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Hard to believe but I'm a success story. Please hang in there.


[Pr...]

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I thought it would never end.  I had taken Clonazepam on and off for more than a decade, probably 2 decades.  Top that with different over the counter sleep meds nightly for more than a decade. I was experiencing cognitive issues and found am article about OTC sleep meds and dementia. I stopped on January 5, 2022 cold turkey. I had no idea I was supposed to wean off all of this stuff.  In late January 2022 I stopped the Clonazepam.  I had immediate symptoms the week after I stopped the OTC.  I went on a horrific journey almost immediately.  This was worse than my weaning experience coming off Lexapro 2 years earlier.  I try not to think of 2022 because it shook my core. I didn't think I would make it.  I had EVERY symptom including horrible OCD thoughts, a sick demented loss of hope feeling every day, chronic insomnia for many, many months and the inability to sit still. I had to work through all of this too.  I can tell you that I tried aminata muscaria liquid on a microdose level.  I don't know if it helped. I only tried it 4 times.  I made the hard decision to take 5 mg prozac (it's not even a therapeutic dose. I got 10 mg pills and cut them in half) in August and I noticed improvements.  This is where the tide slowly turned for me.  I started to feel better slowly.  I began weaning off of that several months ago and had zero withdrawals surprisingly.  I hope this helps someone. I'm not advocating for medication swaps at all. I did not want to try the prozac at all but then I read an article about 10 mg prozac and decided to try 5 mg.  It worked thanks to God. It got me over that deep depression that I felt to the bone.  I just wanted to relay what helped me. I've been wanting to post an update for some time now but wasn't ready to come back here. I was traumatized by my experience coming off benzos and OTC sleep meds.  I no longer take the 5 mg Prozac and only take .5 mg melatonin at night. I sleep well now.  I'm better now and you will be too.  Big hugs. God's got you.  Keep your chin up.
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Thanks for sharing your experience and I'm so glad to hear you have recovered! I am also happy the Prozac helped you. It's great you found something to get you through the worst.  :smitten:
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So glad you stopped in to let us know you made it!  It looks like you recovered in about the same amount of time I did, congratulations.  I’m happy to know the Prozac helped you, hey, whatever it takes to get us there.  :thumbsup:
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  • 1 month later...
I am 13 months clean after 8 years of Klonopin. Avena Sativa and passion flower liquid have helped when I have rebound anxiety which is getting less and less. I have not been able to get off Ambien as I get physically ill when I don't sleep. I have a crummy immune system and have chronic bronchitis if I repeatedly don't sleep. I hope to eventually get off that too. Thank you for sharing your story.
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@[Pr...] hi after you took Prozac and started seeing changes or improvement , did it help you get back to your normal self . Did you have emotions, laugh, feel love.? Just wondering. The last psychiatrist wants to put me on Zoloft. I took Ativan for 1 month 1/2

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41 minutes ago, [[s...] said:

@[Pr...] hi after you took Prozac and started seeing changes or improvement , did it help you get back to your normal self . Did you have emotions, laugh, feel love.? Just wondering. The last psychiatrist wants to put me on Zoloft. I took Ativan for 1 month 1/2

@[st...], quite often members who write their success stories don’t return to the forum so it’s doubtful you’re going to get replies.  You would be more likely to get responses to your questions by posting them in the Withdrawal Support forum. Success Stories are more celebrating the members achievement rather than for asking questions about our own journey.

 

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On 27/05/2023 at 17:16, [[P...] said:

