Benzos Benzo Withdrawal Symptom? or Something else

[Supeudol]

Bump^^

 

[djmazz]

hmmm I get weird tingling and numb feelings in my legs and arms and face and generally all over my body at times, its been a few months since i stopped benzo's after pretty using non stop for over 12 months. 8-10mg alprazolam at a time often... only reason i stopped is coz i had a few seizures from the withdrawal. I read that a lot of symptoms can take months or years or never fully go away... i really hope that's not the case. I hope it gets better for you

 

[neilklonooxyzam]

wow. n i thought i was bad, i wish i could have an answer but ive been on 1mg clonazepam and 2-4 mg alprazolam daily and ive tried tapering off several times and even cold turkied twice. I endure such horrible panic attacks its to the point I feel as if i am passing out I see spots and think the worst; I begin to focus on my breathing and lungs and my heart , constantly thinking my heart rate is too fast or irregular or im having a heart attack or that its getting progressively harder to breath and I cant breath through my nose because I feel like im going to die from lack of oxygen intake. It cycles like this constantly, Im also prescribed 30mg Cymbalta and rarely take it because I have hearad nothing but horrible things about it and about withdrawals from it. why am I so horribly sensitive to not having benzos ?

or is it because I originally started taking them because of my attacks; I didnt want to wake up in the mornings anymore I enjoyed nothing, no thoughts of suicide but constantly wishing i could ENJOY life again.. I had missed being able to have the feeling of relaxing and being able to smile or be happy. its the worst experience I have ever gone through and I dont know about being on these drugs my whole life to be able to smile and be happy and be a normal functioning part of society and not a paranoid freak!!!! do you have any of these symptoms OP?

 

[Supeudol]

Come to think of it now. I think I first noticed this sensitivity to touch but am NOT entirely sure after binging round the clock with Liquid GHB for about 5 months or so when I was 19. (Am now 24). Could this be down regulation of my GABA receptors? Or some type of acidosis, or even perhaps neuropathy of some kind?

 

[chompy]

wow. n i thought i was bad, i wish i could have an answer but ive been on 1mg clonazepam and 2-4 mg alprazolam daily and ive tried tapering off several times and even cold turkied twice. I endure such horrible panic attacks its to the point I feel as if i am passing out I see spots and think the worst; I begin to focus on my breathing and lungs and my heart , constantly thinking my heart rate is too fast or irregular or im having a heart attack or that its getting progressively harder to breath and I cant breath through my nose because I feel like im going to die from lack of oxygen intake. It cycles like this constantly, Im also prescribed 30mg Cymbalta and rarely take it because I have hearad nothing but horrible things about it and about withdrawals from it. why am I so horribly sensitive to not having benzos ?

or is it because I originally started taking them because of my attacks; I didnt want to wake up in the mornings anymore I enjoyed nothing, no thoughts of suicide but constantly wishing i could ENJOY life again.. I had missed being able to have the feeling of relaxing and being able to smile or be happy. its the worst experience I have ever gone through and I dont know about being on these drugs my whole life to be able to smile and be happy and be a normal functioning part of society and not a paranoid freak!!!! do you have any of these symptoms OP?

You are experiencing rebound anxiety from stopping benzos.

At my worst at abusing 6mg xanax 6mg clonazepam a day or more for a few years, it took me about 9 months before I felt normal again. It seemed that one day the color just snapped back into my life and I could take a normal breath.

 

[ANewKindOfArmy]

I was on benzo's for a little while. Almost a year. Starting at 2mg xan and 20mg valium ending at 10-12mg xan and 6mgs Kpin. I went to rehab about 5 months ago. Been clean from both opiates and benzo's since. I still have that terrible skin sensitivty (sp) Panic attacks and all. shit sucks. I was told to be patient for about a year before i should expect to feel good again. Sadly.

 

[qwe]

Hey all. Well its been about 4 months off of Benzodiazepines and Opiates, was using for about 5.5 years prior to this, pretty heavy as well.

Anyways guys, I've had this symptom for awhile and I cannot remember if I also had it even before I started using drugs, but I don't think I did.

Anyway I get this feeling where my skin is SUPER SENSITIVE and even like my necklace wearing it, bothers my skin, and at the same time I get goosebumps up and down my arms. I also sweat really bad underneath my arms, and I never used to like this. I will just be sitting down, and my shirt underneath my arms gets soaked.

Can anyone relate to this? If so, is this a withdrawal symptom from benzo's? Will this eventually fade away? Anything I can do about this..? I am only on 10mg of Paxil and 100mg Trazodone for sleep.

