Valium/Diazepam Support Group

[[Pl...]]

  Thank you MRT,  I am holding all meds right now as I had surgery, a heart chemical stress test and bunch of other things.  I tried two tiny cuts around a month post surgery and was slammed.  I have been so sick I couldn't taper anymore.  I am feeling better but the burning is the worst.  I will soon try to start tapering again.  It is not a race and I must do what I can to feel better first.  You are a wonderful person who helps your mother, God bless you.  Please keep us informed as to how she does, I hope she knows what a wonderful child she has. 

I am sorry you have the burning.

I update my mom's progress in the plog link in my sig.

That is a really horrible symptom that my mom had worst during her first withdrawal, but it went away.

She only got buring maybe a handful of times far apart during the valium wd.

She didn't even have any burning during the acute phase off the valium this time, so it does go away.

I wish I could have known how my mom was feeling because she wouldn't tell me or didn't know how to.

If I had been able to hold and take it as slow as her body needed, things would have gone much smoother.

We went too fast many times because it caused an autoimmune disease that the treatments were not putting her into remission.

Hopefully, soon she will go into remission.

Just keep going at a rate that works for you and don't worry about when you are off.

The key is being as stable as possible til you recover.

Bart recovered while tapering.

 

Hope you and Your mom are doing well or better  I just had a question did your mom develop an autoimmune disease due to taking benzos?  Did they determine that by a test?

 

Lately at night I've been getting full blown muscle burning , weakness and severe contractions all over my face..(which I've had progress since the beginning; please see signature).. Really scared I developed a disorder ....

 

Many thanks for reading and replying......

[[so...]]

  Its a common s/x but still if its really a lot I would check with Dr. to make sure.  I had them a long time and they then went away and lately they are back some, very light but still its a scary feeling.  Hope everyone feels better.  You are on such low doses, you will be done soon.  I will be on forever lol but whatever, one step at a time.

 

It's pretty mild but I will definitely mention it to my doc at my next appointment to be safe... though docs never seem to understand side effects so it just might get me some unnecessary tests and extra stress. Maybe it'll stop before then and I won't have to mention it. Fingers crossed.

[[mr...]]

 

Hope you and Your mom are doing well or better  I just had a question did your mom develop an autoimmune disease due to taking benzos?  Did they determine that by a test?

 

Lately at night I've been getting full blown muscle burning , weakness and severe contractions all over my face..(which I've had progress since the beginning; please see signature).. Really scared I developed a disorder ....

 

Many thanks for reading and replying......

Hi PBH,

Yes, my mom had an autoimmune disease show up during her first taper.

Drs wouldn't diagnose it until her kidneys failed.

She has Microscopic Polyangiitis which is a form of vasculitis.

Even tho benzo wd symptoms seem like something really horrible is going on underneath, it is rare for someone to find themselves with an autoimmune disease while withdrawing from benzo's.

However, If you are worried about some disease, look up your sx's and have the drs do the blood work, such as antibody tests, inflammation tests and urinalysis, just to put your mind at ease.

Psych meds lower the immune system, so it is imperative to keep vitamin D levels in the optimum range of 60-80 ng/mL.

 

[[...]]

  Its a common s/x but still if its really a lot I would check with Dr. to make sure.  I had them a long time and they then went away and lately they are back some, very light but still its a scary feeling.  Hope everyone feels better.  You are on such low doses, you will be done soon.  I will be on forever lol but whatever, one step at a time.

Freeme,

Don't worry about being on or how long it will take to get off the valium.

The key is to go at a rate that keeps you stable so that by the time you are done, you will be healed or almost there.

Going too fast, just means longer suffering.

 

Exactly. I think we all have a tendency to push our tapers along and get off our benzos asap. IMO, tapering too fast leads to more glutamate excitotoxicity, more neuron damage and ultimately a longer time until we are healed.

mrtmeo: I hope your mom is doing better. Her taper must have been extremely difficult with the autoimmune problem thrown in. I'm glad the taper is done.

 

Bart

[[mr...]]

  Its a common s/x but still if its really a lot I would check with Dr. to make sure.  I had them a long time and they then went away and lately they are back some, very light but still its a scary feeling.  Hope everyone feels better.  You are on such low doses, you will be done soon.  I will be on forever lol but whatever, one step at a time.

Freeme,

Don't worry about being on or how long it will take to get off the valium.

The key is to go at a rate that keeps you stable so that by the time you are done, you will be healed or almost there.

