Shakey Hands and Benzo Use?

[BrokenPromise]

I've been on benzos for about 2 years, I've been off them for a couple months now but since stopping I've noticed my hands are shaking a lot, I don't even realize it when it happens but lately people comment on it all the time and tell me to chill out and stop being so nervous etc. It's frustrating because I don't feel nervous at all, it just happens. Even when I do get really nervous I rarely ever get shakey hands so I don't think it has anything to do with my anxiety but I could be wrong. Even when I was on a high dose of Valium or Klonopin I'd still get shakey hands but since stopping benzos it's just gotten out of control. Does anyone have any advice on what I should do? It's getting to the point where I don't even want to go out and socialize because I'm sick of people commenting on it and I just feel insecure.

 

[Swimmingdancer]

First you need to see a doctor and find out why your hands are shaking. They need to rule out potential causes. It could very well be from quitting the benzos (even if you were getting it to a lesser degree while you were still taking them - that can happen due to tolerance/rebound effects), or it could very well be due to anxiety, even if you don't feel especially anxious while it's happening. But there are other possible causes such as neurological problems, thyroid problems, etc. You should take note of when your hands shake most, what position they and your arms are in when it happens etc, so you can tell your doctor this info. Then once you find out what is causing it possible solutions can be considered. Some herbs can help, but masking it without first finding out the underlying cause is not advisable.

Also do you use caffeine or alcohol, or any other drugs? Have you been prescribed any drugs such as anti-psychotics in the past?

 

[BrokenPromise]

Yeah I'll have to see my GP tomorrow.

I use MDMA occasionally (once a month usually), weed every now and then and I don't drink alcohol or coffee very much.

I've found that it seems to happen most when I'm holding things (glass of water, rolling a joint, passing someone something) my hand just shakes out of control and I can't control it, even if I feel relaxed at the time. It happens just as much around my closest friends and family as it does with people I don't really know. It's getting ridiculous and in the last week I've had about 5 people mention it.

I can actually trace it back to happening before I took benzos or any drugs so it's probably not the cause.

 

[jeng1128]

Happens to me ALOT. My bf HATES it & im not even totally off the benzos(but close went from a 15mg xanax/daily(not kidding its very possible) to 15mgs/diazapam daily. I asked my dr & he said its definetly from that but thats me. Its so annoying, it dosnt happen when the valium is working but usually 8 hours after ive taken it. It dosnt seem like a big deal but I feel your pain. Its sooooo embarrasing...i avoid caffine TOTALLY. It really helps. I will not drink anything w caffine in it(which kinda sucks since my favorite drink is iced tea...& always decaf coffee-im so paranoid I have to go into dunkin dounuts &watch them make it. You wouldnt believe how many times ive caught them giving me regular! I think thier on autopilot or somthing!! It should get better but might take a while.

 

[Engage]

2 years is a long time. (what dosage??)

All I know, as someone going throught *extreme* alcohol and 'benzo' withdrawal...and sitting in front of this screen all day is....benzos work on the same part of the brain. (some one correct me if I'm wrong, that's what I love above this place, more free knowledge here than WedMD, or whatever)



Anyways, Valerian....believe it or not....works on that same pathway.


Benzo withdrawal can be as deadly as alcohol.


ALSO:
They'll just switch you from one drug to another, Clonazepam, AKA: Klonopin to Valium.
Then what? My doctor ....[edit] ...through family, has suggested an antidepressant.
yes, wonderful, maybe after I get through waking up every 4 hours shaking and my eyes twitching...
staggering around like a drunk zombie...when I am certainly not.

Advice:
A) Never 'sleep in' ...if you're going through serious withdrawals.
Sleeping in, means you'll wake up with worse side effect.

B) I haven't left the house in months, maybe years, except to scurry like a roach to get more beer.
Social Anxiety? At least you can see the light and have a job. I feel like a zombie/vampire. Literally.
The light of the sun hurts me. lol, seriously. I wear glasses everywhere, and even then, staggering around, even after 1mg of *C*

Take away:
It can get worse. Even Valerian, can just be another crutch.
I suggest you see a doctor, if you can afford it, I cannot, thus family help, od bless them.

...and as my dr recommends...get on an 'antidepressant'. TF that will do...

It's just a matter of which drug will harm you the least, right?
I think many of our hopes are to be off all 'drugs' altogether...not sure that's an option.
I was 'sober' for 3 years, until 3 months ago....coffee and caffiene pills aren't 'drugs' right?
lol.






