Here comes another question...

[[So...]]

Yep, another question from the crazy lady!! 

 

I know that everyone on here hates benzos, myself included, but i would love to know your history with them.

 

And, please be kind and honest. I have to be on this crap for the next 6-8 months, until my surgeries are over with and I am healed. I have never taken this stuff during the day, so I don't know what to expect from it. And, I am not quite stabilized yet, and slightly terrified.

 

I know some of you hit tolerance, and didn't know it, by having other health problems. Thank goodness I am wise to that part now.

 

So, my questions are:

 

Were you able to fully function while taking it during the day? Things like work, drive, enjoy Holidays?

 

Did they get rid of your anxiety, and/or other issues you were taking them for?

 

Did the fatigue they cause eventually let up? And, the brain fog? Even a little?

 

Why did you decide to get off of them? Was it your decision, or your Dr's decision?

 

I think that's it for now. Those have been my biggest questions.

 

Thanks! I really hope I get a lot of responses on this.

 

Denise 

 

[[Ne...]]

Hi Sophia: I took Ativan 2mg three times a day for severe anxiety and panic attacks caused by being given twice the amount of thyroid hormone I was supposed to be given. For about 4 weeks they worked in abating the anxiety, and then made it much, much worse. Luckily, a benzowise pdoc recognized what was happening and at around week 6 to 8 I was crossed over to Valium and began my taper.

 

A few things: Don't be fearful that you will become paradoxical. It happens to a lower percentage of us and seems to be connected to thyroid problems. The drug itself when it was working properly for me did its job just fine. If I felt over sedated I would just reduce the dosage. I worked a part time job, functioned, and drove with no problem at all on the Ativan while it was working properly for me. Even if you feel initial sedation, for most people this lessens as they get used to the medication.

 

That is my experience with benzos for all it is worth.

[[...]]

Yep, another question from the crazy lady!! 

 

I know that everyone on here hates benzos, myself included, but i would love to know your history with them.

 

And, please be kind and honest. I have to be on this crap for the next 6-8 months, until my surgeries are over with and I am healed. I have never taken this stuff during the day, so I don't know what to expect from it. And, I am not quite stabilized yet, and slightly terrified.

 

I know some of you hit tolerance, and didn't know it, by having other health problems. Thank goodness I am wise to that part now.

 

So, my questions are:

 

Were you able to fully function while taking it during the day? Things like work, drive, enjoy Holidays?

 

Did they get rid of your anxiety, and/or other issues you were taking them for?

 

Did the fatigue they cause eventually let up? And, the brain fog? Even a little?

 

Why did you decide to get off of them? Was it your decision, or your Dr's decision?

 

I think that's it for now. Those have been my biggest questions.

 

Thanks! I really hope I get a lot of responses on this.

 

Denise 

 

Hi Denise,

Never be afraid to ask questions.  I still have more of them than answers!

 

OK here goes

- I only dose once per day and it is at 11:30 am to cover my afternoons which is the most symptomatic time period for me. 

- At first when I crossed over to valium from K the first days after each dose was substituted were filled with a sedated feeling.  That wore off quickly though and I am currently working 10 - 10 1/2 hour days, driving and living a pretty much normal life although curtailed by no alcohol, caffeine, and foods with msg to keep symptoms down

- I was prescribed for insomnia during a bad sinus infection.  I knew nothing about how addicting this class of drugs is and only took them for 6 weeks.  This being a lifetime medication was never the original intent and now I have to spend several more months trying to get my life back but I will.

 

Hope I was able to help 

[[So...]]

Thank you, Eliz!!

 

That was very helpful. So, you are able to dose once a day? That is a lucky thing.

 

Did I see that you had to reinstate? How did that go?

 

Denise 

[[So...]]

Hi Sophia: I took Ativan 2mg three times a day for severe anxiety and panic attacks caused by being given twice the amount of thyroid hormone I was supposed to be given. For about 4 weeks they worked in abating the anxiety, and then made it much, much worse. Luckily, a benzowise pdoc recognized what was happening and at around week 6 to 8 I was crossed over to Valium and began my taper.

 

A few things: Don't be fearful that you will become paradoxical. It happens to a lower percentage of us and seems to be connected to thyroid problems. The drug itself when it was working properly for me did its job just fine. If I felt over sedated I would just reduce the dosage. I worked a part time job, functioned, and drove with no problem at all on the Ativan while it was working properly for me. Even if you feel initial sedation, for most people this lessens as they get used to the medication.

