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Benzos At what point should I consider my taper to have failed?

Pegasus

Ex-Bluelighter
Joined
Aug 15, 2006
Messages
8,073
I took a low dose of alprazolam (0.5 - 1mg/ day) for a little over two weeks and am experiencing pretty severe withdrawal symptoms. I have been doing a short taper with the alprazolam but am really trying to prevent drawing this out more than necessary.

I'm having pretty bad mood swings, headaches, etc, but the thing that is really worrying me now is the hallucinations. I've never experienced this before... I'm seeing mice running around that are almost certainly not there. If they are there, my room has become suddenly infested at the same time as I'm experiencing benzo withdrawal. I've been doing reasonably well despite this, actually taking a calculus exam earlier tonight, getting at least a passing score I'm sure. It was pretty rough though, I think everyone in that class is terrified of me now due to the extreme fidgeting/ trembling... unfortunate because there is a girl I'm pretty attracted to in this class!

Sorry for the fragmented posting... This is pretty much the state of my mind right now. I'm trying to figure out exactly how drastic these symptoms are. I'm usually the first one to recommend tapering slower in these situations but I have no more alprazolam left (etizolam and phenazepam are available however, I just don't want to use them). Has anyone experienced these hallucinations even after a short period of use like this?

Any advice is appreciated...
 
just answering the question in your title.. you never failed at your taper unless you willingly admit you fucked up and/or give up.. just play it as a bump in the road to recovery (i just came off benzos and opiates after 7yrs at the beginning of the year)

As for what to do now... i would dose 1 dose of phenaz every other day for a week and then try and skip a dose and if you can than go as long as possible without using any type of benzo, then when you need to take it again take a very small but craving eliminating dose and after than w/'s should be minimum.
 
^^^ this.

i wish i could give you better advice but this is golden. even if you fuck up an take 20mgs (please dont) you still didnt fuck up (unless you od and die) and you have your whole life. the first step is wanting to get better. you have to take the initiative; you already have actually. stay strong man.
 
if you can do calculus you're not withdrawing that badly man. when i finished my 6 month taper off of benzos, i could barely even READ.
 
Your still in the safe zone my man. You just happened to catch your self before taking the dive. So pick your head up, your not strung out yet. I'm sure you know how being addicted to benzo's is hell and you dont want that.

If things get really bad you could always do a diazepam taper. But I dont think you'll need that, if you got a few it might help though.

But basically half of this battle is in your head. If you can conquer that you can beat the urge to take benzos continously. Somtimes it just seems like benzos mess with your judgment.

I've been off benzos for quite some time now and have never been happier.
 
if you can do calculus you're not withdrawing that badly man. when i finished my 6 month taper off of benzos, i could barely even READ.

Did you read the part about me chasing non-existent mice? I have to sit through the whole calculus class while not learning a damn thing, I'm way too stressed for the words to make any sense. What I can do is teach myself at home while I'm in my most comfortable setting. Every day that I go to class, I feel like I'm seizing/ throwing up/ my head is exploding/ etc all at the same time.

I know what you're saying, it probably could be worse, but I'm certainly not having a walk in the park here.
 
Your still in the safe zone my man. You just happened to catch your self before taking the dive. So pick your head up, your not strung out yet. I'm sure you know how being addicted to benzo's is hell and you dont want that.

If things get really bad you could always do a diazepam taper. But I dont think you'll need that, if you got a few it might help though.

But basically half of this battle is in your head. If you can conquer that you can beat the urge to take benzos continously. Somtimes it just seems like benzos mess with your judgment.

I've been off benzos for quite some time now and have never been happier.

Yeah, thanks man. I did my math again and it was actually closer to 3 weeks or so that I was on, but I still am lucky that I quit at that point. I was using the prescribing information for alprazolam that indicates that four weeks is the max recommended length for use, and I figured I'd be alright staying under that. I dunno, maybe because I've had such a history with benzos my body is just quick to react.

I agree about what you're saying about feeling so much better off of benzos, I really despise them already, I was just using them to curb some negative protracted withdrawals from opioids and went a bit overboard I guess. I truly can't wait to feel normal again.
 
Alright, I think these really are mice I'm seeing. I just chased one around the room for a minute and while I didn't catch it, this time I was able to look at it for like 30 seconds straight and I'm pretty sure it was real.

Goddamn it... I'm going to leave this thread up for the heck of it. I ended up taking 0.25mg alprazolam and am going on a mouse hunt.
 
just answering the question in your title.. you never failed at your taper unless you willingly admit you fucked up and/or give up.. just play it as a bump in the road to recovery (i just came off benzos and opiates after 7yrs at the beginning of the year)

As for what to do now... i would dose 1 dose of phenaz every other day for a week and then try and skip a dose and if you can than go as long as possible without using any type of benzo, then when you need to take it again take a very small but craving eliminating dose and after than w/'s should be minimum.

double this

.......

love you peg

you can do it............
 
Thanks for the support guys, I'm definitely going to use an ultra-low dose only when absolutely necessary. I don't like being so out of my mind that I'm not sure if the mice I'm seeing are real or not.
 
wtf man u just said u stared at one for 30seconds thats really intense if u still cant tell the difference between a hallucination and real thing
 
It was real. There are disturbances in my peripheral vision as well as a sudden wave of mice in my place. Wonderful on both accounts!
 
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