For Those Who Take Benzos Regularly How Many Want to Stop?

[JackB]

A lot of people I know and have spoken to found that using 5HTP helped them to come off both benzos and PK's, you can take them while you taper off I believe and they definitely do have a positive effect at least on me....

[sophie30]

5HTP definitely helps with your serotonin. I learned that in college when ecstasy was all the rage.

[Swizzlestick]

@Aven

I have been using benzos for the better part of 15+ years. Almost exclusively self medicating. I want to stop, but after so many years it is very very hard. The longer you take them, the harder it will be to stop.

With that said, last May/June, I did taper very slowly (Ashton method) with Valium (which is also my Benzo of choice). Once I was below 10mgs, I dropped a milligram every 7-10 days until I was at a 1mg per day dose and then stopped. No WD or significant discomfort but I had two sleepless nights, got a little sleep on third night and on the fourth night I slept well. All natural drug free sleep. It was outstanding!

And while I have never been officially diagnosed with GAD or other ailments, I clearly was self medicating for a reason. So, unfortunately I returned to Benzo use within a two month period and am still taking 10-20mgs of Valium per day.

My point is that the Ashton method works well for a mostly painless Benzo stoppage. But, the "PAWS" are tough. So have some sort of support structure in place after you quit or you may find it very difficult to stay off the Benzos. Or you may find yourself medicating with other drugs or alcohol.

I am going to attempt the Ashton method again in the next 30-60 days.

Best of luck to you! My advice is get off them as soon as you are able. But go slowly and have a strong support structure in place when you quit.

JMHO

~ Swizzle

[sophie30]

@Swizzlestick, can you elaborate on what symptoms, length of time PAWS has? I thought that was only a possibility if you went CT.

[Swizzlestick]

@sophie30

"PAWS" is probably not the correct term. Because, other than the sleepless nights, I had no real issues (no headaches, severe agitation, feeling terrible) those things you would consider acute WD symptoms.

But, I had anxiety. And my anxiety was increased knowing that there was not a single pill in my house to "take the edge off". No Soma, no opiates... nothing. I was clean other than drinking a couple beers.

I was still recovering from my divorce and I am sure that had an impact. I would come home from work to an empty house (cept for my faithful dog) and wig out. If I had some social events structured, or some AA meetings or people to spend time with, it might have gone differently. But I am very private and rarely discuss my problems with other people. And I am kind of a loner. I used to use individual sports and exercise in my free time, but age and injuries have taken my exuberance for those activities. Now it is a guitar, but again a "loner" activity.

The real issue is that it will take my brain a LONG TIME to re-wire after so many years of Benzo use. It took me 15 years to wire it FOR Benzos, so I could imagine it could take several years to get it back to normal (I do think that is possible).

I would like to prevent others from being in my situation. Now, I understand that there is a real need for these meds. But long term use should be viewed as a potential life-long commitment. A life time of making sure you "have enough meds" every time you travel for work or go on vacation.

So, if you are 28 and starting to use Benzos regularly, ask yourself if this is something you want to do for the rest of your life. Because that could be how benzo dependence progresses. There has to be a better way (diet, exercise, meditation...).

As always, just my opinion and subject to debate and discussion.

Swizzle

[TenaciousE]

@sophie30
But I am very private and rarely discuss my problems with other people. And I am kind of a loner. I used to use individual sports and exercise in my free time, but age and injuries have taken my exuberance for those activities. Now it is a guitar, but again a "loner" activity.

That describes me to a "T". Just that lifting weights and taking dance classes are my "loner" activities.

But, seriously thank you for the advice. My husband and my mother are the only people who truly know me and they are extremely supportive.

IMO preparing myself mentally to be off benzos and not going back or substituting will be the hardest part.

[sophie30]

@Swizzlestick, thanks for the clarification, I'm terrified of PAWS and plan on continuing to use diazepam occasionally, on an as needed basis rather than regularly, so hopefully I won't have to deal with that much. I'm sorry to hear about your divorce, that's one thing I have going for me - my husband and I have no secrets about my usage and he supports me fully but also knows when to just leave me alone to breathe through a panic attack. It can't be easy, but he's an incredible man. I too have problems talking to people about ANY problems of my own, though I have a ton of friends and they all come to me with their issues, I can't do the same for some reason. I have my husband, and you guys, and you guys help more than I could have imagined!

[dodihere]

Hi,
I have been on klonopin .5 mg 3/day for over ten years. I am not sure about your doctor, but my doctor kept reassuring me my dosage was so small that I had nothing to worry about being on them, he said over time I will eventually just stop taking them. My dosage never increased except initially from 2/ to 3/day. He always advised me to take them on a regular basis, but I only took them how they helped me mentally, which was a couple at a time chewed up when my anxiety peaked, and then the occasional panic attack I would take 3. It would always offset to the 90 day I was prescribed. Some months I had more, some months I had to stretch a few.

