A return to benzos

[[JC...]]

evertonfan:

 

I was exactly in the same boat as you do (jet lag from HK to Canada and with 2 weeks of drinking while having a family vacation in HK) and I took the benzo route and now I am suffering.

 

Looking back, if I could take the Seroquel to have a few hours sleep, I would rather take the it than the benzo.  You likely know, it is way harder to get off this evil drug and getting off my Seroquel is order of magnitude easier (I was in Ativan and my doctor try me with Seroquel to see if I could drop the Ativan but it does not work for me. I took Seroquel for few month and I stop taking it and no effect. My doctor also told me that there is no dependence on Seroquel).

 

Granted, it will take a good few months to return to normal (I compare it as a c/t of 15 mg of V as this is how much to put me to sleep to start with) but it is way better not to touch that evil stuff.

 

I hope you don't mind I ask the following as I am really interested in how you have the problem.

 

Do you have the problem when you return from UK to Australia? Do you drink often or drink a lot while in UK?

 

Regards

 

 

JC

[[ev...]]

Thanks for all the kind replies in the last couple of days.

 

Given that Seroquel was too unpredictable- one can get anywhere between 0 and 8 hours from 150mg- I feel I am stuck with the benzos. I am at odds with the treating psychiatrist who is very gung ho with all drugs. He has me on Largactil (200mg a day) and Cogetin (1mg a day) to alleviate movememts add to the impact of the Valium.

 

Hopefully I will be out of hospital this week. So it will be up to me what I take of don't take. I will try to reuce the dose and dump the other drugs asap. My aim is  to try to get fit again. I have lost weight and look gaunt.

 

Any input would be gratefully received.

 

Ivan

[[ev...]]

Hello everyone

 

I am now in a quandry. My sleep pattern disintegrated after a long flight from the UK to Melbourne. I have been in hospital where I was given Seroquel for sleep. That proved unsustainble so it has been benzos since for about two weeks (Ativan at first and then Diazepam). I found last night, however, that the 10mg of Diazepam which I have been on for a few days gave me a long sleep in my own bed. I have only just started taking benzos again-one week to 10 days. I am not sure what to do now. I wish to get off these drugs asap but am not clear how. I was drug  free for 2 years prior to the journey I took.

 

I would like to get the amount I am taking to as litttle as possible nad as quicly as possible. Yesterday I also took 10mg of Diazepam to counter attacks of panic I was having. I do not appear to be going to have this today.

 

Has anyone got any advice. I am planning to give 7to 7.5mg a trial tonight to see what happens.

 

 

Ivan

[[In...]]

Gads youre on the drug people here in the US try to get on to taper from. Why not just take it slow. 10 mgs isnt really a lot. Why not drop by 1 mg. every 2 weeks. Yes I suppose youll be tapering longer than youve been on it, but im no expert here so take this with a grain of salt.

 

But Ive certainly seen this done on BB plenty of times. Then if I were you, I stop making those trips if they are really messing up your sleep. Try Melatonin or something else.

 

Intend

[[to...]]

Hi.

 

I have the same issue to start with the Benzo path.

 

Have you tried Remeron?  Although it does not work for me, I know it works for quite a few in the forum and it is easier to come off than the Benzo.

 

Best luck for you.

 

JC

 

I agree with this advice. Remeron, Seroquel,zyprexa or good old benadryl would be a smarter choice. You will develop tolerance and dependance if you start back on valium.

[[ev...]]

Hi Tortoise and Intend

 

Thanks for your support. I only agreed to take benzos in this situation as the other drugs failed to provide me with regular sleep. Seroquel on which I spent two weeks is so erratic. One night I got some long sleep but on others little or in one case nothing all on the same dose.

 

I am taking 10 mg Valium for sleep and I took another 10mg yesterday to counter the pancic I was experiencing about ironically the drug.

 

Now that I am at home I am more in control of the drugs I am taking. On one day I was given over 50mg of benzos (ativan and valium) plus other drugs. So at least I can avoid that. Moreover, for some reason I am not having weird movements in my body and I have experienced no panic attacks so far today.

 

I will cut the drug down as quickly as possible and hope I will return to good health again.

 

However, it is terrible living in this state of uncertainty.

 

Thanks again

 

Ivan

[[ev...]]

Last night I went to bed and did not take the valium until 12.16am. I took 5mg and seemed to have an adequate sleep. I am still in a state of despair as I no longer have any faith in doctors or psychiatrists when it cpmes t issues like this. I hope that one day soon I will once again be benzo free. It has been devastating to go back on a drug I detest. But i seemed to have no alternative that would actually give me adequate sleep.

