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Rapid Detox - 13 days out - HELP!


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Hello fellow BB..

 

I have a question for those of you who were also medically detoxed or "rapidly"..

 

I was told this was the best and easiest way off benzos, and that it was safe.

 

I was on my 3rd week of a taper. 3MG  Ativan - Diazepam. (As per Ashton TS)

 

With that being said. I went in the detox on Feb 3rd, (taking 0.5mgA/5mgD in morning/noon/night. (Stage 3 TS) They (detox med staff) immediately dropped me off Ativan and down to 22mg of D. Every day I was there they dropped me 2.5mg. I was not prepared for this, in fact I went in with my taper schedule and both scrips thinking they would only reduce my dose NOT fully take me off... I was then convinced by 2 doctors and nurses that it was "safe".

 

They put me on Lyrica, 75mg/3x/day.

 

By day 10 I had taken my last 2.5mg dose.

 

It has now been 13 days, as mentioned and I am no longer "feeling okay". I am feeling all my horrible symptoms again (cloudy mind/dizzy/can't focus or concentrate/can't do much really - the list goes on...

 

I am now worried that I am going to face severe damage due to the shock to my brain... Is it too late to resume my taper at 30MG diazepam (no ativan) and get off this way, to allow my GABA rcptrs to function/damage to heal? Tomorrow will be 2 weeks since my last dose. Am I already beyond the poiint of no return? I do NOT want to do this nor do I miss or WANT to take any benzos but I'm scared that I'm going to have horrible PWS!

 

I have been completely debilitated for over a year and a half now due to tolerance withdrawls.. I've been on Xanax/Ativan for about 7-8 years total. Highest dose being 8mg/day. Prescribed, never abused. But very consistent use..

 

Can anyone please help me? If I am going to ask for emergency supply of diazepam tomorrow and resume my taper, will this reverse any damage done to my brain at all in the last 2 weeks? I'm told that benzos store in your fat/organs/bones and takes about 30 days to fully exit the body, so could this be a saviour for me?

 

Is the damage done? Am I at a higher risk of PWS because of the shock to my brain? And yes again will it help to resume my taper or am I screwed? :(

 

Sorry if I am being repetitive... I'm just very distressed and have no one to ask these questions - my own doctor knows nothing about this as he has been wrongfully prescribing me them for years. Ignorance..

 

 

Thanks in advance if anyone can suggest anything/advise me at all.. I thank you so greatly for your time! Regards.. <3

 

 

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Hi WMLB25

 

Sorry that this happened to you. Let me reassure you that you have not done permanent damage, but the way you were taken off benzos is not the way to go unless there is no other option.

 

You were on high doses for a long time, and based on that fact alone a proper taper would have been in your best interest.

 

There are people who do reinstate after a c/t. You are within that time frame now.

 

Sorry but I can't figure out from your signature what Valium dose you were on before the detox. What were you taking daily before detox? You signature says 6 to 8mg and then changed to 3mg?

 

Also usually when one crosses over from Xanax or Ativan it's not a direct cross over it's a gradual one. It takes time for Valium to build up in your bloodstream b/c of the long half life.

 

I hope you can find the support of a doctor to reinstate you IF that's what you want to do and taper from there after you stabilize.

 

I know this is scary for you but it sounds like you are well informed. Hopefully others will reply to your post as well.

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I was in the same jam your in. Went to detox center...pulled off high dose of benzos...put on anti seizure drugs...lyrica included. Got sick....reinstated benzos....got sicker...came off reinstatment...ect ect. Read my sig line. The reinstatement is a crap shoot. But I understand why you want to try it...same reason I did. I was desperate as hell for the  horrible symptoms to stop from detox. It works for some...and not for others. The shit part about it is once you reinstate...you have to come off whatever amount you load your body up with. So if it works great. Taper slow and wean yourself down. If it doesnt work and you get sicker.... you still have to taper off the 30mgs or whatever dose you do while your in worse shape. Not fun. Tapering off a failed reinstatement is no joke.  Im not saying any of this to scare you....im just explaining what can possibly happen from experience. When your in acute withdrawl and your not thinking clearly its hard to make a sound decision. I remember that part clearly...I made some bad ones. Whatever you decide to do your going to be ok. Even if its the wrong choice...your gonna get thru this and live a happy life again. Be careful of what advise you get online while your going thru this. Some of it may lead you down the wrong path and you dont need that right now. Just believe in yourself and remind yourself your gonna get thru this. Be safe and take care.
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Be careful of what advise you get online while your going thru this. Some of it may lead you down the wrong path and you dont need that right now. Just believe in yourself and remind yourself your gonna get thru this. Be safe and take care.

