The POSITIVE withdrawal thread.

[[lk...]]

Here's a positive for you- I c/t .25 klonopin and my 2 month mark is Oct 6th. The horrible anxiety is improving rapidly, I get slightly overstimulated in crowded, loud places ( no panic but irritability) and I'm pretty functional. Compared to where I was when I came here this is a miracle. Also, I don't think about w/d 24/7 anymore. I feel very close to normal! I do have the little " what if" about my CNS completely healing but that's it.

 

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Lisa

[[Hj...]]

Thanks Lisa

[[lk...]]

Thanks Lisa

 

ANYTIME! I love to hear positive tidbits. I think its fabulous that you feel almost normal!!!! How is your sleep? Was that affected before??

 

Lisa

[[Hj...]]

Hi Lisa, when I tried to do a quick taper early this summer, my sleep was terrible and I was up at 4 am every single day but this time I had a few restless nights and that was it. I sleep pretty well now! Thank goodness. I think sleeping fairly well helped me this time around. I hope it doesn't change! Are you sleeping well with your taper?

[[lk...]]

No....but that was one of the reason I started taking the xanax regularly....insomnia so its not shocking that I am not having the best sleep. I will say that when I DO sleep I feel more rested then before tho....Crazy right? Its just bad right after I cut then it settles down. I am looking forward to being rid of this med and sleeping normally again!

 

Glad you are having success this time...Its great!!

 

Lisa

[Guest [...]]

Here's a positive for you- I c/t .25 klonopin and my 2 month mark is Oct 6th. The horrible anxiety is improving rapidly, I get slightly overstimulated in crowded, loud places ( no panic but irritability) and I'm pretty functional. Compared to where I was when I came here this is a miracle. Also, I don't think about w/d 24/7 anymore. I feel very close to normal! I do have the little " what if" about my CNS completely healing but that's it.      >Report This Post<  http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/Themes/Curve21/images/ip.gifLogged  My benzo history

.25 Xanax everyday from march 1st- april1st-did not know to taper and it HURT!

.25 klonopin use for Xanax w/d ( how stupid!) from April 10-27 jumped again and bottom fell out

Reinstated twice to taper and last usage was from July 3-August 6th....had to jump at .25 because it caused a horrid depression.

I was normal before this.... Just stress....

 

Not wanting to rain on anyone's parade here but I see this post as more evidence that short term use of very small doses (.25mg Xanax for 1 month and then an equivalent .25mg Klonopin for 17 days with a few random bits of usage) is relatively easy to quit, if you compare with long term users. Starting recommended dose (stated in MIMS) for Xanax is 1.5mg. Normal dose is 1.5 - 4mg per day for 'anxiety and depression'.

 

Thank you Hjc2899. Your example illustrates how important it is to get off this stuff quickly if you need to take it for a short period of time for a relatively minor reason - as you stated 'just stress'. Glad you saw the light. You have probably saved yourself years of misery by never taking even a recommended dose and quitting promptly.

 

I wish I had done the same.

[[Hj...]]

Wow, I see you recently made your ambien jump, congrats! I hope good, restorative sleep returns for you very soon. I remember having to take vistaril a few times in my first taper it got so bad....wishing you peaceful zzzzzzzz's

[[lk...]]

Thanks Hjc!

 

Lisa

[[Hj...]]

Actually Xana, I was .5 klonopin from 7/3 and dropped to .25 for the last week before I c/t on Aug 6th. Quite frankly, I wasn't spared any side effects either. My list of side effects were as crappy as they come and extremely severe mental s/x. There are MANY short term users here that had/have severe side effects. Another factor is I developed tolerance rapidly to a drug that I wound up having an extreme paradoxical reaction to. When I have sat in mental agony from the s/x and w/d from this drug, I really don't need someone pointing out that I wasn't taking the recommended dose or diminishing any of the pain I've been through because I wasn't on it for years and years.

[[Me...]]

Okay, here goes...

 

My life had become total and utter chaos on 5 mgs. of Xanax a day. I now know it was probably because I was poisoning myself on a daily basis. I don't remember much of the last year, but I remember every single day since I quit the Xanax on September 13! I'm more jumpy in the moment and I startle more easily, but overall, I'm less anxious. I've lost about 10 pounds. My blood sugars, which were high, are back to normal. My blood pressure is down. I'm eating three meals a day again and am back on a livable schedule, rather than sleeping all day. My husband and others have said I look a lot better than I did. My relationship with my husband is much better, probably a result of me being more sane in general and getting out of the sleep panic sleep panic cycle I was in. It's not a bed or roses, but things are definitely looking up! Keep trying! 

[[ge...]]

Here's a positive for you- I c/t .25 klonopin and my 2 month mark is Oct 6th. The horrible anxiety is improving rapidly, I get slightly overstimulated in crowded, loud places ( no panic but irritability) and I'm pretty functional. Compared to where I was when I came here this is a miracle. Also, I don't think about w/d 24/7 anymore. I feel very close to normal! I do have the little " what if" about my CNS completely healing but that's it.

 

That's awesome, Holly!! Let me know how the concert goes!

[[Sk...]]

Thanks Oscar.

 

I feel much better today.  I feel peace for the first time in a while, which seemed like years.  I finally am getting over worrying about a stupid rash taht is not really that important and probably fungal and easily treated.  I feel so relieved now.  I feel I can now continue my taper plan and endure whatever withdraw symptoms come about.  Even those nasty heart flutters and racing heart beat and skipped/extra beats.  Sometime that terrifies me.  It almost always seems to start during or after a dose reduction.  The heart realted withdraw symptoms are, for me, the worst most frightning symptoms of withdraw.  I can deal with pretty much everythigng else, but that just scares the hell out of me.  I just don't want my heart to get damadged or anything.

