Very bizarre sexual symptoms in withdrawal. Help!

Ok first I’m sorry if this post isn’t allowed. If not please let me know and delete it. It’s a touchy topic but I don’t know where else to turn or who to talk to about it as doctors are clueless about all of this. I’ve noticed as I get lower and lower in my dose that my sex drive has gone through the roof, like far higher than even prior to benzos. Ok fine. But here’s the issue. I can’t do anything. If I do anything at all my symptoms ramp up highly for days after. To the point I’ve convinced myself I have “post orgasmic illness syndrome”. Google it if not familiar with it. I’ll get extremely dizzy, horrible anxiety and muscle pain, allergy like symptoms, more itching and burning skin and hives, nausea, blurred vision, weakness, stuffy nose. Just a ton of bad symptoms that tend to last for a few days after. I know all of these can be withdrawal symptoms also. But the cycle I’m stuck in is, the sex drive is incredibly high, but I can’t do anything about it because of that. So it’s like either way I’m miserable. Has anyone at all had anything like this caused by withdrawal?  Does it heal?  I know it all sounds crazy but I’m so so confused by it all and have no idea what to do about it.

I have no experience with this symptom myself but with everything else too everyone is different in when it heals etc. It is a symptom though. Either loss of libido or increased libido.

I’ve read members discuss this before, some have increased libido, others lose it, still others have bizarre and upsetting sexual thoughts.  I’m sorry you face such intense symptoms if you act on your needs but just like all the other symptoms, this one will go away when you recover.

This makes sense. Hormones affect different neurotransmitters like GABA, serotonin, dopamine, and glutamate. UGH. Another system affected....

I am sure it will all settle at some point. At least it's not the opposite.

Thank you all. I guess it makes sense given all of the chemicals that that affects and that withdrawal affects. It’s just such a strange thing to me. Really ready for this entire nightmare to be over and be able to move on with life 

I hear you. Amen to that. Imagine...informed consent from doctors may have prevented all of this for so many of us.

Hi Patrick

 

At the risk of beating the same old drum… I think if you slow down the taper and allow yourself time to stabilise from your speedy taper, you may find that you can orgasm without the overstimulation and subsequent symptom uptick. You appear to be quite unstable at the moment, so it only makes sense that such ‘activity’ would overstimulate your CNS and peak your symptoms. This is also in part a reply to your other thread about tapering every 1-2 weeks… 2 weeks is fine (from a stable base), but 1 week between reductions is just too fast and doesn’t allow you enough time to recover from previous reductions, so, it does make sense that reductions would be piling up.

 

Back to the sex drive issue… I, too, also experience super heightened libido, but I don’t find it an issue. In fact, I often feel that I am living ‘from’ my sexual energy… and I can see that if I wasn’t so cognitively impaired, it would be highly creative.

 

If you slow down and really give yourself that chance to stabilise, you may find your CNS less overstimulated during sexual activity.

 

Let us know if things change as you stabilise.

I hear you. Amen to that. Imagine...informed consent from doctors may have prevented all of this for so many of us.

 

Oh for sure or even just not have had a lying doctor cause I said no to addictive/habit forming stuff. If I had a drivers license I had run her over by now.

Hi Patrick

 

At the risk of beating the same old drum… I think if you slow down the taper and allow yourself time to stabilise from your speedy taper, you may find that you can orgasm without the overstimulation and subsequent symptom uptick. You appear to be quite unstable at the moment, so it only makes sense that such ‘activity’ would overstimulate your CNS and peak your symptoms. This is also in part a reply to your other thread about tapering every 1-2 weeks… 2 weeks is fine (from a stable base), but 1 week between reductions is just too fast and doesn’t allow you enough time to recover from previous reductions, so, it does make sense that reductions would be piling up.

 

Back to the sex drive issue… I, too, also experience super heightened libido, but I don’t find it an issue. In fact, I often feel that I am living ‘from’ my sexual energy… and I can see that if I wasn’t so cognitively impaired, it would be highly creative.

 

If you slow down and really give yourself that chance to stabilise, you may find your CNS less overstimulated during sexual activity.

 

Let us know if things change as you stabilise.

 

That definitely makes sense!  Thinking about it and how the nervous system is activated I get it. I just wasn’t able to fully put that together myself I guess. And thank you for the advice on slowing down. Trust me I definitely am. At this point I’m really considering my just holding for 3-4 weeks to allow myself time to stabilize and then start with smaller cuts every 2-3 weeks. I said from the start to myself when I was still at 2.5 mg that I wanted to get down under 1mg as quickly as possible and then slow down. Well, here I am. Under 1mg. And I still hadn’t slowed down. And it really has all caught up with me, like you said it’s just all piling up. I feel like just holding to stabilize at this point makes sense and then allow the remainder of my taper to just be nice and slow and less intense. It’s to a point that literally anything that activates the nervous system bothers me. Anything sexual obviously, but even laughing or crying I break out in hives and itch horribly. My nervous system definitely isn’t even close to calm or stabilize right now. So yeah all that to say I definitely will be slowing down from here!  And hoping all of those other issues resolve. I didn’t have that issue when I started the taper but it’s progressively gotten worse throughout so hopefully by slowing down it’ll stabilize as well! 

That sounds a good plan, Patrick. 

 

Hi Winter sun

                  Sorry this hasn't anything to do with previous chat you are having. I'm just needing some advice, and I see your tapering Valium.

            I'm doing this on my own, and feel I've hit a brick wall, I'm taking 3x1 mg tablet and a quarter of a 1 mg, is this 3.25? Anyway I've been holding three and a half months as I have an up and coming brain operation (Anurysm). I'm getting lots of symptoms nausea being my worst and always has been. Lost a lot of weight and don't want to loose anymore before op. Do you think I should carry on dropping? And how much?, I'm in UK and know nothing about liquid taper, and nobody to advice me. Sorry for interrupting but I don't know where else to go. Good Luck to each and everyone going through this hell.

Hi positive, you would get more replies if you make a new thread/post for this. I think continuing to hold seems reasonable especially with your surgery coming up. There is a whole board on liquid titration to help you. I have also struggled a lot with vomiting and weight loss etc.