 

If you don't mind me asking KRock what advice are you referring to that might lead her down the wrong path?

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Be careful of what advise you get online while your going thru this. Some of it may lead you down the wrong path and you dont need that right now. Just believe in yourself and remind yourself your gonna get thru this. Be safe and take care.

 

What advice are you referring to that might lead her down the wrong path?

 

I wasnt referring to anything you were saying...sorry if it came off that way. I should of been more specific and referred to members that think their doctors and give out medical advice. Nothing of which you did. Enjoy your evening.

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[cf...]

Be careful of what advise you get online while your going thru this. Some of it may lead you down the wrong path and you dont need that right now. Just believe in yourself and remind yourself your gonna get thru this. Be safe and take care.

 

What advice are you referring to that might lead her down the wrong path?

 

I wasn't referring to anything you were saying...sorry if it came off that way. I should of been more specific and referred to members that think their doctors and give out medical advice. Nothing of which you did. Enjoy your evening.

 

No it's ok.  :) I just wondered what you were referring to is all. So thanks for clarifying. The same thing happened to me that happened to you so believe me I know where you are coming from. Thanks for your reply.

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Thank you both SO much for responding. I highly respect and appreciate your stories and kindly your time to help me out in such a desparate time :(

 

I do apologize for the confusion about doses between my post and Siggy. I shouldn't have edited while feeling so cloudy :/ I will add more info now to hopefully clarify more of my situation now..

 

I forgot to insert that I was switched from Xanax to Ativan last November. About 6mg X/day at that time. I was having no major symptoms except for some fogginess and increased anxiety. I asked my doctor to put me on a less potent but same class drug being totally nieve to all of this - in fact no idea still that benzos are life ruiners. Okay. Soo I went from that to 3mg sublingual Ativan, clearly this ignorant drop was not working for me as I was having major panic attacks - within a couple weeks was put on 6mg/A/day. This too, within weeks became not enough. I then for a couple months was bound to the bottle, had to take 1mg every 4-5 hours to keep the INSANE tolerance w/d at bay. And I mean HORRENDOUS. I became more and more unstable very quickly and eventually picked up on the patterns, and realized "hey, my life is NOT horrible, I do NOT have major anxiety - something is wrong here - this pill seems to take away my symptoms but maybe it is causing it as well..."

 

Again, having never been told about the possible side fx/adverse effects of benzos - this was the first time I actually thought to look into it. I found a few video stories on youtube and some articles with adverse effects/symptoms and almost passed out in disbelief..... For the previous year+ I was convinced I had about 20 health conditions - it became clear to me exactly why all my scans/xrays/bloodwork/holter heart monitor results were all normal.. And i knew my occasional vertigo spells (which I've had my entire life basically) and my TMJ could not be causing these insane symptoms.. Soo..

 

I immediately decrease my doses figuring it would help in a few days - again being nieve still to a lot of what I know NOW... fortunately it did help. this is where the 3-4mg/A/day comes in. Just for a short period of time.. Okay so I make a doctors appt. I had found the Ashton manual (thank god!)! Printed and brought with me the TS for the use of 3mg/A/day based on the fact that for just a very short while I had been taking 3-4, may as well round down and not up seeing as it would make it worse (or so i thought) and take more time to taper... 

