I need some advice

[[sm...]]

How would you know if you tapered too quickly, and what can you do? I have been off for two months now and the brain fog is so bad.  Is this a bad sign?

[[Be...]]

I think people will want to know how fast you tapered before they can offer an opinion about how fast it was.  As to what you can do, I think just work on managing and/or accepting symptoms while you wait for your healing to be completed.  At two months out, I definitely would NOT recommend getting back on a benzo.  This is what Prof Ashton had to say about reinstating after a taper (and updosing during a taper):

 

Reinstatement, updosing

 

A dilemma faced by some people in the process of benzodiazepine withdrawal, or after withdrawal, is what to do if they have intolerable symptoms which do not lessen after many weeks. If they are still taking benzodiazepines, should they increase the dose? If they have already withdrawn, should they reinstate benzodiazepines and start the withdrawal process again? This is a difficult situation which, like all benzodiazepine problems, depends to some degree on the circumstances and the individual, and there are no hard and fast rules.

 

Reinstatement after withdrawal? Many benzodiazepine users who find themselves in this position have withdrawn too quickly; some have undergone 'cold turkey'. They think that if they go back on benzodiazepines and start over again on a slower schedule they will be more successful. Unfortunately, things are not so simple. For reasons that are not clear, (but perhaps because the original experience of withdrawal has already sensitised the nervous system and heightened the level of anxiety) the original benzodiazepine dose often does not work the second time round. Some may find that only a higher dose partially alleviates their symptoms, and then they still have to go through a long withdrawal process again, which again may not be symptom-free.

 

Updosing during withdrawal? Some people hit a "sticky patch" during the course of benzodiazepine withdrawal. In many cases, staying on the same dose for a longer period (not more than a few weeks) before resuming the withdrawal schedule allows them to overcome this obstacle. However, increasing the dose until a longed-for plateau of 'stability' arrives is not a good strategy. The truth is that one never 'stabilises' on a given dose of benzodiazepine. The dose may be stable but withdrawal symptoms are not. It is better to grit one's teeth and continue the withdrawal. True recovery cannot really start until the drug is out of the system.

 

Pharmacologically, neither reinstating nor updosing is really rational. If withdrawal symptoms are still present, it means that the GABA/benzodiazepine receptors have not fully recovered (see above). Further benzodiazepines cause further down-regulation, strengthen the dependence, prolong withdrawal, delay recovery and may lead to protracted symptoms. In general, the longer the person remains on benzodiazepines the more difficult it is to withdraw. On the whole, anyone who remained benzodiazepine-free, or has remained on the same dose, for a number of weeks or months would be ill-advised to start again or to increase dosage. It would be better to devote the brain to solving individual symptoms and to finding sources of advice and support. Advice about how to deal with individual symptoms is given in the Manual (Chapter 3).

 

 

[[sm...]]

Thank you for the advice, I think we talked before, but I did not follow my doses to the t like most people on here have.  I would take it as needed in the beginning, literally taking like .125mg per day for a couple weeks, then going up to .25mg for a few weeks, the at one point in the up to .75mg and I don't even know if I did that very often.  I could not tolerate the stuff at all, but at some point my body got used to it and I kept needing more to function. I backed down to .25mg for a few weeks, then down to .125mg again for a week or two and then stopped.  I did know about tapering super slow so I thought .125mg was a little as you could go, but I guess it isn't.  Anyways, I just feel crazy with all this stuff, even when I sit at home its like home doesn't even feel familiar anymore, such bizarre feelings I have never had before.  I started having withdrawals even when I was taking it though because I took it as needed.  No one really told me anything about this stuff my doctor just sent me on my way without explaining any of this to me.  What I don't understand is how this stuff is even legal.