Valium/Diazepam Support Group

[[Tr...]]

Thank you. Can I take Mucinex?

My mom has been taking musinex thru out most of her taper without problems.

 

What kind of Mucinex for runny nose, congestion, plugged ears?

[[mr...]]

Thank you. Can I take Mucinex?

My mom has been taking musinex thru out most of her taper without problems.

 

What kind of Mucinex for runny nose, congestion, plugged ears?

If you have post nasal drip, try the MusinexDM.

[[Tr...]]

Thank you. I have sinus pressure/ headache and the ears are plugged...will this help? Is the vitamin D plus this too much? Will it affect my sleep?

[[Te...]]

Hi,

I have a question, I read  about cortisol and adrenaline in the body, but I cant get a clear explanation when in a benzo withdraw,

I would like to know  what are the effects of the cortisol and adrenaline ?  and how to prevent a problem with these two hormones?

 

any advise?

 

Thanks

 

Tex

[[Ju...]]

Rough day. I woke up depressed and let it get the best of me. I think this is the ativan WD, just based on how it feels, but it seems crazy that I could feel such a small reduction when I'm on so much valium now. Maybe it's just me. I had such a great day yesterday, went out and fed ducks at the park and went Christmas shopping, and sometimes I have a hard time coming down from fun times to normal days. I'm stressed about the holidays and upcoming doctors appts... i think it is all just getting to me. Trying to meditate and take a little nap now. Definitely not going to cut weekly as I previously mentioned. Bi-weekly, maybe, but my original monthly plan is not looking so bad now.

 

Solace and Peace,

 

I think that's awesome that you are holding your head up and getting through each day, and especially that you have changed your plan from weekly cuts to once or twice a month. Such a good move (that's just my opinion, but I really think it will help you) and also, if you want to make it even smoother you can ask people on here about doing gradual daily titrations with dissolved tablets rather than larger dry cuts that feel more sudden. It's helped a lot of us, so if you ever feel like asking questions we're happy to answer them

 

Have a really lovely Christmas, enjoy the simple things and the small victories

[[Ju...]]

Hi,

Sorry I was away for few days. my heart goes out to those who are struggling.  I'm holding at 0.90 Valium,  I have some waves every day, adrenaline rush,  but I found a way to get rid of them quickly.

 

  Today is my first vacation day,  I was trying hard to be busy, I found out to be busy kept my mind out of trouble, I have a long list that things I'm doing:

zumba,  karaoke,

I'm learning German: Guten Morgen,  lol

cleaning my garage, putting some stuff in ebay.com

pray, work out, cooking, try supplements, games, volunteer, facebook, twiter

reading books, netflix

be shallow and try to dress better.

watching soap operas. (they are good to keep your mind on the next episode)

I'm running faster than before, the limit is 65, I'm doing 80 m/h ( no recommended )

maybe I will buy a Corvette( I have no money, but working on that, lol, I have a good credit though  )

 

he who has health have hope, He who has hope, has everything!

 

Hugs

 

TEX

 

:smitten:

 

 

 

 

 

Tex, this is really positive thank you. While I can't afford a corvette I definitely relate to your list of distractions. Mine also includes cleaning out cupboards and having certain tv episodes to look forward to, and I've been doing more projects and creative stuff. Having an actual list is so good because there are days when we just feel too "blah" to motivate ourselves and need a bit of prompting. But it works. Especially this time of year when the normal routines are all up in the air and relatives are filling the house with noise. Nice to have a bit of an escape. As for learning German, there are some really good German movies you could watch to immerse yourself in the language. It's a fun way to get familiar with phrases and pronounciation even when you're just learning the basics. Enjoy

[[Ju...]]

I would choose daily tapering every time, because I just know how easy it is to do, and for me cut and hold was completely impossible to do. However, that's my opinion, and everyone is different. Some people can cut and hold quite well - I'm just not one of them.

 

I definitely second this, and thanks again DiazPam for teaching me how to do it. Has made a huge difference overall. I used to find large dry cuts really scary but daily liquid tapering is much more manageable.

[[Ju...]]

Hello

 

I'm almost 3 months off and I have improved a great deal so I thought I'd drop by an approaching christmas ray of hope: it really does get better 

 

I really hope so, thanks for sending us all some encouragement Glad you're doing well!

