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  • TDS Moderators: AlphaMethylPhenyl | paranoid android

Mental Health Cut from benzos cold turkey - will I survive withdrawal?

These types of situations suck, and America is famous for them. If you were in Sweden or Norway you'd get a kinder treatment. Anyways, i was thinking would kava be helpful? Some of that stuff can be pretty powerful especially if you take it a while. But it's nasty as s*i* and may not be strong enough in this case. But Maybe it's something to take for a while after the most acute WD then taper from that (or keep taking. In my experience kava is pretty harmless. Ymmv)
 
Going cold turkey off of benzos will cause excitotoxicity due to high levels of glutamate being released with a deficit of available functioning GABA to help regulate it. It will ensure that you will suffer from terrible PAWS for over a year after you stop. This is actual brain damage and a guarantee of long term anxiety problems. I mean, that is if the gabapentin isn't at all effective. I can't comment on that as I have no experience with that specifically. The gabapentin is definitely better than nothing but still very reckless on your doctors part.

A slow taper on a long acting benzo is absolutely necessary in my opinion. It is absoluely unethical and you should educate your doctor on this or maybe find one who specializes in addiction to GABAergics.
 
Ligaturd said:
Going cold turkey off of benzos will cause excitotoxicity due to high levels of glutamate being released with a deficit of available functioning GABA to help regulate it. It will ensure that you will suffer from terrible PAWS for over a year after you stop. This is actual brain damage and a guarantee of long term anxiety problems. I mean, that is if the gabapentin isn't at all effective. I can't comment on that as I have no experience with that specifically. The gabapentin is definitely better than nothing but still very reckless on your doctors part.

A slow taper on a long acting benzo is absolutely necessary in my opinion. It is absoluely unethical and you should educate your doctor on this or maybe find one who specializes in addiction to GABAergics.
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What kind of brain damage? In 2010 I was forced to go cold turkey from a 10 year run of Xanax, suffered horrible siezures, anxiety, etc. PAWS lasted for two years. It has since gotten somewhat better. Are you saying that I will be in this state for the rest of my life? Thx!
 
No. The brain has an amazing capacity to heal. It will take awhile though. Gabapentin will help ease the blow. A taper on a GABAergic will help mitigate some of the damage.
 
That's kind of what I was thinking, but having been going through it for so long I could see where one could be left with some permenant residual anxiety. I know that after the first two years I developed a form of PTSD with respect to the withdrawal and seizures. It took a while to get over that too lol. Thx for the info and response!
 
I used to be very very addicted to benzos and had an extremely high tolerance, also to other things but let's not get into that here. My new psych at the time drug tested me and of course found numerous things in my system and even knowing my issues and that I had a scrip to some of these benzos I was taking he took me off them cold turkey and even 2 years later I will not forget that first week without them and I still think it is completely cruel and dangerous what he did. I felt like my heart was literally going to beat out of my chest and I could hardly breath when I laid down like there were a cinder block on my chest. I had panic attack after panic attack and all it did was make me want to go find benzos like a maniac, I managed to make it thru but I truly feel that I could have had a heart attack in the LEAST. Not writing this to scare anyone just giving my own personal honest advice/story with what I went thru.
 
Get a doctor to prescribe both depakote and gabapentin, shouldn't be too hard. Or check yourself into a local psychiatric ward and they will safely detox you. Best advice I can give.
 
/\ A psych ward isn't the same as a detox place and hardly a good place for someone with anxiety. You know the first thing they do in a psych ward is take away your medication right? Kind of bad advice imo. I think the op would be better off going to a hospital if they feel they need to rather than a psych ward because they could probably get a prescription to buy them some time while they try to find a new doctor.
 
No that post was correct, you could go in as a psych patient at ER, they would admit you to a medically monitored detox. There are a variety of "wards" and "detoxes" it's semantic.

think the point of that post was basically to go seek treatment. And psych wards do not take medication away?? They monitor and provide it...( yeah they are prob gonna take away a Baggie full of Oxys ...that type of "medication ") and sometimes provide it a little overzealously in my opinion!
detox is always medically monitored and could also BE in an actual psych ward, or be a part of one or a detox could offer psych services...etc
These days lots of facilities offer dual diagnosis services that treat substance abuse and mental health issues
I think any medical facility wether a hospital or treatment center should be VERY clear on how to handle benzo Detoxification.
 
They take any medication away until you get evaluated which depending on the circumstances could take up to a day or so. And as far as detoxing off benzos, that could take half a year. A psych ward is really only useful if you're suicidal or afraid you're going to hurt others imo. It's the last place I would go for any type of withdrawal.
 
My point is that no one would admit someone who is in be so withdrawl to a psych ward with no medical oversight for detox. It's totally unsafe..It wouldn't happen.
She would be evaluated and sent to whatever facility could handle medical detox. A psych ward with no clinical detox services isn't going to KEEP a patient coming off of benzos..and then take the benzos away.
I just can't imagine that happening. I'm on my second year of internships from detoxes to sober living houses to Outpatient and I can't imagine tHat scenario...
unless she lied or totally ommited the fact that she's addicted.
I think all that post meant was that if she went to the hospital.she would be prob be labeled "psych" for initial assessment then moved to appropriate unit. Sometimes going to ER Can be only route to a bed in detox. Sadly
 
I've heard about people going to the ER and they were simply given a script of benzos to help them through withdrawals. This person isn't demonstrating any reason why they would be taken to a psych ward. I was taken to a psych ward because of an overdose one time. That gave them a reason to think I was suicidal and blah blah. This is not the case with OP.

It seems like they would be reasonable in the ER and help with the script if OP explained they were cut off cold turkey from a doctor. I've never been to ER because of withdrawals because I usually got a hold of another benzo to help and/or Gabapentin.
Just read this thread again and I see OP was given Gabapentin. That should help for sure. Hopefully that person is doing well...
 
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CoastTwoCoast said:
I've heard about people going to the ER and they were simply given a script of benzos to help them through withdrawals. This person isn't demonstrating any reason why they would be taken to a psych ward. I was taken to a psych ward because of an overdose one time. That gave them a reason to think I was suicidal and blah blah. This is not the case with OP.
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Exactly... I actually have been to the hospital for alcohol withdrawals and came out with an RX for Ativan. That's a little bit different than this case, but I'm pretty sure if the OP went to the ER and explained their situation they could obtain at least a small script to buy them some time.
 
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