Going too fast, just means longer suffering.

 

Exactly. I think we all have a tendency to push our tapers along and get off our benzos asap. IMO, tapering too fast leads to more glutamate excitotoxicity, more neuron damage and ultimately a longer time until we are healed.

mrtmeo: I hope your mom is doing better. Her taper must have been extremely difficult with the autoimmune problem thrown in. I'm glad the taper is done.

 

Bart

Hi Bart,

Actually, I think my mom is struggling much more with the anxiety now because of what you are saying.

I went too fast too many times and she was forced off in January by the Dr at the hospital.

Looking at most, it looks like many heal at 40-50 months including taper, so I am looking at around Nov or Dec, but could be longer.

[[Te...]]

You're doing great, Tex. You're a real trooper! Soon all this will be a distant memory. You will be able to do better in social situations . . . it just takes time and a bit of practice.

 

Katz

 

Hello Oregon,

Thanks for your words,  I will make it,  I'm trying slow, try no to focus in my symptoms, just try to distract myself and let my body heal himself.

 

Social situations were always a challenge for me, but not at the point to feel sick.

I felt a little discomfort, but  now I got sick, but I'm pushing myself,  yesterday I went to a party,  lot of noise, lot of people. 

but my wife drove and I was relaxing  myself.    I was from 10 pm until 1pm. 

 

go to sleep at 2 am.  bad news: I got a nasty nightmare. 

 

today I'm fine.  my tinnitus is more intense though. 

 

Hope we all be soon  better!!!

 

 

TEX

 

 

 

 

[[Pi...]]

Tex,

I see you were dosing 4 times a day and at what point did you change that in your taper?

[[...]]

I recall that Una Corbet from BAT believes 4-7 years is not an uncommon time frame for  healing. She didn't say if this included taper time. Hopefully, it does as we do heal as we taper.

[[so...]]

Tex,

I see you were dosing 4 times a day and at what point did you change that in your taper?

 

I know this wasn't addressed to me but I am also dosing 4x per day. 2.5 mg in the morning,  1 mg midday,  1 mg evening,  2.5 mg bedtime. I'm debating whether to start phasing out those middle doses with my next cuts and get it down to 2x per day. I seem to be a fast metabolizer though so I'm a little nervous about it, and also I'm used to having that psychological crutch. But I'm pretty sure I'm going to try it. I have to let go and decrease eventually anyway, might as well get used to it.

[[Ho...]]

Tex,

I see you were dosing 4 times a day and at what point did you change that in your taper?

 

I know this wasn't addressed to me but I am also dosing 4x per day. 2.5 mg in the morning,  1 mg midday,  1 mg evening,  2.5 mg bedtime. I'm debating whether to start phasing out those middle doses with my next cuts and get it down to 2x per day. I seem to be a fast metabolizer though so I'm a little nervous about it, and also I'm used to having that psychological crutch. But I'm pretty sure I'm going to try it. I have to let go and decrease eventually anyway, might as well get used to it.

 

You could try going down to three doses first to see how that goes. I dose three times a day and it seems fine. I've been slowly weaning out the middle dose but like you am scared to go to twice a day. Right now I am doing 4, 2.5, 4 (cutting the middle dose to 2 mg today). After that I think I will start taking some off the other doses and leave the 2 mg in place until I get to 2 mg three times daily. I think lol.

[[Ki...]]

Since I know my metabolism from testimg I know I have to dose multiple times a day but I am still experimenting. I seem to do better at 5 hours but I take a larger dose at bedtime. How much of my daily weirdness is because of metabolism and how much is just the drug and a messed up system I dont know, but all each of us can do is try because we are all VERY different.

[[Pi...]]

Thanks for the response kitty and hope. Are you using 2mg tablets or using scales to get to lower amounts?

[[Ho...]]

Thanks for the response kitty and hope. Are you using 2mg tablets or using scales to get to lower amounts?

 

Pitchman,

 

I have both 2 and 5 mg pills which I use in combination to get my doses. My doses are big enough that it just requires splitting pills in half at most. I haven't had to deal with the scale yet. When my doses get below 2 mg I suppose I'll get out the scale. I have one from Amazon just haven't used it yet. And so far I've been making 0.5 mg cuts for simplicity. So for example if I want to dose 3.5 mg I use half a 5 and half a 2. They are both the same generic and things have seemed to be OK doing it this way so far.

