• 💊 OTHER DRUGS 💊 Welcome Guest
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    Notable Threads 1 Notable Threads 2
    Dangerous Combos Addiction Support
    Emergency Services Benzo Guide v.1
    Addiction Stories Scary Case Studies
    Biology, Pharmacology & Drugs 101
  • Select Your Topic Then Scroll Down
    Alcohol Bupe Benzos
    Cocaine Heroin Opioids
    RCs Stimulants Misc
    Harm Reduction All Topics Gabapentinoids
    Tired of your habit? Struggling to cope?
    Want to regain control or get sober?
    Visit our Recovery Support Forums

Benzos Xanax withdrawal complications. In need of help please!

ok the issue with rehab is there is no fucking way sneaking them in would work...and there is no fucking way i would stick them up my ass. and as i stated before, the rehab place here is a fucking joke. they are used to dealing with alcoholics and opiates. they dont even have a protocol for dealing with suboxone or methadone. thats how fucking clueless they are. they ONLY good checking in would do me is having some sort of medical supervision, but again its not even so much medical as a glorified babysitter to call 911 in case something happens. but again, even doing so i would have to give up my suboxone, smoking, AND fucking caffeine. It just seems like that would put me in a state that i couldnt handle. Also as i stated approx 20 times now...I AM BLACKLISTED AND CANNOT GET ANY BENZOS TO TAPER. dont get me wrong i really appreciate the advice and the sympathy but im answering the same 2 questions over and over. ugh im just so frustrated i just wish this would fucking end!
 
I wasn't discounting what you said at all. I am also blacklisted in every pharmacy and dr surgery in the state. But my SUBOXONE dr understands benzo withdrawal thankfully and has me on a strict taper plan, which, as I said has been going for years. Being black listed from all benzos and opiates means I just cannot be prescribed anything or get a scripts anywhere else apart from the one pharmacy who dispenses my Suboxone/. Irresponsible drs will cut you off benzos cold turkey, I had to travel 4 hours to my private subs dr to be reinstated on the benzos. Im still black listed but pick up my valium with mu suboxone every week. I was only trying to help.

And I totally understand the small town thing, I was in a 400 person town at the time/. I was responding to your question about seizure risks etc and because I understand benzo withdrawal all too well unfortnately. I felt just like you do and couldn't move out of bed for over a month which was impossible with 5 children

I would definitely not recommend sneaking in meds or drugs to a rehab, it's only going to end in more trouble. Maybe you will have to travel elsewhere to find a proper, medical detox. It seemed impossible to me with 5 kids and a business to run but I had no optjon, I could not function with the hell that is benzo withdrawal.
 
I'm sure you've researched it already but from what I've read you're getting to the point where it's too late to reinstate with Valium and taper...I think it's like 2-3 weeks, then reinstating will cause serious problems, so forget about the benzos anyway...

I'm tripping on Cheezy....no, it's iboprofen, trust me, I'm a doctor....I'm sure u know this but smoking pot would be the absolute worst thing u could do right now...

I feel for u man but I think at this point you're going to have to just buckle down and ride it out and hope for the best while trying to eat healthy exercise and just keep your mind occupied...oh and one more thing and I'm dead serious, my buddy who went through this said he jerked off like 5 times a day and it seriously helped him...or a lot of sex if u can
 
I'm not kidding guys. I was in full blown psychosis. The only reason I stayed sane was I knew it would pass. 1 1mg ativan and I slept like a baby the first time in weeks. 12 hrs later another 1mg ativan. That was it. No more PAWS. I was 100% normal with no anxiety afterwards. And it's lasted a few years now.
 
Start tapering the buprenorphine now, i found wd's only started once i got to 1.2mg and lower. Once you hit zero, you'll have 3 weeks of rattling from subby And the wd is nothing compared to benzos. You've done well, don't put benzos in your system now. Your almost there. Taper subby the best you can, it'll make it easier in the long run. You would of done the benzo rattle by then. Keep your head up. Your getting there, one day at time, mate.
 
Thank you so much for the help and support guys. You have no idea how much it means to me. My family just doesnt get it, and since i was an opiate addict for years prior to this they've basically given up on me not to mention the fact that they dont understand withdrawals at all. This place is my only support, and its honestly keepin me goin so thank you all. Suprisingly i've been doin extremely well tapering my subs over the past month. i seriously managed to cut down from 12mg to 3mg in 4 weeks. I've actually kicked subs before cold turkey and got clean...but i did cheat and use kratom to ease my suffering. Long story short my dumb ass went back to methadone about a year later...NEVER AGAIN. but i got back on my subs and have been doing well (other than the xanax abuse) ever since. Today i felt pretty decent. Still some underlying arm pain, chest pain, dizziness, and anxiety but overall a hell of a lot better than the past few days. I seem to get one day of clarity then 3-4 days of hell over and over but i thank god for the day of clarity otherwise id be pulling my fucking hair out. again thank you all for your time and support i wish i could somehow return the favor. you've all given me more attention and better advice than the fucking doctors in my town!
 
