Valium has destroyed my sex life

[8675309]

Hey Bro,

Do not Quit benzo's cold turkey! No joke. Put yourself on a taper schedule and stick to it. You seem like a pretty smart and organized guy.. you've got that spreadsheet, loaded it up for us all to see, keeping a GF. Your a smart dude. Make a schedule and stick to it.

Before you quit anything do your research. I'm lucky i didnt have a seizure after quitting xanax CT about 6 times. I was taking from my prescribed 4mg a day for many years and was lossing my zest for life.. so i kept quitting (and going back) Which was hell. The only way i was able to successfully get off was making a microsoft excel spreadsheet and tracking my use and decreasing by .5mg a month until it was done. It tough at times, and if you cheat a bit the chart gets you back on track.

I'm not sure the taper will take you. You havent been on valium too long and your doses vary.. i would progress off of it though.

Helped me stay off.

Good Luck.

 

[GIJunkie]

My sex life was great on heroin...maybe you should get on the dope.

Alcohol and Benzos fuck too hard with respiration...that's why they suck in comparison to heroin (OH, that and the brain damage...)

Man, I guess I got genetically fucked on that one....Heroin always totally killed my wood and sex drive. Methadone did too, actually, until I got under 50 mg/day. If you don't have health insurance you can go to a free clinic and tell the dr. that you are prescribed benzos and are having a hard time getting an erection. I did that with methadone and got prescribed cialis, which works great. You can also get a supplement over the counter called Horny Goat Weed, which works pretty well. Lastly, If you aren't in too much pain what always helped me was to work out as strenously as I could bare. Not only will it get your testosterone pumping but it will make your detox go a lot quickly and easier, in my opinion. Good luck man and stay strong.
-GIJ

 

[morphene]

I'm not getting what you're saying. I thought once the diazepam was accumulated it took roughly 2 weeks for withdrawals to come. Its only been a week and a day. What are you saying in relation to my problem?

He's saying you're doing great, mate! You're well into the area where most folks have symptoms but since you aren't showing any they're not very likely to ever come. Congrats! Diazepam won't keep withdrawals away for longer than 3 or 4 days, usually less. A tiny amount stays around for up to a month but it's too small to do anything really.

Don't worry about those saying it's dangerous, you were down to 5mg a day there for a good while with a good number of 2 and 3 day total breaks, so realistically you probably would have showed symptoms back then if you were going to. Besides you can tell by feel the best, everyone is different. Very handy chart of all your doses by the way, you're on top of that shit.

Now you may still run into an issue here or there for a couple of weeks, bit of insomnia, maybe little flashes of panic or just general uneasiness. Insomnia's the most likely, melatonin is good a couple of times if you run into it. You'll probably be fine just ignoring anything else, but if it gets distracting there's a mild supplement or two you can try.

Your libido might come back within days if it was a direct action of the drug. Otherwise I wouldn't expect the problem to last longer than 3 weeks or so. It's all a bit unpredictable though, two people are never the same, and it might take longer. I picked up a problem sort of like you for a fair while, but it was on and off some days no issue at all. It was after much higher doses for a bit longer, best way I can describe it was a bit of existential nihilism that made it hard to give a shit about much some days. It more faded than turned off but it started going away after 3 months. Kind of extreme, I wasn't too happy about it, but then again I was taking 4x-5x what you were and more regularly.

If it turns out to last past a few days meaning past the direct drug actions, there's something that has a shot. It's not a perfect suggestion, but if you have a bit of a stimulant you enjoy around a pretty modest dose of that + jumping in the sack might kind of jump start your brain a tiny bit, letting you remember when it felt right. Definitely a bit off the wall and possibly quack psychology but it was suggested to me at one point and it helped me somewhat, but it also helped one of my friends a good bit he was quite surprised. Others it's done nothing at all for.

Anyway, good show with it all. Keep in mind in the future that if you do a stretch like that again, each time it can have a bit more impact than the last. And even if you don't suffer WD symptoms it's possible for a mental quirk or such to show up for a while the more you expose it to them. Best idea would be to avoid taking them just out of habit, daily for more than a week or two, or more than twice a week otherwise.

Good luck!

 

[morphene]

Man, I guess I got genetically fucked on that one....Heroin always totally killed my wood and sex drive.

No haha, it's not you, he's the genetic freak. Or perhaps they were cutting his dope with viagra. But it very common for men to lose control of the beast so to speak.

 

[Heuristic]

I've never heard of benzos permanently harming sex drive. I wouldn't worry about that.