[[Ju...]]

just dropping in to say Hi to my buddies on the Valium thread, I hope everyone is well. I have slept for 2 nights straight

Not sure if this has anything to do with it, but I have upped the amount of fats in my diet and my nerves are feeling more grounded and calm.

 

Yaaaaaay!!!!!!!! So glad you're getting some sleep, that was my Christmas wish for you haha Good idea with finding a nutritional balance that works better for you. Meal choices definitely affect brains, especially benzo healing brains.

[[Ju...]]

Ok, thanks. Cross

 

I don't expect anything carved in stone and handed down from a mountain, that's why I used the word "ballpark".  Anyone have a guess about how many years it 'might' take to get from 31 to 0 mg of Valium?  Thanks.  Cross

 

Like I said, anything anyone tells you will only be a guess anyway. Some people can taper quite quickly with few ill-effects and other people have to take it really slowly. I'm sorry, but there really isn't any "ballpark", however, if you want to work out your own ballpark figure, you could work on an average of say a 7% cut every 3 weeks. That would be the mid-range of the recommended 5-10% every 2-4 weeks. That might give you something to go on. However, as you get on to the really low doses that % has to increase otherwise you will never finish. Your last cut, no mater what it is, will always be 100%.

 

Crosstheroad, I totally understand what it's like to wish you could get a "ball park" estimate of how long a taper will take. It can be frustrating not to know, especially because everyone is so different. And especially when other people like family members ask how long it's going to take. But what's important is that even if the majority of safe tapers take a longer time, for example 20 months or 14 months or even 30 months ... I just made up those numbers, but the point is, it's better to have a longer smooth-as-possible successful taper rather than a short rushed miserable failed taper, and it's much nicer to be able to live life semi-normally many days of the week rather than be bed bound and in pain from going too fast. As tempting as I thought it would be to "rip off the band aid" and get it over and done with it was a nightmare, a total disaster and I've learned that slow and steady is much better, it means we will have a better success rate and a smoother (over all) taper with windows of feeling really good. You can do this

[[Te...]]

Hi,

Sorry I was away for few days. my heart goes out to those who are struggling.  I'm holding at 0.90 Valium,  I have some waves every day, adrenaline rush,  but I found a way to get rid of them quickly.

 

  Today is my first vacation day,  I was trying hard to be busy, I found out to be busy kept my mind out of trouble, I have a long list that things I'm doing:

zumba,  karaoke,

I'm learning German: Guten Morgen,  lol

cleaning my garage, putting some stuff in ebay.com

pray, work out, cooking, try supplements, games, volunteer, facebook, twiter

reading books, netflix

be shallow and try to dress better.

watching soap operas. (they are good to keep your mind on the next episode)

I'm running faster than before, the limit is 65, I'm doing 80 m/h ( no recommended )

maybe I will buy a Corvette( I have no money, but working on that, lol, I have a good credit though  )

 

he who has health have hope, He who has hope, has everything!

 

Hugs

 

TEX

 

:smitten:

 

 

 

 

 

Tex, this is really positive thank you. While I can't afford a corvette I definitely relate to your list of distractions. Mine also includes cleaning out cupboards and having certain tv episodes to look forward to, and I've been doing more projects and creative stuff. Having an actual list is so good because there are days when we just feel too "blah" to motivate ourselves and need a bit of prompting. But it works. Especially this time of year when the normal routines are all up in the air and relatives are filling the house with noise. Nice to have a bit of an escape. As for learning German, there are some really good German movies you could watch to immerse yourself in the language. It's a fun way to get familiar with phrases and pronounciation even when you're just learning the basics. Enjoy

 

 

Hi Today33, 

Yes, there is hope, I feel much better than before, but I got into some waves because my mind goes there, every time my mind think on some symptoms,  I got scare and I got a adrenaline rush then my stomach do his thing,  If a learned how to stop my mind to go to the dark zone I will be cure 100%.

 

fear is my enemy and my mind is his ally.

 

Thanks

 

 

Tex

 

 

:smitten:

 

 

 

[[Ju...]]

