Hey,
Well the title speaks for itself I guess. But to give more details about my taper:
- I got hooked on Etizolam and Clonazolamabout 16 months ago. I then saw my GP and worked out a plan to taper down from 25mg Diazepam per day at a 1mg week drop.
- I go on assignment to South East Asia and then Russia, Armenia and Greece for 8 months. I got down to about 4mg on a few occasions but just found it immensely difficult and would relapse up to 10mg often.
- I get home and see my GP again. She reverts me to an outpatient program, which was totally unsuitable for benzo withdrawals but better than nothing.
The only good thing that came out of it was the 1 to 1 counselling, which helped immensely in coping with withdrawals and also depression and anxiety which lead to horrific insomnia. At the same time I tried CBT which was ok but of limited value, and got diagnosed with major depressive disorder.
This time round - with the talk therapy and psychological therapy - I found I had much more of a useful support network of professionals, but also critically dozens of friends who I could turn to when things got tough or some who are going through mental health problem themselves.
So I have tapered over the past 26 weeks or so and last Saturday dropped to zero (1mg reductions per week, or sometimes 0.5mg if I was struggling), so this is day 6 of not taking any benzos.
My question - taking into account my background - is how long will it take for any symptoms of withdrawal to occur? Surely by now I should've felt something, despite the long health life of Diazepam? I am on an anti-depressant dose of Amitrypyline which helped immensely with my sleep and stopping negative thought loops (especially at night), so could it be the Amitrip is covering up any withdrawals?
Thanks for your input.
Well the title speaks for itself I guess. But to give more details about my taper:
- I got hooked on Etizolam and Clonazolamabout 16 months ago. I then saw my GP and worked out a plan to taper down from 25mg Diazepam per day at a 1mg week drop.
- I go on assignment to South East Asia and then Russia, Armenia and Greece for 8 months. I got down to about 4mg on a few occasions but just found it immensely difficult and would relapse up to 10mg often.
- I get home and see my GP again. She reverts me to an outpatient program, which was totally unsuitable for benzo withdrawals but better than nothing.
The only good thing that came out of it was the 1 to 1 counselling, which helped immensely in coping with withdrawals and also depression and anxiety which lead to horrific insomnia. At the same time I tried CBT which was ok but of limited value, and got diagnosed with major depressive disorder.
This time round - with the talk therapy and psychological therapy - I found I had much more of a useful support network of professionals, but also critically dozens of friends who I could turn to when things got tough or some who are going through mental health problem themselves.
So I have tapered over the past 26 weeks or so and last Saturday dropped to zero (1mg reductions per week, or sometimes 0.5mg if I was struggling), so this is day 6 of not taking any benzos.
My question - taking into account my background - is how long will it take for any symptoms of withdrawal to occur? Surely by now I should've felt something, despite the long health life of Diazepam? I am on an anti-depressant dose of Amitrypyline which helped immensely with my sleep and stopping negative thought loops (especially at night), so could it be the Amitrip is covering up any withdrawals?
Thanks for your input.
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