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Is it this easy to have withdrawal relapse? I never thought I’d be back here.


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So I’m gonna make an incredibly long story short. I have other posts from years ago if you’re interested in more of my history.

 

I was on a plethora of drugs (mostly benzos) for something like nine years. I got off, attempted suicide a few times, couldn’t deal with the withdrawals. I bounced from rehab (although I’m not an addict) to hospital to neurologist to psych ward. I couldn’t handle it. As a last ditch effort I tried NAD+ and it worked for me, I was 100% withdrawal free. I still had a bunch of issues to work through but long story short, I now live in Japan living the life I always wanted on the other side of the world and met the woman of my dreams. It’s been years since I’ve had even a hint of withdrawal symptoms and I’ve managed to get off every prescription I was on. I still have trouble sleeping and the occasional anxiety but nothing I can’t handle with the tools I’ve built up.

 

I went in for a bit of a stomach procedure here in Japan and I asked that they not use benzodiazepines when putting sedating me. I thought I got the message across but it was three days ago and I am having withdrawal symptoms again. I checked and they used 0.6mg of Xanax. I cannot f***ing believe that I could possibly have this bad of symptoms from one dose years after cessation and recovery. Is this really possible? Has anyone heard of anything this ridiculous? I’ve never slipped up, I’ve done so much work, I’ve escaped the years of wanting to kill myself all for one f***ing pill one time because of a cross-language communication error on the other side of the world?

 

If it were just one day of a nasty hangover that’d be one thing, but I’m having disassociation, high blood pressure, dizziness, nerve pain, palpitations, the whole nine. Am I really in for this all again just when I’ve taken the last 13 years of my life to get off everything and get to the place I wanted to be in life?

 

I’m sorry for the rant I’m just…. I just can’t do it again. I know that I can’t. There’s also no place on this side of the world for NAD and I can’t just drop everything and fly across the ocean for a treatment… I have responsibilities here.

 

I don’t know what to do or how to feel or what to expect…

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I quit benzos 10 years ago, always had a bottle left over though for plane flights. I have noticed that when i take just .5 Xanax for a plane flight (even though i hadnt had one in months) if i take one or two there and then a week later back home, i will actually go through a little mini withdrawl that lasts for about a day or two. I get insomnia, anxiety, rage....everything you get while tapering but it only lasts about 2 days. Its enough to scare me and make me realize how strong these drugs really are. So im not surpised that you might have had a reaction. It should go away though in a day or so, or at least 4 days once its out of your system. My plan for future once im off all this shit again is if i have to fly, do what everyone else does....just have a drink on the plane.
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Thanks for all your responses. The insomnia was pretty awful last night but I can already notice day four that some of the other stuff is subsiding a bit. I really appreciate it.
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I’ve concluded that our systems are rigged for trouble now when any Benzo or even alcohol is involved. I have the same issue you have where I go right back to square one if I take anything of that nature. Luckily though like others said it doesn’t last nearly as long as a taper.
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Thanks for all the support and replies, you guys being here and sharing your experiences gives me a lot of comfort.

 

So I'm actually doing a lot better save for one (pretty severe) thing...

 

So as I'm falling asleep I've been getting these insane shocks one to four times per night. I start to drift off, then I hear this really loud sound like if a dropped a marble on a metal slate, then a shocking feeling all over my body for an instant, then afterwards it kinda feels like shellshock. When I do finally fall asleep, it's generally horrific nightmares and I wake up about half the days with what I would figure would be considered minor sleep paralysis?

 

All in all it's pretty horrific, but much lessened by the fact that the only waking symptom is lethargy and headaches. All the dissasociation and vision problems subsided, which is a grace in and of itself. Unfortunately though I made another incredibly glaring error...

 

I just came to find out that the sleep aid they gave me is 10mg Zolpidem. I asked for melatonin (it is not OTC here) and they said that could have too many drawbacks, then I asked for antihistimines (also not OTC here) and I thought that they OK'd it, but I guess what I've been receiving is Ambien. I take half of one most nights for the past few weeks, occassionally a whole one. I didn't take it tonight and the above symptoms were seemingly tripled.

 

Is there anything to suggest that me taking ambien for a few weeks could cause a overlapping relapse in withdrawal symptoms with my previous benzo withdrawal?

 

This part is not relevant to the rest of the information, but man, as much as I hated the American health care and psychiatric systems, this one is also incredibly frustrating. Cheap? Yes. Conveneint? Incredibly. The ideology behind giving medications? Probably somehow worse than America (excluding opiods).

 

I am once again awake at 4am not having slept yet due to the night terrors and (I don't want to call them seizures because I don't know what they actually are) whatever the other thing I'm experiencing is.

 

Any advice or personal experience is welcome. I've steeled myself as much as I can now that I am not dealing with the dissasociation and other stuff during the day, but I need to find a way out of this as soon as possible. I no longer have room for this in my life while I'm living abroad. If I miss too many things, immigration will get involved and I'll quite literally lose everything I've worked for these past years in the blink of an eye. The stress is a bit much for me to comprehend right now and I would love to hear your opinions on this.

