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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

Will valerian help with benzo withdrawal?

M

Max Flight

Bluelighter
Joined
Jan 23, 2018
Messages
75
I have been taking opioid and benzo combination for 10 years now and my doctor just recently cut off my diazepam. I know that valium is in some way related to valerian root .Has anyone ever had success with this? Any info or advice would be greatly appreciated.

I am thinking of getting the valerian tincture from the health food store. I am thinking that I will have to massively increase the recommended amount, but wondering if it will actually help?
 
Valerian may help with some anxiety however id be careful with herbs as they may interfere with GABAa and prolong withdrawal, there is also Kava which personally is stronger than valarian
 
Did your doctor help you with a taper plan or just cut you off abruptly after 10 years? You didn't say how much valium you were dosing or if you were taking it daily. Valerian does look promising though I haven't personally used it to replace a benzo. It would be hard to recommend a certain amount because herbal supplements aren't FDA regulated the way prescription drugs are but do not mega-dose it.
 
Yeah, sorry TC. The fucker just cut me .I have been taking 10 mg of diazepam a day, over 10 years now. And I mentioned that I read somewhere that you must taper with benzos. And he just assured me that I would be fine.

Same guy who told me that opioid withdrawal would be "mildly uncomfortable". Pfft! Wanna know the truth? I'm under the impression that the guy has it in for me, violating his Hypocratic oath. And it all stems from a disagreement we had in conversation about the fuckin Jesuits of all things. I realized too late that he had gone to Jesuit institutions for his degree.

Fuck me in the neck! To top it off, he has the utmost respect for Trump. He's been my doctor for more than 10 years. To the point where I go to my appointment, and he would just walk in with my scripts already printed. Then he says about a year ago, that he needed to spend more time with me for my appointment. And we had nothing to talk about but philosophy and politics. Big mistake... ever since, it's been tough going for me. Weird, but true.
 
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I would go back in there and be upfront but not hostile with him. Say that you both clearly have different political opinions but you have a mutual respect for him, tell him about your painful and physically dangerous benzo withdrawal.

I know It sounds a little bit like ass kissing but if he has a modicum of professionalism he should realize at that moment that he should be helping you and not playing games with a persons life. Ask if you can get a benzo taper or at least a script of an anti-epileptic, if isn?t a total hack he should at the very least be able to give you an anti epileptic without a fuss.
 
Being somewhat experienced with valerian, the 'recommended dose' on commercial valerian products were never intended for such use. Nor is it a plant which is unforgiving. So as an emergency measure then it is a valid potential measure. Although I'd be inclined to add kava, and possibly mulungu as well, just don't go too overboard with the mulungu, as at least some Erythrina species contain orally active neuromuscular blocking agents (curare type action, paralytics)
 
Limpet, good you have experience with valerian! Do you have a dosage you would recommend? Or don't think it's a good idea at all? I was reading an article in Psychology Today talking about a trial where patients were given valerian (80% didrovaltrate, 15% valtrate and 5% acelvaltrate) 100 mg three times a day to help patients with withdrawal from benzos.

Max, I'm going through the same and the pain doctor told me that he couldn't continue giving me hydrocodone at 5 mg bid if I wanted to keep taking temazepam for sleep. So for right now, I'm hurting a lot and sort of regret that decision. :(
 
^ That is mind boggling (your doctor) you should go to a pain specialist or something, or find out if he thinks Z drugs are “safe”

Valerian Root isn’t regulated as mentioned-luckily 10mg Valium per day isn’t a lot- still, you probably need something- go to ER, tell them to the truth/story, and you can even tell them to pull RX records.
IME, they will be happy to give you a small supply of 5mg Valium(or possibly 10 if your lucky) or do some other kind of taper. At the very least, your going to get a dose why you are there and comfort meds like Vistaril (Hydroxyzine) or clonidine, less likely gabapentin.

That is my recommendation, and I am apperantly the “Benzo guy”

And call doc afterwards if necessary, and tell him to do his job (assuming this is true in fully detailed within reason) Luck
 
Lorne, that was a pain doctor who's dicking me around. They are the ones I believe who are under more scrutiny, more than regular GP's or orthopedists. Apparently, the FDA has recommended doing this blanket ban on prescribing opioids to patients who are also taking benzos or hypnotics. The reason I was told is because of so many people are dying from this combination. I'm not discounting the dangers of it because it is there. However, I'm not going to overdose from that tiny amount of hydrocodone and temazepam. 8( Common sense should prevail!
 
God damn some doctors can be beyond stupid. As for dosage, generally I use extract pills, because I my stomach does backflips at the thought of that stuff as a liquid, the smell is foul. Dosage? depends how many boxes of the things are to hand. It isn't what you'd call superpotent but better than nothing in such a situation I imagine.
 
I thank all of you for your advice and input. There's a lot more to my whole epic saga with pain meds, etc. I'm sorry to hear about your situation TC. Your doctor sounds like a kook as well.

I used to be prescribed a considerably higher dosage of opioids, but have cut back considerably the past couple years. And the idea of overdosing is totally ludicrous. I lucked out and ran into some xanie bars. And that helped...a lot. But yeah, there's a lot of hype in the media. So ridiculous, my mom thinks that I am a "heroin addict". I have not even seen the stuff for years. So I am not a very good heroin addict. lol.