[[Pi...]]

Thanks. They are probably the same ones I got from Amazon too. Work pretty good. Unfortunately I don't have 2 mg pills. I'm on my own. I am working with 5mg and it's a pain in the butt. Can you imagine having to weigh all 3 doses each day I'm starting to chisel at my night time dose now so I have to weigh two of them. I have to be careful with halves if splitting by hand.. One might weigh .085  and the other .075. I chisel the heavy one, throw the little piece in my " chip bottle."

[[ar...]]

I am finally done.  Benzo free post here:

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=160707.msg2146710#msg2146710

[[mr...]]

I am finally done.  Benzo free post here:

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=160707.msg2146710#msg2146710

Awesome, Arcade!

Welcome to freedom and the reward is your life back.

[[Ho...]]

Thanks. They are probably the same ones I got from Amazon too. Work pretty good. Unfortunately I don't have 2 mg pills. I'm on my own. I am working with 5mg and it's a pain in the butt. Can you imagine having to weigh all 3 doses each day I'm starting to chisel at my night time dose now so I have to weigh two of them. I have to be careful with halves if splitting by hand.. One might weigh .085  and the other .075. I chisel the heavy one, throw the little piece in my " chip bottle."

 

Well that's a pain! At some point you should get the 2 mg pills.  Will your doc not prescribe them?

[[Pi...]]

 

 

I left my Dr. in late May . I haven't been back. That's where the "I'm on my own" comes into play.

[[Ho...]]

 

 

I left my Dr. in late May . I haven't been back. That's where the "I'm on my own" comes into play.

 

Oh gosh, I hope you have plenty of refills!

[[Pi...]]

I got 99 problems but a refill is not one of them  you're doing great on your taper. Good luck.

[[Sh...]]

Haha Pitchman I like the humour. You really don't need a doctor....you will be okay. I didn't see one the last 6 months of my taper. The only ones I saw new nothing about benzo withdrawal or gave me more drugs which made me worse. After starting and stopping an AD and being x3 worse I realised nothing could help me in this situation except time.

[[Ho...]]

I got 99 problems but a refill is not one of them  you're doing great on your taper. Good luck.

 

LOL. My pdoc is a little more strict with me since I came to him with the purpose of tapering. He gives me a month supply to cover whatever my current dose is with 1 refill at most and I have to see him every one to two months. You'd think he would get sick of writing scripts lol. But he knows I'm a good citizen who has never abused and am making progress with my taper, so he keeps my meds refilled and it makes me feel better to go see him. Honestly I'm lucky, he has been a really good resource and I always trust his judgment when mine gets sort of "iffy." Thanks benzos. He even wrote me a very nice letter for my surgeons and oncologist so they wouldn't think I was some drug abusing addict, and wrote me a nice note and called to check on me after my surgery. So anyway, there are some nice helpful docs out there. He has offered me every psych drug in the book in hopes it might help, which I've politely declined and he is cool with it. I did try Remeron but it made me a zombie after one dose so I gave it up.

[[...]]

How do you guys get the pills w/o seeing a doc? Mine makes me come every month. No refills. Mine has also offered other drugs and I refused them all.

 

Congrats arcade!

Shamo- doing better?

[[Ju...]]

Does anyone else find they get bad withdrawl symptoms when they come down with a cold?

 

It's winter in my country and I've caught a throat and nose infection from the kids which is no big deal but it seems I've suddenly gone down hill with anxiety and insomnia even though I've been holding for two weeks.

 

I'm guessing it's because I'm tired and run down, or maybe I've hit tolerance after two weeks already.

 

Anyway, I'm just wondering if colds can make withdrawl happen or if it could possibly be the cough medicine and throat lozenges? Are there certain medications I should avoid? Surely cough medicine cant trigger panic attacks like this?

 

Some days I feel I will never get off this stupid valium because at the moment I feel I could never live without it but just last week I was on top of the world and feeling better than I've felt in years. Ugggh, the rollercoaster of benzo withdrawl.

 

Could be worse. At least I'm not still on 30mg like I once was, used to feel this way every day. Now that I type that, I feel grateful. Sorry to have a big whinge I'm just scared and tired. Thanks for being here benzo buddies xxx

 

[[or...]]

arcade, I just wanted to say congratulations on finishing your taper! I know you were struggling towards zero, and I am so glad to see you are done. Now let the real healing begin!

 

Good job, buddy.

 

Okatz