softtail is BENZO FREE!!!!

[[Js...]]

ST, great job bud, I wish you the best in recovery, I hope that it goes as smoothly as your taper.

 

Hey, are you from upstate NY, I'm in Rochester.

 

Jim

[[Sh...]]

Hope your doing well in Benzofree land! 

 

Any symptoms~good/bad?

What is the biggest difference that you notice?

Are you sleeping?

Is your brain working again?

Are you glad your not me still on the klonocide? 

[[so...]]

Any symptoms~good/bad?

What is the biggest difference that you notice?

Are you sleeping?

Is your brain working again?

Are you glad your not me still on the klonocide?

 

shelly , my dear you asked , I answer 

no symptoms,  all is good

biggest difference  came at the .6mg mark and it was waking up each morning feeling the same as I did the day before, so no surprises , or good or bad windows.  Basically , I went back to normal , where my mood during the day was determined by the days events, not the reaction I was having to the drug.

Sleeping ?yes and no.  I usually go to bed with my wife at 11pm, but rarely can I fall asleep then .  I take my oxy pill for my rls symptoms then, and usually I can't fall asleep before it kicks in.  So I get back up and here I am typing an answer to you.  Its 12:21 Eastern time, and usually I can go to bed between 1 and 2 and fall asleep,  I may sleep thru night then , or wake back up, and take another 2.5 mg of oxy for a total of 5 mg.  some nights I  take the extra 2.5 mg, some nights I don't.  I then sleep thru like a rock till around 8:30 to 9:30 in am.  since I am retired, I end up getting my sleep that way,  so I can't really say I have insomnia, just different sleep habits for now.

Brain, is working fine,  no cog fog, or anything I did't have before benzo.

Nothing in the world could put me back on the benzo's  ,nothing.

St,

[[...]]

Nothing in the world could put me back on the benzo's  ,nothing

 

Ditto ST.  Never, never again for me.  What a learning curve this one has been.

 

I'd have to say your sleep patterns are similar to mine although I usually have no problem getting off to sleep.  Seem to wake around 5.00am but then with the help of my iPod get back to sleep again and sometimes don't get up until around 9.00am.  I've given up worrying about what the neighbours might think if my curtains is still closed at 9.30am!   Luckily we too are semi-retired so who gives a damn, I certainly don't!

[[at...]]

Hi Softail, I hope this is not too personal, but my curiousity is killing me: What is oxy? rls?  Does it have anything to do with apnea? Thanks, Athena

[[so...]]

Athena,  RLS  is short for restless leg syndrome.  Its a disease that has no cure, is not life threating, and for the most part , interferes with sleep patterns, or bothers you when you are at rest , or sitting still for awhile , or riding on a plane,  etc, anything that causes you to sit or lie down for extended periods of time.  It is not painful,  its been described many ways, such as an itch you can't scratch , creepy , crawly feeling under your skin, electric shocks running down your legs .. It mainly strikes the lower part of your legs , but can move into arms , and sometimes to other parts of your body.  there more than you wanted to know about RLS i'm sure.  Since there is no cure, you treat the symptoms.  and one treatment is to use the opiates, such as oxycodone (oxy) or methadone.  they are both very effective.  fortunately, the amount needed to relieve the symptoms, is no where that needed for pain relief.  for instance for pain, you may be prescribed oxy in the amount of 20 to 30 milligrams up to 3 times a day.  for my rls, I take 2.5 mg. at bed time, and sometimes need an additional 2.5 mg. 

Relieves the symptoms, but is very unlikely to become a problem addiction wise at that low a dose. 

Now you know all you didn't really want to know about Rls and oxy  . 

St

[[at...]]

Softail:  Good Lord!  How in the world did you go through w/d, and deal with that rls at the same time?  I noticed yesterday that Daughter kept rubbing up and down her arms, like she was feeling that "something crawling just beneath the skin" sensation.  She was a nervous-wreck.  You must have a 'cast-iron will.'  Thanks for the enlightenment!  Athena

[[el...]]

Hi ST,

 

You are right about opiate use for the treatment of severe RLS, especially for patients who can’t tolerate first line treatment such as requip.   I would have probably ended up on it myself if my rls hadn’t resolved by aggressively treating my severe iron depletion. I took requip once and was severely ill.

 

The doctor at this site, http://rlshelp.org/ is wonderful, and one of the few rls specialists in the world. His name is Mark Buchfuhrer (sp?). Anyway, he sees and treats the worst cases around, and methadone is his opiate of choice. He states that only a very small amount is needed, in comparison to treating conventional severe pain. And strangely, these people don’t usually develop an opiate tolerance.

I’ve read many letters at the site from people who say it saved the quality of their lives.