I thought it would never end.  I had taken Clonazepam on and off for more than a decade, probably 2 decades.  Top that with different over the counter sleep meds nightly for more than a decade. I was experiencing cognitive issues and found am article about OTC sleep meds and dementia. I stopped on January 5, 2022 cold turkey. I had no idea I was supposed to wean off all of this stuff.  In late January 2022 I stopped the Clonazepam.  I had immediate symptoms the week after I stopped the OTC.  I went on a horrific journey almost immediately.  This was worse than my weaning experience coming off Lexapro 2 years earlier.  I try not to think of 2022 because it shook my core. I didn't think I would make it.  I had EVERY symptom including horrible OCD thoughts, a sick demented loss of hope feeling every day, chronic insomnia for many, many months and the inability to sit still. I had to work through all of this too.  I can tell you that I tried aminata muscaria liquid on a microdose level.  I don't know if it helped. I only tried it 4 times.  I made the hard decision to take 5 mg prozac (it's not even a therapeutic dose. I got 10 mg pills and cut them in half) in August and I noticed improvements.  This is where the tide slowly turned for me.  I started to feel better slowly.  I began weaning off of that several months ago and had zero withdrawals surprisingly.  I hope this helps someone. I'm not advocating for medication swaps at all. I did not want to try the prozac at all but then I read an article about 10 mg prozac and decided to try 5 mg.  It worked thanks to God. It got me over that deep depression that I felt to the bone.  I just wanted to relay what helped me. I've been wanting to post an update for some time now but wasn't ready to come back here. I was traumatized by my experience coming off benzos and OTC sleep meds.  I no longer take the 5 mg Prozac and only take .5 mg melatonin at night. I sleep well now.  I'm better now and you will be too.  Big hugs. God's got you.  Keep your chin up.

Thanks for sharing this. I am having a similar experience with Lexapro right now. It is making getting off the valium so much easier. It took the Lexapro about 6 weeks to take full effect but it is now helping me tremendously. After I get off the valium, I will stay on the lexapro for a little while and then I will slowly start to taper the Lexapro. SSRIs will usually make you feel worse at the start but I stuck with it. After about 2 weeks, all the bad side effects went away. At about a month, I started feeling the therapeutic effects.....less anxiety and better sleep. I now feel more optimistic than ever in finally getting off the benzos forever. Professor Ashton even said this>>>>>

Quote

Antidepressants. Antidepressants are the most important adjuvant drugs to consider in withdrawal. 

Quote

It is usually possible to continue with slow benzodiazepine tapering while starting on an antidepressant, although some may prefer to halt their programme for 2-3 weeks until the antidepressant has "taken hold" (but increasing the benzodiazepine dose should be strenuously avoided). Antidepressants not only alleviate depression but also, after 2-3 weeks, have anti-anxiety effects. They are in fact a better long-term treatment than benzodiazepines for anxiety, panic and phobic disorders, and may in some cases actively help the benzodiazepine withdrawal process.

 

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  • 2 months later...
On 27/05/2023 at 17:16, [[P...] said:

I thought it would never end.  I had taken Clonazepam on and off for more than a decade, probably 2 decades.  Top that with different over the counter sleep meds nightly for more than a decade. I was experiencing cognitive issues and found am article about OTC sleep meds and dementia. I stopped on January 5, 2022 cold turkey. I had no idea I was supposed to wean off all of this stuff.  In late January 2022 I stopped the Clonazepam.  I had immediate symptoms the week after I stopped the OTC.  I went on a horrific journey almost immediately.  This was worse than my weaning experience coming off Lexapro 2 years earlier.  I try not to think of 2022 because it shook my core. I didn't think I would make it.  I had EVERY symptom including horrible OCD thoughts, a sick demented loss of hope feeling every day, chronic insomnia for many, many months and the inability to sit still. I had to work through all of this too.  I can tell you that I tried aminata muscaria liquid on a microdose level.  I don't know if it helped. I only tried it 4 times.  I made the hard decision to take 5 mg prozac (it's not even a therapeutic dose. I got 10 mg pills and cut them in half) in August and I noticed improvements.  This is where the tide slowly turned for me.  I started to feel better slowly.  I began weaning off of that several months ago and had zero withdrawals surprisingly.  I hope this helps someone. I'm not advocating for medication swaps at all. I did not want to try the prozac at all but then I read an article about 10 mg prozac and decided to try 5 mg.  It worked thanks to God. It got me over that deep depression that I felt to the bone.  I just wanted to relay what helped me. I've been wanting to post an update for some time now but wasn't ready to come back here. I was traumatized by my experience coming off benzos and OTC sleep meds.  I no longer take the 5 mg Prozac and only take .5 mg melatonin at night. I sleep well now.  I'm better now and you will be too.  Big hugs. God's got you.  Keep your chin up.

So glad you shared this success story, @[Pr...]! please pray for the rest of our journeys. just starting out. Im afraid of CT, so I need to educate myself on tapering. I tried on and off tapering before I knew there was a method to this. it just yo-yo's the symptamology. please 🙏 for  future success with it

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