 

I hear you on the heart issues SkyZone... when i over tapered a month ago i would wake up with palps and it really worried me and yet Ashton says they are harmless... we should think of it as running for a bus, our heart rate would increase yet when sitting on the toilet in the morning with pounding heart it is easier said than done to just shrug it off...

 

I held my dose for 3 weeks and all the palps stopped, along with the inner vibrations i started having in my legs and the tics in my arms, all these symptoms were new and i took it as a sign i needed a break.

 

My GP scripted me propranolol for the heart stuff but so far i have not started taking it daily, yet if i get palps again i will use them for sure but hoping i get by without.

 

Oscar

[[lk...]]

Memory.....So glad to hear you are improving daily! Its such a great feeling I am sure!!! Hang in there!!!! I think its worth it

 

Lisa

[[os...]]

5 days after i had a couple of really down days and thought i could not pull this off, i am feeling pretty good now, i think it is going to be a case of taper/hold/taper/hold for awhile to come until i find a smoother path, my main problem is just the anxiety that comes on, it is not terrible anxiety but i worry it will escalate if i push myself, my biggest fear throughout this whole taper has been to become unstable and not be able to get stable again and i do not want to resort to updosing anymore, i would rather snail along and count the tiny amounts lost as progress and hang on to it.

 

The good news is that last night i started having a few momentary glimpses of a really good feeling about life, much like the true window i had back in February, the feeling is just amazing really, a serenity, a calmness and last night i caught a phew whiffs of that and i felt very encouraged by this... it is a signal that i am healing even more.

 

Despite the anxiety coming on pretty quickly, it also passes after a couple of days and the other good news is that there has been another shift in my brain and i am feeling even more clarity than ever before, i really do think that much of the past tapering is really kicking in now and i am starting to feel the benefits of all the time i have put into this so far, i am definitely healing and yet when i start to get anxiety between cuts i can tend to think the worst and i will lose it all when in fact that is just where my head goes temporarily.

 

I am getting my life back, ever so slowly but i feel so much better now... i guess i just need to put up with the slight dips and try not to lose hope when i feel off... the problem with feeling well is it can be so discouraging to let that go, even for a few days and yet i know, i KNOW i am healing and it´s all going to be worth it.

 

I am not even the same as i was 2 months ago, it just keeps getting better over all... the past 2 nights i have felt so well i have not even wanted to go to sleep.

 

Thanks for the support everyone.

 

Oscar

[[lk...]]

Awesome Oscar

 

Keep going at a snails pace if that is what works!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

My positive today: I slept for 4 hours straight through....then back to sleep for 2 more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG it was amazing!!!!!

 

Lisa

[[Ga...]]

This is a great thread.  If you do CBT for anxiety and read the info it will tell you that what you believe is going to happen does happen  So that means if you think it's going to be terrible then it will be.  If you tell yourself it isn't going to be much trouble and believe it then it isn't so bad.  You Make your body feel what it feels.  If you want to feel bad then you will. 

 

Keep positive thoughts.  Don't dwell on the bad.  Forget about it and go on to other things.  Look for the sleep books that help you.  Use the relaxation techniques and things that will help you.  Don't believe all the crap you read on this blog.  Not everyone is going to be sick for a year after they get off benzos. 

 

Also I notice that a lot of you are Benzo free.  You still think of it as in W/D.  Why are you not thinking of it as Recovery?

[[Ne...]]

Good evening,

Positively, the one positive thought I would add to this positively positive thread is that it is positively night and I got through another positively anxious, nauseous, groggy day without positively freaking out in public..

 

[[Sk...]]

I have had such a wonderful day.  My rashes, (Which I believe came from nerves), went away almost completely!!!    I felt happy today and not worried obsessively like I have been for the last 2 weeks!  I connected with a friend today and felt true peace.  I have so many opportunities in life right now that I am gratefull for.  Tomorrow will be even better!   

[[lk...]]

Hey Gang!!

 

I slept for 5 hours and then another 2 last night!!!!! I am totally liking this new sleep.  I know it will mess up each time I cut but knowing that it will return is so wonderful!!!!

 

Keep up the good work everyone!!!

 

Lisa

[[Sk...]]

Another wonderful day!  I hope this trend continues.

[[os...]]

Another wonderful day!  I hope this trend continues.

 

 

Feeling GOOD here today, will start tapering again tomorrow... ugh, it is nice to have a breather in between though, i am sleeping like a log and i had a great sleep last night.

 

Really weird and vivid dreams though.

 

Oscar

[[lk...]]

Oooooooo Oscar....sleeping like a log sounds great I haven't had these vivid dreams yet. Did they just start happening with you?

 

Lisa

[[pa...]]

This is such a great thread.  

 

FYI - I'm a year out and the sleep is a great 7-8 hours a night most of the time (after not sleeping AT ALL) in the beginning.  I remember when I stopped waking with the awful rushes.  It's so great getting there.  Even if this takes a while, we are healing.

 

:)Parker

[[De...]]

Feeling pretty good micro-tapering for now.  Didn't think it was possible to taper and NOT suffer immensely.  I know when I pick up the pace, I can slow down instead of extending a hold past two weeks if the sxs get to be too much.

[[De...]]

Almost 6 months off.  Have gone 2 days feeling good.  No crazy mass of saliva!  Yea!  This morning I went out and painted the front wall for 2 hours.  It is wonderful to be outside so much and doing physical activity!  I can remember when going to the mail box was the big thing of the day, and that was exhausting!  Healing, healing healing!!