 

Thanks for everyone's contributions.

 

Ivan

[[In...]]

Well it sounds like you're lowering your daily dose fairly well, so don't be discouraged.

 

You're actually doing well from the way it sounds.

 

I think you should just be careful now not to drop too suddenly and have w/Ds.

 

But I think you're being too hard on yourself. You're trying, and you've been through this before so you know what you're doing.

 

I have faith in your judgement.

 

Intend

[[ev...]]

Dear Intend

 

Thank you very much for your rncoragement. I have beeen going to bed without taking the drug for the last two nights but have been awake around midnight and then taken 5mg. Because I have only been taking the drug again for a week or so I was hoping I would sleep through the night but this is not happening. There is no manual for something like this and I distrust the psychiatrist who treated me in hospital. If I had followed his advice I would be on 20mg plus today not 5mg of valium. My GP says he does not know what to do so I am very much guessing. I am petrified by valium as my recovery was slow and very painful. I simply don't want to experience this again. Moreover, I appear to have lost my confidence about going out and I have anxiety almost all of the time. I doubt if i will be able to live life again until I am off this drug. I loathe it so much but it seems I need to take it just now.

 

Bye for now

 

Ivan

[[In...]]

Ivan,

 

I'm really no expert on Valium, but I know that at least you don't have any crossing over to it because you're already there. So I guess you should begin a slow taper off of it if you want off.

 

I dont know what your history on it was or how much you were originally taking. Some of these tapers are fraught with awful sx, and then the recoveries are also very difficult. It is often thought that the Ashton method of tapering is way too aggressive for most people and more and more people are micro tapering from Valium when they reach these lower dosages which you are already at.

 

This basically involves withdrawing very small amounts daily from your dose; something like .1 ml which means you would be dropping 1 ml in 10 days. Of course, this involves liquid titration and not simply dropping pills. I would encourage you to consider exploring this option at Benzodetoxrecovery.com where they specialize in this and only this. The plans are customized to each individuals needs, and actually go much smoother and faster than any other type of taper. I have joined this forum as I plan on at least cutting my own dosage of klonopin in the future.

 

I think this could help you get off  Valium again with less discomfort and make the recovery period much smoother. It's certainly worth a look. Please consider this. Most physicians are not familiar with this, so it's not surprising that your doctor is uncertain what to do, but this is an option.

 

Intend

[[ev...]]

Hi

 

I tried to register on the site you told me about but every attempt i made was rejected for one reason or another. The info on the site was interesting, however.

 

Ivan

[[In...]]

Ivan,

 

It is hard to register there. I had trouble also. Try this as it worked for me. Go to Benzodetoxrecovery.com, and then to "Register."

 

There is a large Privacy Statement there, and at the bottom is the e-mail of the site administrator, Scott Gonzales. I just sent him an e-mail telling him I had tried to follow the procedure, but was unable to get registered, and he helped me.

 

Just explain a little how you've tried several times and see if he helps. I surely hopevyou can get in because I think this is the best answer for you. Just e-mail him. Don't give up.

 

Intend

[[bu...]]

I too had problems trying to register at tht site.  And I did exactly what you did...used the email link at the bottom of the page and explained my failed efforts. Site Administrator (Scott Gonzales straightened it out, and the nextime I tried to log in, it was successful.

[[In...]]

Builder,

 

So glad this worked for you. I believe it is a good site that can help many people.

 

Intend

[[ev...]]

I managed to register on this site. I have had some encouraging responses. However, I'd like to update people here on my predicament. I have met with my GP and I have established a starting point of 7.5mg which I think will give me suffficient sleep for the time being. This means that I have updosed from 5mg which I failed to have any sleep on a couple of nights ago.

 

What I am doing is a taper from virtually nothing. I managed to get off benzos successfully two years ago and thought I had fully recovered but now thanks to flying back to Australia from the Uk I have no ablity to sleep without medication. Seroquel gave me erratic sleep so I am now taking benzos in the form of Valium.

 

I am in a state of profound and deep worry because I don't know if I am ever going to get my natural sleep back. I fear that I am going to taper simply to find that I still cannot sleep. I was subject to aggressive use of Ativan and Valium for a period of around 20 days in hospital. The amount of valium equivalent I took would be around 260mg. I did take over 11000mg prior to my first taper so I guess the reason for my sleep's collapse was that my central nervous system had not recovered. Is there anyone who has a similar experience to me who may provide some encouragement?

