Today is the day.

I wish you the very best!

Congratulations! You should be proud of your taper.

 

Keep us posted!

Well done and good luck you can do it.

Good job. I am almost there too. It is scary but eventually we gotta take that leap.

Thanks everyone. I was having a window today but it is now half closed. I did sleep ok last night and that was a big plus.

Congratulations and good luck!

 

I am marking April 6th on my calendar as my expected jump date. At that point I will be down to 0.5mg V per day if I can maintain my 1/300 mg per day micro-taper

Keep us posted on your progress.

Congratz en good luck! What amount of V did you jump from?

Congrats

 

All the best 

Congratz en good luck! What amount of V did you jump from?

 

Approx. .3125 mgs I think Docc. I felt pretty good yesterday, but really nervous and panicky today. RHR is also higher than normal.

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Congratulations and good luck!

 

I am marking April 6th on my calendar as my expected jump date. At that point I will be down to 0.5mg V per day if I can maintain my 1/300 mg per day micro-taper

Keep us posted on your progress.

Thanks Peter and good luck to you as well.

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Sorry today has been rough. But some days were probably rough before you jumped too. I expect that knowing that you have jumped has you a little rattled. When I have a rough day I try to get out and do things and accept the w/d sxs as best as I can. The sensations are an indication that your brain/body are making the adjustment to being benzo-free. For me anxiety and panic are usually caused by fear of the physical sensations of withdrawal. My mantra when I have sensations is "strange but not dangerous".

Good luck!! Well done Let us know how its going!

 

 

Never go back...no matter what.

Thanks everyone for the support. Much appreciated!

I will update from time to time.

@Peter, yes, these sx's are very unnerving. I still feel like I am very sick. I don't have that deathly ill feeling ATM.  I am really scared tho....

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I am going to use this thread to keep track of my bothersome symptoms.

 

Today, the chest pressure is back with a vengeance. I had an all day window the day before I stopped. The chest pressure went away and I had an all day sense of calm and inner peace. That gnawing feeling of anxiety and inner turmoil and tension was almost gone too. I could only feel it slightly. It was barely detectable by my brain. Now, it is back in full force, ugh!

 

I did develop a horrible cardiophobia when I was 25 after my 1st panic attack. I am now 55 years old. This was when I was 1st put on xanax after a battery of medical tests revealed nothing.  The chest pressure makes me constantly obsess about my heart and having a heart attack. It keeps me all revved up. I wish I could divert my mind but I can't as hard as I try. The benzo w/d has made this feeling of pressure 20X worse than baseline IMO. I feel pressure in the center of my chest but it moves around as strange at that may sound. I can feel it on the left, right, and lower chest / stomach. I hate this constant feeling of inner pressure and inability to ever relax fully. My other bothersome SXs are pins and needles in lower legs and feet and throat tightness and tension that makes if diffult to talk because it effects my voice. These are the main things with valium. I had other sxs when I became tolerant to klonopin before the valium like the burning all over skin, mostly all over from the waist up.

 

I meditated this morning and then rode my exercise bike for 20 minutes at a gentle to moderate pace. I have been doing this for many years prior to the decision to try to get off the valium. I had 3 heart palpitations and an increase in chest pressure when I was meditating, but I did it anyway. I need to come F2F with all my health anxiety fears. Even though the meditation sometimes revs up symptoms, I think it helps so I am going to keep doing it.

 

My diet is still pretty clean but it does not seem to be helping me feel better as far as all these painful sx's go. I drink only water, no caffeine or booze. I have never been a big drinker but I would love to have just one drink or two from time to time with dinner since I feel I deprive myself of so many of the pleasurable little things in life like dairy products, soft drinks ( I really miss), refined carbs (I love cookies and candy but quit eating stuff like that bc it revs up my sx's), junk food (I miss the greasy burgers and fries and pizza but not healthy).

 

I hope everyone else is doing ok today. Do not give up! Keep fighting.....that is what I intend to do. Feeling crappy daily with these bizarre sx's all day long can get you down I will admit.

