[brkn2ice]

A little hope for those who are thinking about getting off a medication or have to by Doctors orders

I'm not giving medical advice just a glimps into my journey.
you should follow your own doctors advice on discontinuing any medications.

After 15 years + of taking benzodiazepines I have decide to quit ! I started with Klonopin, graduated to Xanax then to Ativan , Although I was taking small doses I was taking them on a regular and now I want to be benzo free . I started my journey about 3 weeks ago by tapering down , then 3 days ago I completely stopped. It is a bit sooner than a Dr. would normally want but I wanted to do it and have good luck coming off of other drugs .

I have had some mild withdrawal symptoms so far , like night sweats, some dizziness , anxiety and depression were a little higher than normal , a day of dizziness , but so far nothing so horrible that it makes me regret my decision to stop.
I have been taking a small dose of a new med (for me ) that seems to help a bit with withdrawals , eating right and exercising seems to help quite a bit as well.

Anyways it's time for nighty night and I will check back in soon ,

Brkn2ice

[BipolarMama31]

Good luck! Those are serious drugs!

What is the new med you are trying for the withdrawals?

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[brkn2ice]

Thank Bi-Polarmama31 ,
The new med is actually a beta blocker called Propranolol , It's a blood pressure med that helps people with anxiety. Not sure how I feel about it yet as I just started taking it .

The past couple weeks I have been tapering the Ativan at the same time loading the propranolol ...My body and mind are doing some things here and there but so far it's not horrible .

I am on day 5 today of no Ativan and I have some anxiety but nothing else crazy .

[*Laurie*]

GREAT news! And it sounds like you have a good pdoc.

I've been on Klonopin for about 20 years and am just starting to go off it. I figure it'll take at least 18 months - minimum.

Thanks for your post

[brkn2ice]

Hi Laura Beth , Great that you have decided to get off of klonopin. Sounds like you have a good taper plan,

I am actually doing it without any help , no pdoc right now , I would suggest anyone coming off the benzos to have medical/pdoc ready . However if for some reason you can't there is still hope to do it on your own but you need to be informed and have a plan.

It sounds like you have a plan in place and the will to do it , Good luck on your journey please stay in touch let us know how it goes

[brkn2ice]

Day 6 is in the bag! Anxious upon waking , small craving to take the Ativan but my will is stronger than the drug. Went on to have a good day.

[BipolarMama31]

Congrats! That's great to hear the updates!

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[*Laurie*]

[brkn2ice]

Today is day 7 it was a bit rough this morning ( female hormones also in effect ) as well as morning anxiety, I made it through though .
It's evening now and I'm feeling much less anxiety.

[Pikku Myy]

I did it I got off Xanax, pretty high dosage of it. You can too. I did it very slowly by cutting pills over 4 months good luck to you

[brkn2ice]

Originally Posted by Pikku Myy

I did it I got off Xanax, pretty high dosage of it. You can too. I did it very slowly by cutting pills over 4 months good luck to you

AWESOME !!! Congrats on your benzo quit! and thank you so much for the support .

[brkn2ice]

Days 9&10 ...9 was a rough one , lots of early morning anxiety , some shaking and sweating but it could also be from regular anxiety and not the actual withdrawals. I ended up just getting up and not doing much all day.

Day 10 , woke up and started to get anxiety but not as bad as day before, I got up and started moving around which helped, went to gym , grocery shopping , day went ok .

They say the worst should be over by day 15 + ... I guess we shall see.

[brkn2ice]

Day 20 no Ativan , feeling pretty good , less depression then when I was on it , I'm thinking at this point the worst of any withdrawals are over with .

[brkn2ice]

30 DAYS NO ATIVAN !!! YES , Feeling so much more energy and focus as well as a lot less depressive moods.

[splitimage]

Way to go.

splitimage

[brkn2ice]

Well , just putting it out there even though not many read it ...

55 days today of no Ativan, Today was the biggest test for me as I have been feeling extremely anxious and depressed lately due to some things going on ...However I was able to push through the day and not take the Ativan even though it was within my reach .

[Angelique67]

Since April of 2013, that's the last time I had any benzos. Going off of them nearly killed me. But now, my pdoc is saying he wants me to have some for when the anxiety is unbearable, and also to ratchet down my phobia of the stairs.

I do want relief for this ridiculous phobia but I'm afraid I'll never get over the benzo sicknesses. If only I could deal with the stairs I could keep saying no to the benzo. I don't know what to do. :/

[brkn2ice]

Originally Posted by Angelique67

Since April of 2013, that's the last time I had any benzos. Going off of them nearly killed me. But now, my pdoc is saying he wants me to have some for when the anxiety is unbearable, and also to ratchet down my phobia of the stairs.

