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Short term benzo users


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4 months is short term use, yeah.  I mean, these drugs are only supposed to be taken for weeks, but a lot of people on the board were prescribed them for years, not months or weeks.
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  • 2 weeks later...
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hello everyone i feel like this group has died a bit so i'm bringing it back. I want to know how you're all doing. I'm still feeling quite awful. And to think I was only on xanax for 3 weeks, i get to suffer now for 14 months... I hope we all get the healing we deserve. Tell me about your stories and maybe that way we can all feel a bit better in community.😢
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  • 2 weeks later...

I was taking k PRN for about 1.5 months when I decided I needed it daily (doc was okay with this, of course). I took it for another 1.5 months before hitting tolerance. At the time, I just knew I was all of a sudden anxious and having trouble sleeping. The insomnia hit first and then the anxiety. I went online and discovered the scary truth of what had happened. I started taking k to stop panic attacks that were a result of being shocked by my implanted defibrillator seven times in a row one day while I was out walking at lunch. I came across someone threatening in a remote part of the place I was walking, ran to get to safety, and after feeling safe, I started getting shocked. Apparently my HR had gone over 250 bpm, and my device was programmed to shock that. I started having panic attacks the next week and after one that landed me in the ER, I was terrified and needed help. Unfortunately what helped was k, and I was given no warning by the doctor or the pharmacist. Because of the severe panic, I wasn't in my usual mind to do research and make sure it was safe, and I had people around me telling me it was fine and that they take it occasionally for anxiety.

 

I've been tapering since September 14 off .875 mg. I'm down to .362 mg today. The last three weeks have been insanely hard. I've had symptoms all the way down, but things seemed to be getting better back in January, before we all got COVID. It's been harder since, but incredibly hard since reaching .375 mg and beyond. I don't know why. I've been discouraged from the start that I can't go any faster after the amount of time I took it before tapering.

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Took 1.5mg/day for 2 months quit cold turkey. Worst withdrawal ever. After 3 months only left with insomnia and anxiety. The insomnia is almost rehabilitating. I’m at almost 6 months and it is finally starting to ease up a little.
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Total of 21 days of Temazepam usage.  Almost finishing my 11th month of recovery.  Remaining symptoms that I have had over the last nine months are broken sleep, tinnitus and head pressure/pain.  Most of the time, I don’t even think about it but I am most certainly not back to feeling the same as before benzos.  However, I am much stronger now and I will never let another sleepless night make me ever turn to a magical pill as there is no magic!
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  • 2 months later...
Hi! Anyone experiencing throat issues? Like trouble swallowing, and throat feeling sore or like a lump. And kind of like the throat muscles are weak after swallowing. This symptom is scaring the life out of me. I’ve had this for months and I don’t know how much longer I can endure this. Please shed some light if you’ve had this symptom or currently have it now. I need reassurance that this is “normal/common” and it will go away. Thank you!!!
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  • 4 months later...
I only took valium for four weeks after my son died, but as per my signature, i had been cycling small amounts of zopiclone and phenibut before i went on the valium.  Stopped the zop and pbut cold turkey.  I am now trying a 1mg per week taper of the valium, but it is too fast, already getting insomnia etc.  My biggest problem with the valium is a deep morning depression.  A clinical depression, not sadness about my son.
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I only took it for 12 days before lowering. Due to insomnia which turned out to be from cortizone withdrawal. I'm very symptomatic after a 40% cut. It's crazy. I was not explained anything.
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I'm new to this group, but definitely fit.  I was put on one month valium to stabilize and then taper from the zopiclone and phenibut i was cycling for two months, after my son's sudden death in october.  I have gone from 11mgs to 8 mgs in 27 days so far, but will start to go 1mg per two weeks now.  It seems crazy to taper for 4 or 5 months after such short term use, but i feel safer this way as I had finished a diazepam taper from ativan in 2006, so this was my second time around, and i am older now, and also grieving and pre depressed.  This taper has been much harder than the one i did in 2006.
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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi, only taken up to 4.75mg of diazepam daily for the last 10 weeks after a family crisis with my daughter.that caused me severe anxiety and daily rolling panic attacks. I wasn't stable on that dose but was terrified of taking more due to a previous withdrawal 18 years ago. 4 weeks ago I rapid tapered from 4.75mg to zero in 7 days as my gp refused to prescribe any more. I reinstated to just 2mg per day just over a day later when a family friend gave me 3 boxes of 2mg tablets because I was in a terrible state. I feel horrendous and have made my first cut of 0.25mg.

 

I can't believe that 18 years ago when I became benzo free after 13 years of use I felt so much better! Than I do this time after only 10 weeks of use!!

