Trying to quit temazepam...

Hi everyone.

 

I've had problems with depression and psychosomatic illness(Or at least they never found any physical reasons for my neurological problems) all my life, but for 18 years I refused to talk to a doctor about any of it. I just said "talking about it is not going to fix it", and I still believe that talking isn't my thing, but I do talk to them now. 4 Years ago, some really bad things happened to me and forced me to quit school just a year before graduating. I moved to live on my own for the first time after that. After about 6 months of subtle hints from my parents, I got a doctors appointment. He told me I had Bipolar II disorder..

 

Anyway.. I had major trouble being able to sleep, usually having to wear myself out by staying awake for 30+ hrs untill I just collapsed to sleep, and my doctors said this needs to stop and prescribed me Tenox(Temazepam[the name Tenox is not in that list on the main page, by the way]) 20mg pills, 1-2 per night "when needed". So I started taking them. 20mg worked just fine for a while, but then it started again. I stared at my roof for 4 hours after having taken one, not getting any sleep. That's when I moved up to the 2 per night, which my doctors said I can't go above even if I can't sleep with 2, because then it'd just start having a reverse effect. I don't know if that's true or not, but I've stayed at 40mg per night.

 

So, up untill 4 days ago, I had no idea that temazepam had any severe adverse effects or that it could be very addictive. I just thought, "hey it's a SLEEPING pill, what's the worst thing it can do?". Naive, yes. I checked everything I could find for all my other medication(AntiPSYCHOtics, of course I'm gonna check what the doctors had left out!), going through the lists of side-effects and harms of prolonged use. But I never even thought the sleeping pills could be the worst of them all.

 

I read through the wikipedia pages on temazepam, benzodiazepines and the withdrawal syndrome and all that. I was stunned, really. My doctors never said anything about these pills since I started, every time I run out, they give me new ones. Not a word. I called my current doctor(they change alot around here, hence the plurals earlier) and asked for an appointment. He had a time for yesterday, so I went there and told him what I had read. It seemed that he didn't actually know a whole lot about it.. I said I read that there's a type of benzo you can take that takes the edge off of the symptoms and makes it easier, but he just said there's no such thing. I couldn't remember the name then, but I meant valium. Anyway, he said that it's best to just reduce the dosage and use another drug to remove the symptoms. So now I'm taking 30mgs a night along with 25mg of Ketipinor(Quetiapine) so that I don't lose my sleep. He also said to take 25mg of Lyrica(Pregabalin) 1-3 tímes a day depending on need if I start to feel any symptoms.

 

So, here I am now. It's 3:30 AM currently, and I'm a bit afraid to go to sleep actually. I don't know if the drugs will work, I hate my roof, I've stared at it for too long. And the symptoms on wiki did not seem like something I want to be having.. Which is why yesterday after the appointment I actually took 40mg as normally, assuring myself that TODAY I will cut it to 30.. I came here because I want to know what to expect and because my doctors change all the time and this one doesn't apparently know much about the whole thing, so I'm not placing a whole lot of trust on him at the moment. There's 1 thing that really worries me, on the wikipedia site, let me quote: "It is virtually impossible to withdraw successfully if the addiction is to a short to intermediate half-life hypnotic benzodiazepine such as Temazepam (Normison), the toll on the body is too high and debilitating." .. That line has me a bit worried, along with all the "worst-case" mentions on the entire site always naming temazepam(suicide rates, abuse rates etc.)

 

I'd appreciate any kind of information and/or help..

 

Mike

Ugh, it became a bit long-winded.. Sorry for that, but thanks if you can read through it, even if you don't have anything to say. I really wanted to put it in words.. Thinking back now, some things are starting to make sense now. Like why I always start to feel bad towards the night, "interdose withdrawal phenomenon", I guess.

Hi everyone.

 

I've had problems with depression and psychosomatic illness(Or at least they never found any physical reasons for my neurological problems) all my life, but for 18 years I refused to talk to a doctor about any of it. I just said "talking about it is not going to fix it", and I still believe that talking isn't my thing, but I do talk to them now. 4 Years ago, some really bad things happened to me and forced me to quit school just a year before graduating. I moved to live on my own for the first time after that. After about 6 months of subtle hints from my parents, I got a doctors appointment. He told me I had Bipolar II disorder..

