Benzos Benzo Withdraw (Seizures)

[SharedHalucination]

This year I have had a problem with benzos. It started as a way to go to sleep after acid trips. From there it spiraled into dosing everyday to dosing multiple times a day.
I started to try and taper and hadnt slept or taken a benzo in about 12 hours. I ended up having a seizure behind the wheel. I drive a manual and was not in gear but apparently I was convulsing and had my foot extended to the accelerator.
Had cat scan, mri, and eeg and the neurologist just says no permanent brain damage and prescribed me anti seizure medication. I cant drive for six months

STAY SAFE EVERYONE.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

Yeah it can be dangerous to abruptly stop them.

 

[ShroomySatori]

Were there any warning signs? I can go that long without a short acting benzo but most of the time I'm a hysteric. I've had a huge problem with them this year it completely escalated. I should have stayed on dope it was healthier to be on both than just the benzos I was using way less of the pills and good dope.
Sorry to hear that. I was down to two doses of etizolam which I was in severe withdrawal from, having dropped my dose by 75% for a week. I'm still recovering, raised my dose a little. By the end of it I was so close to a seizure every moment of my life was either that or death. I have never been so scared for my life in the world of drugs like that. When I overdosed on oxycodone twice last year, I didn't really think much about it. This was like wow, I could have actually died and I just got a new car I won't drive it if I'm feeling sick or short on supply.
A dealer was telling me a few of his friends were having seizures coming off them. Seems like opiate treatment is being focussed on a lot but this is being overlooked. They need like the equivalent of a suboxone clinic for benzos but the stigma is even worse with them here.
Anyways, I don't want to die and I've never had a seizure in 6 years, but I'm going to. I have finally, truly fucked myself over beyond the point of getting away away with it. Cold turkey heroin was fine, my family didn't notice. This is a beast risen from the darkest depths of hell and it pisses me off that it amounts to corporate enslavement. I'd rather do heroin at this point.

Like if my eyes are blurred to the point I can't really see, and I feel like I'm having a heart attack and my body starts to tremble especially in my fingers and losing feeling in my feet, excruciating nerve pain that is in the danger zone I'm assuming? It just isn't as bad as heroin withdrawal if you do a harsh taper and I thought it would be so I'm confused. Just do not want to seize any time soon so stressed but I gotta taper. Were you tapering or trying to stop or anything. Sorry this happened to you it sounds like hell. I really can't afford to have a seizure but that's what happens when you get deep into the world of drugs sometimes. Start needing things that are completely unaffordable as much as food and water that are not always available. It's dangerous and you can lose your mind from this stuff I am realizing.

 

[Sertürner]

Like if my eyes are blurred to the point I can't really see, and I feel like I'm having a heart attack and my body starts to tremble especially in my fingers and losing feeling in my feet, excruciating nerve pain that is in the danger zone I'm assuming? It just isn't as bad as heroin withdrawal if you do a harsh taper and I thought it would be so I'm confused. Just do not want to seize any time soon so stressed but I gotta taper. Were you tapering or trying to stop or anything. Sorry this happened to you it sounds like hell. I really can't afford to have a seizure but that's what happens when you get deep into the world of drugs sometimes. Start needing things that are completely unaffordable as much as food and water that are not always available. It's dangerous and you can lose your mind from this stuff I am realizing.

Bump.
I experience this exact thing sometimes. Blurry vision, lights are very bright, disorientation, panic, and random sharp pains in my body. Is this my body telling me I'm close to a seizure or is it just the start of WD? I notice that if I take my xanax when this happens I feel a million times better so it's obviously WD, but I dont know how bad it actually is I guess. I would love a response from someone who has more knowledge on this topic.

 

[Speed King]

When withdrawing from anything you need to read your boddy and taper from there. I hate to throw this out there, but benzodiazepine withdrawal can suck and blow, but it also can be easy(er) if you read your body correctly.