But, maybe I am a lot worse off than you. count your stars.

Good luck. Blessings.

 

[Jean-Paul]

It's just a matter of which drug will harm you the least, right?

amen to that.

i am currently in scurry/beer mode.

i have a dr. appt soon and i don't know what the fuck i'm going to do if i'm not put back on klonopin. seriously, after 12 years trying different meds it's the only thing that makes a difference. the only time i could keep a job long term, i was guzzling opium tea all day long to get through it. i'd much rather go the benzo route than alcohol and opiates. that's no kind of way to live, trying to medicate yourself like that...fucking impossible to carry on a real life. for me, anyway.

well, oversharing time over. if you had shaking hands before it could be a part of your anxiety/why you took benzos in the first place and now that you are off of them it's more pronounced. i don't think about my shaky hands but every one in a while someone will say something and i don't really mind. it might be something old alcoholics do (i heard the fred mertz guy from i love lucy kept his hands in his pockets while filming because of it) but you are probably not one, so...?

 

[Engage]

amen to that.

i am currently in scurry/beer mode.

i have a dr. appt soon and i don't know what the fuck i'm going to do if i'm not put back on klonopin. seriously, after 12 years trying different meds it's the only thing that makes a difference. the only time i could keep a job long term, i was guzzling opium tea all day long to get through it. i'd much rather go the benzo route than alcohol and opiates. that's no kind of way to live, trying to medicate yourself like that...fucking impossible to carry on a real life. for me, anyway.

well, oversharing time over. if you had shaking hands before it could be a part of your anxiety/why you took benzos in the first place and now that you are off of them it's more pronounced. i don't think about my shaky hands but every one in a while someone will say something and i don't really mind. it might be something old alcoholics do (i heard the fred mertz guy from i love lucy kept his hands in his pockets while filming because of it) but you are probably not one, so...?

What is this forum for, if not for 'oversharing'...a little? lol.
We're on a drug forum, for Heaven's sake, talking about our addictions, substance abuse and problems.
And, hopefully, some of us, recovery... and how to get it.
I guess some others are here for the reps...the prestige! I trust you're not one of the others...


By the way...
'Scurry'...like anxiety and 'social anxiety'...mild case of agoraphobia?
or is this a new word for something, some new substance, I haven't heard about?

Anyways, seen too many doctor's who just routinely prescribe whatever their latest seminar was about.
Had someone tell a friend, their daughter should seek treatment for (bad) skin rash
...'eczema', with scabs from scratching, infected, that they should try with
'this new sunlight therapy procedure' ...'that we just went to a class for!' Sunlight?

Expensive sunlight?

How convenient. And, you just went to a seminar about it? Hmmm...

Then she said, " It will be expensive but if you really talk to the insurance agencies they will lower the price.'
Turns out, the insulation in the attic (faulty ducts, blowing it in), was irritating her skin.

Fixed A/C, eczema cleared right up. God's honor.
I have a brother who's a Chiropractor, he talks to me.
So, I know how rigged the Health Care System is...


So, hope I overshared just enough.


Good luck, again, to the OP. To everyone...
May we all be in a state of (relative) well being soon...


EDIT:
Sorry if I'm coming off rude. That's not my intention.
Changing 'scripts can be very scary. You know this thing works.
What if the other doesn't? For some of us it's a matter of hours...if not days before 'the Horrors' creep in.
And, we all know how long scheduling a dr appointment can take.

Just TG you actually have a doctor. And, an appointment.

 

[Jean-Paul]

i honestly got to the point where i did not give a shit about what i was on or not because none of it worked. i have been on everything...unexperienced persons who do not have the knowledge of mental health care or of themselves that i do might benefit from an overly concerned doctor, but at this point that "lazy" doctor who asked me what fucking works for me is a savior who respects me.

yes, scurry like agoraphobia. it gets worse all the time, and i think that my appointments nearing and the reality of it all is just making me realize how important this is and i can't pretend i'm okay. i wear sunglasses almost all the time now too, because putting on makeup has become more and more of a task. so i wear them even at night now, which is pretty dumb in this area. i'm not physically dependent on the alcohol, it is just like this disgusting crutch i use that makes me retarded but also helps to regulate my sleep schedule and loosen me up for at least a few hours. i don't like that form of loosening though...too much energy and retardation for a cheap way to get out of the rut momentarily.

 

[Engage]

Alcohol is the worst drug invented by mandkind.
Might as well beat yrself over the head with a rock, or have someone strangle you till you pass out.