 

I would like to believe i can get down to zero and sleep like I did with my first taper. This situation I am in is however very unusual and that's what daunts me about it.

 

I thought I had won my battle with the benzos but now thanks to a strange set of circumstances I am on them again.

 

Today I found that I was drowsy for quite a large part of the morning even after a vigorous walk. If I want to get out and about I will have to lower the dose as soon as I can. Has anyone got any words of wisdom about this?

 

Ivan

[Guest [...]]

hey there

 

i can hear your fear about lack of sleep but im wondering after such a short use do you really think a taper is necessary im just worried that you are setting yourself up here.  Im agreeing with you that perhaps the sleep issue will take some time to resolve but i dont think that staying on benzos is going to help you much at all.  Sleep will naturally restore itself in time.

 

anyway good luck i remember how much encouragement your success story was to me in the early days and i feel sad for you.

 

Lizzy

[[Da...]]

Hi  Sorry to hear that you can't get sleep when you want to, did you try The Effortless Sleep Method by Sasha Stevens? This book probably won't get you what you want right away, (I still have sleep issues too) however there are some really good ideas and tips in this book that may help you later on. Don't give up on yourself and your own power to sleep un-aided Cheers Dd.

[[ev...]]

Believe me I would not take benzos unless i really had to. I went through three weeks of incredible problems with sleep before I had to take something. That was Seroquel which certainly is too erratic to address problems with sleep. I would only be too willing to avoid a taper if there were any way out of it. Let's face it this really is not a taper at all. It is taking benzos because I have a major sleep disorder. I am just hoping that the regular sleep benzos provide will train the body to sleep normally something it simply refused to do in late June and early July. I simply could not function: I went days without sleep and then crashed sometimes sleeping ten hours then suffered more days of no sleep.

 

Ivan

 

 

[[fi...]]

I certainly hope things improve for you, Ivan.

 

Sincerely,

 

fg

[[Da...]]

Hi Ivan

 

Hope that you can get some peace and a balance with the benzos, train your brain into a better pattern and then get off the B's.  good luck Dd.

[[In...]]

Ivan,

 

As far as I'm aware, there are other sleep aids besides benzos. I keep hearing that the AD Remeron helps a lot of people sleep, but once again I'm no expert here.

 

I'm glad you were able to get registered on BDR if getting off Valium is what you want to do. I'm sure the reason you felt drowsy when you went for a walk was from the increase in Valium you are now taking.

 

A lot of people have trouble sleeping, staying asleep, and getting to sleep. I'd say it's almost a universal problem with many people. Perhaps you are right that excessive exposure to Ativan awhile back did somehow affect the sleep portions of your CNS.

 

I certainly hope you can get this worked out to your satisfaction and peace of mind.

 

Intend

[[fi...]]

Ivan,

 

I was just wondering how your sleep disorder was diagnosed?  Did they have to do a sleep study?

 

Thanks!

 

Sincerely,

 

fg

[[ev...]]

Hi FG

 

No  have not had a sleep disorder check out. They are very expensive and I think thge reason for my sleep's disintegration is the result of being stressed about a few things and returning west to east from the UK.

 

I am really struggling today as I took 7mg and woke in the middle f the night eith burning. Then I did something really dumb; I took 10mg to calm me down. Now I cannot walk my bod has frozen probably from panic. I need to get soewme stability in my regome which is why I went to the doctor's but I have certainly blown it for today and probably tomorrow.

 

I am just finding it so hard to come to terms with taking Valium when I thought I had finished with them for all time 2 years ago.

 

Thanks

 

Ivan

[[fi...]]

I understand, Ivan.  I have tried 7 previous times to come off of benzos, but failed.  Once I was off for 6 days (after a rapid taper at a hospital), but my entire body was shaking and I could hardly walk.  This is now the 8th time, but I am determined to be successful.  I am taking it slow and using titration to come down .01 mg. at a time (which is usually every 4-5 days, but I have had to hold longer, depending on the symptoms).

 

At any rate, I wish you the best and don't get discouraged.

 

Sincerely,

 

fg

[[ev...]]

Hi Fg

 

The sad thing is that I was benzo free for two years. it was travel across time zones whixh wrecked my sleep. I am foorced to take benzos as everything else I tried just failed. Someone has recommended Avanza (Remeron). I will certainly follllow this up with the doctor. I just hate having to take benzos and as yet I haven't found a good starting point for a taper.

 

Ivan