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Quick taper success stories with more than 4 years of benzo usage?


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It's been a struggle. Even 5% cuts are making me suffer and then, thinking well, I don't want to spend years doing such little cuts and living a miserable life. Wasn't the point of the slow taper to have a good life while quiting this?

 

Given all my story from my signature, I wonder what my options are. I wonder if I should stop the pregabalin first and which policy should I adopt. But I am already suffering too much with severe OCD by holding my current diazepam dose now so Idk what to do. If you dealt with severe OCD (and you did have it before the benzos), your thoughts will be very interesting.

 

Is there any way to quick detox from diazepam and pregabalin without suffering, even if expensive, even if in a very specific clinic?

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Is there any way to quick detox from diazepam and pregabalin without suffering, even if expensive, even if in a very specific clinic?

 

No.  A detox can get you safely off the drugs and they can provide adjunct medications to hopefully help lessen the symptoms but if you’re prone to benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome as you clearly are, it will still hurt.

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In my experience, I believe the answer is unfortunately no. I went to a place called The Retreat in PA to detox from 29 years of 15-40mgs of valium which was a tall order. I was taken off of valium cold turkey and was given phenobarbital for two weeks to prevent me from having seizures. That was the hardest thing I've done in my life. I was extremely uncomfortable for my entire time there, feeling many severe withdrawal symptoms. Then I went to another facility a month later. I did much better during my two month stay there. I learned that 30 days is nowhere near enough time to get off a long term valium addiction.

 

I was at a crisis point. I tried tapering and I just didn't have the strength to do it. I kept going back up. I agreed to go cold turkey under medical supervision because it was the right choice for me.I've been off of valium for over 10 months now. I still have PAWS, but I definitely see myself getting better. I'm glad I went the route I did. It feels good to say "I'm off of valium", but either way, tapering or cold turkey, it will be extremely worth it just to have the valium out of your system so you can begin healing.

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Is there any way to quick detox from diazepam and pregabalin without suffering, even if expensive, even if in a very specific clinic?

 

No.  A detox can get you safely off the drugs and they can provide adjunct medications to hopefully help lessen the symptoms but if you’re prone to benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome as you clearly are, it will still hurt.

 

At least, suffering being benzo and pregabalin free would make me more hopeful about healing in the next years. Do you think this would cost me more years of healing? I wish no one experience benzo withdrawal symptoms... what have I done? What do you think is the optimal/most ideal route, considering all this world has to offer in terms of treatment and solutions?

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In my experience, I believe the answer is unfortunately no. I went to a place called The Retreat in PA to detox from 29 years of 15-40mgs of valium which was a tall order. I was taken off of valium cold turkey and was given phenobarbital for two weeks to prevent me from having seizures. That was the hardest thing I've done in my life. I was extremely uncomfortable for my entire time there, feeling many severe withdrawal symptoms. Then I went to another facility a month later. I did much better during my two month stay there. I learned that 30 days is nowhere near enough time to get off a long term valium addiction.

 

I was at a crisis point. I tried tapering and I just didn't have the strength to do it. I kept going back up. I agreed to go cold turkey under medical supervision because it was the right choice for me.I've been off of valium for over 10 months now. I still have PAWS, but I definitely see myself getting better. I'm glad I went the route I did. It feels good to say "I'm off of valium", but either way, tapering or cold turkey, it will be extremely worth it just to have the valium out of your system so you can begin healing.

 

I am not in your skin and I don't know the severity of your symptoms and the current quality of life you have, but I see your story somewhat as a success story as you bootstrapped the tapering from high doses and you are now healing.

 

I think there are no centers like this where I live. Which one do you recommended?

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Thank you for the kind words. I am definitely getting better. It's been a long and difficult road but I'm getting more hopeful as the days pass. When I look back at how I got off valium it does upset me a bit. I feel like I didn't have as much information as I should have. This site for instance. I really wish just one of the therapists or psychiatrists I've seen told me about it. Benzobuddies has been an amazing resource for me.

 

Okay, back to you. There are several good facilities out there, but traveling to them (and finding ones that are covered in part by your insurance) can be daunting. I live in New Jersey in the US. I was fortunate to find a place that was three hours away in Pennsylvania (The Retreat), and another one in PA but only one hour away (Water Gap Wellness). I did not like The Retreat at all, but they got me off of valium to which I'm eternally grateful and for that alone I recommend it for others. I was there for a month. Then I went to Water Gap Wellness which was fantastic. I was there for almost two months directly after leaving The Retreat. Not only did I see my condition improve, but I genuinely had a great time there. I learned a lot, they took care of me, and I met some amazing people who I still keep in touch with.

 

Both facilities had many clients from all over the country. I obviously don't know your financial or insurance situations, but if you have insurance you should contact them to find out what options are available to you. I know it's difficult to have an insurance company dictate your treatment, but if you use them as a resource for finding treatment centers they can be extremely helpful.

 

There are many more options than there used to be. Hopefully you can find a place (or places) that fits the bill for you. I hope that helps.

 

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I doubt my insurance will cover them as I would need to travel overseas. I am from Brazil.

 

Are those clinics that expensive if you stay there without insurance?

 

Thank you for the informations!

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Prices:

 

The Retreat billed my insurance $54,000 for 28 days.

Water Gap Wellness billed my insurance for about $3,300 a day. I don’t know what the grand total was and I don’t think I want to.

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Considering the currency and the travel costs, I could buy a modest appartment here. Oh well. Thank you for sharing the costs by the way. Maybe later I will check if there is a clinic like this here.
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