Hey guys, I noticed several complaints on this thread about the member claiming to be a doctor and giving harmful advice. PLEASE report posts that don't follow the BLUA and OD Guidelines. If you don't report it, I can't guarantee that I'll see it.

OP, why are you opposed to Seroquel? I was on it when I first got out of rehab and was getting stabilized on subs. It really saved my ass, took a week or two to get used to it but it helped me sleep so my body could rest and heal and also drastically reduced my anxiety and mania. I no longer feel the need to take it and couldn't anyway now that I have a young child but it's great for situations like the one you're in.

If you're going to go on an antidepressant I would go with Mirtazapine over a SSRI. It's old school, I believe it's a tetracyclic. I also don't respond well to SSRIs but had no side effects from mirtazapine. It doesn't feel like any antidepressant I've taken, it just really helps with sleep and anxiety. You take it before bed. Lower doses are actually more sedating while higher ones help with anxiety and depression more. It's also a super cheap medication, especially of you get the generic and use a GoodRX.com discount code.

Glad your bupe taper is going well. Now that you're almost to 2mg, I'd take it slow. That was the easy part but once you get lower it gets tough. I'd taper all the way down to .25 and then take that every other day before jumping off tbh. Bupe is more potent than people realize. If you're worried about cost, GoodRX.com is awesome and they list the prices at various pharmacies. If you can get prescribed just Subutex (plain bupe) instead of Suboxone (bupe and nalaxone) the generic is WAY cheaper. Shouldn't be hard if you've been stable on subs a while and explain that it's because you're struggling to pay it.

I can't believe your doctor did that. It's gross negligence and people have died from seizures caused by benzos withdrawal. When he cut you off, did you ask for a taper plan? Also are you just blacklisted in your town? I don't know any doctor who wouldn't have at least written a last script with a rapid taper plan to cover their ass. Unfortunately you learned a very hard lesson... when you're an addict and prescribed a controlled substance you have to be super diligent and on top of it because you won't get the benefit of the doubt if anything comes up.

Sounds like you're past the need of inpatient treatment. But I don't know of any rehab that would CT you off buprenorphine if you are legally prescribed and came in with it. If you can't be on it there they typically taper you. Might be a good idea to be in a rehab setting once you get to the end of your taper. I do think you need some type of daily recovery though regardless. Is there out patient treatment in your town? Or can you see a counselor who's well versed in substance abuse? AA or NA meetings are everywhere, I'm in recovery myself (heroin, cocaine, and benzos) and prefer AA over NA especially the young people's meetings. There's also meetings online both 12 step and non 12 step like LifeRing and SMART Recovery. And check out the Recovery section here on BL.

Sorry for the length, I'm tired and rambling. Best of luck OP.
 
Rhun- thanks for the advice. And as i stated before, the rehab here is a fucking joke. they mainly deal with alcoholics, and they dont even have a detox plan for subs or methadone. they barely know wtf they're doing with opiate wd let alone benzos and subs. so they said if i go in either inpatient or outpatient they wouldnt allow me to take subs. Also theres no way in hell i can get subutex. literally the only way they give subutex around here is if you are allergic to naloxone or pregnant...period. Also, i refuse to take seroquil because i've seen the horrors of what it can do. two friends of mine seriously got admitted into a psych ward because of that shit, and they werent on it long at all. im sorry but that alone scares the shit out of me. and im not blacklisted in my entire town...im blacklisted at the main hospital and ER here, but also my doc that cut me off the xanax blacklisted me, and in my town and surrounding towns they look up your previous records before they even think about prescribing you anything. so i have to sign a waver to let them read the bullshit blacklist notes my old doc wrote for any new docs to read before they consider giving me anything. so that basically guarantees that theres no fucking way im ever going to get any sort of benzo again. I also agree with AA over NA. the NA meetings here are mostly just court ordered junkies and ppl looking to make connections to score. however us pill heads usually get some condescending looks from alcoholics at AA like they're better...but still its a better environment than NA for sure. Thanks for takin care of cheezy too. That douchebag was gonna give some bad advice and get someone hurt. What an asshole.
 
Sounds like your nearly there my friend. Remember subby has a bit of a kicker to it that i didn't expect. My last dose on the taper was 0.4mg. You'll feel abit rough, first 10 days the usual shit, then slowly but surely you'll creep out the other side. I did mine in secret during a break up with my girlfriend and none of my family noticed, suspicious yes. But fuck it now it's pretty much done. I'm off to an opiate and benzo free life. I hope you are to mate.
 