 

Anyway.. I had major trouble being able to sleep, usually having to wear myself out by staying awake for 30+ hrs untill I just collapsed to sleep, and my doctors said this needs to stop and prescribed me Tenox(Temazepam[the name Tenox is not in that list on the main page, by the way]) 20mg pills, 1-2 per night "when needed". So I started taking them. 20mg worked just fine for a while, but then it started again. I stared at my roof for 4 hours after having taken one, not getting any sleep. That's when I moved up to the 2 per night, which my doctors said I can't go above even if I can't sleep with 2, because then it'd just start having a reverse effect. I don't know if that's true or not, but I've stayed at 40mg per night.

 

So, up untill 4 days ago, I had no idea that temazepam had any severe adverse effects or that it could be very addictive. I just thought, "hey it's a SLEEPING pill, what's the worst thing it can do?". Naive, yes. I checked everything I could find for all my other medication(AntiPSYCHOtics, of course I'm gonna check what the doctors had left out!), going through the lists of side-effects and harms of prolonged use. But I never even thought the sleeping pills could be the worst of them all.

 

I read through the wikipedia pages on temazepam, benzodiazepines and the withdrawal syndrome and all that. I was stunned, really. My doctors never said anything about these pills since I started, every time I run out, they give me new ones. Not a word. I called my current doctor(they change alot around here, hence the plurals earlier) and asked for an appointment. He had a time for yesterday, so I went there and told him what I had read. It seemed that he didn't actually know a whole lot about it.. I said I read that there's a type of benzo you can take that takes the edge off of the symptoms and makes it easier, but he just said there's no such thing. I couldn't remember the name then, but I meant valium. Anyway, he said that it's best to just reduce the dosage and use another drug to remove the symptoms. So now I'm taking 30mgs a night along with 25mg of Ketipinor(Quetiapine) so that I don't lose my sleep. He also said to take 25mg of Lyrica(Pregabalin) 1-3 tímes a day depending on need if I start to feel any symptoms.

 

So, here I am now. It's 3:30 AM currently, and I'm a bit afraid to go to sleep actually. I don't know if the drugs will work, I hate my roof, I've stared at it for too long. And the symptoms on wiki did not seem like something I want to be having.. Which is why yesterday after the appointment I actually took 40mg as normally, assuring myself that TODAY I will cut it to 30.. I came here because I want to know what to expect and because my doctors change all the time and this one doesn't apparently know much about the whole thing, so I'm not placing a whole lot of trust on him at the moment. There's 1 thing that really worries me, on the wikipedia site, let me quote: "It is virtually impossible to withdraw successfully if the addiction is to a short to intermediate half-life hypnotic benzodiazepine such as Temazepam (Normison), the toll on the body is too high and debilitating." .. That line has me a bit worried, along with all the "worst-case" mentions on the entire site always naming temazepam(suicide rates, abuse rates etc.)

 

I'd appreciate any kind of information and/or help..

 

Mike

 

Welcome to BenzoBuddies, mike654.  

 

I've never edited an article on Wikipedia but I may have to break down and do it to correct those outrageous statements about getting off temazepam.  What bunk!  Of course, you can get off it.   We've had several members do it just since I've been here.  Here's one such individual:

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=8053.0

 

Temazepam actually has a longer half-life than xanax and we have several people who've tapered directly off xanax.  At 40mg temazepam/day, you are taking the equivalent of about 20mg valium or 1 mg xanax; not so bad when you look at it that way, is it?  It's still a good idea to taper off of it rather than stop "cold turkey" and we can help you work out a plan.  I don't know off hand what strength tablets it comes in, but it would be a good idea to get a perscription for the smallest size tablets available  if you are going to split your pills to reduce your dose.  Or you could try liquid titration.  Other sites recommend crossing over to valium and then tapering but that seems unnecessary to me.  You can read a bit about all three methods here:

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=9522.0

 

We have lots of information and experience to share so look around and make yourself at home.  