Has anyone got any thoughts on severe depression and whether or not to take anti depressants? I keep getting recommended to go back on anti depressants by the people who are helping me taper off benzos and they understand that I have a total pill phobia now, I don't trust any pills or doctors really except for taking aspirin for a bad headache. I would love to be pill free but I also have had depression on and off since I was a kid and it runs in my family, so many relatives and friends are on anti depressants and since doing benzo tapering my depression has gotten way worse. Shorter but more intense and scary. Instead of daily and mild.

 

Much worse than I've ever experienced. I know depression is a side effect of benzo withdrawl, and ironically I started taking benzos to cope with withdrawl from anti depressants (citalopram) but when it hits it's so severe that I feel like I'm going to drown and not get back up again. Before benzo withdrawl the depression was daily, ongoing, but more tame.. it was more frequent but also more mild.

 

Now it's shorter and more isolated but much much more intense and crippling. It scares the crap out of me. So it will last for say 3 hours, which doesn't sound long but it's intense hell. The worst I've ever felt. And then if I can just manage to get to sleep it goes away and I feel completely fine. In that moment though, things get really dark and I feel like I'm in an awful free fall with no parachute.

 

I keep getting told that it's biological and hereditary and that I will have a much better quality of life if I take anti depressants, and that citalopram was just the wrong type for me etc etc, and I worry that my ambitious plans of beating panic attacks, agorophobia, depression and anxiety without medication, just using exercise and nutrition with vitamins and meditation and so on, are not going to be enough to keep my head above water. I hope this is just the benzo withdrawl cos I can NOT live like this long term. I'd go nuts.

 

I just don't want to go back to square one. But I also don't want to live life in a black hole.

[[Ju...]]

Hi,

Sorry I was away for few days. my heart goes out to those who are struggling.  I'm holding at 0.90 Valium,  I have some waves every day, adrenaline rush,  but I found a way to get rid of them quickly.

 

  Today is my first vacation day,  I was trying hard to be busy, I found out to be busy kept my mind out of trouble, I have a long list that things I'm doing:

zumba,  karaoke,

I'm learning German: Guten Morgen,  lol

cleaning my garage, putting some stuff in ebay.com

pray, work out, cooking, try supplements, games, volunteer, facebook, twiter

reading books, netflix

be shallow and try to dress better.

watching soap operas. (they are good to keep your mind on the next episode)

I'm running faster than before, the limit is 65, I'm doing 80 m/h ( no recommended )

maybe I will buy a Corvette( I have no money, but working on that, lol, I have a good credit though  )

 

he who has health have hope, He who has hope, has everything!

 

Hugs

 

TEX

 

:smitten:

 

 

 

 

 

Tex, this is really positive thank you. While I can't afford a corvette I definitely relate to your list of distractions. Mine also includes cleaning out cupboards and having certain tv episodes to look forward to, and I've been doing more projects and creative stuff. Having an actual list is so good because there are days when we just feel too "blah" to motivate ourselves and need a bit of prompting. But it works. Especially this time of year when the normal routines are all up in the air and relatives are filling the house with noise. Nice to have a bit of an escape. As for learning German, there are some really good German movies you could watch to immerse yourself in the language. It's a fun way to get familiar with phrases and pronounciation even when you're just learning the basics. Enjoy

 

 

Hi Today33, 

Yes, there is hope, I feel much better than before, but I got into some waves because my mind goes there, every time my mind think on some symptoms,  I got scare and I got a adrenaline rush then my stomach do his thing,  If a learned how to stop my mind to go to the dark zone I will be cure 100%.

 

fear is my enemy and my mind is his ally.

 

Thanks

 

 

Tex

 

 

:smitten:

 

 

 

Yeah that famous quote about the only thing to fear is fear itself... so true right now. Fear is the worst. It twists everything and has a huge effect on perspective and our brains and stomachs and nerves. But fear is also a big illusion, like the wimpy magician hiding behind the curtain pretending to be the great and powerful Wizard of Oz by pushing all the buttons and levers to create the illusion of power. Have you seen that scene?

[[Tr...]]

Thank you. I have sinus pressure/ headache and the ears are plugged...will this help? Is the vitamin D plus this too much? Will it affect my sleep?

