Advice on withdrawl from temazepam.....

[ammaretto]

I really need to taper off this med. Ive been on it WAY too long. 30mg at nite.

should i cut my dose in half & just pray that i eventually fall asleep? should i alternate nights?

Im also on amitriptyline 10mg (for migraines)...so that makes me sleepy too......which is good.

Im just freaked out b/c the last time i tried to stop i was halucinating & felt like i had bugs on my skin....very very BAD.

anyone been through this can let me know what to expect, id be grateful.

 

[Swain]

You will be surprised being thart you only take 30mg once a day at night withdrawals may not be too bad. I was taking that size dose for months and I barely even missed a nights sleep when I got off. I think you will be dealing with insomnia more than other witdhrawaal symptoms. My doc gave me trazadone for the first 2 weeks I stopped the temaz but I didnt even need it.

I have had pretty heavy benzo withdrawals and never hallucinated or had bugs feeling (like youg et with opiates). But if you felt that last time and just continued the same dose use it's not going to be any better things only get worse with time...So if that is the case and you are heavily dependent then taper like you said. I would try going down 25% every 10 days or something and you probably will not even notice you are doing that. YOu can dump the powder from the capsule out and estimate by making lines..like make 4 even lines and 1 line is 25% (do not sniff only swallow).

 

[Steps]

I have a milligram scale, so I could just crush it, and take 9/10ths the dose 1 pill weighs out to

Then I'd probably drop my dose by 1/10 every 2-3 days

But, to you, I'd recommend maybe trying to cut it into 4ths, and cut one of the 4ths in half, and take 7/8ths.. and taper down by 1/8th every 2-3 days (alter your taper schedule as needed)

 

[madog11]

Swain I think that's bad advice as everyone reacts differently to stopping benzos you may have just gotten lucky. Benzo withdrawals CAN cause seizure and death if stopped suddenly.

OP, I would drop your dose by 10mg a week. This should see you clean with minimal withdrawals. This is how a doctor would reccomend doing it also.

 

[ammaretto]

thanks....i think restoril comes in 30 & 15mg....so maybe i will try taking 15mg at night. It would be easier if it came in pill form, the capsule is just a pain in the #@!
I have a new dr & he doesnt think i should be taking these every night. I have always been a VERY light sleeper, Ive been on some kind of downer to help me sleep ever since i was a teenager. ;-(

 

[Jabberwocky]

could you ask him to switch you to valium? its a longer acting benzo and personally i found it to be quite helpful as i didn't suffer the horrible withdrawal as badly.. benzo withdrawal is shitty and i know that first hand, don't worry lots have been through it and survived, so have i, and look at me i'm not such a bad guy eh ? i remember i hallucinated too when i came off xanax and never believed it was possible but oh my oh my is it.

you can try going to lower and lower doses and if sleep is an issue still top it up with 15-25mg of promethazine (but be ready for a nasty hangover the next day!) benzos can cause seizures when reduced too quickly so you have to be really careful especially if you've been on it for a while, honestly temaz is not the correct drug to be tapering with. i'd use to start 20mg of temaz and 10mg of diaz and work down from there.

natural supplements such as l-theanine have been shown to increase GABA levels in the brain as it is a reuptake inhibitor (a small one) - the same neurotransmitter that benzos work on and it makes me really drowsy if i take about 800mg of it, it comes in 150-200mg caps but is quite expensive and shouldn't be used to switch from benzos, more of a along the side thing..

gabapentin and pregabalin also is meant to be helpful in terms of withdrawal but its a whole other drug and is also just as addictive despite what psychs claim and its SO EXPENSIVE!

there are genetic version of temaz which are 10 and 5mg in the UK maybe you could ask for them to help you cut down just don't give up and keep pushing through the pain it will help you in the long term once you realise your brain is dead from benzos anymore!

 

[kokaino]

Temazepam withdrawal is one of the worst among benzodiazepines. Depending on how long you've been taking it for, even withdrawal from therapeutic doses can be extremely intense. Since temazepam abuse reached epidemic proportions in Europe and Australia back in the 1980's and 1990's, there is quite a bit of information on it in the medical literature.

Wikidoc, which is written by an actual doctor (Dr. Michael Gibson, MS, MD) who can be contacted as a phone number is provided and when you click his name, you can see all his credentials. You can see the detailed temazepam wikidoc article here. Below is an excerpt on temazepam dependence and withdrawal from that article.

