New to the board

[[al...]]

Hello:

I´m glad to have found this group!

Have been tapering diazepam from23 mg, last week I was on 5 mg.  Two days ago I quit taking any, so I´m free of diazepam.  I know it is quite fast, I tapered 5 mg each week.  Anyway, it´s done.

I´m having a lot of w/d symptoms, tinnitus, paresthesia, insomnia.

But what gives me the most difficult time is diarrhea and feeling so bloated and distended... my belly is getting bigger and bigger.  How long does this last? Will it go away soon?

I´d appreciate your input.

Big hugs to everyone,

Allan

[[Th...]]

Hello:

I´m glad to have found this group!

Have been tapering diazepam from23 mg, last week I was on 5 mg.  Two days ago I quit taking any, so I´m free of diazepam.  I know it is quite fast, I tapered 5 mg each week.  Anyway, it´s done.

I´m having a lot of w/d symptoms, tinnitus, paresthesia, insomnia.

But what gives me the most difficult time is diarrhea and feeling so bloated and distended... my belly is getting bigger and bigger.  How long does this last? Will it go away soon?

I´d appreciate your input.

Big hugs to everyone,

Allan

 

Hi Allan,

 

Welcome to BenzoBuddies!! Congrats on being benzo free!!  As far as the diarrhea and feeling bloated, no one can predict how long you will suffer these symptoms or the others. Everyone seems to heal at different rates. Here is an excerpt from The Ashton Manual regarding GI issues....

 

Gastrointestinal symptoms. Gastrointestinal symptoms may be prolonged after withdrawal, usually in people who have a previous history of digestive troubles. Such people may develop apparent intolerance to certain foods, although reliable tests for true food allergy (e.g. antibodies against specific food constituents) are nearly always negative. Nevertheless many sufferers feel that they have damage to the immune system or have developed intestinal candidiasis. There is at present no clear scientific evidence on these topics, though as mentioned before, benzodiazepine receptors are present in the gut and benzodiazepine use or withdrawal may affect immune responses. There is some evidence that chronic hyperventilation provokes the release of histamine (a substance released in allergic reactions) and that the incidence of food-intolerance and "pseudo-allergic" reactions is high in chronic hyperventilators. Advice on diet, breathing and candida infections is given in books by Shirley Trickett quoted at the end of this chapter. It is usually inadvisable to stick to a strict exclusion diet; with a normal balanced diet and sensible general health measures, including regular exercise, gastrointestinal symptoms due to withdrawal gradually abate.

 

Just let us know if you have any more questions or concerns!

 

T2

 

 

 

 

[[...]]

Congrats from being free from this awful drug>>>>

 

As beeper stated, it is so hard to predict the "whens" with withdrawal symptoms.  Everyone is so different.  Some people experience very little symptoms, others have every one imaginable.  We just have to go with whatever we get and hope the next day will be better.

 

[[Lo...]]

Hey Allan,

Welcome to BenzoBuddies. If you haven't heard of it, the Ashton Manuel is full of great info about benzo withdrawal. Talks about withdrawal symptoms and how long they might last (everyone is different though). Here is the link to get to it  http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzcha00.htm If you have any other questions or concerns, just ask. Wishing you all the best in your healing process! Congrats on being benzo free! Come back and let us know how you are doing....

 

Lori

[[Ke...]]

Welcome Allan-

 

Glad you found us- there are a lot of great folks here ready to lend support.  You did do a fast taper and what you are experiencing is pretty normal- not pleasant- but normal and probably exacerbated by the fast taper.  Congrats on being off    Approach this with your continued positive attitude and it will make the process better. 

 

We are all different and experience unique symptoms once jumping off the benzos- so just hang in there and let the healing begin.  Please keep posting and let us know how you are doing. 

 

Keith

[[al...]]

Thank you all for your support and information!

You are so kind!

Today is fourth day off valium.  Symptoms of w/d continue and are bothersome.. still distended, diarrhea, lots of noises.  Besides that, insomnia, feeling like having the flu, headache, anxiety.  Not a nice week!

Hope it gets better soon.

Thanks again!

Allan

[[Be...]]

I hope you feel better soon, too, Allan. It's hard, but try to think of all these things as signs your nervous system is healing, because it's true.  I got the bloating (a/k/a benzo belly) for a few months but the other GI symptoms passed (no pun intended) relatively quickly.