Congratulations for wanting to improve your life. I can relate to that and I believe I know what you must be going through. Don't give up. Things will get better.
I just wanted to share that Benzos for life can be tricky because of the tolerance you build around then. That's one of the reasons. There are others, like long term side effects.
I started taking Valium at the age of 17 and by mid 30s I was doing 6 pills every 6 hours just to feel alright, not to mention all of the opiates. Horrible.
Eventually I stopped all of that and sticked with Methadone and Bromazepam only. Tapered to 8 x a day for both of them. That lasted 7.5 years when I finally started to feel really bad and my doctor said I could not go on upgrading my prescriptions. The moment I most needed them they failed to function, and I had to choose.
I know most people don't have a long term concern because we are almost sure we'll get around it when time comes but we don't. Same applies for opiates.
At a certain point in life you'll have to choose. I knew deep inside that I was not going to get away with that. That does not mean you can't use benzo for life it just means that at a certain point they will stop working and the feeling would be almost the same as if you weren't using them, or lowering the doses indefinitely. You can't upgrade your doses for ever that's what I had tried to do and failed.
Years before I would either OD or get clean, which was impossible for me. Trust me I literally believed it was impossible. Unfortunately we take a long time to realize what's right for us and when we do we regret the time we lost. And trying to get it back is not an option, you have to work with what you have. And sometimes that is not enough.
I'm not judging your choices at all. Just giving a feedback of mine which seemed to be a bit similar in terms of ideals and goals, specially for opiates.
I finally stopped using them and like I said I really wish I had believed in myself before. I wished I didn't have to try so many times. But at the end I can tell you we have the strength we wish for. If you really want to achieve your goals do that because you can. Nothing of that nature is impossible, it's just hard.
I wish you well!
Erik