 

I don't know if this information is relevant for you, but I thought I would include that until this point I am able to have alcohol in moderation without it affecting my previous withdrawal symptoms in the slightest. I have stopped alcohol completely since the symptoms started and will not partake again until all of the symptoms have gone completely again.

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Thanks for all the support and replies, you guys being here and sharing your experiences gives me a lot of comfort.

 

So I'm actually doing a lot better save for one (pretty severe) thing...

 

So as I'm falling asleep I've been getting these insane shocks one to four times per night. I start to drift off, then I hear this really loud sound like if a dropped a marble on a metal slate, then a shocking feeling all over my body for an instant, then afterwards it kinda feels like shellshock. When I do finally fall asleep, it's generally horrific nightmares and I wake up about half the days with what I would figure would be considered minor sleep paralysis?

 

All in all it's pretty horrific, but much lessened by the fact that the only waking symptom is lethargy and headaches. All the dissasociation and vision problems subsided, which is a grace in and of itself. Unfortunately though I made another incredibly glaring error...

 

I just came to find out that the sleep aid they gave me is 10mg Zolpidem. I asked for melatonin (it is not OTC here) and they said that could have too many drawbacks, then I asked for antihistimines (also not OTC here) and I thought that they OK'd it, but I guess what I've been receiving is Ambien. I take half of one most nights for the past few weeks, occassionally a whole one. I didn't take it tonight and the above symptoms were seemingly tripled.

 

Is there anything to suggest that me taking ambien for a few weeks could cause a overlapping relapse in withdrawal symptoms with my previous benzo withdrawal?

 

This part is not relevant to the rest of the information, but man, as much as I hated the American health care and psychiatric systems, this one is also incredibly frustrating. Cheap? Yes. Conveneint? Incredibly. The ideology behind giving medications? Probably somehow worse than America (excluding opiods).

 

I am once again awake at 4am not having slept yet due to the night terrors and (I don't want to call them seizures because I don't know what they actually are) whatever the other thing I'm experiencing is.

 

Any advice or personal experience is welcome. I've steeled myself as much as I can now that I am not dealing with the dissasociation and other stuff during the day, but I need to find a way out of this as soon as possible. I no longer have room for this in my life while I'm living abroad. If I miss too many things, immigration will get involved and I'll quite literally lose everything I've worked for these past years in the blink of an eye. The stress is a bit much for me to comprehend right now and I would love to hear your opinions on this.

 

I don't know if this information is relevant for you, but I thought I would include that until this point I am able to have alcohol in moderation without it affecting my previous withdrawal symptoms in the slightest. I have stopped alcohol completely since the symptoms started and will not partake again until all of the symptoms have gone completely again.

 

So sorry you are going through this.

 

I know Pamster took Ambien. And she's been a moderator for many years here. Maybe she has some info.

 

 

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How long have you been taking the Ambien?  Ambien is a z-drug and while z-drugs are technically called non-benzodiazepines they act pretty much the same.  I started taking it a few months past my cold turkey from Klonopin to help me sleep but I got dependent really quickly and it ramped up my symptoms and I believe it kept me from recovering until I stopped it.

 

My friend has never taken a benzo but he did use Ambien for several years and it turned on him and he’s had to stop drinking alcohol and he’s had miserable waves since last May.  There is also the theory of kindling which I happen to agree with.  Kindling

 

I quit Ambien cold turkey but most members will taper it, I hope you can begin a taper to rid yourself of it.

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How long have you been taking the Ambien?  Ambien is a z-drug and while z-drugs are technically called non-benzodiazepines they act pretty much the same.  I started taking it a few months past my cold turkey from Klonopin to help me sleep but I got dependent really quickly and it ramped up my symptoms and I believe it kept me from recovering until I stopped it.

 

My friend has never taken a benzo but he did use Ambien for several years and it turned on him and he’s had to stop drinking alcohol and he’s had miserable waves since last May.  There is also the theory of kindling which I happen to agree with.  Kindling

 

I quit Ambien cold turkey but most members will taper it, I hope you can begin a taper to rid yourself of it.

 

Only been taking 5mg/10mg intermittently for about five weeks but only take it about 4-5 days a week. My symptoms are all nighttime/sleep related luckily. I’ve been fully healed for years but I feel like I took leaps and bounds back. I’m mainly wondering what you think about a timeline for normalcy after cessation? I know there is no way to know, but in your experience yourself and in hearing others, is this something that sets you back years or weeks? The difference for me could very well mean I have to move back to the other side of the world and I’m dreading it.

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After I quit Ambien, I felt instantly better, the dark thoughts, the inner trembling, the anxiety was gone, I couldn’t sleep for a week or so but I didn’t care.  In my experience Ambien was comparatively easy to stop and recover from, the same hasn’t been true for many others but if you’re like me I don’t think you’ll have to move. 

 

Just to be on the safe side, I wouldn’t drink alcohol for awhile, this is what has given my friend problems.  He thought he could get away with drinking if he didn’t take the Ambien but his body has decided otherwise. 

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