introducing myself

[[Br...]]

Hi, my name is Brittany and I'm new to the boards. Am really in trouble and need help.

Started last Sept-Oct 2011 to taper off of 1.5 mgs klonopin. Went to a detox that cold-turkeyed me off the remaining .5 mgs, have gone through some severe symptoms and need some guidance. Please help!

[[ma...]]

Hi Brittany

 

Welcome to benzobuddies you will get a lot of support here

Have a look around others will be along shortly to welcome you .

Keep posting

Magrita

[[pi...]]

Hello Brittany,

 

Welcome to Benzo Buddies, we are so happy you found us.  Wow cold turkey is rough, there are people here who have done that.

 

How are you feeling now and how long have you been off the klonopin?

 

Yes, there can be some pretty awful symptoms during withdrawal. Please feel free to ask questions.

 

pianogirl

 

 

[[...]]

Hello Brittany,

 

Nice to have you here.  Welcome to our group of very kind, and understanding people.  We will help you in any way we can.

 

the best to you

 

pj

[[Br...]]

I have been totally off the klonopin since 11/21/11 but am suffering alot and don't know how to hang in there. I have a severe muscle spasm or something in my neck, exhausted beyong belief. This has all come about the past few weeks after after a fairly good period of about a week and a half. Because the cold-turkey is so bad, I just re-instated 10 mgs diazepam=to the .5 mgs of the last of the klonopin I can off of. Can somebody tell me will this end? I'm really scared. 

[[ma...]]

Hello Brittany

 

Hang in there it will get better, sorry you have had such a rough time.

It is very scary i know.. C/T is never a good idea, but it will get better

Have you started to taper the diazepam? 10 % every 10/14 days

 

((hugs))

 

Magrita

[[Ch...]]

Brittany,

I'm not sure, I haven't taken Klonopin, but if you've been off since November it may not help and could make your next attempt to taper more difficult. 

Did it help to reinstate?

 

Hoping someone with experience in Klonopin jumps in here with good advice...

 

Challis

[[Br...]]

I'm not used to being on these boards, etc. so I hope I'm doing it right. I just started diazepam 4 days ago at 10mgs and praying it will help until I can taper again. The ct has left me in really bad shape. I'm now experiencing neck pain with some numbing down my arms. Scared to death. I want to survive this! Has anyone ct and then reinstated diazepam for some help and, if so, how long before it kicked in. I've been told 6-8 weeks or so. Help!

[[ja...]]

Hi Brittany, I just want you to know the people on here really care  Hang in there. I know someone who has been through c/t like you can give some suggestions for you.  It helps to know there are people who have been where you are. Hugs to you 

[[rs...]]

brittany, so sorry you are feeling so bad. the valium has a longer half life than the klonopin about 200 hrs (8.5 days) it takes awhile to build in your system. do you have a good doctor to support you through this taper? I know the withdrawals are shocking but try not to be scared. It sounds like what you are experiencing are normal benzodiazepine w/d. educate yourself here and ask questions if you need to. there are many people here that have gone before you and we're here to help you through this nightmare. praying you get some relief soon,rstud

[[Br...]]

I see my family doctor tomorrow. He wasn't available last week so I had to see another that temporarily put me on 10 mgs dizepam. I'm hoping my reg doc will continue this and that it will pull me through to feeling somewhat normal again. Then, later, I can do a SLOW taper off of it. Is this damage permanent from the c-t off of klonopin?

[[rs...]]

I see my family doctor tomorrow. He wasn't available last week so I had to see another that temporarily put me on 10 mgs dizepam. I'm hoping my reg doc will continue this and that it will pull me through to feeling somewhat normal again. Then, later, I can do a SLOW taper off of it. Is this damage permanent from the c-t off of klonopin?

 

brittany, no it's not permanent but it may take some time to adjust to. i'm praying for your happiness and health.rstud

[[Ch...]]

This was posted by Parker in another thread.  Very well written and comforting!

 

[i have a background in a good chunk of neuroscience. I didn't study GABA receptors, per se, but I did study the nervous system and took classes in neuroanatomy and physiology for my M.S. in speech pathology. I worked, for a short time, with brain injury patients at a prominant hospital. They had strokes or traumatic brain injuries (TBI) from car accidents, etc. Long story short, you aren't "wrong" - we do have temporary damage. But it's okay to say that word out loud and then to realize what that really means. It's temporary.

 

When you fall down and skin your knee, you have skin "damage". But that doesn't last forever.  It heals and then what do you say about it?  It WAS damaged, but it isn't any longer.

 

The same thing goes on with this particular type of damage. SOME types of brain and CNS damage are NOT reversible. These tend to be certain types of open and closed head injuries where the brain literally turns around in the skull and the axons at the base of the brain tear.  These do not tend to heal.  But I have seen ALL OTHER types of brain injury heal beyond what seems miraculous.  I have seem people who were in a coma for months, then only responded to light and sound, then began to wake up and were extremely agitated and not oriented AT ALL to time/place/year/family/etc.  - to beginning to regain memory through the aid of a notebook with photos - to learning how to talk again, walk again, and do simply things like choosing ingredients to make a sandwich and initiate actually making the sandwich. SOMETIMES THESE THINGS TAKE MONTHS to progress through these stages.  AND YET, I have followed some of these people and some are public speakers, TV correspondents, parents, community leaders. You'd be SHOCKED.

 

OUR damage (to GABA receptors) is pervasive in that it affects so many aspects of our functioning - and we are AWAKE and COHERENT while going through it. But while we have the unfortunate aspect of having to go through this while conscious, we have only to regain affinity for our GABA receptors.  This happens, at times, incredibly more slowly than we'd like -but it DOES happen.

 

Even in the peripheral nervous system, a person may cut his finger and lose feeling or function, but in 6 monhts to a year, both of these return.

 

The nervous system has an incredible ability to renew itself.  It simply needs the adequate nutrition (proteins, nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables), water, and REST.  Given time and these building blocks, our GABA receptors DO and WILL retain affinity for GABA - and we will know completely healing.

It may take months to a year for the major stuff - or potentially - POTENTIALLY - longer for the lesser things or kinks to work out - but in general, a majority of this healing will go on if the body is given time, rest, and nutrition.

 

The damage is there - but is no more permanant than a skinned knee. It feels SO much bigger, but it simply is going to repair itself. 

 

I no longer think of "benzos" anymore - or "withdrawal". I think simply of "recovery" as this is what it is.

It's NO EASIER for us to go through it. It's HARD. It's so hard.  But it's not coma. We're SO much better off than we really realize.  It's just that it's such a stark contrast to being "well". But we will be well once again. 

And we dont' have to go through speech therapy or physical therapy or occupational therapy or any of that. We just have to wait it out.

 

It's SO not fun, but in a way, as far as brain injuries go, it's one of the best "kind" to have. 

I am actually glad I got to write this post, because as I come out of this, I never really thought of it this way. It was nice to write it.]

 

Challis