There could be a variety of reasons for your recent lack of interest in sex. Much of what you're describing sounds like depression, which is perhaps what you were "treating" with the alcohol and benzos. Address the depression, and the sex drive will return.

But it's impossible to tell based on the information you gave here. If you're able, you should talk to a doctor or psychologist about this. The good news is that, in all likelihood, the problem can be resolved.

In the meantime, try exercising. Do some form of cardio (running, biking, whatever), and start lifting weights (get someone to help with this if you haven't done it before--otherwise you can really hurt yourself by performing certain exercises improperly). This is probably your best bet for a quick improvement.

 

[Reefers]

He's saying you're doing great, mate! You're well into the area where most folks have symptoms but since you aren't showing any they're not very likely to ever come. Congrats! Diazepam won't keep withdrawals away for longer than 3 or 4 days, usually less. A tiny amount stays around for up to a month but it's too small to do anything really.

Don't worry about those saying it's dangerous, you were down to 5mg a day there for a good while with a good number of 2 and 3 day total breaks, so realistically you probably would have showed symptoms back then if you were going to. Besides you can tell by feel the best, everyone is different. Very handy chart of all your doses by the way, you're on top of that shit.

Now you may still run into an issue here or there for a couple of weeks, bit of insomnia, maybe little flashes of panic or just general uneasiness. Insomnia's the most likely, melatonin is good a couple of times if you run into it. You'll probably be fine just ignoring anything else, but if it gets distracting there's a mild supplement or two you can try.

Your libido might come back within days if it was a direct action of the drug. Otherwise I wouldn't expect the problem to last longer than 3 weeks or so. It's all a bit unpredictable though, two people are never the same, and it might take longer. I picked up a problem sort of like you for a fair while, but it was on and off some days no issue at all. It was after much higher doses for a bit longer, best way I can describe it was a bit of existential nihilism that made it hard to give a shit about much some days. It more faded than turned off but it started going away after 3 months. Kind of extreme, I wasn't too happy about it, but then again I was taking 4x-5x what you were and more regularly.

If it turns out to last past a few days meaning past the direct drug actions, there's something that has a shot. It's not a perfect suggestion, but if you have a bit of a stimulant you enjoy around a pretty modest dose of that + jumping in the sack might kind of jump start your brain a tiny bit, letting you remember when it felt right. Definitely a bit off the wall and possibly quack psychology but it was suggested to me at one point and it helped me somewhat, but it also helped one of my friends a good bit he was quite surprised. Others it's done nothing at all for.

Anyway, good show with it all. Keep in mind in the future that if you do a stretch like that again, each time it can have a bit more impact than the last. And even if you don't suffer WD symptoms it's possible for a mental quirk or such to show up for a while the more you expose it to them. Best idea would be to avoid taking them just out of habit, daily for more than a week or two, or more than twice a week otherwise.

Good luck!

Thanks a lot for the advice everyone, it really helped me out. I'm going to try to wait it out and exercise, and stay CT off the benzos. I'll come back and update everyone later on with any results, and what I think is the solution when I'm back at baseline.

I've never heard of benzos permanently harming sex drive. I wouldn't worry about that.

There could be a variety of reasons for your recent lack of interest in sex. Much of what you're describing sounds like depression, which is perhaps what you were "treating" with the alcohol and benzos. Address the depression, and the sex drive will return.

But it's impossible to tell based on the information you gave here. If you're able, you should talk to a doctor or psychologist about this. The good news is that, in all likelihood, the problem can be resolved.

In the meantime, try exercising. Do some form of cardio (running, biking, whatever), and start lifting weights (get someone to help with this if you haven't done it before--otherwise you can really hurt yourself by performing certain exercises improperly). This is probably your best bet for a quick improvement.

That's a pretty good possibility. I definitely have Seasonal Affective Disorder when its cold outside and I become unmotivated and always lethargic. I'll definitely keep up on the exercise and will let everyone else know in a while what's working so other people who this is happening to can maybe try new methods. Thanks again everyone.

 

[Reefers]

Okay, I finally found the problem. It never had anything to do with benzos at all. I have a very large pituitary adenoma that is producing shitloads of prolactin, a hormone that shuts off your sex drive.

Thanks for all your help everyone.

 

[Heuristic]

^ glad you got it diagnosed Reefers!