 

That is my experience with benzos for all it is worth.

 

You have quite a story as well.

 

I too, have thyroid problems. I am hypothyroid. So, will this be a problem for me?

 

Denise 

[[...]]

Well thankfully,

I figured out what I was experiencing was withdrawal by researching on the internet because my "doctor" was trying to tell me it was all in my head.

 

The good thing after the 10 days of accidental cold turkey is that I was able to re-instate at a much lower dose of K than what I had been taking.  Was on 1mg a day and re-instated at .375mg a day.  This helped in that I did not have to cross over to the full 20mg of valium that is the equivalent of 1mg K.  So I only had to come down from 7.75mg valium which will make my overall taper much much shorter. (I hope)

 

The actual re-instatement of the K I did in three daily doses and then substituted them for the valium equivalent one dose at a time starting with the night time dose.

[[So...]]

Well thankfully,

I figured out what I was experiencing was withdrawal by researching on the internet because my "doctor" was trying to tell me it was all in my head.

 

The good thing after the 10 days of accidental cold turkey is that I was able to re-instate at a much lower dose of K than what I had been taking.  Was on 1mg a day and re-instated at .375mg a day.  This helped in that I did not have to cross over to the full 20mg of valium that is the equivalent of 1mg K.  So I only had to come down from 7.75mg valium which will make my overall taper much much shorter. (I hope)

 

The actual re-instatement of the K I did in three daily doses and then substituted them for the valium equivalent one dose at a time starting with the night time dose.

 

I didn't reinstate until three months out. I was only taking .50 xanax per night. The Dr wanted me on .50 Klonopin twice a day. I started with 1/4 doses, but they aren't doing to trick. So now, I am doing .25 in the morning, .25 in the afternoon, and .50 at night.

 

But, i am going to try something different tonight by taking a higher dose, and then only one dose of .50 tomorrow. I just don't think that I am getting a high enough content going on in the day.

 

The .25 makes me very fatigued, but still have some anxiety. So, I hope this works better. I see my Dr on Friday, and I am hoping he will be more open to the Valium. But, I am not holding my breath on that.

 

Denise 

[[Te...]]

I functioned pretty well on 20-30 mg. daily of Valium, and had done so over 13+ years, and two years on Xanax prior to that.

 

I was getting my Valium from overseas at a very affordable price, and my connection was able to get me Roche licensed Valium, not some cheap generic. When I went c/t I three some 500 pills out in the trash, or enough to last me about six months, give or take, and my contact had plenty of Valium that I could have ordered if I'd wanted to.

 

I finally just got tired of feeling that a pill controlled my life. I couldn't leave my house without making sure I had a few pills stashed in my car -- just in case. I'd tried to c/t in 2011 but took "rescue doses" as the holidays approached, when I was not quite four months off. I ended up taking so many rescue doses that by January 2012 I'd essentially reinstated.

 

I ate Valium daily through all of 2012 and it just didn't work as well. My personality seemed to have changed, in large part because I think I was angry at myself for not making it through that c/t. I decided to make my New Year's resolution to make 2013 the year I finally beat benzos, so in January I began making 2.5 mg. cuts every two weeks or so, until I was down to 5 mg. in late May.

 

I couldn't take going down to smaller cuts and being in continuous agony, so I said what the hell and jumped c/t on May 26. It was hell for 6-7 weeks, but slowly began to ease up after that.

 

As of today, I'm exactly six months off of benzos. I haven't ordered any more from overseas. I'd gone to see about alcohol detox earlier this week, but I wasn't deemed to "meet medical criteria" since I was already on my third day when I went in to see the doctor at the detox center. He wrote me a small RX for ten 5 mg. Valium to take in case I had problems with the alcohol. I didn't get the RX filled at first, but eventually did, but I tossed it out yesterday and didn't take any, since I'm not having any serious w/d from having quit drinking.

 

So, unlike some of you who've had a rather unkind doctor cut you off abruptly, I did originally get addicted to Xanax by a doctor, but I was able for years to just cross into Juarez from El Paso and get Valium, but that changed after 9-11. Still, in 1999 that was in the future, so I crossed myself over from Xanax to Valium.

 

I quit because I was tired of being an addict and having pills control my life. Now, with six months behind me, I'm not there yet, but I feel I have control of my life back and the rest of my recovery is just staying the course for however long it takes.

 

[[So...]]

You do have quite a story, Tex!! Thank you for sharing it!

 

So glad things are improving for you. Even if they are slower than you would like.

 

Denise