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Benzo addiction - Cold turkey

O

Opioten

Bluelighter
Joined
May 16, 2010
Messages
64
Hi folks.

Well I'm hooked on the benzoes. I need some tips from someone who is having the same trouble or even better - have stopped using them.

4 years ago (I was 20) I got an anxiety disorder. Panic attacks/generalized anxiety was my diagnose and it all started with a massive panic attack after smoking some weed. I quickly realized that with the use of benzodiazepines - all my symptoms would disappear.

I used them on and off in a couple of years, and never got any withdrawel symptoms (other than anxiety as I always have without the benzoes). In the beginning of year 2010 I started using them more and more - but I always took some weekly breaks now and then because I didn't want to get hooked, since I know how hard they can be to quit. The last 3 months I have been using them alot. My dosages varies a lot. Some days I use 10 mg diazepam, other days I use 30 mg. Of course I use other benzoes too, but I rarely take huge amounts because all I want is to remove the anxiety.

1 month ago I took a cold turkey, but after 10 days I popped some more benzoes and I have been doing that untill today.

The 10 days cold turkey wasn't THAT bad. I had some sleeping issues and my anxiety went through the roof (but I could handle it). What worries me was the twitches and small "muscle jumps" - caus' I don't know how a seizure feels like and I get those "death thoughts" as many of you have experienced. Day 7-8-9 I had no sleeping issues but still alot anxiety and "weird thoughts". Im so angry at myself because I popped that benzo at day 10.

I am now doing 20 mg diazepam each day, and my anxiety is gone. My question to you guys is: Should I try to go cold turkey again? I really don't want to tapper off slowly because I feel that the more time I'm doing em' the more addicted I am getting. I know I will feel like crap for some time, but if I do daily cardio, eat healthy, get my vitamins etc. - could I handle it? Or is it too much of a risk for seizures? And how can I know if I am having a seizure?

You may ask: Why do I wanna stop using em' since they help so much for my anxiety? - Well I hate being addicted to things. I only want to use them occasionaly like in the old days - caus' when I'm doing that, I can still control my anxiety and I know I can have a normal life even with the anxiety.

Here is some quick question I have too:
- Is it dangerous to do alot of cardio etc. during the withdrawels? Higher risk for seizures maybe?

- If I wanted to go cold turkey today and I have been on 20 mg of diazepam for a couple of weeks - how long does it take before the withdrawels begin?

I really hope someone will read this and give me some useful respons. I don't wanna be hooked and I hate eating those pills right now :)


A little side-note: 3 weeks ago I quit cold turkey a little opiat habit (4 days in hell but I made it) I used the opiates because - well - I got hooked because of the good feeling - but I am not going back to that shit for sure. Is this going to impact the risk of seizures? I am not having any withdrawels symptoms at all anymore from the opiates.
 
ok.. your post was really long... and i just drank a ton of coffee... so i just skimed it.

ANYWAY from what i understand benzo withdrawals can kill you. if i where you i would either figure out a taper that will work for you, or talk to a doctor. i would hate to be the one to say "yeah bro u will be fine!" and next thing you know our site is black for a week in morning...
 
i would not be doing tons of strenuous (im to lazy to google the word to make sure i spelled it right... which i know i didnt) activities... the LAST thing i want to do when im in any kind of withdrawal is work out. i generally either A) want to get high or B) want to sleep. probably both at the same time
 
Opioten said:
Here is some quick question I have too:

- If I wanted to go cold turkey today and I have been on 20 mg of diazepam for a couple of weeks - how long does it take before the withdrawels begin?
Click to expand...

Because diazepam has a rather longer half life so far as benzos go it would take a little while for withdrawals to kick in once going cold turkey. I'd say you're looking somewhere in the two day range before it becomes noticeable.

That being said benzos can be dangerous to just quick cold turkey, and tapering off is often your best and safest bet. There's lots of information available around the site but here is a starting point...

http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/showthread.php?t=407284&highlight=benzo+taper

Should give you some general idea on a course of action.