 

I start my taper according to the A.M.. And now that I think of it I can't remember 100% and do not have the TS at hand but i do think the total V equivalent then was -  30mg.. This was mid switchover from A-V I believe.. I was in the 2nd last day if week (stage) 3 - and figure that since I would recently have been brought fully onto V that because i've had NOTHING for 13 days that I could skip the ativan fully and go with 10mgV 3x/day, stabilize and resume my taper....

 

I am so sorry for rambling and possibly repeating myself, my brain is so cloudy right now it is ridiculous... But yeah... So.. I really was hoping to find that maybe it was NOT too late to resume :(  there is nothing preventing me from tapering, I could get back on tomorrow with a fax to my doctor... Again I hate these pills as much as the next person... But i have the option of tapering, nothing aside from me believing in idiotic words from medical staff at the detox that it was a great idea - safe and won't cause any damage as these were my concerns. . I take my part in responsibilityfor agreeing to it in my fragile state- of course.. But again this was not my only option... I feel that the taper would be much safer than risking a likely 2% odd of "getting lucky" on a c/t....

 

Does months out on a c/t compare in effectiveness to 2 weeks, I wonder? Or as mentioned there is a "frame" of hope for me? :/ Is V only going to be the right decision, you figure - to resume my taper or should I go back to where I left off WITH the ativan....? Any input GREATLY forever appreciated!!

 

If the 2 weeks is in fact still not too far gone, will I have less odds of PWS/years of symptoms? I am making myself believe that this is true. I am trying to remain optimistic of course...

 

Is there any more posts around or literature in the web with some validation to this at all? That anyone knows of... Again I know I want to do it - but am scared and confused and have about 12 hours to make a decision..... :S 

 

If I missed/failed to address any of your points I apologize I did read thoroughly, just unable to backtrack to check atm as I am on my cellphone..

 

 

Again, I cannot thank you enough for your time - hell I would pay per word here as this is how much it means to me and how desperate I am right now!

 

Endless thanks and appreciation, all!! <3

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I was taken off using Phenobarbital for 5 days and then Depakote which I'm still on. This was 6 months ago. The first 2 months were torture for me. I barely slept for the whole 2 months! I tapered from 30 mg of Valium down to 4 mg over 3 years, then I jumped. I'm still not well. I'm not as bad but still pretty sick sometimes.

 

If it's only been 2 weeks you might be lucky enough to reinstate and have it work. Just remember that Valium takes a while to build back up in your system like 2 to 4 weeks. You were on a high dose and it's a tough call. Good luck whatever you try.

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[cf...]

 

Does months out on a c/t compare in effectiveness to 2 weeks, I wonder? Or as mentioned there is a "frame" of hope for me? :/ Is V only going to be the right decision, you figure - to resume my taper or should I go back to where I left off WITH the ativan....? Any input GREATLY forever appreciated!!

 

Hi again, and you are welcome. No need to worry about repetition etc. We understand the confusion.

 

IF you are going to reinstate and taper, the sooner you get back on the better. However as others have said there is no guarantee it will work. It's a personal decision. I was reinstated at 2 months out. It did not work and had to go c/t again. There are too many variables in patient history, meds history, genetics to say anything absolute about benzos.

 

There is a section in the Ashton Manual about reinstating. There is also a Supplement to the Ashton Manual regarding this. Here is the link. It's about half way down the page.

 

http://www.benzo.org.uk/ashsupp11.htm   

 

B/C of the short half life of Ativan and IF you think you can go back to just Valium you are far better off in my opinion leaving out the Ativan and sticking to the benzo with the longer half life.

 

If the 2 weeks is in fact still not too far gone, will I have less odds of PWS/years of symptoms? I am making myself believe that this is true. I am trying to remain optimistic of course...  You have to remain optimistic and not live too far into the future. Everyones journey is unique and patience and time are the healers.

 

Is there any more posts around or literature in the web with some validation to this at all? That anyone knows of... Again I know I want to do it - but am scared and confused and have about 12 hours to make a decision..... :S    No there are no guarantees that reinstating will work, and no proof that it won't work. As mentioned there are too many variables.

 

Endless thanks and appreciation, all!! <3

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