(10-10-2019, 07:54 AM)Wannabenormal18 Wrote: I speak about this with caution as I myself had 3 monster seizures withdrawing off benzos which I had used both for sleep and for daytime anxiety control. I have a close friend who has been on 30mg of Valium every day for 4 years. It was 100 percent a 30mg daily dose of diazepam. 3 doses of 10mg split up throughout the day. The person knew it wasn’t sustainable anymore because they were initially prescribed it for something terrible that was going on in their life but that stressor is not there anymore and the person was simply taking the Valium to prevent withdrawals, not to actually treat anxiety and panic. It was simply that if the person went a day without them, they would start getting that anxiousness we all fear. Anyhow this person said they did not want to taper and wanted to go cold turkey. I pleaded with the person not to. This individual knew I had 3 seizures coming off benzos but the person said they will never do a taper as it will fail and it’s either they stay on or come off. So the person stops the Valium cold. It takes 3 or 4 days for the real terrible stuff to happen. The person works in a health profession and had to leave work immediately as the withdrawals set in. This person bravely went through 8 days of torture and finally on the 9 th day after the withdrawal started, they could tell the worst was behind them. I witnessed this with my own two eyes. 20mg propranolol every 6 hours for the worst of the withdrawal is all that was used to get through it. Two nights trazadone was used at 100mg for sleep. Another night serequel was used at 50mg to sleep. That’s it. The anxiety and panic was brutal. The person looked very sick and was in horrific condition but they made it. It’s been 4 months and the person is totally benzo free. No lingering anxiety either. Amazing. I think even as bad as the suffering was for this person and it was painful to watch, it wasn’t anything like what I went through because while this person took more than me during the day, I was abusing halcion, midazolam and other things out of desperation to sleep. The reason I’m posting this is it can be done. It will be a tough period of time but sometimes the withdrawals can last less than we think.
I take the withdrawals VERY seriously, for precisely the reasons you've described. I'm glad your friend is ok now. But I can't have weeks/months out of action as it is incompatible with work. The idea of the taper being teeny tiny steps is to make it so smooth I don't feel it too much. I am open to using things like beta blockers since the same anxiety that had me start taking diazepam hasn't just magically gone away. I've got a few more coping mechanisms, and perhaps a bit wiser, but I'm not so naive as to think that I can just taper down and then carry on as though nothing has happened. My brain is extremely used to being soothed by diazepam and however slowly I stop I suspect I'll feel very vulnerable when I hit zero (even if that takes three years!).
(10-10-2019, 11:58 PM)happyvibe Wrote: I really appreciate all these well thought out posts on reducing benzo use while trying to function at work. I’m a week benzo free but really struggling now. I thought I was past the worst of it but guess not. Thanks again to all your beautiful souls that open your journey for us in similar situations to read.
How long did it take you to taper? Congratulations on getting there, and I'm sorry you are now struggling. Do you mean struggling in the sense of withdrawals, or in the sense that now you are benzo free you are fully exposed to all the stresses of work?
Good luck!