Best of luck. :)
 
I went thru a very similar situation this year; got prescribed lorazepam 2 years back then discovered valium, left it alone for over a year until last december i began getting 100mg every month.

For the first 3 months i kept it moderate, tried up to 30 mg but felt that gave way to side effects (hiccups for hours, no joke), most of the time it'd be 5/10mg for anxiety every few weeks & 10/20 for insomnia (main issue) 2 or 3 times a week TOPS.

4 months in i was getting 100 mg every 2 weeks & just being way too casual since at first i was so sensible with them i felt it was still cool.

By May i was eating them like tic tacs & knew i had to stop, so i kept 40 mg around for worst case scenarios & went cold turkey. All went well. I've since used zopiclone & nitrazepam for insomnia. Honestly diazepam is the best all rounder.

I've written a load here but i wanted you to know i've been in a similar boat. You should be fine, but if you can, see a decent doctor.
.
 
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when i have run out of xanax and had to cold turkey . after the muscle twitches came the seizures,

ive had like 6 seizures, after the first one i kinda learned when i start twitching , get ready ,
lay down
but thats me and my body


taper slow, keep yourself comfortable, try not to backslide,
 
Almost drowned in that same boat

It's already been said but I feel the need to stress:

DO NOT attempt to detox cold turkey from benzos if you have any means of tapering. I suffered severe w/ds after checking in to a 28 day program and had a near-fatal seizure, I fell and had a concussion and had to be monitored for high ICP (inter-cranial pressure).

I quickly was put on a tapering clonazepam regimen in addition to Na-Valproate (Depakote) and I didn't have another episode. I learned quickly, benzo & alcohol w/ds CAN kill you, while opiate wtijdrawal just makes you wish you were dead.

Speaking from experience, I suggest if you cannot taper yourself, to seek medical attention. Good luck, I wish you the best.


By the way, good to be back on BL, it's been about 2.5 years since my last post. BLUELIGHT & harm-reduction sites like it save lives! God bless.
 
Thanks for all the answers I really appreciate it. I will now do some days on 10 mg diazepam each day to see if I get any withdrawel symptoms from that dose.

If I my balls are big enough I will go cold turkey when I'm down on 5 mg each day and I feel comfortable enough. I know I should taper it down more over a longer period, and my docter tells me the same thing. But honestly I don't want to eat any more of that little devils. I am starting school in a couple of months so my wish is that I am clean and feel good at that time. I keep thinking about the 10 days clean period I had some weeks ago which went alright, so I think I might be able to handle it.

I have some more questions regarding the time during cold turkey:

- Lets say I'm 20 days in and I get a MASSIVE panic attack, can I use a short acting benzo like oxazepam to cool me off - or will that just make the withdrawels longer and worse in the long term?

- When will I know if I should call 911 if I should get seizures? As you know the anxiety makes alot of weird symptoms and I am not sure if I get a seizure or not? Can I get em' without even noticing them?

I will keep this thread as diary if that is okay? Again - thanks for the answers and sorry if you are having trouble reading my english - that's not my primary language :)
 
^there's *absolutely* no reason you need to put yourself in a situation where you are risking seizures and having to worry about the criteria for contacting emergency services!

Perhaps I've missed something in this thread, but what would possess you to choose horrid discomfort and potential medical emergency over a slow taper?

Here is a link to the Ashton Manual which is essentially the Holy Bible (or Qur'an or Talmud if you prefer) of benzodazepine discontinuation. Also, here is the section of the aforementioned specifically pertaining to creating taper schedules.

Please consider using a gradual taper. Furthermore, there are many alternative ways to manage your anxiety without the substantial drawbacks of benzodiazepines. Strictly pharmaceutically speaking you have SSRI's, SNRI's, tricyclics, anticonvulsants such as lyrica, buspirone, mirtazepine, piperazines such as hydroxyzine and even over the counter antihistamines such as doxylamine and diphenhydramine are efficacious for some. Beta Blockers are also excellent if your most problematic symptoms are more somatic in nature rather than mental.

