Pain and fatigue

[[ha...]]

I am just off for 3weeks, so I know it is still very early but the fatigue and muscles pain ae unbelievable, it just won't let up. I do sleep 8hour es a night but I wake up more tired then when I went to bed, it's so frustrating ....My muscles feel like there are so stiff and soar, it hurts everywhere.

Can anybody relate and maybe have suggestions to help this?

[[su...]]

Hello harlotte999,

 

 

I saw your question about fatigue and put together some information that might be helpful. I am the type of person who seeks to know what is happening and why, it brings comfort to me. I hope it does the same for you. These are all well documented symptoms.

 

 

“The Accidental Addict” by Di Porritt & Di Russell, 2006

FATIGUE AND LETHARGY

 

“Fatigue and lethargy are two of the most common and persistent symptoms that strike people in withdrawal. Fatigue is weariness from bodily or mental exertion, whereas lethargy is a state of drowsy dullness and apathy. These symptoms very often appear in the early days of taking benzos and can disappear overnight only to return several weeks later. Many people are so weakened by these two debilitating symptoms that they have to stop work or are unable to look after their families.”

 

Fatigue

 

“Benzo fatigue is not a normal, pleasant sort of tired ness – it can be a general weariness or total exhaustion, and sometimes a stressed-out feeling as well. Sleeping is the only way some people cope with this symptom. Others feel weary but can’t sleep because they feel jittery or agitated.”

 

“People report a mental exhaustion; they are able to do physical work but their minds seem to shut down: “The tiredness is in my head, it isn’t my body that’s tired.” Fatigue can strike at any time – it is not necessarily the result of effort, although exertion can bring it on.”

 

Lethargy

 

“People feel so sleepy that they regularly doze during the day. Apathy and a total disinterest in what is going on means that they just can’t be bothered. It is too much effort. They can often sit, staring into space.”

 

Exercise and Exertion

 

“As the majority of people suffer from a general tiredness or exhaustion, they find most forms of exercise impossible in the first few months of withdrawal. Digging in the garden, vacuuming the house, chopping firewood seem to be almost impossible for some time. That kind of exertion can make people very ill indeed.”

 

Too Much Too Soon

 

“If you have been unable to exercise and have been feeling ill for some time, it is easy to be misled when you feel a little better. It is common for people to take that opportunity, go shopping or out to dinner, only to find that halfway through the meal, they feel exhausted and have to go home.”

 

 

“Your Drug May be Your Problem, How and Why to Stop Taking Psychiatric Medications” by Peter R. Breggin, M.D., 2007

 

Chapter 3 Your Drug May Be Your Problem-----But You May Be the Last to Know

 

Common Adverse Effects on Your Thinking, Feeling, and Behaving

 

Fatigue. You find that you don't have the same amount of mental or physical energy that you once did and that you get tired and discouraged more easily. You may be sluggish or lethargic when you get up in the morning and exhausted by the evening.

 

 

“Benzo-Wise, A Recovery Companion” by Bliss Johns, 2010

 

Symptoms from A to Z

 

Exhaustion: extreme weakness, feeling totally without energy as if just completed a marathon, ‘bone tired’

 

Fatigue/Lethargy: extreme tiredness, listlessness, lacking in energy

 

Lethargy/Fatigue: extreme tiredness, listlessness, lacking in energy, unable to even sit up

 

 

 

Love to you,

Summer

[[su...]]

Hello harlotte999,

 

 

I saw your question and put together some information that may be helpful. What can be done about it is in the last paragraph of Ashton.

I am the type of person who seeks to know what is happening and why, it brings comfort to me. I hope it does the same for you.

 

 

My muscles feel like there are so stiff and sore, it hurts everywhere. Can anybody relate and maybe have suggestions to help this?

 

 

 

“Benzo-Wise, A Recovery Companion” by Bliss Johns, 2010

 

Symptoms from A to Z

 

Weakness: feel drained of energy, almost unable to move or even sit up

 

Muscle twitches/Jerks/Spasms: involuntary movements – myoclonic jerks, tics, twitches and spasms in different areas of body including extremities

 

Muscle/Joint pain: joints feel arthritic and muscles stiff and hurting, muscles feel as if performed rigorous exercise

 

Muscle rigidity: muscles all over feel extremely stiff, inability to move agilely

 

 

“The Accidental Addict” by Di Porritt & Di Russell, 2006

 

Muscle and Joints

 

“Severe muscle and joint pain, spasm, tension and weakness are all very common. Muscle pain is often a general dull ache but at other times it can be particularly severe, especially in the neck and shoulders. Wrists, elbows, knees, and ankles can also be very painful.

 

Muscle spasm and tension

 

“People often wake up in the morning with cramps in their legs or tight knots in their necks and shoulders.”

 

Muscle weakness

 

“Weak muscles can make the simplest tasks difficult in the early stages of withdrawal. Just to get up out of a chair or hold your head up is too much at times. Any activity which involves raising the arms above the head is completely exhausting.”

 

 

 

"The Ashton Manual" by Heather Ashton, 2002

 

BENZODIAZEPINE WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS:

 

INDIVIDUAL SYMPTOMS, THEIR CAUSES AND HOW TO DEAL WITH THEM

 

Muscle symptoms. “Benzodiazepines are efficient muscle relaxants and are used clinically for spastic conditions…..It is therefore not surprising that their discontinuation after long – term use is associated with a rebound increase in muscle tension. This rebound accounts for many of the symptoms observed in benzodiazepine withdrawal. Muscle stiffness affecting the limbs, back, neck and jaw are commonly reported, and the constant muscle tension probably accounts for the muscle pains with have a similar distribution. Headaches are usually of the “tension headache” type, due to contraction of muscles at the back of the neck, scalp and forehead – often described as a “tight band around the head”.

 

“At the same time, the nerves to the muscles are hyper excitable, leading to tremor, tics, jerks, spasm and twitching, and jumping at the smallest stimulus. All this constant activity contributes to a feeling of fatigue and weakness (“jelly-legs”).” Jelly legs: legs feel weak and rubbery as if about to give way. In addition, the muscles, especially the small muscles of the eye, are not well co-ordinated, which may lead to blurred or double vision or even eyelid spasms (blepharospasm).”

 

“None of these symptoms is harmful, and they need not be a cause of worry once they are understood. The muscle pain and stiffness is actually little different from what is regarded as normal after an unaccustomed bout of exercise, and would be positively expected, even by a well-trained athlete, after running a marathon.”

 

 

“There are many measures that will alleviate these symptoms, such as muscle stretching exercises as taught in most gyms, moderate exercise, hot baths, massage and general relaxation exercises. Such measures may give only temporary relief at first, but if practiced regularly can speed the recovery of normal muscle tone – which will eventually occur spontaneously.”

 

Love to you,

Summer

[[Ti...]]

Hi Harlotte-

I have been thinking of you. Too bad no PMs for now. Just wondering how the fatigue and muscle stiffness/soreness is doing for you. These are still my daily predominant symptoms. Hope you are improving.

Hugs,

Tina