Dizzy with Anxiety - what helps (need reassurance)

[[tu...]]

Went off Ambien (after taking 5-10 mg daily for 6 months) 6 weeks ago this Friday.  Have had both windows and waves in the last 6 weeks.  The last couple of weeks the dizziness has returned off and on.  The last day or two this symptom along with some pretty intense anxiety has surfaced as well.  It makes me feel so scared and discouraged.  I know we are to expect it, but it really makes you feel doubtful about your recovery.  Also feeling so inadequate in most areas of my life.  I miss how vibrant and capable I was soooo much.  I need a window to remember how it feels to be me.

 

My two teenage daughters are going away on a week long school trip (first time leaving like this).  I suspect this is generating a lot of the anxiety for me.  I need some advice in how to deal with this.  I like such a fragile emotional mess.

 

I would love to hear what is helpful to others when the waves hit.  Also, what I could avoid (I hear a lot about B vitamins and wonder if they really are a hindrance or helpful as they are supposed to aid the cns).

 

 

[[Ch...]]

Hi Turtlegirl,

Oh, can I ever relate to anxiety around daughters going on trips, even though mine is 23 now!  She started in seventh grade going to New York on a school sponsored trip...a school that I taught at so I knew it would be fine, but worry, worry, worry I did anyway.  Those worries continued through trips to Austria, Italy, New Zealand, England, Fiji, etc.  Nothing bad ever happened and she loved almost every minute.  She did cry out of homesickness when she called, but was fine the rest of the time.  The crying calls totally unnerved ME, though.

 

If you can tell yourself this, and you might have to remind yourself over and over...that traveling, seeing new places, being in new situations, meeting people, are all great experiences for your daughters.  School sponsored trips are the safest kind.  They'll be making memories that will last them a lifetime.  Also, if your daughter sense your anxiety, they may become anxious too and you don't want that to be a cloud over their excitement or worse, keep them from wanting to go.

 

Make sure they have their cell phones, keep in touch by text or voice and try to act excited about their trip!

 

As far as helpful tips while you taper, I've totally quit caffeine, alcohol, sugar and any supplements including vitamins.  B vitamins rev up your system and you don't want that right now.  I try to make sure I'm drinking enough water and have started exercising three times a week.  I also check in here regularly because the best thing I did re recovery was to find this site for support and advice.  Just knowing that all these frightening symptoms were to be expected in benzo withdrawal (hard to swallow that phrase!) was so reassuring.

 

Keep posting...lots of help and support around here for you!

 

Challis

[[tu...]]

Challis 99:  Such great advice regarding the daughters' trip.  I will remember those words.  I have kept my anxiety to myself (well, my husband, my mom and myself).  I know that it will be a great experience for them and do good things for their personal development.  Thanks for the support and reassurance.  I too cringe at the thought of being in w/d from a prescribed drug I never abused.  But, whatever, here we are . . . finding our way back to ourselves.  Good luck to you!

[[...]]

Well I think you've hit one of the hard places in withdrawal. I was a mess at the 6-7-8 week mark because it seemed as if I was getting worse.

 

Are you steering clear of anything that can affect GABAs? Alcohol? For me NSAIDs irritated my GABAs.

 

You are a fragile emotional mess not because of any personal failing or wrong psychology. This is physical manifestation of withdrawal. In other words you FEEL like a mess. Oh boy. The tricks benzos play, both coming and going!! You confidence, sense of well being, and all the rest will return in full when your withdrawal clears up.

 

Self-care and reassurance is 99% of the game. Start planning your celebration party, envisioning your future beyond withdrawal, little fantasies to feed your joy and hope, because you're headed right for it.

 

Sometimes my serenity would totally disintegrate and somewhere (in the woods) where I couldn't be heard from others, I would just shout out loud, "Stop!" over and over. It's ok to lose it once in a while when privacy allows.