Should I go on beta blockers?

[[Br...]]

I took Lorazepam from Nov. 12-Dec 14, 2012 - 1 mg a night and went cold turkey not knowing that I had to taper. December 26 woke up to an electrical current going through my head, sweats, shaking, etc. and started with the insomnia. I have had a long, ugly list of symptoms that i never experienced before in my life and not prior to taking the med.

 

In the past couple of weeks, I have been woken up by my right side shaking and tremoring. Does anyone else have this experience? It is so scary to wake-up to this and on top of it having just to deal day to day with being in the withdrawal. I lay on my right side now so I hopefully don't get jerked away with the shaking and tremoring. Please help and advise. I am new to this and just signed up today on this website.

 

The initial tremor started right after my mother died - she had Parkinison's and I did get checked out by two neurologists that said I don't have Parkinison's after doing their physical exam to rule it out.

 

Should I go on Beta blockers or will this delay my recovery?

 

[[jj...]]

Cold Turkeying is the most violent act to the system, so your body is going through major adjustments right now. Your brain is in over drive.  Before adding more medication to the mix, can I ask, how high is your blood pressure?  The reason I ask is that I am a nurse, not an expert, but now as part of the medical community, I would highly reccommend staying away from further meds if at all possible.  There are natural things you can take for blood pressure problems.  So first, what is your blood pressure reading?

[[Br...]]

My blood pressure has ranged from 128-137 over 75. My hands have been shaking. I have a slight tremor in my right wrist that two neuros have said isn't a resting tremor even though I am so scared of it.

[[jj...]]

You are within normal range.  The first number you mentioned has a normal range anywhere from 120 to 140 and the second number ranges from 60 to 90.  So no, in my medical opinion, I would not suggest going on beta blockers.  They are only needed if you exceed these numbers over a certain period of time.  What you are experiencing is acute withdrawal from cold turkeying.  So, you could wait it out, or try natural alternatives, in my opinion.  I am not a doctor, but I would not add medications that first off, show you do not need, and secondly, beta blockers like all medications have there own draw backs.  People who go on them, have to have their blood work checked on a regular basis, to make sure the medication is not destroying the kidneys.  If kidney impairment shows up in the blood work then they could end up putting the person on even more meds!  It's a downward slope!

[[Br...]]

Did you go through acute withdrawal or know anyone that has - how long did they feel so awful - what can I expect? I can't believe my body is doing all these weird involuntary movements - is that common?

[[jj...]]

I am on a slow taper, and so far doing pretty well.  But if you read further on this site, there are many people who cold turkeyed, and either toughed it out, or reinstated a dose of their benzo!  Keep reading on this forum, under success stories there are people who cold turkeyed. How long have you been on your benzo?  The longer one has been on, the longer it takes to get off.  If you were on it for a short period of time, that may explain why you were able to cold turkey. However, this is not a linear process.  Heather Ashton is the lead is how people come off this drug.  You can read up on her manual.  Just google Health Ashton and read about it.  But like I said, some people can be on this drug for a short period of time and have a hard time getting off and longer to heal, while some can be on it for years and have a shorter suffering period. There is no one size fits all when it comes to acute withdrawal or how long the process is!  Each person is unique in this.  I know that is frustrating, but that is how these drugs work!

[[Br...]]

I took Lorazepam from Nov. 12-Dec 14, 2012 - 1 mg a night and went cold turkey not knowing that I had to taper. December 26 woke up to an electrical current going through my head, sweats, shaking, etc. and started with the insomnia. I have had a long, ugly list of symptoms that i never experienced before in my life and not prior to taking the med. I took two more in the first two days of the year, so I have been of the stuff for about 2 1/2 months.

 

I know everyone is different but can one see improvement month over month or can it be years?

 

[[jj...]]

I am not an expert on how long it takes to recover.  Since you were only on it for 2.5 months, you will probably recover quicker than someone who cold turkeyed after years of use.  But like I said, I am not an expert.  Others may give their opinion I hope.

[[jr...]]

Hi Brooke-I also c/t, Klonopin.  I went on propranolol, a beta blocker, in December.  I requested it from my psychiatrist, and she readily agreed, saying it is often used for severe anxiety and other reasons.  My blood pressure was a little higher than yours.  It has affected my blood pressure very little, but it has helped my anxiety enormously.  If you are interested in taking a beta blocker you should talk to your doctor, and you would want to monitor your blood pressure closely.

[[br...]]

I'm on a very low dose of Atenolol... started early in WD.  Started at 25 per day... now down to about a half pill per day. (Quarter in AM, quarter in PM.)

That's a very lose dose, but it did seem to provide some slight amount of nervous system support, I believe. Also may have helped me stay asleep at times.

 

My mom had a MVP so she was on and off the drug forever without many side effects. Really, without any. I'm more sensitive to drugs than she is, but so

far so good. We'll see how it goes when I taper off completely. I expect some discomfort, but nothing remotely approaching what the Xanax nightmare has been.

 

I also take a very small amount of Vistaril at night to promote sleep. (Antihistamine, like a strong Benadryl.)

 

So, two off-label drugs... neither psychoactive and both very small, conservative doses.  That's my experience... but we're all different. So, do your research and

make an informed decision.

 

I've tinkered with vitamins, and seem to do OK with small doses. Magnesium in small amounts is probably a good idea.

 

[[ba...]]

there  is no  way  to tell, we  all heal differrently  this  is  the million dollar question  there is no way to predict , you will be  fine  try not to worry bando

[[ba...]]

forgot  to post this, no more meds, give your body a chance to heal, if you went on betta blockers you would have to wean yourself  off them  bando

[[so...]]

I tried a beta blocker for 4 days with horrible results.  This is just me but I would suspect most people withdrawing from Benzos have very sensative systems.  I started the beta blocker in hopes it would reduce anxiety....it made it worse.