Thanks guys

i have the same PAWs symptoms from opiates and if i stop taking benzos i get the same symptoms. they are rebound/withdrawal/post-acute-withdrawal

it really sucks how long it lasts. i think the general rule of thumb is: 2 weeks acute w/d, 2 weeks you feel better. from week 4 to maybe 6 months later, you experience PAWs, up and down sometimes better sometimes worse depending mostly i suppose on stress and natural biorhythms*

* exercise, eat right, multivitamin, sleep right

 

[qwe]

>>exercise, eat well, keep yourself busy , >>

easier said than done when PAWs includes depression or lack of energy and demotivation and sleeplessness making everything worse

 

[neilklonooxyzam]

I don't know if i can make it through. Can you taper off of benzos slowly like really really slowly just like with opiates to try and avoid withdrawals ??

 

[qwe]

^ it's what you're medically supposed to do. a proper taper should take months

if you can't have yourself sweating extra and being a little edgier for a year or so depending on your habit (post acute withdrawal) and if the drug is helping with underlying anxiety, it may not be the best decision to quit. that's your call and your body, you've felt the anxiety and it's up to you whether you need the aide (or at least, it should be )

 

[pally pete]

wow. n i thought i was bad, i wish i could have an answer but ive been on 1mg clonazepam and 2-4 mg alprazolam daily and ive tried tapering off several times and even cold turkied twice. I endure such horrible panic attacks its to the point I feel as if i am passing out I see spots and think the worst; I begin to focus on my breathing and lungs and my heart , constantly thinking my heart rate is too fast or irregular or im having a heart attack or that its getting progressively harder to breath and I cant breath through my nose because I feel like im going to die from lack of oxygen intake. It cycles like this constantly, Im also prescribed 30mg Cymbalta and rarely take it because I have hearad nothing but horrible things about it and about withdrawals from it. why am I so horribly sensitive to not having benzos ?

or is it because I originally started taking them because of my attacks; I didnt want to wake up in the mornings anymore I enjoyed nothing, no thoughts of suicide but constantly wishing i could ENJOY life again.. I had missed being able to have the feeling of relaxing and being able to smile or be happy. its the worst experience I have ever gone through and I dont know about being on these drugs my whole life to be able to smile and be happy and be a normal functioning part of society and not a paranoid freak!!!! do you have any of these symptoms OP?

i feel for you.

seriously.

i can relate to a lot of what you have said,especially the second half of your post.

i hope you get better (or somehow learn to live with it) as i have had to.

chohkdee (good luck)

 

[neilklonooxyzam]

Did you ??

hmmm I get weird tingling and numb feelings in my legs and arms and face and generally all over my body at times, its been a few months since i stopped benzo's after pretty using non stop for over 12 months. 8-10mg alprazolam at a time often... only reason i stopped is coz i had a few seizures from the withdrawal. I read that a lot of symptoms can take months or years or never fully go away... i really hope that's not the case. I hope it gets better for you

Hey man, sorry to hear about that! as a fellow benzo user that scares the shit out of me! Did you cold turkey or did you slowly taper off them ? I plan on tapering excessively slow to avoid Major health risks that could possibly lead to death.

Does anyone know if you can still seizure etc. from withdrawals even when you do a slow taper ? Because I don't feel like risking my life tapering off benzo's! So, should I see a doctor about it? because I feel he would have me taper down slowly as well; I'm pretty sure that I'm safe stopping this way, but, just want to get opinions & experiences from others!

Thank you all, if you would bother to reply ! It would be greatly appreciated as this is of considerably concern to me! -A


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[neilklonooxyzam]

benzo taper,use, question??

^ it's what you're medically supposed to do. a proper taper should take months

if you can't have yourself sweating extra and being a little edgier for a year or so depending on your habit (post acute withdrawal) and if the drug is helping with underlying anxiety, it may not be the best decision to quit. that's your call and your body, you've felt the anxiety and it's up to you whether you need the aide (or at least, it should be )

Yes, how much they help me function is quite unbelievable. it wipes out my anxiety completely. To me it's a life saver; I want to continue taking it, but, I am only worried that there may be long term health problems caused by it; Also, my tolerance will cause me to continuously up my dosage over time, wont it?

So, my only quandary is: If I continue down this path, (because it truly does help me out with my life and my ability to function) what (if there are any) negative symptoms could there be for me? health wise, mentally, nutritionally etc. ??

Thank you all for any responses, opinions or thoughts!! this is something I'm trying to get a lot of different views and points of views on! :D

 

[neilklonooxyzam]

Thank you for your concern pally pete. I'm still currently using my prescription as I'm still researching on whether or not the negative side effects overwhelm the extremely positive ones... I mean, were all going to end up dead sooner or later; but I would rather die later. God bless everybody!