Yeah OP keep us updated daily if you can! Would like to see your progress
 
well bad news...yesterday evening i was relaxing talking on the phone and suddenly i got so fucking dizzy i could barely walk. it kept getting worse then my heart started pounding fast as hell and i started to get tunnel vision and my left arm went numb. i seriously thought i was going to have a heart attack and die. had to get picked up by ambulance and taken back to the ER. once again it took about 5 hours for the dizziness to subside. the doctors said my blood pressure and heart rate were way up but they couldnt really do anything else for me since they've previously already done blood work, xrays, ct scan, ekg, etc. however the chest and arm pain along with the dizziness worried the doc and he suggested that i go to this other mental health doc that he believes might have mercy on me and prescribe me some sort of benzo to taper on. As i stated before i know my chances of actually getting any sort of benzo is slim to none, but the docs recommendation might actually help me out here. my question is should i taper? i guarantee the doc isnt gonna give me xanax, most likely something weaker like valium. im at the end of my rope...i dont know wtf to do anymore.
 
Did they give you anything at the hospital or did they just monitor you? What was your BP and heart rate?
Diazepam(Valium) is great for a taper, because of its long half life. Taking a benzo again will reset your withdrawal, but imo it's a good idea, because you could slowly taper down over a few weeks/month and would lessen the withdrawal symptoms drastically and atm it doesn't sound like your problems did improve much/ at all
 
th they gave me a shot of toradol for pain and the doc gave me a script for atarax...however i looked it up and theres a MAJOR drug interaction with suboxone and i fucking told the doc i was on subs so i really dont even want to risk taking that shit. i have no clue what my bp and heart rate were at...i was just kinda focusing on not dying at the moment. honestly i can handle the other wd symptoms, the only reason i even want to try taking a benzo again is to see if i still have the chest and arm pain because i have a feeling that it might not be related to the wd. and if that is the case then i need to figure out wtf is causing it asap. if i were to just take valium for a day or two would that still reset my wd???
 
Atarax (hydroxyzine) is a antihistamine and it's the best non benzo anti anxiety medication hands down ime.
It will increase the sedative effects of your suboxone, but given that you are dependent I don't think that a reasonable dose will interact with the subs in a bad way.
Maybe there are other problems like lowering seizure threshold that I'm not aware of..

Imo taking a benzo will result in a rebound and will worsen your withdrawal again, but I don't know if it'll reset everything so that you are on day 0 again
 
what exactly do you mean by the rebound? do you mean it will cause wd symptoms while on the benzo or after quitting again? im so torn right now its so tempting...
 
I guess I'll try posting one more time....benzo withdrawals causes SO many horrible symptoms, it's unbelievable. Give me opiate or meth withdrawal any day!

Like I said, I am blacklisted to, being blacklisted doesn't mean a Dr who knows what they are talking about with benzo withdrawal won't put you on a strict taper which you have just found out. Being blacklisted doesn't mean they can put their own 'ideals' above their duty of care for patient comfort and quality of life. It just means you are going to find it harder to a it's through those channels in the future.

I've been through exactly the same thing and have tried to post a few suggestions previously?. My withdrawals went on for weeks and weeks and no sign of getting any better and my only option was to go on a valium/ clonaz taper, and I found a dr who knew the Ashton Manual and I've been tapering for a long time. It beats PAWS and I just could not deal with the withdrawals for that long. They will always switch to valium or clonaz to taper due to the longer half life. All I wanted was more xanax but valium keeps me well for now.

A day or two is unlikely to help so if that's all he's willing to put you on, I wouldnt do it,but if he will put you on a proper taper I would most definitely go ahead with it......and it doesn't sound like you are going to be one of the lucky ones who can get away with a short benzo withdrawal. Im not either and it sucks. Benzos are the worst.

Did you have a look at The Ashton manual or Benzo Buddies? So much factual info on there..
 
Last edited:
Also, im on a beta blocker for anxiety which works very well. I rarely need it these days but it's not even in the same ball park as benzos, as in not addictive, but stops your heart rate/blood pressure from going above a certain rate. I have never had high BP but take this very rarely for acute anxiety and its surprisingly effective. And absolutely no problem with my SUBOXONE either.

Oh, and taking a couple of valium as a once off won't 'reset' your withdrawals. It won't help though except for a few hours of relief so there isn't much point unless you're just wanting to find out if withdrawal is causing your symptoms. During the nearly 3 years I've been tapering benzos, I have had 2 or 3 two week long xanax binges taking upward of 50mg a day and was able to jump back onto my low dose of valium with no ill effects. I would be very surprised if it was anything BUT the withdrawal, especially with tests coming back ok. My benzo withdrawals were also hell on earth, I couldn't believe you could have so many horrid and wide varying symptoms all at the same time or alternating from one to another. Hope you feel better soon whichever way you go.

Benzos just effect everyone so differently, like the lucky person on this thread that a couple of doses of Ativan solved his/her problem. They're just so unpredictable.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top