More info at this link.

  http://rlshelp.org/rlsrx.htm#Opioids

 

[[so...]]

eljay,  I know that  Rls site well ,  I have read it over and over, and emailed him a dozzen times, bought both his books,and read them thru.  He was instrumental in getting from the requip , which I took successfully for 4 to 5 years, before augmentation got the best of me.  He also is dead set against using benzo's to treat Rls.  but he does lean toward ambien or lunesta, if you are haveing sleep problems,  and I think his advice there lacks a little judgement in my opinion.  Regardless he is instrumental in steering me towards the opiate, and he was also right, that the amount needed to treat rls is  very small ,  in  my case anyway.

Glad your Rls is under control.  for the most part my rls is better now ,just using the opiate to quell the symptoms , than it has been in years,  no augmentation with an opiate.

st.

[[Pa...]]

eljay,  I know that  Rls site well ,  I have read it over and over, and emailed him a dozzen times, bought both his books,and read them thru.  He was instrumental in getting from the requip , which I took successfully for 4 to 5 years, before augmentation got the best of me.   He also is dead set against using benzo's to treat Rls.  but he does lean toward ambien or lunesta, if you are haveing sleep problems,  and I think his advice there lacks a little judgement in my opinion.   Regardless he is instrumental in steering me towards the opiate, and he was also right, that the amount needed to treat rls is  very small ,  in  my case anyway.

Glad your Rls is under control.  for the most part my rls is better now ,just using the opiate to quell the symptoms , than it has been in years,  no augmentation with an opiate.

st.

 

I totally agree!! 

[[el...]]

eljay,  I know that  Rls site well ,  I have read it over and over, and emailed him a dozzen times,

 

Me too! I read every single letter there, nearly 5000!  And wrote him several times. He always wrote back in a timely manner. If it wasn't for him and his site, I would not have known that it could be caused by blood loss and iron depletion. This is only a very small percentage of people who have rls, so I consider myself lucky that all I had to do was build back up my iron stores. (I had donated too much blood over a year and half period). For most others, there is a genetic factor.

I did take lunesta per his recommendation, but it didn't work for me for more than a few days, so I stopped.

 

I"m glad the opiate is working for you! 

[[so...]]

me too eljay,  I mostly am down to 2.5 mg per night, and sometimes 5 mg. so it seems to work at a minimal level.  I really like the fact that the opiate does not augment,  ie send the creppy feeling to other parts of your body, like what happened with the requip.  I do not want to go back on requip for that reason. 

st.

[[le...]]

Hi Softtail,

 

I, too, want to offer my congratulations for your benzo free celebration!  And to say "thank you" for the really kind way that you help out all of those on this site (like me!) who sometimes are just hanging onto a "thread" of hope that things will get better!

 

About your RLS...did you ever try Mirapex (or is it the same drug as Requip?) I only took Mirapex one time, but I developed a severe itch.  Of course, I guess (with going through withdrawal) it might be hard to say it was the Mirapex but I am afraid to try again.

 

Best wishes,

Leena

[[ha...]]

Hi Softtail,

Glad to hear you are off the benzo's. Be careful with the opiate. You are right at that low a dose you probably won't have an issue. Good luck. Kel

[[so...]]

thanks Kel,  I hope your right about the opiate .  have an apointment with my new nerologist tomorrow, who feeds me the drug   I met him shortly between patients, at no cost if you can believe that , and he listened to me for over 20 mins. back in July, when I was really bonkers on the benzo...  really liked him , very personable. 

 

Leena, yes I tried mirapex, and it worked for me for about 2 months, then I augmented  and dropped it ,  that was about 6 years ago.  I then stayed off everything for a year or more , then went on the Requip,  It really was a miracle drug for me for a long time till it too augemented, ( symptoms go into other parts of your body besides just your legs)

I lived with augmentation during the day, since the night dose would put me to sleep and I would feel rested in am.  finally though it quit working so I had to get off it alltogeather. 

the oxycodone, controls my symtoms so far at the small dose  so if it stays that way, it great, since my rls is really under the best control its been in awhile , with no symptoms during the day up until late evening.

St.

 

[[aa...]]

Hey I was just want to say  good job

[[so...]]

thanks aaliyah, means alot to me.

st

[[Sh...]]

HAPPY "1 MONTH" ANNIVERSARY OF BEING OFF KLONOCIDE!!!!  :yippee:

[[an...]]

:yippee: :yippee: Great job! Has your body healed? How is your anxiety?

 

Anna

[[so...]]

Shelly , your right one month anniversary, gonna have a glass of wine and celebrate

anna,  yes I am one of the lucky ones, I am healed, and happy again once more. no anxiety , no depression, and motivation returned....  thanks.

st.