 

I have the above plus runny nose and I can feel it going down my throat...I have Mucinex MD and Mucinex Sinus Max plus the Vitamin D3...which should i take? I don't want it to affect my sleep. Eyes and ears hurt too. Please help. I have my appointment tomorrow and have to drive 2 hours in rain...need to get some sleep and feel better so I can make it...I was awake all night in agony.

[[Kg...]]

Trudie no one here is a doctor, so we really can't give you medical advice.

 

Some suggestions for your sinus pressure -  take a very hot shower - it will open up your sinuses and make your bathroom like a steam room by not using the fan when you shower.  If you have some Afrin try this - it opens up your nasal passages and sinuses and lasts for 12 hours.  It is over the counter and you can buy the store brand.  Make sure to drink plenty of fluids, try some hot tea and take a bath before you go to bed to relax your body.  Put some extra pillows on your bed so you sleep in a more upright position.

 

For your eyes - boil some water, let it cool down and take a wash cloth and put the hot (not burning cloth) over your eyes.  It helps.  You boil the water so it is sterile. 

 

As others said use some saline spray to clear out your nasal passages. Take some tylenol but make sure any other medication does not have additional tylenol in it since you don't want to take too much.  As for the Mucinex some kinds contains pseudoephidrine (sp?) which actually revs me up - and does not help me with sleeping at all.  If you want an antihistamine that will make you tired try some benadryl. 

 

I hope you feel better. 

[[Tr...]]

Thank you. I don't have a fever so maybe just a bad cold? I don't have afrin or the packaging for the DM Mucinex---my mom just brought some over without the box. I don't have a bath tub and too weak for shower. I do appreciate your help just in a panic bc I need to get to bed soon so I can make my MD appointment in the morning....long day tomorrow. I also haven't been sick in awhile and I can hardly move so it's difficult to research and do basic things...very weak.

[[mr...]]

Thank you. I have sinus pressure/ headache and the ears are plugged...will this help? Is the vitamin D plus this too much? Will it affect my sleep?

Sorry, had to go to the hospital.

D helps sleep and keeps your immune system up.

It is our immune system hormone, so it doesn't interact with anything.

[[Le...]]

@mrtmeo, I am sorry to hear you went to hospital. Hope things are better. Sending healing thoughts your way.  :smitten:

[[mr...]]

@mrtmeo, I am sorry to hear you went to hospital. Hope things are better. Sending healing thoughts your way.  :smitten:

thanks leftbehind, but it was a bladder infection my mom got.

Boy did that hit quick within a few hours.

[Guest [mo...]]

Has anyone got any thoughts on severe depression and whether or not to take anti depressants? I keep getting recommended to go back on anti depressants by the people who are helping me taper off benzos and they understand that I have a total pill phobia now, I don't trust any pills or doctors really except for taking aspirin for a bad headache. I would love to be pill free but I also have had depression on and off since I was a kid and it runs in my family, so many relatives and friends are on anti depressants and since doing benzo tapering my depression has gotten way worse. Shorter but more intense and scary. Instead of daily and mild.

 

Much worse than I've ever experienced. I know depression is a side effect of benzo withdrawl, and ironically I started taking benzos to cope with withdrawl from anti depressants (citalopram) but when it hits it's so severe that I feel like I'm going to drown and not get back up again. Before benzo withdrawl the depression was daily, ongoing, but more tame.. it was more frequent but also more mild.

 

Now it's shorter and more isolated but much much more intense and crippling. It scares the crap out of me. So it will last for say 3 hours, which doesn't sound long but it's intense hell. The worst I've ever felt. And then if I can just manage to get to sleep it goes away and I feel completely fine. In that moment though, things get really dark and I feel like I'm in an awful free fall with no parachute.

 

I keep getting told that it's biological and hereditary and that I will have a much better quality of life if I take anti depressants, and that citalopram was just the wrong type for me etc etc, and I worry that my ambitious plans of beating panic attacks, agorophobia, depression and anxiety without medication, just using exercise and nutrition with vitamins and meditation and so on, are not going to be enough to keep my head above water. I hope this is just the benzo withdrawl cos I can NOT live like this long term. I'd go nuts.

 

I just don't want to go back to square one. But I also don't want to live life in a black hole.