-A

 

[Tommyboy]

To me it's a life saver; I want to continue taking it, but, I am only worried that there may be long term health problems caused by it; Also, my tolerance will cause me to continuously up my dosage over time, wont it?

So, my only quandary is: If I continue down this path, (because it truly does help me out with my life and my ability to function) what (if there are any) negative symptoms could there be for me? health wise, mentally, nutritionally etc. ??

I was first prescribed xanax in october or november of 2005. I had horrible anxiety and panic attacks, which xanax did a wonderful job of helping control.

I started off at .5 3x daily, and ended up at 1mg 3x daily by 2008. By july of 2009, I realized that my anxiety had subsided a great deal. I was away at a new school and was supposed to see a new doctor in september of 2009. The psychiatrist ended up cancelling the appointment, so I called my old psychiatrist so send me a script. He made it clear that this would be the only time he would send me a script through the mail. My next appointment was cancelled as again, so in a jam I had to make the script last. So I pretty much dropped from 3mgs daily so between 1.25 to 1.5 daily. The first week sucked, I barely slept, and was pretty twitchy. But after the week I was better, and realized that this lower dosage worked.

I ended up finding a doctor to taper me off of benzos, since it seemed that I no longer needed them. Since then, I have tapered down to 4 mgs of valium daily. The benzo equivalency chart says .5mgs of xanax equals 10mgs of valium. That would mean that my current dose of 2mgs valium 2x daily would be equal to .1 of xanax 2x daily, which is extremely low.

My doctor thought that .5xanax was closer to 5mgs of valium, so he prescribed me 5mgs 2xdaily. I had some xanax left over, so my first week of switching over to valium, I took a few xanax which made the transition easier. Since I am a college student, I tapered slowly so that I don't have to deal with withdrawals at school. After being on the 5mgs 2x daily, I got the 2mg pills 4x daily and have dropped by 2mgs about every month. I am at 4mgs now, and am doing fine.

Other people have reported that there anxiety kind of went away, so have tapered as well. So if benzos are all that work for you, I would suggest taking it as little as possible, and hopefully someday soon your anxiety will subside as well. I would also suggest trying some SSRIs to see if you can use them to replace the benzos, although many people seem to need the benzos as well.

Other than memory loss, and obvious interactions with alcohol (major blackouts), the main problem with benzos is the withdrawal.

I have found valium to be a lot better than xanax. The xanax works faster, so is better if you are having a panic attack, but the valium has a longer half-life so it comes on mild, and lasts longer.

Benzos are a drug that should be avoided, but if you anxiety and/or panic attacks lower your quality of life a lot, then they should be considered. Always try to take as little as possible. Also do your research on psychiatrists. My original one was pretty bad, and never warned me that my body would become dependent on them, and that withdrawals would occur. He just wrote the scripts and sent me on my way. My current psyciatrist actually cares about me.

Good luck, and feel free to ask me any questions on this topic since I obviously have 5 years of real life experience on this.

 

[djmazz]

Hey man, sorry to hear about that! as a fellow benzo user that scares the shit out of me! Did you cold turkey or did you slowly taper off them ? I plan on tapering excessively slow to avoid Major health risks that could possibly lead to death.

Does anyone know if you can still seizure etc. from withdrawals even when you do a slow taper ? Because I don't feel like risking my life tapering off benzo's! So, should I see a doctor about it? because I feel he would have me taper down slowly as well; I'm pretty sure that I'm safe stopping this way, but, just want to get opinions & experiences from others!

Thank you all, if you would bother to reply ! It would be greatly appreciated as this is of considerably concern to me! -A


^^^^^BUMP^^^^^

^^^BUMP^^^^
^^^^^BUMP^^^^^

^^^^^BUMP^^^^^
^^^^^BUMPY^^^^^

I pretty much went cold turkey. figured I could take the anxiety wasnt expecting the seizures. I had 3 seizures the first time it ever happened, and one the 2nd time i relapsed. i tried tapering the days before it but I guess a few days from 8-10mg xanax to nothing is nowhere near enough time!! seizures happened about 2 days after stopping on both occasions. I don't know if it was the benzos or the seizures (or years of other substances) but my memory was really bad after it all, still is pretty bad... maybe it was from the times i got really drunk and benzo'd up and started having blackouts... I'm scared to go anywhere near benzos now. I still get really twitchy from time to time

 

[hydrobliss]

why not go on a low dose of a benzo just to taper yourself off

I guarentee it wont get you high at all. but it should stop withdrawals a bit