Ideally, any or all of the above are best used initially while non-pharmacological interventions are being utilized to address the underlying causes and explore methods to cope. Specifically, I am a huge proponent of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy but in the desire to not needlessly hijack your thread, I'll spare you the pontification. If you'd like to further discuss possible avenues to treat your anxiety, feel free to PM me.

Lastly, if you'd like to journal your progress periodically, ask questions etc than this thread is fine. If you're more looking to regularly document what you're experiencing and how you're doing than your BL blog is really more suited to that.
 
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try finding some promethazine or librium or vistaril or even low dose pure dxm pills those are the meds that doctors prescribe to try and combat withdrawal symptoms without setting them back or maybe even pop a couple vicodin or codeine pills that may also help just dont take them for more than 3 days or you may have another habit to combat
 
Cane2theLeft's post is dead on, lots of great advice offered there.

Opioten said:
- Lets say I'm 20 days in and I get a MASSIVE panic attack, can I use a short acting benzo like oxazepam to cool me off - or will that just make the withdrawels longer and worse in the long term?
Click to expand...

To answer this question, if you're serious about getting off of benzos for good, once you're that far into the taper, I would advise against going back to any type of benzo at all as it can start the addiction cycle all over again.

One medicine Cane2theLeft suggested that I think would be extremely useful in the above scenario is hydroxyzine. It's an antihistamine so you don't have to worry about it re igniting your benzo addiction, but it is strong enough that it should be able to deal with a lingering panic attack.

It's not a controlled substance, so your doctor shouldn't have any problem getting you on it so long as he understands your situation.

Again, best of luck, I know what a bitch anxiety and benzo addiction can be. :\
 
topirimate can be helpful but it has real dopey side effects.

I find that opiates do almost nothing to ease the withdrawal symptoms of benzo diazapines. I shot a bundle over the period of six hours to try and ease the anxiety and fall asleep, and it hardly helped at all and I ended up getting no sleep and pretty much wasting quite a bit of money. Since then I've gotten on klonopin, but my habit is still larger than I like. I take 2 mg clonazepam and 2 mg xanax daily, and find it very hard to lower that dosage now. My proble is that I don't want to be off benzo's because I get a good therepeutic effect from them, I just don't like having to go out and buy them on the black market and hang around guys selling heroin, as I'm really trying to stay away from that shit. Unfortunately, my doctor thinks 4mg of xanax equals 1 mg of clonazepam, so I dont have much of a choice..
 
I have been using a couple of hours here on BL to read about people in the same situation as me. Thanks for the alternative drugs I could be using during the withdrawels, but I really don't wanna pop any more pills.

I'm gonna try a rapid taper plan and see how it goes. I will do the following:

Tonight: 15 mg
Day 1: 10 mg
Day 2: 10 mg
Day 3: 7,5 mg
Day 4: 5 mg
Day 5: 2,5 mg
Day 6: Cold turkey

Things I wanna do to ease the withdrawels:

- I will eat extremely healthy and get alot of good vitamins
- 30 minutes exercise every other day in the first two weeks (fast walking) and after that I'll start doing some serious workout - if I can handle the withdrawels of course
- Do things daily that I love. Go shopping, being with my girlfriend, visiting parents and friends etc. (visiting friends and parents all the time really helped the 10 days off benzoes I had some weeks ago)

How do you guys feel about my little plan? I personally think I can conquer this :)
 
Opioten said:
- When will I know if I should call 911 if I should get seizures? As you know the anxiety makes alot of weird symptoms and I am not sure if I get a seizure or not? Can I get em' without even noticing them?