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
I am having exactly the same problem. My taper 17 years ago went really smoothly, from 10mg of valium to 0 in 5 months, exactly following ashton.  This time, i Only was on 10mg for one month and have now been tapering for two months.  I was getting so deeply depressed and nonfunctional that I started using gabapentin as well, which has really helped with my depression and sleep.  I should have just been put on gpent straight away after my son's death and skipped the V altogether.  My brain should never have touched it again!  Lesson learned! I am now down to 5mgs of valium after 63 days, so prettty quick.  Doing 1 mg every two weeks with the gpentin's help.
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I'm taking propranolol which I hear helps with withdrawals, Paula, but I'm non functional! I'm only at 1.75mg diazepam I wish I'd dare just drop it and get it over with!! I feel horrendous!!

 

So sorry for your loss x x

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Yes, we both should never have touched valium again.  I too, thought a 17 year gap was safe, plus I had been taking zopiclone about once a week, and for travelling, without incident.
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Hi

I used for a total of four weeks. Altogether took between 20 and 24 2mg tablets and about 83 days into my cold turkey withdrawal. I am getting days I'm feeling better but then the jelly legs/ jitters/ shakes creep up with a vengeance, vice like pressure on my head with headache remains, depression has subsided ( which I'm so happy about!). It's a struggle but I try and stay busy whenever I am able!

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I had Xanax prescribed for plane flights...got a divorce and got insomnia...didnt sleep all night for days....wound up taking .5 Xanax every few days thinking i could not get addicted if only taking every 3-4 days... that turned into every other night.....then of course every night. Took .5 Xanax every night for a month then of course it stopped working. Started taking more, and then taking klonopin and extra xanax whenever i needed during holidays on top of my nightly .5.... so yeah 6 months later here i am tapering off of Valium now. Started at 10MG will be down to 5MG in a week. This stuff is no joke, it has a way of hooking you and making you want more like alcohol to an alcoholic. Its very easy to get hooked like 2 weeks of taking it every night.
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My first taper from 6 months of 1mg a night of ativan use in 2006 went pretty smoothly.  Crossed over to 10mg of valium, dropped a mg every 2 weeks, no lasting side effects except a super sensitivity to smells.  17 years later, figured it was safe to take 10mgs a night of valium for four weeks, after my son died.  Not so!  I am now in a difficult taper, that i was about to abandon, I was so depressed and unwell.  I have started gabapentin now to help me through it and it helps a bit, but I will have to taper that as well.  Lesson, never touch benzos again, once you've been through your first taper!
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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi,

 

I need advice. I was prescribed 0.125mg Xanax 3X a day last October 2022 after traumatic life event. Panic attacks awakening at night. Also Titrated up with small dose at first of Escitalopram, couldn't handle it, stopped Dec 15.

 

They said antidepressants is the long term treatment for anxiety/depression.

 

April 2, 2023, started Fluoxetine (as this has worked for me decades ago):

 

5mg 3 weeks

10mg 3 weeks

 

Now on my 7th week Fluoxetine. Still have that slight palpitations, some time of the day with slight faster heart rate. I know Prozac needs to be "onboarded", but my half functioning brain is thinking...are these xanax withdrawal effects? My symptoms are also similar to others starting Prozac. I also noticed this effects are more intense after some hours of drinking Prozac.

 

I counted the Xanax packs, In total I took about 40++ tablets of 0.25mg since October. My last take of Xanax was crumbs or less than 0.06mg last week. I am now holding back in taking more Xanax, maybe crumbs if I feel very anxious.

 

Xanax withdrawal or Prozac onboarding effects??

 

Thanks

 

 

 

 

 

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Hi, not sure if I fit in the short term user category. Took benzos on rare occasions for last 8 years, but last fall I took them for 3 months almost daily. Then I realized, that I was addicted and started the tapering process.

Off the benzos since 54 days, Windows and waves, currently in a nasty wave. My only wd symptom is insomnia with all the consequences like anxiety and depression.

 

Just hoping to get out of this wave soon.

 

I wish you all the best, good sleep and speedy recovery. Although I understand that even us short term users might be suffering for months and months, which is so hard to accept. And the longer the windows are, the more shocking it is when the waves hit...

 

 

 

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You are very lucky, Thousand! How nice! 12 days of use and not even mid taper yet since half a year of hell. I don't know how to survive this. I'm extremly unlucky one.
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Hey everyone! New member here. I’m a short termer. Prescribed Ativan 2mg a day back on Jan 30th. Rx’d more on Feb 14th. Made this script last through most of March. Then Apr04 my psych wants a switch on SSRI so prescribed 30 days more.  So from the 4th to 18th was back up at 1mg/day.

 

I had no idea what i was doing. So i just c/t on the 18th. Made it Apr 22nd with all the anxiety symptoms. Akathesia, racing brain, shakes tremors. So took a 0.5mg and it fixed it for rest of day!  So i was like, seems like 0.5 is a good place to start…. Wrong. Going in to rehab doc tomorrow. I think this guy switches to K right off. Nervouse because i have no clue what my baseline does is. 1mg a day i am good. Pretty sure. Hope he can figure out where to start!  I wanna get going on this

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