Benzo Withdraws? :o(

[winnwinn]

About 5 years ago I had a doctor who put me on Konopin 1mg, 3 times a day. I was on the dosage for post-partum panic and anxiety attacks for about 3 years. 2 years ago I switched doctors after finding out that a benzodiazepine medication was to only be taken AS NEEDED. 2 years ago I began, with a doctor’s help of weaning off of the medication SLOWLY. Every few months I would decrease the medication by ½ a milligram. Everything seemed to be going fine. About a year ago I was taking ½ a milligram in the morning and 1mg at bedtime, 6 months ago I was down to just ½ a milligram at bedtime and 3 months ago I was down to a quarter of a milligram at bedtime (0.25 milligram) which is a VERY small dose, almost non-therapeutic, but it was enough to keep any withdrawals at bay. About a week ago I was told to stop the medication since a safe amount to time had passed for weaning, and I’m not doing so well. For the past 4-5 days I have been in a fog-like state, almost like things seem ‘dream-like’ if that makes sense. I am having trouble concentrating or focusing, and I have been extremely irritable. My doctor says a few of those are common, but I feel completely horrible. Are all of these normal? Has anyone else ever experienced these symptoms? Is there anything I can do to make it better? My doctor had put me on Clonidine for the withdrawals and for the irregular heart rate I have, and it helps somewhat, but I am on the maximum dose allowed safely. Does anyone have any insight or suggestions? I hate feeling this way! I really don’t want to be on anything else, since my husband and I will be trying to conceive in the near future.

[wanttoheal]

Hi - I'm sorry you're suffering. I too am weaning off klonopin. Most drs don't understand that benzo withdrawal is real. It doesn't happen to everyone so those of us who do suffer usually have to do our own research.
What happens when you take a benzo for a prolonged period is that GABA receptors ( which are responsible for allowing us to relax are down regulated meaning that the brain doesn't have to produce GABA since the drug is doing the work for us. When we stop taking the drug or even when we are at low levels the brain hasn't started to reproduce GABA. This can take months even after discontinuing the drug to correct itself.
If you'd like more info go to www.benzobuddies.com. This website has been a life saver for me as my taper and withdrawal have been horrific.
For me eating well, exercise and drinking water are small things that can help other than that time is the only thing that really heals
Good luck and feel free to PM me anytime!

[alankay]

Been there. It's mostly psychological(due to the slow, proper taper down) but if you hang in there you will adapt and in time beigin to feel more normal. Initailly a daily benzo is OK if the anxiety is severe/debilitating but an ssri should be tried to get that under control for the long run as well as psychotherapy, etc. Anyway you were out of that vicious panic cycle for a long time so that good. Now just transition to an as needed dose of klonopin. It will takes some weeks but you will come around and I hope you have tried at least 2 ssri's. Yep, your neurons will start is up regulate GABA a bit in time. PM me any tiem. Alankay

[wanttoheal]

Amen forwells!!!! So true!!!! It's the hardest thing I've ever gone through

[alankay]

No, if you taper down slowly, the body has the time it needs to adjust(I went through it myself). But your beliefs matter a great deal. I thought/believed I needed ativan all the time but the longer I went after I tapered off, the more I saw and believed I could do without. Yes, and my gaba down regulation reversed also(finished anyway). No matter. With a proper taper down most of the battle in purely psychological. NO Bull. The 1/4 milligram was nothing, but the belief was firmly in the mind. This was not a cold benzo withdrawal. All psychological(referring to dropping the last .25 mg as it not in the therapeutic range for one who is used to the med) Fact....sorry. Alankay.

[wanttoheal]

Completely disagree. For some people even with a slow taper (read Ashton manual) multiple side effects still occur. These include, increased anxiety, insomnia, obtrusive thoughts, the list goes on. You can Wikipedia benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome. It's real.

[alankay]

Please read the post. After 3 full months at a measley .25 mg(I have used an still have some clonazepam) there would be minimal discontinuation except for the psychological part. Again, this is no cold turkey withdrawal syndrome. There is a world of difference between a long tape down and just stopping cold turkey. See the difference. This is just very basic pharmacology. To this person .25 mg is non therepeutic in all likelyhood. At this point(as in my case) the hardest part is utterly and purely pyschological. The belief that not taking the med at first itself will cause some anxiety for a daily user. In time this will pass. Like a kid not needing training wheels any longer. When he sees he can do without, he begins to adjust, calm down and the psychological part passes to for the most part. This is where benzos get tricky. They are so effective and patients feel them working quickly as opposed to other meds. That strong association is largely what causes the dependance(and yes, down regulation of gaba with use of more than a month or even less sometimes). Rapid dose/effect. Often a patient thinks/believes the reverse is also always true(I did) which is not always the case. Just takes time to make that adjustment. Some have a devil of a time even going from a smaller dose and that's because of pyschlogical dependence. Some still are anxious and need to resume meds(AD, benzo, etc) sadly. Also some personalities are not prone to this belief.
Ashton needs to find another enemy to vilanize. Dr's misprescribing is the issue, not benzos used properly. Some were rx'ed wayyyy to liberal with them. Ashton is a charlatan. A legdend in her own mind. Alankay

[laurandisorder]

It really depends on the drug and the individual.

I find that I have a combination of both psychological and physical dependency. The first time I withdrew off my small daily dose of Valium, after about 6 months of taking it (20mg a day at first), I literally forgot to take my pill (5mg) and didn't take another for over a year until panic reared its ugly head again.

Now that I have been on a longer term dose and now that I associate Valium with my easy out for panic and anxiety, it is much harder to withdraw. Earlier this year I tapered to 0.5mg and then spent a week off it completely, but after experiencing a MASSIVE anxiety attack at work o had to take 5mg so that I didn't have to go home sick.

The weird thing is that whilst I withdrew I was so conscious of NOT taking it that I was constantly assessing how I was feeling, what symptoms was I having etc, etc... This made it a lot worse.

When I stopped taking Valium after round one, I didn't even know it was addictive...

We're all very different (and that's ok, you guys!!)

I recommend benzo buddies - although I'm not cut out for the math there are some inspiring stories on the site and a ton of support!!

[bestfriend12-]

i have varying ideas from time to time. hmm