Abrupt withdrawal after long term use from therapeutic doses of temazepam may result in a very severe benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome. There are reports in the medical literature of at least six psychotic states developing after abrupt withdrawal from temazepam including delirium after abrupt withdrawal of only 30 mg of temazepam and in another case, auditory hallucinations and visual cognitive disorder developed after abrupt withdrawal from 10 mg of temazepam, 5 mg of nitrazepam and 0.5 mg of triazolam. Gradual and careful reduction of the dosage, preferably with a milder long-acting benzodiazepine such as clonazepam or diazepam, or even a milder short to intermediate acting benzodiazepine such as oxazepam or alprazolam, was recommended to prevent severe withdrawal syndromes from developing. Other strong hypnotic benzodiazepines, whether short, intermediate or long-acting are not recommended. Antipsychotics increase the severity of benzodiazepine withdrawal effects with an increase in the intensity and severity of convulsions. Depersonalisation has also been reported as a benzodiazepine withdrawal effect from temazepam.

Abrupt withdrawal from very high doses is even more likely to cause severe withdrawal effects. Withdrawal from very high doses of temazepam will cause severe hypoperfusion of the whole brain with diffuse slow activity on EEG. After withdrawal, abnormalities in hypofrontal brain wave patterns may persist beyond the withdrawal syndrome suggesting that organic brain damage may occur from chronic high dose abuse of temazepam. Temazepam withdrawal has been well known to cause a sudden and often violent death.

 

[Allein]

^^^

This said the horror stories are almost always based on "Abrupt withdrawal" the secret is to taper slowly, definitely switch to Diazempam if you are able as is extra long half life smooths things out to a great extent.

You don't say how long you have been taking the medication but I would drop slowly rather than rush it and fail, I know this link has been posted many times but it is a great resource for benzo withdrawal.

Heather Ashton Manual

I would recommend putting together a schedule for your dosing so you can mark of the days and you know when you are going to drop the dose, if you run into issues then just hold that dose for a few extra days, or at worst take one step back, don't throw the towel in you'll get ther in the end.

I'm about a 1/3 of the way through tapering off a 3 figure a day Diaz habit, TBH its been quite hard but I'm getting there one day at a time.

Best Wishes

 

[tricomb]

I don't know about calling temazepam one of the worst benzodiazepines. Yes, I've read the research on it and the particular dangers of temazepam specifically, but it's honestly the best hypnotic benzodiazepine I have ever tried, and I've tried almost every benzodiazepine.

What I liked about temazepam was that it worked for me, without fail, for about eight years, I never needed a dose increase. 30mg nightly would always work. It wouldn't KO like the triazolo-benzos (alp, triaz, etc) but I NEVER had a problem with insomnia if I took my temazepam.

Problem: Only supplied in 15 and 30mg capsules. 15mg= white and green, 30mg = white. This makes it very difficult to taper with it. So Baby steps.

I would ask your doctor for help doing a very slow (minimum 2 months) taper. First thing you'll want to do is switch to the 15mg capsules, and take 15mg/night with something like Diazepam prescribed for the duration of the taper.

Do not attempt to weigh the powder found inside Temazepam capsules yourself, the margin for error is too high.

 

[Alex000]

To my knowledge, Restoril (temazepam) comes in 7.5, 15, 22.5, and 30 mg strength capsules. Therefore, you could drop by 7.5 mg instead of dropping by half.

 

[tricomb]

To my knowledge, Restoril (temazepam) comes in 7.5, 15, 22.5, and 30 mg strength capsules. Therefore, you could drop by 7.5 mg instead of dropping by half.

I've found that too, but my psychiatrists have only ever been able to prescribe the 15s and 30s, the others are not on the formulary either. Maybe if I tried another pharmacy, but I HAVE to get my meds from a particular pharmacy because of my insurance.

If I go to another pharmacy, the difference in cost is more than 100 fold.

 

[ammaretto]

Just a quick update...i did ok on the 15mg of resteril, i am now taking Imovane...7.5mg. I am still having a restless sleep. I have to use ear plugs b/c of the noise from traffic. (we live near a busy street) ;-(
Maybe i should ask for a stonger dose of imovane?

I may have to increase the nightly dose of amitriptyline...which i hate b/c it makes me wake up so drowsy. *sigghhh*

 

[Dread calm]

I've used amitriptyline. For sleep during benzo withdrawal, but I must warn you zopiclone withdrawal that I experienced was ten times worse than the temaz withdrawal, so I'm not sure replacing with Imovane is the best idea.

 

[ammaretto]

thanks....but my dr is the one that suggested this...so im assuming he knows best. I just started seeing him in june.....is there another drug you think i should ask for? (instead of imovane)?
I also noticed i am getting a metalic taste in my mouth that is a bit off-putting. ;-(

 

[shreddedlettuce]

Don't worry about the taste, I kinda like it, cause when I get that taste I think the dose has kicked in and I know the pill is working.(I would love to try a placebo that gives that same taste, prob work aswell).
But you won't mind it after a few doses.
Does it help you sleep? (I mean when you take it and go to bed staight away)
If it does, use them on a "when needed" basis and not every night.

I've been on them for a long time and have never needed to up the dose.
7.5mg works every time when I need to sleep.