a lot of success with melatonin and benedryll (both of which are safe and can be used nightly without tolerance or dependancy). 

 

Another thing that made a big difference was when I got a home blood pressure kit and realized that my pulse would frequently be over 100 while I was just laying there in bed which is very prohibitive to falling asleep even with sleep aides.  My doctor rx'ed me a beta blocker when I showed her my log and it took care of the problem completely.

Thanks for your good suggestions. You are right - I need to solve this sleep issue thing. I've taken melatonin - it does help a little. I heard you can't take this more that 2 weeks.

 

Benadryll dries you out - my problem has been the whole dry mouth/throat and now eyes. Taking this would make it worse.

 

I just can't afford to loose any more sleep. The less sleep I have, the more serious my symptoms get.

 

Confused as to what to do now. If I went back on Klonopin one night, I should start to taper, right? Or hold, ride this physical stuff out, and start the taper again later?

 

If you only took klonopin one night I would not taper and just not take it, again.

 

Regarding the melatonin, where did you hear that you cannot take it for more than 2 weeks?  I've never heard this and have been taking it for many months with no problems that I can see, and so far as I can tell this is the situation for a number of other users on this forum.  I don't necessarily mean to imply that you're wrong, seeing as how it is a "supplement" which makes it totally unregulated, but I'd like to know your source to look into it, myself.

 

I understand your point about benedryll and agree that it doesn't sound like it would be right for you, right now.  I also still recommend getting a blood pressure kit to track your pulse so you know if you're having pulse spikes (and incredibly common withdrawal symptom).

 

The only other thing I can mention from my own experience is that I have had a good deal of success in using pot as a sleep aide, but I have to tell you in the same breath that the vast majority of people on this forum don't like what pot does for them during withdrawal (usually complaining that it makes them anxious until it wears off).  However, I haven't really had any problems and it has helped me to sleep on many occasions when nothing else did.  Clearly, if it makes you anxious, it won't be helping you to sleep, but in case you are like me I thought it might be worth mentioning.

 

Best wishes.

 

[[So...]]

Melatonin:

Peri- or postmenopausal women who use melatonin supplements should do so only for a short period of time since long-term effects are not known.

Read more: http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/melatonin-000315.htm#ixzz1oDMgY5yo

 

It did say using Propanolol (for blood pressure) can lower melatonin - I do take that so maybe I should give melatonin another shot...gotta figure out how much to take. Info says it will help with sleep onset but not help with the total number of hours slept. Is that your experience?

 

If anyone has better info, please let me know.

 

More Info and there are tons:

 

Melatonin is produced by the pineal gland. Darkness stimulates melatonin production to help the body know when it is time to fall asleep. However, long-term use of melatonin may actually disrupt your body's ability to regulate that cycle. The body will acclimate to lower dosage levels, so users will have to increase the dosage to achieve the same benefits as before. Higher dosages increase the risks of adverse side effects.

 

Read more: Long-Term Effects of Taking Melatonin | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/facts_5017675_longterm-effects-taking-melatonin.html#ixzz1oDRDa2oH

 

Unfortunately, melatonin safety for long-term use has not been established. It is, after all, a hormone. And just like early studies reported benefits of estrogen use in women, which turned out to be a complicated mess, there is no way of knowing how long-term use of melatonin supplements will effect a human being.

 

For now, melatonin supplements may be effective for short-term use of two months or less. There are a few studies showing some people used it safely for up to nine months.

http://www.sleeppassport.com/melatonin-supplements.html