I do want relief for this ridiculous phobia but I'm afraid I'll never get over the benzo sicknesses. If only I could deal with the stairs I could keep saying no to the benzo. I don't know what to do. :/

Thank you for sharing and congrats on your stopping of the benzos I know it can be harder for some than others. I myself am learning to push through the tough high anxiety situations in order to not take the Ativan.

You are not alone , and this may sound kinda silly but try to conquer your fear one step at a time.

take care and please stay in touch with your progress

[Angelique67]

Originally Posted by brkn2ice

Thank you for sharing and congrats on your stopping of the benzos I know it can be harder for some than others. I myself am learning to push through the tough high anxiety situations in order to not take the Ativan.

You are not alone , and this may sound kinda silly but try to conquer your fear one step at a time.

take care and please stay in touch with your progress

Thank you!

It has been a horrible experience both mentally and physically. I thought I was finally maybe getting better this year, but I've had a horrible year. The last thing I thought I'd be saying no to were benzos again.

He thinks I'm in such bad anxiety that I really need them. It hasn't been that bad, but it was, still unbearably bad, after over two years of withdrawal. The main issue now is, if I do take them, will I be going back to square one with the withdrawals again. I'm afraid to find out. If only I hadn't gotten terrified of the stairs. 😧

[*Laurie*]

Originally Posted by Angelique67

Thank you!

It has been a horrible experience both mentally and physically. I thought I was finally maybe getting better this year, but I've had a horrible year. The last thing I thought I'd be saying no to were benzos again.

He thinks I'm in such bad anxiety that I really need them. It hasn't been that bad, but it was, still unbearably bad, after over two years of withdrawal. The main issue now is, if I do take them, will I be going back to square one with the withdrawals again. I'm afraid to find out. If only I hadn't gotten terrified of the stairs. 😧

Angelique, would you be able to take the benzo prn? If not, and if you don't want to take the benzo regularly, is there a possible alternative med? I really feel for you...being faced with going back on a benzo is understandably frightening.

[Angelique67]

Originally Posted by LauraBeth

Angelique, would you be able to take the benzo prn? If not, and if you don't want to take the benzo regularly, is there a possible alternative med? I really feel for you...being faced with going back on a benzo is understandably frightening.

Hi, LauraBeth! That's what I'm thinking, not to use them for everyday anxiety. But just take a low dose prn to be able to get down the stairs. I think the only other thing that might help are opioid pain pills. Those are the only types of meds that can work with the terror of the stairs.

I'm not even sure if they would help, really. I know that until I was forced into detox I had no issues with the stairs. It was only since being in the hospital each time my terror started, it was not long after my hospital releases.

So, I'm not sure what to do. The current bandaid they're prescribing of vistaril sure doesn't do anything for that level of panic. I guess I won't know whether the benzos help until I take one and see.

[*Laurie*]

Hi Angelique, Ugh, I HATE phobias. They are so hard to treat. Unfortunately, a benzo would probably be most effective.

Does your current pdoc know about your terrible history with Klonopin?

[Angelique67]

Originally Posted by LauraBeth

Hi Angelique, Ugh, I HATE phobias. They are so hard to treat. Unfortunately, a benzo would probably be most effective.

Does your current pdoc know about your terrible history with Klonopin?

Yes, I've told him, but not very persuasively i guess.

I hate this phobia because it just hit me immediately around the 3rd week of April. I didn't see it coming, and I had no defense because it caught me so suddenly, and I simply couldn't make myself go up or down. I'm not even really convinced that a benzo would help but it's worth a try. It's a terrible feeling, knowing I'm stuck here in my apartment, even though I do have some agoraphobia too. Just knowing that even if the building were on fire i probably still couldn't get down the stairs.

If a benzo does help, hopefully I'll only need to use it once or twice until my fear is quelled.

Crazy situation.

Originally Posted by brkn2ice

Well , just putting it out there even though not many read it ...

55 days today of no Ativan, Today was the biggest test for me as I have been feeling extremely anxious and depressed lately due to some things going on ...However I was able to push through the day and not take the Ativan even though it was within my reach .

Dear Angelique,
You're in a state where medical marajuana is legal. Have you tried that?
Myst

Originally Posted by Mysterious153

Dear Angelique,
You're in a state where medical marajuana is legal. Have you tried that?
Myst

Oops, just noticed your location is USA, not California; anyways, I'm not a user (not legal in my state) but I do know someone who says it works better for them than their Xanax.