Thanks for the reassurances. I read the topic you linked, but he used it for 1/15th of the time I have and was on a 25% lower dosage too, so I don't know.  I've had several panic attacks and often have an increased level of anxiety, seems I have the drug to thank for those as well. I have Oxamin in case those happen and have often had to take them as well. I actually cannot find Oxamin from wikipedia.. I've no clue what it is.. Hmm..

 

As for the sizes, I currently have 20mg and 10mg pills of temazepam. The 20s are what I have left of my old prescription and the 10s were given by the doctor so that it would be easier to adjust the dosage.

 

It's past 4 AM now so I guess I'll just have to try it, take 30mgs and go to bed..

 

EDIT: Found Oxamin named with other drugs using google, "Opamox, Oxamin, Alopam, Oxepam", so I've apparently been taking lots of Oxazepam on the side, just to make it till the next round of temazepams. What kind of crazy doctors do I have?

I found the Oxamin on the Benzo Equivalency table.  I'm more familiar with it as Serax.  It's another benzo but with even a shorter half-life than temazepam.  We usually recommend coming off only one drug at a time where possible.  It makes sense to taper off the Oxamin first because of it's shorter half-life.

 

We have had people other Hammer taper off temazepam and some who've tapered off Serax as well. We've also had members on 2-3mg of xanax (2-3x as much as you are taking) taper off successfully.  And I was on benzos for 20 years and got off by dry cutting.  You will need to develop other skills to handle the anxiety and sleep difficulties but you can do it.  As you've noticed, the drugs are not only no longer effective but are likely causing some of the very symptoms they are prescribed for.  This is know as tolerance withdrawal and the only "cure" is getting off them safely and letting your nervous system return to normal functioning. 

 

If you can cut your temazepam pills in 1/4's, you can make some pretty reasonable reductions by "dry cutting" and switch to titration any time if you want to go slower.  We usually recommend reducing your dose about 10% once very 7-14 days.

He also said to take 25mg of Lyrica(Pregabalin) 1-3 tímes a day depending on need if I start to feel any symptoms.

 

Hi Mike,

 

Wanted to stop by and welcome you. I noticed that your doctor gave you a prescription to Lyrica. I would recommend you do a forum search and read what others have to say about it. I'm afraid most do not have anything good to say. Just click "forum" up above and then type "Lyrica" in the search box. You may also want to try searching the other drugs to find more members that tapered from the type of meds you are on.

 

You can do this, many have!

 

T2

Hi Mike and welcome.

 

Glad to have you here with help for your journey off benzos.  I think T2 has a good point, though, about the Lyrica.  I had a doctor offer it to me and after I researched it, I personally just really did not want to add another drug into the mix that I would also need to taper from.

So maybe you could research it and then be able to make a more informed decision as to whether or not to continue it.

 

Again, welcome. 

 

Missy

Day 1.

Well, I just woke up now at 5:30 PM. 13 Hours of sleep is probably on the not-so-healthy side of things. I had an alarm 5 hours ago, but it was turned off and I don't recall waking up. But I do remember waking up before that, I had terrible nightmares. I don't remember what they were about, I just remember I woke up sweating and panicked. No idea if they are related. Aside from that, the only thing different I feel now is tremors and a kind of shaky feeling all over my upper body. Plus I don't really feel hungry, eventhough I should be.

 

I'll try the Lyrica and if it's something I can be without, I'll definately not take them. I read up several threads about it, and it did not seem all that helpful in long term. So I'll just take it occasionally if I need it.

Hi Mike,

 

welcome to benzobuddies and good luck on kicking your benzo habits.

Ok uhh something's not right with this mix. I just woke up from the floor and it's apparently 22:30PM now. I'm feeling really tired and lightheaded, dizzy.. Does Quetiapine cause this? Maybe it's not really mixing with the benzos.

Ok uhh something's not right with this mix. I just woke up from the floor and it's apparently 22:30PM now. I'm feeling really tired and lightheaded, dizzy.. Does Quetiapine cause this? Maybe it's not really mixing with the benzos.

 

How much did you take? Was that what you were prescribed?