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Go antibenzo! I had some health anxiety in a window, and actually enjoyed it cause it made me feel human again.

Congrats! Your post is giving me hope! I’ve gone C/T a couple of times off of Xanax and then Klonopin. It was pure hell. I’m hoping doing a slow taper and then jumping at .25 will have less sever symptoms. End of March is when I hope to jump. Hang in there and keep us posted!

When sxs are bad try to just be an observer. Kind of float along with them, notice the sxs like you would notice traffic noise but try to not resist. Resistance increases sxs so "resistance is futile". The symptoms are the result of your mind and body adjusting to the drop in benzo in your body. It takes a while to clear it out even after you jump. Believe that you are doing great because you are doing great. By sometime tomorrow you will probably have reduced the accumulated unmetabolized benzo in your system by 50%. That is really, really cool. Hang in there AntoBenzo7!

 

Thanks Peter, Docc, and Aphr0dit3!

 

Last night was pretty bad. I could not fall asleep and when I did, I could not stay asleep. I get really bad spasms in my chest just as I am drifting off to sleep that cause my whole body to jerk and wake me up. Anxiety is also really bad this morning. I feel it mostly in my chest. The sensation of being really aware of my heart is unnerving. I am also having heart palps this morning with the chest pressure and the leg tingle is still there. I had a little leg cramping last night but it was not too bad.

 

Plan is to eat healthy again today, ride bike 2 times gently (maybe 3), meditate, and hope I can get in a little more sleep tonight than I got last night.

 

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Sorry you're having a rough day. Not being able to sleep is the worst and seems to make all the other symptoms worst. I don't have any advice to give, but sounds like your game plan for the day is pretty solid. I don't know if it helps, but I am out here reading your posts and rooting for you. Stay strong!

Thanks Aphr0dit3!

 

Today is just a continuation of yesterday. I did manage to sleep a little bit better but not much. Constant unrelenting anxiety, fear, chest pressure, heart palps, air hunger (really feels like I have to struggle when I inhale), and lower legs and parts of feet are still tingling and I have been having some weird stinging pains in feet. Muscles in legs feel like they want to cramp. I can also feel the tingle sometimes in the upper legs.

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Thanks Aphr0dit3!

 

Today is just a continuation of yesterday. I did manage to sleep a little bit better but not much. Constant unrelenting anxiety, fear, chest pressure, heart palps, air hunger (really feels like I have to struggle when I inhale), and lower legs and parts of feet are still tingling and I have been having some weird stinging pains in feet. Muscles in legs feel like they want to cramp. I can also feel the tingle sometimes in the upper legs.

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The symptoms you describe sound like hyperventilation in response to increased agitation as the accumulated benzo in your system is decreasing since your jump. There are some books on Amazon on hyperventilation syndrome that might be helpful. Try to remember that this is not a health crisis. Your symptoms are triggered by withdrawal and are probably ramped up by health anxiety and hyperventilation. Hang in there, AntiBenzo7!

The last benzoes in your body is seeping out. Is this the hardest part right now of your taper? Restlessness/anxiety should ease up relatively quickly hopefully.

I got relief 10 days after i jumped, couldnt shake depression tho.. but maybe that was the lithium.

 

well done

 

Thanks Aphr0dit3!

 

Today is just a continuation of yesterday. I did manage to sleep a little bit better but not much. Constant unrelenting anxiety, fear, chest pressure, heart palps, air hunger (really feels like I have to struggle when I inhale), and lower legs and parts of feet are still tingling and I have been having some weird stinging pains in feet. Muscles in legs feel like they want to cramp. I can also feel the tingle sometimes in the upper legs.

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Air hunger, I've been experiencing that for years. I never thought it could be from the benzos. Now I'm starting to wonder what other symptoms I have that can be attributed to the benzos or withdrawal tolerance.

 

peter2017 and mongligmon seem like they know what they're talking about. You're further along in the process than I am. It has to get better because if it doesn't, what's the point of this? So I have to believe you will get better and in conjunction, I will someday jump and get better. I can't wait to read your post when you are completely healed.