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Benzos Long term, high dose daily benzo users now clean?

I havent read the article/ first post or the replies. But I used 150-200mg valium a day plus 4-8mg xanax plus other recreationals. I did this for over 5 years and just quit cold turkey. (IMO dont do this), I now suffer from period seizures that have gotten me fired from several good jobs (P.S. its been 4 years, and i still have seizures). Quit, just dont do it all at once.
 
Daaamn see thats what im sccared of. Do you still feel withdrawls at all? I still feel massive neurologicalsymptoms ive auit ct many many times im on benzoz and still having massive waves of serious symptoms

For some reason when i drop down on methadone my benzo symptoms disapear for a few dayswhy is that? Like the oopiate wd steals the show?

How can you have protracted wd when you are still on benzos
 
Wacom1 said:
Try being on benzo's 20 years ..

Been tapering for 4.5 years... down to 2.8mg Valium equivalent.

Scared doesn't even begin to describe how I feel getting lower.
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Good god I can't imagine being on a tapering plan for 4.5 years..why did you choose to get off?

Of the people I know IRL that have taken benzos long term and then got off, they are head cases or nervous wrecks now above and beyond what they were before starting..I talked to one guy coming off long term xanax habit that is scared driving to work in the morning, scared to walk down the street as he thinks cars are going to drive off the road and hit him..
 
belfort said:
Good god I can't imagine being on a tapering plan for 4.5 years..why did you choose to get off?

Of the people I know IRL that have taken benzos long term and then got off, they are head cases or nervous wrecks now above and beyond what they were before starting..I talked to one guy coming off long term xanax habit that is scared driving to work in the morning, scared to walk down the street as he thinks cars are going to drive off the road and hit him..
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I can't answer for wacom1, but I choose to get off long term benzo use because I could no longer function independently on them. I had chronic blackouts, my short term memory was literally nonexistent, and the siezures were horrible when I ran out and couldn't get more. I didn't want to be relegated to an institution for the rest of my life. Yes, the anxiety gets significantly worse before it gets better after you quit, but it does get better. The longer I go without benzos, the more relaxed and mentally healthy I am. It's taken years (6 and counting), but the quality of life I have now has made it worth it.
 
belfort said:
Good god I can't imagine being on a tapering plan for 4.5 years..why did you choose to get off?

Of the people I know IRL that have taken benzos long term and then got off, they are head cases or nervous wrecks now above and beyond what they were before starting..I talked to one guy coming off long term xanax habit that is scared driving to work in the morning, scared to walk down the street as he thinks cars are going to drive off the road and hit him..
Click to expand...

I suffer from this. I can't drive any further than half a mile from my house, traveling on residential roads to go to the store. Anything else causes me severe anxiety. I used to be afraid walking down the street for various reasons (being attacked, hit by car) but that has gone away.

Been off benzos 18 months and off gabapentin 11 months. I've only suffered from this after a short term gabapentin use screwed up my central nervous system.
 
Tapered in a clinic during 8 weeks (last 2 weeks at zero) after 1½ years of self-medicating with 10-15 different types of benzos though not abusing them without any restraint... so glad I did that!! But for 1½ years after that I had protracted withdrawal: problems with anxiety, sleeping etc.

It definitely gets better, though there is issues that don't go away ... but is just as easily part of the result of my diagnosis + poly drug use for years.
 
I'll just say I got to the point years ago where my once a day dose to get high from xanax got up to 18mg.that was my party dose.by that time it was giving me energy and made me want to get up and go.now 1.5mg will give me a black out not long after taking it.where when I was abusing the shit out of them I didn't lose my memory at all
 
I have been on clonazepam for about 1 year, I was at 2 mg a day, I've tapered down to 1 mg over the past few weeks. I am seriously worried because of all the horror stories I read. I want to taper off this and be back to normal. I would give anything to go back in time to last winter and undue this, Does anyone have any advice? on tapering, what to expect, hopefully something positive.
 
jkermy87 said:
I have been on clonazepam for about 1 year, I was at 2 mg a day, I've tapered down to 1 mg over the past few weeks. I am seriously worried because of all the horror stories I read. I want to taper off this and be back to normal. I would give anything to go back in time to last winter and undue this, Does anyone have any advice? on tapering, what to expect, hopefully something positive.
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The best advice I have is to take it slow, and always keep this in the fore front of your mind - it will get better. Anxiety will most likely get worse before it gets better, but this is temporary. Do yourself a favor and learn breathing techniques and non-pharmaceutical methods for coping with stress, like yoga, meditation, healthy eating, and good sleep hygiene. Sleep and eating is very important, make sure you get enough of both and don't let yourself get too tired or hungry.

Expect to go through a phase where you feel slow...ie dumb. This will pass. Also expect to not be very coordinated, this too will pass. I didn't go through a taper so I don't have first hand knowledge, I just know your withdrawal will not be nearly as bad as my withdrawal experience as I quit cold turkey under medical supervision. A lot of the horror stories you read online are people who quit cold turkey, and I know a taper prevents the sheer extreme was of the withdrawal. Good luck!
 
I am a recovering benzo, methadone and heroin addict. I was on klonopin 4 mgs a day for eight years, methadone in doses of 40mgs-200mgs for 11yrs and heroin for 17rs on and off. I overdosed on a suspected fentanl(heroin), methadone and k-pin combo in april of last year. I was tapered off of methadone and benzos over the coarse of three weeks in the psych ward and detox. I then went into a 60 day rehab where I had horrible withdrawal symptoms. I shook uncontrollably for atleast the first month and a half in rehab. My nickname was tweak. I would forget what I was saying midway.through sentence all the time. Anxiety was through the roof.

I then went to a sober house for 8mths.. I still suffer paws symptoms in cyclic patterns after 10mths clean. Sleep disturbances, congnitive disfunction, short term memory, anhedonia and lack of motivation but I feel infinitely better everyday and I thank God everyday that I escaped the hell that was my life. I would run out of my k-pin and methadone script two weeks early every month of the last 4yrs. I would run around in withdrawal trying to supplement with heroin and xanax off the street... Promising I wouldn't run out early next month.. Only to repeat the process all over again.. Ad infinitum. It gets better.. The thought of opiates or benzos disguist me. The obsession has been lifted and I finally have my life back.
 
Plenty of similar story's over on 'Benzobuddies.

People tapering over years and years etc... Tbh, their stories do not inspire me.
 
pally pete said:
Plenty of similar story's over on 'Benzobuddies.

People tapering over years and years etc... Tbh, their stories do not inspire me.
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Yeah, Benzobuddies was my place of refuge after killing off a 7 year +/- 2mg xanax habit. I never thought I had any real problem with them as I got no euphoria from them and strictly used them for anxiety/insomnia. I was sooo far from correct on that. I did an ill-advised rapid taper over 1.5 weeks and jumped off at .5mg/day. The first month was pure torture. It took me a total of 6-7 months before I felt pretty close to 100%. One thing that I didn't expect was not even being able to have 2 beers without it throwing back into a bad w/d for about a week. Around the 6 month mark, I could start having a few beers. Now I can drink as I see fit without repercussion from the benzos. I kicked benzos in Nov of 2014.

The w/d's were as bad as opiates for me, except they were less intense physically but very drawn out on the mental side. "mental terrorism"
 
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