Just this last year my dosage has dropped to where I am almost off of them completely. I had a huge change in my life (divorce) I became a totally different person, I started being myself again (didn't notice I was gone in the first place) and lo and behold I started to forget to take my medicine. My script now lasts me months. I take them only when I can't shake off my nerves. I did have a huge panic attack 3 weeks ago that I couldn't get out and I think it is because I didn't have them in my system. We all know they stay in our system for a while.

I did get withdrawal symptoms, but since I already was in a different state of mind because of less anxiety in my life and I was more outgoing, I was able to work past the numb arm, or the face tingling or chest pressure, I worked through it enough that a few days lasted for a few weeks and here I am, down to taking maybe one pill or two a week.

I hope to be off of them soon.

[endo1]

Well i have nothing to add to this thread except for a huge congratulations to those of you successfully tapered off benzos, especially those of you on them for years. Ive been through the discomfort of benzo withdrawal and tapering after just a few months of responsible self medicating, so i can imagine the perseverence and willpower it must have taken to wean off after years of use. Seriously, congratulations; thats no simple task but it also shows those going through it how far mental fortitude and commitment can take you.

[HR89]

5HTP definitely helps with your serotonin. I learned that in college when ecstasy was all the rage.

were not working on serotonin, perhaps GABA would help..https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GABA
not saying 5htp wont help! turns into melatonin aswell so can help with sleep and depression.

A lot of people I know and have spoken to found that using 5HTP helped them to come off both benzos and PK's, you can take them while you taper off I believe and they definitely do have a positive effect at least on me....

good advice

[grayh]

I bought some 5HTP but didn't seem to make a huge difference in sleep or anxiety. I know they've reportedly work for MDMA veterans, but I was taking them as per directed on the bottle but didn't notice any difference... I guess that's the problem with supplements and melatonin, their effects are subtle to the point of being mistaken for placebo.

Interestingly chamomile is supposed to potentiate the effects of benzos.
Having used them short term, they seem to work so friggen well! Seeing that people have reported that benzo withdrawal is the single worst drug to withdraw off I wonder what the problem is? Do they just stop working and people are tired of being on them? Or do the cognitive impairment become more unbearable as tolerance increases and the dose is upped?

Seeing that the Ashton Method seems to be a very good if not foolproof way to taper, why do I read many posts of people desperately wanting to stop? Or am I deluding myself, is regular benzo use that bad?

[sophie30]

@grayh, it is that bad. They stop having the desired calming effect and then you're faced with the choice of stepping up your doseage or going back to the anxiety that caused you to use them in the first place. It is EXTREMELY difficult to maintain a steady dose longterm if you're taking them regularly. The reason (for me) that the w/ds are the worst is the longevity. If you start getting anxious again maintaining your dose, imagine stepping down even a little. And you can't just go CT as with other drugs because you just might die, so you spend months going through minor withdrawal and anxiety. Not a fun way to live, especially for a person with GAD.

[londonboy]

i used to take the bemzo equivalent of about 200mg of valium a day and now i take ten. i would personaly be happy going between ten and 30 depending on how bad im feeling but my doctor would unfortunaly disagree.

[lukedeg1]

Your feelings and situation pretty much echo mine. I don't mind taking a pill everyday but when I don't have them its miserable. That's the only real reason I would want to stop taking them.... the big pharma game has us all right where they want us.

[lucyinthesky]

I don't want to stop taking them because I want to be relaxed during the day. The only bad thing for me is the money issue. Other than that I see nothing wrong with taking a anti-anxiety med to make yourself feel better. Not to over do it, just to take away the anxious feeling.

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@lukedeg1, I would feel miserable too if I stopped. Having bad anxiety is one of the worse feelings in the world. I hate it!!

[jdrive21]

I completely understand your desire to get off of a medication that has not been steadily prescribed - it's clearly dangerous and I am surprised that your docs yanked them so quickly. I think the truth is you never really know how much a medication is helping until you experience a sustained amount of time off of it. If you can wean yourself off of them safely I would encourage this type of exploration - you'll know more than you know now. Especially since you seem to have the courage and interest to see what life is like without. You may not need them - you may. . .I would suggest that if you do this you do it with a doc that you trust. If it turns out you need them you will have this experience to indicate that you DO need this pill - does that make sense?
be very safe my friends!

[Easythunder]

Anti-anxiety medicine has always been something I take only as needed. Never have I taken it on a daily basis. This last job I had, with the supervisor for hell, I took them more frequently. That was to attempt to keep my blood pressure from spiking so high it'd be dangerous. And yes I did add a small bit, a couple extra mg's of the blood pressure meds. I can always tell the spike in BP due to the inevitable headache.

There used to be a time when Budweiser was my anxiety relief. Then I became seriously tired of the hangovers. So I shut that down real quick.

I received a 60 tablet Rx on 12March2013. As of today there are 50 left. That's how sparingly I take them. So that breaks down into 10 tabs in right at 30 days.