Anyway, they've been giving these medications in combination for... i don't even know how many years. And all of the sudden, it's the worst thing going on. Crazy! Makes me want to cut all of them off (no more money for the doctor and pharmacy). And just go self sufficient. Grow my own for tea as it were. And fuck all the games. I'm going to search around for seeds. And see what I am able to get.

I thank you all again, for your advice and input.
Aloha.
 
There is a natural drug called mulungu which is an tree from the Amazonas with sedative, narcotic, hypnotic and antidepressant effects. Mulungu is among the most powerful natural sedatives. Only you can buy mulungu cheap and with 10 grams you do a decoction for drink. Amazonas indians use mulungu to calm people with agitation, anxiety, nervousness, insomnia and depression. It will help you a lot kicking out benzos
 
Max Flight if it makes you feel any better my parents raid my room convinced theyd find drugs while i was put into involuntary inpatient found a actual rock like a pebble from outside brought it to the police and they said the only way to know if its crack is to test it. So one refused to see me for a while while the other one came but was furious. And, basically i just had to just go with i had crack cocaine in my room
 
my pain doctor has done the same thing. Some new regulations were put into effect where they are trying to force chronic pain patients into stopping either there benzo or their pain killers. My doctor initially tried to take my klonopin completely away from me but for whatever reason backed down and allowed me to keep it. He says that it's going to be black boxed pretty soon and I will not be able to get any type of benzo while I'm on painkillers.
He also cut my pain medicines almost in half. I went from 50 mg of methadone a day to 30 and that was extremely difficult on my body for about 3 weeks, even though I had other painkillers. It just was not the same trying to use oxy to stop a methadone withdrawal.

Big brother needs to stay away from our pain management doctors. These doctors exist to do exactly what they are doing and then other Agencies try to jump in and tell our doctors what to do.

If he cuts my medicine down much more I may simply quit going and just smoke Instead of all the other crap I have to go through to get my prescriptions every month.
 
Forgive my grammar and typos. I'm talking into the phone and sometimes it uses the wrong word LOL.
 
The kava thats now legal where I live doesnt have much active ingredient at all so dont have your hopes high in that regard.

I read through your thread but didnt see what dose you were on or exactly what for but I guess more for muscle spasm than anxiety since you are a pain patient?


Can you go to another doctor or a gp and ask for a proper taper with proper meds?

Have you been having any physio or other rehabilitation for your injury/condition or just pain meds?

Because thats the problem yeah? It sucks that being cut off suddenly has happened. It sucks to become addicted but thats whats happened. There has to be a continuation of pain management -if the river has run dry opiate and benzo wise via this doctor are you magically cured too? Hes got to keep treating your pain.


You can go to the ER if you are in danger of seizure. Benzos have never been an issue for me but an ex used to have 4 logs of xanax and a bottle of pernod nightly and got cut off. He would suggest a small amount of alcohol if you are a social drinker.
 
Rafayte said:
There is a natural drug called mulungu which is an tree from the Amazonas with sedative, narcotic, hypnotic and antidepressant effects. Mulungu is among the most powerful natural sedatives. Only you can buy mulungu cheap and with 10 grams you do a decoction for drink. Amazonas indians use mulungu to calm people with agitation, anxiety, nervousness, insomnia and depression. It will help you a lot kicking out benzos
Click to expand...

It has been 9 years since I had mulungu. It was pretty powerful. The shredded pieces from a reputable vendor though. A handful simmered with lemon juice. But there is lots of fake stuff. I got some on Amazon once and it was not mulungu. So it takes some digging and talking with a vendor. I don't know of anywhere today but I wanted to comment that I believe in the future mulungu will be more popular and whatever the sedative effect it has will be more apparent.

Fresh chamomile is a world different from what we can purchase. It is worthwhile growing your own and trying that. Much more potent than a dried tea bag from a store. Very worth it. And that will be more studied and interesting too.

Valerian is potent too. In fact in the middle of an opiate withdrawal when even codeine wouldn't do anything some valerian helped me to get two hour sleep once. But I can not use valerian. Since it is pretty potent I get depressed the next day. I did not get that with mulungu.

Never had benzo issues but read a lot from people here. Take care of yourself and follow what some more knowledgeable who have been through it. But I do know there are some potent herbs and things that do work.
 
Aloha everyone,
I am wanting to thank you all for taking the time to reply with your advice. I have never heard of mulungu...but kava is available all over the place here. They even have kava bars, where you can go in and sit down and drink to your hearts content. I have a buddy who has xanie bars, and have been getting those for the past couple months. Enough to get me through life without suffering.

Although my anxiety has been off the charts lately....They came and repo'd my ride, over a miscommunication, taking it at about 1 am. The day I was scheduled to make the payment(s), although I was going to wait until about 8 or 9. Then the volcano started going off . I am not in the evacuation zone, but right next to it. With my ride on the other side of the island. And I had to figure out how to get there, pay an unreasonable amount of money, and deal with the whole volcanic eruption trip....it's been a really rough week.

I am seeing this new trend of them telling people that they can either have their pain meds, or benzos. Not both. I'm beyond frustrated with the doctors, and the whole system. I can definitely understand the concern about overdose....but I am a long time taker of the combination (opiates/benzos) and would have died long ago if there was a problem with this combination. The only thing I have had an issue with is fentanyl, but I haven't gotten that for years now. The whole thing is becoming ridiculous.
 
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