Probably a lot less side effects. (But, it's legal!!!)
But it works! And, I totally agree about the energy.

Energy + chemical retardation + fearlessness = Bad, Bad Times.
= 99.9% of the stuff I try not to remember about my past.
That's why I stay my ass in front of the computer.
Too many airbags been opened in my face.
And, an airbag, in case you didn't know, smells like shit.
Couldn't they put some refreshing fragrance in that thing?
I mean damn, you just been through an accident!



I wear sunglasses to look at the PC screen, I swear.
Light...is the enemy. it's scary. what I've become.

I've been on everything too.
And, not to argue, but I never called doctor's 'lazy'.
They work their asses off, saving people from death.
The stress, I cannot even imagine....

But, it's not the doctors who decide what 'treatment' to push on you next.
Remember went Prozac was the Great new Cure for depression?
What happened?

Prozac made me stay up for 24 hours, with 4 hours sleep, and then feel fine!
That's not right. That can't be healthy. And, how long will that last and what happens when I stop this mania inducing 'Miracle Cure'?

 

[Engage]

Wow, so every 30 seconds I have to sign in again here?
Anyways, here comes the sunlight....wish me luck.

Hope I, maybe, possibly, helped someone.
Valerian can be used in times of emergency...also, Tagamet, I have heard, increases effects.
LOOK ALL THIS UP before you try it.


EDITED:
Was trying many things, the only real thing that works is PAIN.
The pain is slowing down...and stopping. Which, so far, I am still trying...

But, too many 'potentiators' and your next morning will be Hellish. lol, you don't believe me?
Watch a zombie movie, because that's what you'll feel like...


Also:
For anyone with an alcohol addiction, B vitamins help with brain loss (aka: wet brain)

 

[helium-4]

Just a quick little background history for myself, for the last 2 or so years -
I've been using amphetamine salts over the past two years, 900mg/month for 13 months straight till this past February (I wouldn't use every day), then I started to use 900mg/month only a handful of the past months, really reducing my use. I started using clonazepam (~25-45mg) every month for ~two weeks last October (and now alprazolam [~35-50mg]). On top of that, I've been using a variety of opioids, becoming legitly physically dependent about a year and a half ago. I've of course used a variety of other drugs, but really only these three continually for an extended period of time (I used to smoke weed daily for a few years, but been on a break, so not adding it to the list).

Anyway, I do notice my hands shaking significantly occasionally, particularly when I'm on my 2-2.5 week break from benzos and am in the process of trying to prep a syringe with heroin for IV use. I know some of it is because of the anxiousness to get high, as well as potentially the general anxiety I have with out anxiolytic drugs, but I'm possibly thinking my amphetamine use may be making it worse (even when I'm not on any amps)

 

[BrokenPromise]

I need A LOT of Valerian to feel any kind of relief and even then it doesn't do much except make me gag.

I used quite a lot of MDMA this weekend so it's probably why it was happening more, I'm gonna have a big break from all illegal drugs even alcohol (well except for NYE). Might be time to get back on the Valium again, though I do want to try some other herbal alternatives before I make that call. Ever since stopping it my life has become 10x more difficult, I barely leave the house and when I do things rarely ever go smoothly. No motivation to do anything with my life, study, job and even my music has all came to a halt, it's getting ridiculous.

Anyway time for more Valerian so I can actually get out of the house and do the things I need to do.

The annoying part is if my parents found out I was on Valium again they'd lose it although they are fine with me popping anti-depressants everyday even though they don't work for and give me nothing but a headache and no sleep.

 

[Swimmingdancer]

I can actually trace it back to happening before I took benzos or any drugs so it's probably not the cause.

That's interesting. The benzos could have still have definitely made it worse though. I would say the top possibility I can think of that matches your symptoms (aside from it being caused or worsened by the benzo use/withdrawal) is essential tremor. Essential tremor (ET) is a common, normally progressive, neurological disorder which causes shaking of the hands during voluntary movements such as eating or writing. Physical or mental stress can make the tremor worse, often leading people to assume that the cause is mental. Essential tremor can have a number of different causes, including genetic or unknown.

Other possible causes of shaking hands can include heavy metal/toxin buildup, or thyroid or other endocrine disorders. You might want to ask for a thyroid test.

I'm glad you're seeing a doctor. Post an update after you see your doctor and let us know what they said
. . . . .

Wow, so every 30 seconds I have to sign in again here?

When you log in, check the "remember me" box.

 

[tidruid89]

Shaking could be from post acute withdrawal...but what do i know? Nothing thats what!