JustDo, I am sure this statement might make some people angry here and I should PM you, but I would 100 percent absolutely tell your doctor and family----THANKS BUT NO THANKS TO DRUGS.  What comes from petrochemicals can only be bad and there is no way I will allow anyone to convince me otherwise.  We also have a depression problem in my family---  so let's look at the life we are all living, or the foods we are consuming, our lifestyles, or how we can adjust serotonin issues in the body with a little help from amino acids(I highly recommend Julia Ross's book "The Mood Cure")

I am aware of the beliefs of many on this forum that amino supplementation is either snake oil or revved up their symptoms.  Only you can decide what works best for you.  I allowed my therapist to talk me into taking an SSRI.  I was euphoric for about a week and the only way I could replicate that was to take more---sound familiar?? No thank you, I do not want anything messing with my chemistry anymore; haven't we done and learned with these benzos that messing with your brain chemistry is not worth it?  If I would have just said no to the benzo after my opiate taper and just dealt with the sleeplessness until my brain healed, I would have never been here to begin with.  Now I am back where I started but with a two and a half year addition of toxic load on my liver and disharmony in my brain. So my dear friend, take your time and contemplate deeply if this is where you would like to go with your health.  You are young, why carry this into your future?  Look at taking L-tyrosine, and DL-phenylalanine to adjust your brain chemistry(all found in Julia's book). Plus, there are other supplements that help with depression like omega 3s in fish oil and Inositol.  Take care of yourself JustDo and don't allow anyone to pressure you in this vulnerable time. When you don't know what to do, do nothing....................things will usually resolve in an more organic way. 

[[Le...]]

@mrtmeo  Glad to hear it was nothing earth shattering and that everyone is ok

[[Pa...]]

Hi everybody.  This is my first time posting in this group.  Thanks for having me

 

My benzo history is posted in more detail elsewhere on this forum but the key points are as follows.

 

• I have been taking 10mg Valium daily for about 1.5 years (higher doses before then).
  
• I have had two horrendous failed cold turkey attempts.
  
• I am making good progress on a taper.
  

 

I set out on my taper intending to listen to my body and my brain rather than have a rigid schedule.  I started my taper about 14 weeks ago and the only rule I adhered to was that I should stay at each dose for at least 10 days before cutting further.  My dosage schedule looks like this 10mg > 7.5mg > 5mg > 3.75mg > 2.5mg >1.25mg.

 

I have had a surprisingly easy experience so far.  I've had a few days of bad anxiety and a lot of feeling out of sorts but so far everything has been manageable and nowhere near the hell I experienced both times I tried cold turkey.

 

I'm only a week into 1.25mg doses but feeling good so far and plan to continue at this level for while longer to make sure  I don't rush into my next cut too soon.

 

Now that I am beginning to make some real progress I am getting confused on how I should progress from here.  I have tolerated larger cuts to my dose very well so far.  I haven't needed more than 2 weeks at each level.  Having come this far I really don't want to mess things up.  I only have access to 5mg tablets.  I read that jumping from 0.5mg is too much for most people.  Is jumping from 0.625mg a really stupid idea? 

 

Does anybody have any suggestions on how I could proceed from 1.25mg once I am confident that I am feeling stable?

 

Many thanks indeed.

 

[[be...]]

Hi everyone, hope all are doing well. I have a question, after I take my dose and I drink all of the water, do I have to wait, before, drinking more water,

 

was wondering about that, would it affect anything?. Sort of silly I know, but I am new to this, and I will say, my first attempt, I was not doing it right,

 

but this is my 14th day and  feeling well.Thanks so much. 

[[Al...]]

Hi everyone, hope all are doing well. I have a question, after I take my dose and I drink all of the water, do I have to wait, before, drinking more water,

 

was wondering about that, would it affect anything?. Sort of silly I know, but I am new to this, and I will say, my first attempt, I was not doing it right,

 

but this is my 14th day and  feeling well.Thanks so much. 

 

Begood,

 

As far as I know and can reason out once you have taken your dose you can certainly drink water.

I always wait at least 2 hours though before taking any other medication even asperin.

[[be...]]

All Tied Up, thanks I just was not sure, that is a good idea about the other medications.