Hi Mike,

 

Here is a link to info regarding the Quetiapine (Seroquel)....http://www.medicinenet.com/quetiapine/article.htm

I took 25mg as prescriped. It says there it can increase the sedative effect of other drugs.. So probably temazepam and oxazepam are going into overdrive with it? Maybe I should not take it. It's "as needed" for the moment, if I can't sleep without it, but this is going a bit too far, not being able to stop sleeping.

 

Should probably mention I'm usually extremely sensitive to drugs. I've had like 20 different pills over the years for my bipolar disorder, they always cause the bad side-effects without ever even getting to the good ones.

Are you currently taking anything for your bi-polar condition?

Are you currently taking anything for your bi-polar condition?

 

No. The last one I was on was Zeldox, but I stopped using it in november after I slept 40 hours straight and only woke up because my bladder was pretty much about to explode. After this didn't have time to have a new doctors appointment to get new ones, because I left to China for a couple of months. Now that I met with the doctor wednesday, he said we'll look into new bipolar meds once I get my temazepam intake lowered.

HI Mike ,

I also wanted to welcome you. Sorry you are such a hard time. It's good to read about what we were givin, but never believe you can't come off. Those of us who have know that's a bunch of crap! You are gonna be ok. There will be an end to this road for you, once you taper. I 'm wishing you tons of luck. I look forward to hearing your progress. Kel

Hmm, not sure which day it is now. 3rd I think. I was completely out of it yesterday, having been up for over 24 hours after sleeping for about the same amount. I haven't eaten in 3 days, I really don't feel hungry. It has to be this ketipinor & lyrica stuff.. They're messing with my head x_x

Been a couple of days since I posted, but I'm still alive At least physically. I've been so damn tired all this time, days just vanish somewhere when I keep dozing off constantly and notice hours are missing I haven't taken the Lyrica, I doubt it would help with with this anyway, as one of the common side-effects is drowsiness >_> I'm just hoping it won't get worse when I drop down another 10mg.

Hi Mike,

I wish I would have seen your post earlier so as to relate my personal experience with Temazepam.  Our history is very similar.  I too was placed on Seroquel after being diagnosed with Bipolar2.  I now know that the diagnosis was made simply because of the problems that the Temazepam caused.  I found Temaz. VERY difficult to taper from directly.  I tried for severl months in agony until I switched over to Valium as you mentioned.  I highly recommend this protocol.

 

More importantly, I want to caution you about Seroquel.  I took Temaz. and Seroquel together for about a month until my brain chemistry became so completely scrambled I didn't know up from down (to put it mildly).  This was MY experience.  I became suicidal and extremely depressed.  I am only relaying this as my experience (your mileage may vary). 

 

There was a time when I began to believe that Temazepam addiction was for life and there was no recovery possible.  Although I will admit it was an absolute bitch to get off of, I am now free of that sh!t for almost 1 year. 

 

I am so glad you saw the head-on collision coming when you did.  You can get off it and get your groove on.

 

Thomas

Hey Mike,

I was just reading your thread and everything drs. have put you on and the lack of knowledge that they either had or didn't share with you, makes me want to spit!! I'm glad that Tmak is able to offer you some first hand advice about the temazepam. Do you think your dr. now would cross you over to valium to taper off of that? We have a moderator who just recently crossed over from klonopin to valium and everything went smoothly. She will now taper off the valium. I am still confused as to what medications you are on, the doses of them, and when you take them in a day?? Glad you did update us on how you are doing.

 

Lori

More importantly, I want to caution you about Seroquel.  I took Temaz. and Seroquel together for about a month until my brain chemistry became so completely scrambled I didn't know up from down (to put it mildly).   This was MY experience.  I became suicidal and extremely depressed.  I am only relaying this as my experience (your mileage may vary). 

 

I had seroquel in 2007, after about 2 months of being a zombie and the doctors telling "you'll get used to it with time", I ended up in the hospital after I, in a panic attack, took too many pills. So I stopped Seroquel after that. But it was 300mg every night back then, this is just 25mg.. I figured it wouldn't be so bad.. I haven't taken it now for a few days though, it's just plainly not doing anything good. If I wanted to sleep for 20 hours, then sure maybe, but I don't. 