 

[pillpopper187]

benzos make your brain produce more prolactin, enough in mine when i was on 40mg valium a day my dr wanted me to have a brain mri to check for a tumor. when i came down on valium my prolacton levels went down

but now i am on klonopin 3x a day and have been for awhile

 

[ILOVETORELAX]

as of now I hate valium, I just had a bad experience with it today, i am about to flush my bottle of blues. fuc*!

 

[sonic]

^ Ok, sorry, but I can't quite relate.. Why do people resort to flushing their meds so quickly? I mean it's one thing if you have a fentanyl analog you're afraid might kill people, but valium is safe. It can be given to someone who appreciates it if you have such a friend.

I think the problems started in January. I'm no expert, but maybe the problems happened while the drug was accumulated? The last time I took it was 22.5mg on March 27th. I'm hoping the there is still a significant amount of the drug still in my system which is causing the problem and I've yet to withdraw.

22.5mg isn't that much, you would have experienced withdrawal by now if you are going to. I'd say you are out of the woods. It usually takes 2-3 days for enough of the drug to have left your system to experience withdrawal symptoms, even on smaller doses. Valium gives you a natural taper, so if you only use for a few months and keep your dose low as you did then the withdrawal usually isn't too bad. If you take high doses and use for years, that's a different story. On higher doses the withdrawal hits you quicker and much harder. Anyway, a LOT of the diazepam has left your system already. You should be okay.. residual amounts of a benzo should NOT be killing your sex drive. Residual amounts of benzo metabolites don't do much.. Same with most drugs, that's why, "detoxing" yourself by flushing your system is usually 100% pointless unless the placebo affect works on you.

 

[tadfish]

Wish it was that easy for me.
so more sex drive if i have benzos like when i have GHB?
Doctors have said i might produce too much prolactin but i have been tested and at the time levels were normal

 

[pillpopper187]

Wish it was that easy for me.
so more sex drive if i have benzos like when i have GHB?
Doctors have said i might produce too much prolactin but i have been tested and at the time levels were normal

it's got to be prolactin

i had high levels when i was on 40mg valium for 5 months, i came down to 20mg/day and now am down to 8mg

however i had bad panic attacks and aneixty so my family dr started me on klonopin 1mg x3 a day. So now I'm taking the equal 60mg of valium a day

 

[Heuristic]

Tadfish, check out what Reefers did. He solicited advice on here, which we all gave, but he also saw a doctor, who was able to run some tests and find out the actual answer (which no one on here gave).

This is really something to check out with a doctor. Lots of things can cause decreased sex drive. But, in the meantime, things like exercise, sleep, eating healthy, can help.

 

[LifeInChaos]

I'm wondering how the OP got this diagnosed since I've been having these issues from SSRIs for almost 12 years and no one can figure anything out.

 

[Reefers]

^ glad you got it diagnosed Reefers!

Thanks man!

benzos make your brain produce more prolactin, enough in mine when i was on 40mg valium a day my dr wanted me to have a brain mri to check for a tumor. when i came down on valium my prolacton levels went down

but now i am on klonopin 3x a day and have been for awhile

Didn't know that benzos did that, that's interesting. Maybe benzo abuse is the reason the prolactin producing mass actually formed (doctors don't know why they do form). I know this latest valium thing would't count as abuse, but I have abused Xanax for a while about a year ago.

I'm wondering how the OP got this diagnosed since I've been having these issues from SSRIs for almost 12 years and no one can figure anything out.

I did some online research about what to check in terms or serum blood levels. I suspected I had low testosterone and it turned out it was high prolactin.

Read this:
http://www.naturalnews.com/006639.html

I guess with SSRI's, serotonin transporters can 'hijack' dopamine transporters. The main control over secretion of prolactin by the pituitary gland is dopaminergic activity, controlled by the hypothalmus. Low dopamine = high prolactin = low libido.

You and tadfish should both go to the doctor and request blood work. Write down these tests and bring them to the doctor. Any one of these being offbeat can cause low libido.

Blood work: Total testosterone, bioavailable testosterone, LH, Estradiol, prolactin, cortisol, and a thyroid panel to test for hypothyroidism.

 

[Reefers]

Wish it was that easy for me.
so more sex drive if i have benzos like when i have GHB?
Doctors have said i might produce too much prolactin but i have been tested and at the time levels were normal

Stupid doctors do this all the time. The "normal range" cannot be counted on as a reliable means of analysis. The normal ranges are vast. You might be in the "normal range" but just barely be in that range. You would still have high prolactin, and many doctors would just pass it off.

Do you know your actual results? I would request your medical records if I were you.