:)
Click to expand...
from my experience with having a few seizures , when i came to i had no clue what happened, i knew something funky happened , but wasnt quite sure, its like your brain hits a reset button, and it takes some time to gather your wits,
you can usually tell if you had a grand mal seizure cuz you bite the hell out of your tongue

but with every seizure i've had, it was around day 3 of cold turkey with drawl from xanax , , once i feel my feet and hands start twitching, i know to let somebody know, i may pitch a fit

lay down on your side, and have them watch over you to make sure you dont bang your head,
you will probably bite your tongue,

if you poop your pants or piss yourself , then the seizure was hardcore and get your ass to the hospital as soon as possible

i havent had a seizure since i started the slow taper, i was taking a lot of xanax, and am down to .50 mg twice a day.
i just keep myself comfortable, and havent had any problems,
besides wanting to up my dose,

but xanax and diazapam have different half lifes, so it may be different,
 
Opioten said:
I have been using a couple of hours here on BL to read about people in the same situation as me. Thanks for the alternative drugs I could be using during the withdrawels, but I really don't wanna pop any more pills.

I'm gonna try a rapid taper plan and see how it goes. I will do the following:

Tonight: 15 mg
Day 1: 10 mg
Day 2: 10 mg
Day 3: 7,5 mg
Day 4: 5 mg
Day 5: 2,5 mg
Day 6: Cold turkey

Things I wanna do to ease the withdrawels:

- I will eat extremely healthy and get alot of good vitamins
- 30 minutes exercise every other day in the first two weeks (fast walking) and after that I'll start doing some serious workout - if I can handle the withdrawels of course
- Do things daily that I love. Go shopping, being with my girlfriend, visiting parents and friends etc. (visiting friends and parents all the time really helped the 10 days off benzoes I had some weeks ago)

How do you guys feel about my little plan? I personally think I can conquer this :)
Click to expand...

bro a rapid detox plan would be change those days into weeks , and in my opinion even that is too fast, i would do months, the slower the better,

be careful with the vitamins, i was reading on benzo withdrawl forums, people feeling uncomfortable from overstimulating their CNS with B vitamins,

just eat healthy, exercise, and you got the right idea, keep yourself busy,
 
I will get twitches for sure. I did get those last time I went Cold turkey. My muscles in arms and face the most - and they did of course scare me a little.

I know this is not recommended but I will give it a shot. I don't feel THAT addicted to em'. All I want is to stop the daily use (or like 5 times a week) and use them occacionally. I have a addictive personality and I want to break this habbit before it is too late.

If any of you guys have tried this or went cold turkey please give me some advice and tell me how it went :) I am very excited about all this and can't wait to be benzo free.

I will never ever do em' so often anymore. They are so addictive and I have learned my lesson aswell with the opiates

. I am going to a psychiatrist too when the WD's are over.
 
benzos are like a pitbull once it bites ya it doesnt let go ,

i hope it all works out for you
 
I think you are planning to taper way to quickly, I would personally be spending at least a week on each dose before stopping but if you think you can do it them more power to ya but you are still going to WD pretty bad, like pretty much the same as if you just stopped cold turkey, if you spent a little longer on a lower dose im sure it would ease the symptoms a lot. It will simply be uncomfort though, no dangerous symptoms you should need to worry about.

Good luck :D
 
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Well, first off, I would like to say that I always believe a taper(usually the slower the better) is the best decision in situations like these.

But......from reading your posts, I dont really see much risk at all of having seizures or any other dangerous side effects from quitting the benzos. You said you were only taking 10-30mg's of diazepam max.....thats practically nothing. Thats comparable to like 0.5-1.5 of alprazolam......so basically not much at all. Im not saying you should act wrecklessly and just go cold turkey after reading my post, im just saying that I see VERY little risk here of seizures. You simply are not taking enough benzos to have that concern. Im telling you this to help ease your mind, but I still hope you choose to do a taper, as that is safer and will prevent alot of discomfort, but you really dont need a very long or complex taper in my opinion. Your on such a low dose, that I think you could successfully taper off within 1-2 weeks. But, you need to make the decision for yourself, im just tellin you this because I have NEVER heard of someone having seizures after going cold turkey after only 10-30mg's diazepam......it just doesnt happen.
 
Yeah forgot to mentiont hat, I agree JamesB, to the OP, im pretty sure you will be fine, usually people that have seizures are on high doses for long amounts of time, like 6 months to years and years. Not saying its impossible but very, very unlikely.
 
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