 

I am still confused as to what medications you are on, the doses of them, and when you take them in a day??

 

I've been prescribed with:

Temazepam: Was 40mg every night, but I've been taking 30 now as per the doctors orders

Oxazepam: 15-30mg for the anxiety and panic attacks, when needed. I've been taking them quite frequently, but not daily. More like every few days.

Ketipinor: 25-75mg per night if I can't sleep, but like I said, I'm not going to use them anymore.

Lyrica: 25-75mg doses if I start to feel bad withdrawals, but after all that I read about them, I'm not going to use these either.

 

Over the years I've had seroquel, risperdal, abilify, zeldox, mirtazapine, lamictal, rivatril, luminal, imovane, diapam, stella, seronil, zoloft, cipralex, stilnoct.. Probably more, but these are the ones I've marked down(In addition to the current ones). Some were used briefly, some for longer, but I'm not taking any of them anymore. Really hard to tell at this point if any of them did any good or not, considering the high possibility of interaction with the 200 other chemicals running rampant x_x 5:30 AM again.. Blah.. I'm tired, but just can't quite get to the whole sleep part.

Hey Mike,

Got it! You are only now taking the Temazepam and Oxazepam. Are you going to continue tapering off the Temazepam first and then the Oxazepam or vice-versa? It is best not to taper off 2 meds at one time. I was given Seroquel before. I took it at night before bed and boy did it knock me out. It was the lowest dose possible, so I can't imagine what 300mg would do!! Glad you aren't taking that stuff anymore. There have been some lawsuits over that drug (I saw on the internet) for causing diabetes, pancreatitis, and high tryglycerides. Hope you have a shorter night's sleep!!

 

Lori

You are only now taking the Temazepam and Oxazepam. Are you going to continue tapering off the Temazepam first and then the Oxazepam or vice-versa? It is best not to taper off 2 meds at one time.

 

I don't quite understand why I would need to taper off of both? Aren't they, in essence, the same thing? As in, both cause the same withdrawals in the same parts of the brain? So how can I be addicted to one, but not the other, if both do the same changes? O.o I figured I'd just stop taking oxamin when I get the tenox low enough. 

 

I can't imagine what 300mg would do!!

 

It supposedly has a pretty wide range of doses, up to like several thousand mg. At least according to the doctor who did the sales-speech on it for me back then.

Hey Mike,

Temazepam and Oxazepam are both benzos, but they are not the exact same drug. Think of it this way, what you are getting by taking 2 different benzos is like having a double shot. A double shot is much stronger than a single shot (think in terms of shot glasses for alcohol). You are getting double the potency. If you don't taper both of them separately, you may get hit with some very intolerable withdrawal symptoms. Your body is being affected by BOTH drugs. It would be wisest to go off of the Oxazepam first because it's half life is 4-15 hours, whereas the Temazepam has a half life of 8-22 hours. You could probably do a fairly quick taper off the Oxazepam and then do a slow/steady one off the Temazepam. I know it sounds like a nuisance or something that will take a long time, but to avoid intolerable withdrawals, you want your body to have healing time WHILE you are tapering off of each one, individually. All we can do is recommend ways of tapering on here. It is your choice on what you end up doing. We just want to help all we can to give you a way to successfully beat the benzos.

 

Lori

The time to go down another 10mg is coming up soon.  I've been having trouble with tinnitus these last few days. I've always had some of it, but now I've become really aware of it and it's bugging me big time, making sleeping even harder. I'm also usually quite sensitive to sounds and any little whirl and sound my computer makes is getting on my nerves big time now. I've snapped a few times and hit it quite hard :X It's not loud on the decibel scale, but for some reason, my hearing is just focusing on it and I can't block it out. Sleeping rhytm is still way off as well, I woke up at 8PM 2 days ago, went to sleep at 8PM yesterday after 24 hours and then woke up at 4AM today. For some reason my knees and neck are aching all day as well, no idea if that's caused by lack of sleep or if it's from the pills. Looking forward to being at 0mgs x_x