Automatic first rule with benzodiazepines is slow taper, until you figure out where your at physically. Some people need to taper very slowly, especially high dose users. Other folks can cut their usage in half in, will say a couple weeks or less. There are many factors involved, but a general rule is the slower the better,

 

[ShroomySatori]

Yeah it can be dangerous to abruptly stop them.

Hey man what percentage dosage cut would you say would be dangerous for seizures? I guess you can't say, I should listen to my body. I found etizolam to be really bad for it as it could not sedate me so I would take so much of it for the euphoria it would provide and I've had some close calls but managed to lower my tolerance without having a seizure yet. Also switching to alprazolam I notice blepharospasm so that is it between me and etiz. Alprazolam is far more effective for panic disorder and chronic anxiety. I have valium but it is one of the few benzos I can't control too well so I am switching and taking kpins soon while I do this.Even though klonopin doesn't seem to do much for me anymore, whatever makes my doctor happy and keeps me on some sort of long acting benzo in the meantime as I don't want any heat on me while I'm withdrawing for short acting benzos. Something tells me this is going to be hard to get away with it has taken several months just to stabilize on a schedule and figure out how much I really need.

I think the sheer fear of withdrawal can make the seizure risk seem more likely but I've had numbness in my extremities, tinging, trembling hands, heart skipping beats, severe depression in interdose withdrawals.. not complaining, the symptoms are simply not all that pleasant. But is that seizure territory or like when I start getting delusional with depersonalization and derealization and losing touch with reality... I think that is when it is more dangerous but I hear of people having seizures out of nowhere and I don't know what they mean. Did they just lower there dose by 10% and that happened or were they hallucinating? I don't understand how serious the seizure risk can be and it is the one thing about getting off these that makes me nervous, I'm used to daily panic attacks from the past and acid freakouts, etc. So far it has been a few months and I've done alright but definitely see how dangerous this can get with higher doses in particular.

Tapering can definitely be dangerous too.

 

[Jabberwocky]

I went cold turkey off of insanely stupid amounts of Xanax many years ago (I can't remember how much because I was basically in a blackout, but I went through a month's worth in something like 6 days!), and I literally thought that I was going insane if not dying.

I spent several days lying in bed, twitching like an epileptic and hearing multiple conversations in my head at once. It gave me a real understanding of what someone with schizophrenia must deal with on a daily basis.

I was very, VERY lucky not to have a seizure. God was definitely looking out for me and thankfully I learned my lesson after that.

Stay safe!
Dreamflyer

 

[kleinerkiffer]

Just wanted to throw this in here:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21815323

Since the first report of benzodiazepine withdrawal seizure in 1961, many case reports have followed. Withdrawal seizures have occurred with short, medium, and long halflife benzodiazepine, if discontinued abruptly. Withdrawal seizures usually occur in patients who have been taking these medications for long periods of time and at high doses. Seizures have also been reported with less than 15 days of use and at therapeutic dosage. Almost all the withdrawal seizures reported were grand mal seizures. The severity of seizures range from a single episode to coma and death. Benzodiazepine dose tapering can be done faster in a hospital setting in high-dose abusers, but must be done more slowly in the outpatient setting in therapeutic dosage users.

While those with seizures after less than 15 days are extremely rare and I'm pretty sure you have to have an underlying condition like epilepsy benzo withrawal is no joke

 

[Lorne???]

^ That

Benzo wd is hazardous and unpredictable; however at low doses, and especially with sub chronic dosing; RARE(ware?) not quite impossible, though in some cases thesr people had preexisting disorders or other factors to induce it

OP, I say Firmly a 25% dose cut right away is safe,?and probably advisable: continue tapering from there

Good Luck

 

[Jabberwocky]

Definitely. Everybody's chemistry is different. Just like some heavy smokers seem to get away without any major health complications, I've known people who got lung cancer from less than a pack a day. Many "casual drinkers" end up with chirrosis of the liver at a frighteningly young age. Better to be safe than sorry.