What is happening in your brain?

[[co...]]

Colgate

 

Man-you need to slow down on all that fast tapering...you will have a much much easier time if you do one med at a time...you might want to check out the 'Surviving Antidepressants' forum...gabapentin and mertazapine need a slower rate of reduction, let alone the clonopin...Yeah I'm no doctor, but please research this carefully before barreling along at that rate!  Take good care!

[[co...]]

It seems as I have tapered quite fast, from 6 mg clonazepam to .75 mg in 6 weeks, after being on it for 18 years of doses from a start of 1-2 mg up to 10 mg which I believe I tapered quickly to 6 mg some time ago I do not remember when.  Although when I look back about 4 years ago and I found I could not drive in the morning as I would dose off, I did not have an idea that it was all the meds. I was on (clonazepam, lithium, mirtazapine, wellbutren XL and fluvoxamine.  I believed in the Doctor who had me on all of them.  I do not know if I should go back up to 1 mg for a while or just stay at the .75 mg I have made it to.  I have felt desperate to get of the evil clonazepam.  My biggest issues seem to be oral "illusions" some waves of anxiety attacks with a horrible taste in my mouth and very stormy nights of off  and on between short bursts of sleep.  What do any of you all think?

[Guest [Mi...]]

Hey, colgate.

 

Wow, you went from 6 mg to .75 in six weeks. That's a bit fast.

 

We can help you better if you set up a signature. Here's a link:

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=9432.0

 

How long have you been at .75? If it's been awhile, you may want to hold there instead of up dosing. Also, how is the insomnia effecting you? If not too much, you may wish to hold at .75.

 

Good luck. 

[[wh...]]

thank you so much for this post Parker.  It has helped me so much. I printed it off and I read it when I feel really crappy. I'm one of those people who needs to know there is a cause and a reason and a way to fix things.  I couldn't stand not understanding why I felt the way I did.  Now it makes sense; still hard but it makes sense.  My brain will get better; all of us will.  I guess the DP/DR is just the brain protecting itself as well.  Do you have any ideas about it?

Love you for posting.  Hope you are well.

[[Jy...]]

So what part of the brain causes depersonalization/ derealization? Very curious to find out more about what causes that! Thank you for this awesome very detailed post!!!

[[de...]]

Thanks for the great post it sure helped me understand alot of things..but my question is why am i having alot of these w/d symptoms already and have had them for years??  I have been on 4 mg of k for over 20 yrs never more never less...and just started my taper last week.

[[Ho...]]

Hi deepcanyon,

 

You might be experiencing tolerance withdrawal. This is when you're body has become tolerant of the medication and in fact, so tolerant that you begin to experience withdrawal symptoms. Here's more info for you:

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/benzodiazepine-information/tolerance-and-dependency/

[[de...]]

Thank you so much Hope for the info and the link it was very helpful and i guess i have the worse of the 2 withdrawls the tolerance ones so now i just know i have a longer road ahead of me to get my body to heal .

[[Ho...]]

Thank you so much Hope for the info and the link it was very helpful and i guess i have the worse of the 2 withdrawls the tolerance ones so now i just know i have a longer road ahead of me to get my body to heal .

 

That's not necessarily true. Granted tapering off these medications while in tolerance withdrawal does make it more of a challenge However, if you adopt as rapid but reasonable a taper as you can to get off this medication you should heal no differently than anyone else. Everyone is different but there are no studies that have shown that those in tolerance withdrawal heal more slowly.

[[pr...]]

Thank you so much Hope for the info and the link it was very helpful and i guess i have the worse of the 2 withdrawls the tolerance ones so now i just know i have a longer road ahead of me to get my body to heal .

 

deepcanyon,

 

good luck with your taper. i had no idea how strong this med was either and tried to taper klonopin for 9 years and couldn't. did a c/t that was very brutal. so good that you are tapering. some people, when they get pretty low in their klonopin taper cross over to valium for the rest of the taper because it has the longest half life. but some don't because some people experience a lot of sedation and depression when they switch to klonopin. it goes both ways.

 

good luck,

prettydaisys

[[de...]]

Thank you prettydaisys and Hope..I guess all any of us can do is take one day at a time and just help each other as best as we can..

[[Ho...]]

Thank you prettydaisys and Hope..I guess all any of us can do is take one day at a time and just help each other as best as we can..

 

That's exactly right, deepcanyon. Sometimes you may have to take one hour or one minute at a time but all the while you are on the right road to wellness. Just remember you are not alone and all of this will be a distant memory one day. 

[[Wh...]]

Thank you for all of this information.  It is encouraging and it helps to look at all of this as part of my healing process.  I have a question.  An herbalist recommended that I take an herbal supplement of GABA (calming) at 750 mg and Rhodiola (calming and rebuilding) at 350 mg while I am tapering.  Given what you wrote, I'm wondering if taking a GABA supplement will only work against my brain's natural attempt to right itself.  Are you familiar with these supplements? 

[[Jy...]]

Thank you for all of this information.  It is encouraging and it helps to look at all of this as part of my healing process.  I have a question.  An herbalist recommended that I take an herbal supplement of GABA (calming) at 750 mg and Rhodiola (calming and rebuilding) at 350 mg while I am tapering.  Given what you wrote, I'm wondering if taking a GABA supplement will only work against my brain's natural attempt to right itself.  Are you familiar with these supplements?

