Benzos Can benzo withdrawal symptoms rebound 4 months later??

[300THB]

Well some of this may be irrelevant because i know most of you wont be able to comment on the medical side of things but thought i should include the full story so we can work out if it is benzo related or not.

About 4 weeks ago i gave oral sex to an escort. 7 days after i broke out in loads of cold saws and my throat was extremely sore. Couldn't eat solid foods for about a week. Next my chest gone bad and felt like i had a chest infection, this cleared in a couple of days.

After all this i thought i was over the worst of it and gone out for a family meal. While out with friends i blacked out, suddenly could see a bright light, vision gone distorted and i just blacked out. On waking it took about 5 minutes for my vision to come fully back. Gone to sleep and woke up the next day with an extremely swollen mouth. Gone to the dentist and apparently my mouth was infected from my wisdom tooth on the right hand side. Gone home and my heart rate and temperature began to soar so i ended up in the A&E.

In A&E the nurses thought i had sepsis as my heart rate was 145 and temperature around 39c. Then seen a doc who told me i didn't have sepsis and just a strong infection but he would wait for the blood tests to come back to be sure. He said i most likely had a viral infection causing the heart rate issues and a separate infection in my mouth. He prescribed Metronidazole antibiotic for the mouth infection.

I only taken one pill of the Metronidazole as the mouth infection seemed to go the following day as all the swelling decreased and i could eat again.

Its been 7 days since and my mouth feels back to normal. Resting HR is down to around 90-100 so that looks good BUT i still feel extremely lethargic and disorientated. I'm still sleeping for 12 hours a day.

It almost feels like benzo withdrawal symptoms, extreme lethargy and the feeling that you could sleep all day. Coupled with the disorientated feeling its like my benzo withdrawal is back.

Can benzo withdrawal symptoms return 4 months after last dose? Or could the antibiotic Metronidazole have caused them to return?

 

[Jekyl Anhydride]

IMO I would have to say no, it sounds like you had a rough time with an infection. Did you have any cultures done or do you have any follow ups planned with another Doctor? Did you receive any news from the blood test(s)?
A 102.2* / 39* fever combined with everything else you described sounds like something virulent and nasty.

The sleeping for 12 hours part does not sound like Benzo withdrawal either, as long bouts of insomnia go hand in hand with a moderate to heavy W/D. The sleeping for long periods every night and lethargy sounds like you're still fighting whatever it was that hit you and caused the initial symptoms. If you didn't plan any check ups it might behoove you to do so.

Did you have a large Benzo habit 4 months ago? I'm curious as to what led you to believe it might be from benzos after so much time has passed other than feeling run down with general malaise. If you want some more feedback about the escort experience you should check out SLR:

https://www.bluelight.org/vb/forums/51-Sex-Love-and-Relationships

 

[300THB]

IMO I would have to say no, it sounds like you had a rough time with an infection. Did you have any cultures done or do you have any follow ups planned with another Doctor? Did you receive any news from the blood test(s)?
A 102.2* / 39* fever combined with everything else you described sounds like something virulent and nasty.

The sleeping for 12 hours part does not sound like Benzo withdrawal either, as long bouts of insomnia go hand in hand with a moderate to heavy W/D. The sleeping for long periods every night and lethargy sounds like you're still fighting whatever it was that hit you and caused the initial symptoms. If you didn't plan any check ups it might behoove you to do so.

Did you have a large Benzo habit 4 months ago? I'm curious as to what led you to believe it might be from benzos after so much time has passed other than feeling run down with general malaise. If you want some more feedback about the escort experience you should check out SLR:

https://www.bluelight.org/vb/forums/51-Sex-Love-and-Relationships

Thank you for the reply. Yes i waited in A&E until the blood results came back and the doctor said they showed signs of infection. I don't have any follow up appointments with a doctor scheduled the hospital just said to return anytime if i felt more ill or new symptoms started.

Its hard to describe but when in benzo withdrawal i had that unique feeling of withdrawal. The detached, disorientated feeling. I kind of feel like that now again which made me think of rebound withdrawal symptoms. Possibly caused by the antibiotic?

Was on Ativan for 3 years

Year 1 2-4 mg daily
Year 2 2mg daily
Year 3 1mg daily

Been 4 months off.

