Still new. Overwhelmed with this. Now Progesterone causing problems, too?

[[su...]]

I quit Ativan feb 13th cold turkey.    I honestly wonder if I'm going crazy.  Is it too soon to expect the tingling, patchy numbness, cold hands and feet, insomnia, agoraphobia,  and feeling of being off-balance to be gone?

 

I'm convinced, too, that the hormones I was on before starting the Ativan somehow play into all of this.  I'd been of compounded progesterone and estrogen cream...applied on the skin.  I read about Progesterone and GABA A receptors and tried to also start cutting down on that, but it seems like it isn't working. 

 

Now I'm wondering if the flu shot I got in October or the antibiotic I was on in early January (Keflex) caused more problems.  I keep looking for patterns in my journal I kept and I'm driving myself crazy trying to make sense of this.

 

I'm sleeping like 3 hours a night...4-5 if I'm lucky...and I think it's making me feel worse.  All of this from using Ativan, then Klonazepam, then back to Ativan at a dose of 0.125 mg a day for about a year??  I had truly hoped I could go back to work after we moved here.  Good grief, I can barely leave the house.

 

I need someone to tell me it's going to get better....I get like this in my head and I'm so petrified.

 

 

[[Ho...]]

I know this may not be the most encouraging answer, but you are VERY early in this process.  I am just over 6 months off and still experiencing many of the symptoms you mention and more.  The average recovery time is actually 6-18 months.  However, everyone is different and some do feel much better in a shorter time span.  Many seem to notice a gradual improvement in their symptoms as time goes on or the pattern of "windows" when symptoms improve and "waves" when symptoms are stronger. Hang in there!  I hope you feel better soon.

[[Ho...]]

Also, you may want to read through the Ashton Manual.  I have attached the link below.  Good luck!

 

http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/

[[...]]

Honey, stay off the stuff and start diligently cultivating your affirmations and coping skills. Like most of life's struggles, there's no script, and no way of knowing how it's going to play out. It's 99% out of your control.

 

Overthinking things and worrying about every symptom is itself a symptom of w/d.

 

I posted affirmations around my house, such as over my toilet paper, on the night table, and other places. The messages were things like "this IS temporary," and "you are getting better every day." I worked hard to hope onto some little shred of hope each day to keep me putting one foot in front of the other. I'm now 60, and benzo w/d is harder than anything I've done in life.

 

I would not worry too much about the progesterone and other things. It does help to stay away from any substance that acts on the nervous system. I found that NSAIDs was wreaking havoc and was lucky that when I gave them up, my w/d mostly resolved.

 

Just keep telling yourself -- reminding yourself -- that our bodies are programmed to put everything right, and even on the bad days, your body is actually hard at work putting things right again.