Major Depressoin from Valium Taper

Thank you in advance for reading and responding. I was prescribed 1 mg of Xanax for insomnia and took this amount almost daily for around 6 months. I developed interdose WD during the sixth month and developed electrical shocks, muscle spasms, pulsating sounds in both ears, tingling, and numbness all throughout my body while taking the Xanax. It also made me incredibly anxious during the six month and I was not feeling like myself at all....it was horrifying. I had no idea what I was getting into when taking the Xanax prescribed by my primary physician. I stopped taking it for 10 days and I am now working with a local psych doc and he has placed me on 10 mg of valium and we are planning on six month taper. I definitely felt better during the first two weeks but I am now suffering from extreme profound depression and I am still having the WD symptoms that I was having during the last month of Xanax usage. The doc has indicated that valium is known to cause depression in users and we are now considering switching to Klonopin to complete the taper. I feel so foolish getting myself into this situation....I don't drink and have never been involved in any type of drug use. I know that it will take time to heal and I know that I have a journey in front of me. I have read that Ashton Manual multiple times and Dr. Ashton recommends valium but the depression that I am experiencing is simply unbearable and deblitating. Has anyone had a similar experience?

Thank you in advance for reading and responding. I was prescribed 1 mg of Xanax for insomnia and took this amount almost daily for around 6 months. I developed interdose WD during the sixth month and developed electrical shocks, muscle spasms, pulsating sounds in both ears, tingling, and numbness all throughout my body while taking the Xanax. It also made me incredibly anxious during the six month and I was not feeling like myself at all....it was horrifying. I had no idea what I was getting into when taking the Xanax prescribed by my primary physician. I stopped taking it for 10 days and I am now working with a local psych doc and he has placed me on 10 mg of valium and we are planning on six month taper. I definitely felt better during the first two weeks but I am now suffering from extreme profound depression and I am still having the WD symptoms that I was having during the last month of Xanax usage. The doc has indicated that valium is known to cause depression in users and we are now considering switching to Klonopin to complete the taper. I feel so foolish getting myself into this situation....I don't drink and have never been involved in any type of drug use. I know that it will take time to heal and I know that I have a journey in front of me. I have read that Ashton Manual multiple times and Dr. Ashton recommends valium but the depression that I am experiencing is simply unbearable and deblitating. Has anyone had a similar experience?

 

Yes. Unfortunately, this is a prevalent side effect of benzos.

 

Sadly, I got the physical + mental symptoms of benzo withdrawal. I have no other reason to be depressed other than this horrific experience of getting off of a benzo. At first, it was bone-crushing depression. Debilitating. I couldn't get out of bed for days. Now it is a little tiny bit better. I have read many stories where it goes away entirely over time.

 

The problem is that introducing an SSRI to treat the depression brought on by the benzo withdrawal can complicate the existing side effect profile and make things worse, trying to make them better. So it's a catch-22.

yes, I am tapering Valium and although it has gotten a bit better, the depression was bone crushing, indeed.

I echo what Rebecca says about adding an AD.

 

I too got the physical and mental symptoms from benzo wd, the mental symptoms are very frightening as it feel like I'm going crazy with looping thoughts of despair and worry, and fear of going places and being around people because they are going to think I'm so messed up mentally...

I agree with everyone here about the effects of benzo causing major depression.  I held out as long as I felt I could safely before very slowly and carefully trying an antidepressant.  It hasn't been easy.  It has been about 5 weeks on AD and life isn't a bowl of cherries but I can see daylight.  I slowed down my taper to get the AD established.  Unknown if it will cause bigger problems after the benzo taper is over.  One bridge at a time.  I really hope you feel better soon. 

thanks, and I completely support your decision to start an AD.  Stay safe.

Thank you so much for the replies. My taper doc is suggesting switching to Klonopin to complete the taper. He also indicated that depression on valium tapers is very common and I never had depression or anxiety before taking Xanax. He actually suggested beginning the taper with Klonopin but I wanted to follow the Dr. Ashton's advice perfectly and she suggests valium. I am about 30 days into the taper....the first two weeks I felt pretty good but the last two weeks have been insidious in terms of mental health. I know that I cannot just quit and cold turkey and ride it out....so I am going to have to continue forward with the valium or klonopin. Do any of you know anyone that switched to klonopin successfully to complete their taper? I am too scared to start an AD as I feel like I have already done enough damage to my brain and central nervous system.

If you switch to another benzo now, aren't you risking more exposure to additional potential unwanted side effects? Wouldn't it make more sense to stay on what you are already taking?

 

Also, a question for the group: Why do doctors want to switch someone to Klonopin, the most potent benzo of all benzos, for a taper? Does that even make sense?

 

I shrug my shoulders at these doctors....

Thank you for the reply Rebecca. I don't know about risking more exposure if I switch to Klonopin but I would love to hear everyone's opinion. All I know is that I am living through debilitating depression right now and it is absolutely brutal. It is as if my brain is unable to process and feel any type of joy. I am getting zero 'relief' from the valium taper. I have no plans to stop taking it but it makes me wonder if I would be better off by discontinuing and letting my brain and body heal on it's own.

Well...  I think they switch from shorter acting benzos (xanax) to klonopin or valium to reduce interdose withdrawal symptoms.  Sometimes some people switch from klonopin to valium.  You may be better off staying on valium because as you get lower in your dosage it is easier to make smaller dosages with valium than with klonopin.    I'm not very low yet but I'm not looking forward to making very small dosages of clonazepam.  I have had major depression on clonazepam so I'm not sure switching will solve the problem of depression. 