It's hard to describe how i feel right now. Not had this from a infection before so I'm just concerned. I feel dizzy, off balanced slightly and extremely disorientated. Nothing feels right if that makes sense. But i guess this could be caused by a infection. I'm also concerned that the infection seemed to spread from my throat, to chest and then my mouth. It was like after the throat got better the chest gone down. Then the chest got better and my mouth was infected.

I'm not sure if it could be STD/STI related as i have been seeing escorts weekly sometimes twice weekly for about a year. Although i rarely give oral to them!

Thanks for the help anyway, i know most of this probably falls outside of most Bluelight members field of expertise.

 

[Jekyl Anhydride]

3 years is enough time to be physically dependent but at least you lowered your dose over a long period of time before discontinuing. Did you have a further taper from the 1mg mark? Ativan/ Lorazepam has a long half life so it's better suited for getting off benzos than say alprazolam. I just don't see a renewed gabaergic W/D from an antibiotic after several months of not using any. Did you have any signs or symptoms of still being in a post acute w/d stage before the infection?

Regardless it's good you're rebounding from the infection, but if you're still hooking up twice a week, it might not hurt to keep a Z-pack of some Azithromycin on hand. If your upper respiratory tract and/or mouth is still inflamed a ENT/ear, nose & throat specialist might be of help. Hang in there 300.

 

[Prescottdave]

3 years is enough time to be physically dependent but at least you lowered your dose over a long period of time before discontinuing. Did you have a further taper from the 1mg mark? Ativan/ Lorazepam has a long half life so it's better suited for getting off benzos than say alprazolam. I just don't see a renewed gabaergic W/D from an antibiotic after several months of not using any. Did you have any signs or symptoms of still being in a post acute w/d stage before the infection?

Regardless it's good you're rebounding from the infection, but if you're still hooking up twice a week, it might not hurt to keep a Z-pack of some Azithromycin on hand. If your upper respiratory tract and/or mouth is still inflamed a ENT/ear, nose & throat specialist might be of help. Hang in there 300.

The most commonly cited taper method on Bluelight is called the Ashton Manuel.

This historically significant source lists lorazepam as a short acting benzodiazepin.

Professor C Heather Ashton states, "Lorazepam is eliminated from the body moderately quickly (within 10-20 hours blood concentrations fall to half the peak level obtained from a single dose).

This manuel lists lorazepam as slightly longer acting then alprazolam by a maximum of 8 hours. A long acting benzo usually has active motabolites that stick around for upwards of 600 hours apposed to 40 hours.
http://bluelight.org/vb/threads/98201-Benzodiazepines-How-They-Work-and-How-to-Withdraw?s=&r=0
http://www.bluelight.org/vb/threads/99918-Benzodiazepine-Equivalency-Half-Life-Dose-Chart

Maybe the OP was unknowingly administered a benzo while sick in the ER though unlikely. I would check your medical records. I could however easily see a bad infection mimicking the pain and fatigue of BZD WD. Remember though that the PAWS routinely stick around for 6-12 months.

 

[Jekyl Anhydride]

The most commonly cited taper method on Bluelight is called the Ashton Manuel. This historically significant source lists lorazepam as a short acting benzodiazepine.

Literally for the sake of herm reduction I am making this information available so someone doesn't get the idea to switch something like a diazepam or Librium taper over to a lorazepam taper thinking they both are long acting medications. Here is a well known thread that uses the Ashton Manuel and benzo.org.uk to give readers a rundown of dosage equivalency and elimination times.
http://www.bluelight.org/vb/threads/99918-Benzodiazepine-Equivalency-Half-Life-Dose-Chart
https://www.benzo.org.uk/bzequiv.htm

The ashton manual is great but it's a little late at 4 months off benzos. Lorazepam is is better suited but not idyllic, and I hope anyone else interested in benzodiazepine cessation would make a thread of their own or use the search engine, especially before changing an entire regimen over one sentence directed at the OP. We haven't even gotten into Clonidine and other support meds but thanks for being thorough Dave.

 

[BurritoJimmy]

It is a fact that's not well known that disease states can bring back withdrawals even DTs in sober alcoholics. It's possible the infection brought about a form of withdrawal that can be experienced in these disease states even long after a long period of sobriety.