Withdrawel Akton 2 mg

[[Ma...]]

Hi there,

 

I am a new member here (English is not my mother tongue, so I apologize in advance for the mistakes I probably make) and I hope someone is able to reassure me a bit or could help me out.

 

I' ve been on Akton 2 mg (Cloxazolam) for 4 years (2 times a day half a tablet). My internist described it after my adrenalin appeared to be sky high due to a law suit. I kept using it after the law suit, because I had tachycardia and the normal prescription drugs weren't helping. This seemed to be the best solution.  But it didn't feel right anymore and I read about this weakness in muscles one could get. So I decided I wanted to quit. I suffer from CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome) and I hoped it might help out. I talked about it with my internist in the beginning of October and he said it was okay. I could quit and he advised me to taper off in a month.

 

And so I did. I started at 2 x 1 mg per day.

After a week > 1,5 mg a day (0,5 in the morning, 1mg in the evening)

After two weeks >  1 mg a day (nothing in the morning, 1 mg in the evening)

After three weeks > 0,5 mg a day (in the evening)

After four weeks (October 30th I believe): benzo free

 

I did experience some symptoms. More pain, not feeling well, difficulty falling asleep. After a few days the symptoms appeared to be less, but by then the week had gone by and I went down in dosis again. Maybe I should have given it more time. But the feeling of the symptoms made me think: this is really bad. I want this drug out of my system as quick as possible. Rather today then tomorrow. But I did follow the advise, I didn't speed anyting up.

 

And here we are. 1 month benzofree and I'm not sure if I'm doing well or if things are going wrong and I should reinstall. Let me explain:

 

the symptoms stayed when I was off the Akton. Pain, not feeling well, more fatigue, difficulty falling asleep, headaches. And then there was last week: three days in a row I felt quite fine. I felt like the person I was before I began tapering. So I thought I was there. There was a big relief and I thought: I have made it, it's over!

 

But last Monday I got a migraine attack, which appear to be more common since I started to quit and ever since I'm back to not feeling well again. The pain in my muscles and joints is gone. But now my head is spinning and I've got this headaches and my head is feeling numb at some places, some pressure on my ears. It's just a perception, because if I touch those places everyting feels normal.

 

I was feeling bad last night, thinking I should maybe reinstall a low dose and then tapering that in a few weeks. But then I called someone and she told me it was quite normal to experiences waves. I started to look up some more and then I ended up here. There I read that having some good days is a really good sign and feeling even worse after that is quite normal.

 

So my question: is it really? Am I doing well? Or do I need more help (I'm quite on my own, because I recently changed my GP and my internist is located in another country) with this and is this not going the right way given the symptoms?

 

I don't know. I think it would be a shame to reinstall after a month off the benzo and that I should go through with it. But it's quite though. Any opinions would be great.

[[Be...]]

At one time or another, I think everyone questions whether what they are experiencing is "normal" so in that respect you are normal.    And waves like you have described are, sadly, totally normal, too.  .

 

You are fairly newly benzo-free an your central nervous system is still trying to get back to normal.  I imagine you will slowly notice more frequent and longer lasting periods of improvement (windows) an fewer, less intense waves over he coming months. 

[[Ma...]]

Thx for the support!

[[Ne...]]

I think the fact that you are already experiencing windows (those 3 days of feeling normal) is a good sign that healing is taking place at a fairly good pace. Even though you generally still feel not well, I don't think that reinstating at this point would be in your best interests. First of all, it may not work, it may make you feel worse, you may have a harder longer withdrawal, and you will still have to go through what you are going through now, but quite possibly more intensely and longer.

 

In my opinion, now that you are off and having 'windows' already, I would stay off. Only time can heal the damage these drugs have done.

[[Ma...]]

Thank you. Yes, that make sense. Part of me says: come on, you're one month off, it would be stupid to reinstall again, even at a lower dose. Because indeed: it might not work out and I still have to go through it again because it's really totally clear that this drug is in fact awful and one should avoid it when possible. And part of me says: I want to feel like I was feeling before I started to quit.

 

But I guess I should look at the positive signs and the fact that I was feeling better for three days and keep that in mind. It's a lot harder than I thought it would be and the fact that I have this chronic illness won't be helpful. But I don't need the benzo anymore.

 

It's nice to have a forum like this. It can be a little bit lonely, becasue you lose control a little bit. I live in the Netherlands, my doctor who prescribed it lives in Belgium. And Akton isn't even available in the Netherlands, so at the local drugstore they told me (one week after I was benzofree) that things would be better in just a few days. Once it left my blood, everything would be back to normal. You can imagine I felt like I was really weird, still experiencing symptoms. Yesterday I finally called the drugstore in Belgium where I go with my prescripitions and they had a very different story. One that had more resemblance with the things I read here. So it was kind of a relief, but there were still questions left.

 

You don't know anymore if something is normal and 'part of the game' of a bad sign. If things are lightening up or getting worse. It's nice to have some understanding and reassuring. So thx again!