Thank you for the reply StingRae. Did you have depression before taking klonopin? I would like to ask the group a general question. I have no doubt that I was having a parodoxical reaction to Xanax and I believe that I am having the same with Valium. I do not feel that I am receiving any type of 'benefit' or 'relief' from this taper as I generally feel much worse now than I felt within the time period gap between when I stopped taking the Xanax and began taking the valium....around 2 weeks.  I have had withdrawal symptoms consistently with each of the drugs. In this type of scenario, do people consider simply stopping taking benzos completely? I have often wondered what I would feel like if I had not initiated the valium taper.  I had zero depression prior to beginning the taper. I realize that the general consensus view is that tapering is mandatory for ensure healing. Does the brain and body generally begin to heal during the taper or after the taper? There must be millions of people in the U.S. going through this right now and tens of millions on the planet going through this right now. My taper doc indicated that he thinks that are 50 million physically addicted to benzos (to include Ambien) in the U.S. right now. I am surprised that this epidemic is not discussed more within the mainstream media space.

Thank you for the reply StingRae. Did you have depression before taking klonopin? I would like to ask the group a general question. I have no doubt that I was having a parodoxical reaction to Xanax and I believe that I am having the same with Valium. I do not feel that I am receiving any type of 'benefit' or 'relief' from this taper as I generally feel much worse now than I felt within the time period gap between when I stopped taking the Xanax and began taking the valium....around 2 weeks.  I have had withdrawal symptoms consistently with each of the drugs. In this type of scenario, do people consider simply stopping taking benzos completely? I have often wondered what I would feel like if I had not initiated the valium taper.  I had zero depression prior to beginning the taper. I realize that the general consensus view is that tapering is mandatory for ensure healing. Does the brain and body generally begin to heal during the taper or after the taper? There must be millions of people in the U.S. going through this right now and tens of millions on the planet going through this right now. My taper doc indicated that he thinks that are 50 million physically addicted to benzos (to include Ambien) in the U.S. right now. I am surprised that this epidemic is not discussed more within the mainstream media space.

 

Have you seen "This Is Life with Lisa Ling: The Benzos Crisis" on CNN/Amazon Prime or "Take Your Pills: Xanax" on Netflix?

 

You are correct about the need for mainstream conversation. I have a lot to say about this.

 

In my humble opinion, doctors should be legally required to give informed consent to patients. This consent should explicitly spell out the potential side effects of these medications to avoid this nightmare, so many of us have been going through. Doctors must thoroughly understand deprescribing. That could potentially solve some of the epidemic we will witness with these medications in the near future. Post-pandemic, the epidemic has already begun.

 

Teens and pre-teens are prescribed benzos. I read stories on this forum of parents whose kids are in their early 20s dealing with PAWS. I know one parent whose 19/20-year-old son had a seizure and then went into psychosis because he didn't know he couldn't stop taking his Xanax cold turkey. How do doctors fail to mention these risks to patients? I recently met the owner of a large mental health center, and that entire center does not prescribe benzos to any patient because of potential risks. People who go there are lucky they will be put on a path to resolve their anxiety rather than put a band-aid on it.

 

Some people may need benzos in case of an emergency, surgery, major panic disorder, etc. I put those patients in a different category of use for these medications. There are still the same risks for them. 

 

Because of this website, I have read about people being put on benzos for ridiculous reasons. And the benzo often makes the original treatment reason worse after the fact.

 

Stopping a benzo cold turkey is risky. As I said, it can cost a person their life. I understand depression from benzos. I have it myself, and it has been bone-crushing, but I know it will pass, and I would rather live with that than an alternative. But every person has to make this decision for themselves.

To answer your question, yes I have had depression at different times during my life, but the depression during withdrawal seems very different to me.  It "feels" very much chemically induced, not particularly responsive to typical self care measures.  I can't prove it and don't know if there is anything written about it being different this is just my personal observation about it.  You also asked about tapering - my strategy after reading a lot on BB is to taper slowly in order to allow healing to take place while reducing in hopes that sufficient healing has taken place to be able to walk off the drug with as little effect as possible. 

Thank you all for the responses. I know that everyone is different but from what I have read it seems as if most everyone recovers from this with time.. My Xanax use was less than a year and I never took more than 1 mg at night for sleep. I developed extremely anxiety, insomnia, whole body tremors when laying down, head shaking when laying down,  and internal vibratons during my last month of xanax use. Now I have added brutal depression and I am sleeping 4 hours tops a night. I wake up at 3 am every day with my heart racing at around 110-120 and the worst feeling of anxiety and then depression that you can imagine. I was a very healthy and happy individual before this...I simply developed sleeping problems during Covid and I foolishly took Xanax from my primary doctor to remedy. I have read that many others on this site have experienced symptoms like this and recovered....this gives me hope that I can recover as well.

 

Group question-Has everyone generally recovered at least somewhat?

3am seems to be a popular time!  I can say I am much more comfortable being slightly uncomfortable than I was when I first started this.  I didn't know it needed to be tapered and that was a shocker.  I've made some mistakes in the amount I've cut and learned.  A couple times.  The further I am getting the more confident yet respectful I am becoming with letting the process take its course.    I had a shock of a different kind last week.  I woke up at 7am and it was so strange!  Then I just smiled to myself.  (And it hasn't happened again - yet!)