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Extreme Panic Attacks


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I have been doing an extremely slow liquid micro taper of diazepam for 4 years now.  I started out at 7.5 mg.  I'm down to 0.04 mg but I'm doing HORRIBLY!!!  I actually have not done very well throughout my taper and I'm experiencing SEVERE burning attacks and panic at the same time that keeps building in intensity.  It's so intolerable that I have taken an extra 2 mg Diazepam.  I'm very scared that this is not withdrawal at all because I had this burning attack before I was ever put on diazepam.  Has anyone else experienced these kind of attacks?  It's impossible for me to endure these and the extra diazepam makes it a little more tolerable.  I don't know what to do and I'm frightened!!!
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...  It's so intolerable that I have taken an extra 2 mg Diazepam.  I'm very scared that this is not withdrawal at all because I had this burning attack before I was ever put on diazepam.  Has anyone else experienced these kind of attacks?  It's impossible for me to endure these and the extra diazepam makes it a little more tolerable.  I don't know what to do and I'm frightened!!!

 

If extra diazepam relieved things, then the obvious first assessment has to be that this is withdrawal.

 

A four-year taper from 7.5mgV seems to me to be a very long-drawn-out affair and, thinking out loud, I wonder to what extent such a miniscule series of changes keeps your systems dependent on it, rather than freeing-up from it. These are only thoughts - not criticisms.

 

:smitten:

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I agree that it just sounds like withdrawal (or your base anxiety).  I'd suggest that you not take so-called 'rescue doses' when you feel panicky.  That can lead to a kindling effect which can make it even more difficult to finish your withdrawal.  To be honest, it's probably time to jump if you're only taking 0.04mg of valium per day.  There's no way that dose is giving you any therapeutic effect.

 

I think that I was fortunate in that I only had a few actual panic attacks.  They were scary and intense, but short (as panic attacks usually are).  I found that I had to get grounded/rooted to get past them, and usually headed for my TV set to find something familiar/calming to watch for a few minutes.  Then I'd settle down to just my regular withdrawal-induced anxious state (but not in a panic).

 

Try to get through these events without taking more drugs.  Your therapist (or pdoc) should be able to show you coping methods to get you past those events if their degrees are worth the paper they're are printed on.

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When I was near the end of my klonopin taper, I had gotten most of the withdrawal related panic attacks down to minute or so.  (I never had panic attacks before benzos).  At the very end, I had a few episodes where I just got slammed - extreme terror, afraid of my husband, felt like the couch was trying to eat me, and depersonalization.  It was tough, but I kept using breathing techniques (such as the 4-7-8 breathing technique) to keep myself calm.  I did this so much that my body eventually got to the point where as soon as I started to feel the panic, I went into autopilot and just started my breathing exercises.  My final bout with panic was right at the very end of the taper - I got slammed with the worst panic (terror) attacks.  However, instead of just getting hit with one long one, an attack would start, I would calm myself down, it would fade like it was getting ready to stop then hit me full force again.  I got hit with over 50 panic attacks in a 6 hour period.  However, I just kept breathing through it, reminding myself that I was not in danger even though I was terrified, and that this would pass just like all the other ones.  (I refused to take a benzo at this point because I knew it would prolong my total suffering - plus I was at home and new panic attacks aren't dangerous).  Eventually it stopped, but I am glad I worked through it the way I did.  This was the last panic attack I ever had.  There were a few occasions in the next week or two after this  where I started to feel a slight bit of panic (like you do before a panic attack starts) but because I had practiced calming myself so many times, I was able to stop the panic attacks before they started by conditioning my body to relax when it felt this feeling.  After that, I never had another issue with panic attacks again, because I figured even if they did hit, I knew how to handle them.
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Thank you for the reassurance!  I never knew that a person could continue to have repeat panic attacks.  I'm working on learning how to address this.  Didn't know it could make me feel so ill.  I think the breathing issue is what's making me have a harder time breathing through it because I was never good at breathing exercises and I do have some lung problems as it is.  Going to try practicing more!
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