 

Yep that's what I've researched too. I would stay away from anything that messes with GABA for a good while. Let your brain heal. It's not fun, but how can it heal if were pumping other things natural or not that's going to inhibit GABA? I'm staying away!

[[Wh...]]

Okay, Jya, I'm staying away too!  Going to give my brain a rest.  Thanks for your input

[[Jy...]]

Also eat a ton of fresh fruits and veggies it has been helping me tons!!! Superfoods like blackberries and pomegranate and things like that are a awesome too!!

[[sl...]]

Parker,

Thank you for your insightful post. As I mentioned in my most recent post, my doctor has put me on a plan to gradually help me taper off Clonazepam 2mg/2x per day for the last 3 years.

My question, while I know you can not tell someone to take a supplement, is do you think in your opinion that one might benefit from taking Gaba while tapering off Clonazepam?

Just wondering. I tried taking 5-HTP, but found that I was very sensitive to it. Well formulated supplements, like Solgar, can be expensive, so like many other folks, I wish I knew ahead of time if they are going to help the healing process or complicate the process.  I'm grateful to have begun the healing process, but I'm sad with regret that I ever started taking this drug in the first place. I keep looking back, but need to look forward. I'm plagued with "What if... ."

I'm trying to eat healthy, limit my coffee ( always black, no cream or sugar) intake to one cup in the morning, no alcohol, etc. .

I just wish like everyone else on this forum that I felt less anxious, depressed... . I know it takes time and I hope that in time I, along with those who are going through the same healing process, will feel joyful again.

[[Sh...]]

I am on Lorazepam for 8 mths on and off doses at first then to a steady 1.5 mg around 2.5 months ago.

 

I have ordered and tried a bunch of supplements for helping w/d with a BP med called Metoprolol and Lorazepam.

 

Some help for a few minutes but i found the ones that helped the most L-theanine and Pregnenalone, Passion Flower are all antagonists of Benzos....which i understand to mean that they actually stop the Lorazepam from working they way it should annd can throw people into W/d. I am pretty sure this happened to me as the supplements would work but i seemed to pay for it later on. Benzos are a jealous drug and refuse to let you get what they give from another drug or supplement.

 

I am convinced these are designer drug made on purpose to control the masses. Our experience with these drugs + 100 million scripts of Benzos a year has to tell you something.

[[pr...]]

I am on Lorazepam for 8 mths on and off doses at first then to a steady 1.5 mg around 2.5 months ago.

 

I have ordered and tried a bunch of supplements for helping w/d with a BP med called Metoprolol and Lorazepam.

 

Some help for a few minutes but i found the ones that helped the most L-theanine and Pregnenalone, Passion Flower are all antagonists of Benzos....which i understand to mean that they actually stop the Lorazepam from working they way it should annd can throw people into W/d. I am pretty sure this happened to me as the supplements would work but i seemed to pay for it later on. Benzos are a jealous drug and refuse to let you get what they give from another drug or supplement.

 

I am convinced these are designer drug made on purpose to control the masses. Our experience with these drugs + 100 million scripts of Benzos a year has to tell you something.

 

 

Shastasage,

 

i was just thinking today that they made benzo's in a way that are designed to control the masses. and yes, benzo's are indeed a jealous drug and won't allow anything else work the way it should. i thought that maybe pregnenalone acted on the GABA too so maybe be careful with that one. i usually don't worry about taking things that act on GABA while tapering as much as when completely off the benzo's but i don't really know what would be best?

 

Pretty

[[...]]

Thank you, this has helped me understand so much :thumbsup: :thumbsup:Just started the journey!!

[[ih...]]

This makes so much sense thank you for posting this, it helps a lot to be able to look at the withdrawal as recovery and the symptoms as progress!

[[ja...]]

Truly exceptional, thank 

[[Sh...]]

Thanks Pretty :-)

 

[[Sl...]]

Thanks for the great post it sure helped me understand alot of things..but my question is why am i having alot of these w/d symptoms already and have had them for years??  I have been on 4 mg of k for over 20 yrs never more never less...and just started my taper last week.

 

Hi Deep.  I was wondering if you've seen this (or anything of its nature):

 

http://recovery-road.org/about-withdrawal-2/about-benzodiazepines/

 

The video on that page is a great graphic explanation of what's going on (I think

it may be posted somewhere else in this forum). 

[[va...]]

Parker, as someone who is new here and new to the idea of having to detox from a drug I thought was relatively safe (xanax), I greatly appreciate the thought and insight you put into that paper, to help others relate to what's happening to them.  Would it be OK with you if I shared it with a few people I'm looking to for support?  I want them to understand what's going on, because I certainly don't and can't explain it myself.

 

Charlie, I would love to hear about your experience getting off of xanax, if you wouldn't mind sharing.  I've been taking around 2mg/days for about a year and a half, and I'm trying to decide whether to taper off xanax, or whether to cross over to valium.  I've found many cross over tales, but not many who've tapered completely off xanax not using a cross over drug.

 

Thank you both.  It's helping me cope with what's happening to me, and helping to alleviate some of my fear.