Torture of Short term benzo user

Why ? Why some short term benzo users are going through same painful journey as long term user .Though now better but I have dealt with horrible insomnia for three months 

 

Sometimes I fail to recognize myself in the mirror. Where is that happy go lucky woman who was full of life ? Once upon a time I was a support system for my friends and family. And now I am a timid person full of inferiority complex who is constantly aware of her own mortality.

 

I know we all will heal eventually but this journey has shaken me to the core .I noticed on this forum that many long term user managed to have a smoother withdrawal than me .May be some brains and bodies are super sensitive .

 

So if you have used benzo for many years dont be blame yourself because there are a few short term users who are equally suffering (may be more) .

 

 

 

 

Sorry to hear you are suffering so bad.  Maybe write a signature so people can see how long you were on Benzos and what you took?

 

I too was a short-term user (3 months) and I am still occasionally paying the price with poor sleep at almost 19 months off.  Although all of my other symptoms have been gone for almost a year now.

 

Short or long term doesn't always correlate to how bad or how long your WD is going to be?  Why? Because evidently long-term users were able to be on Benzos for a long time before they reached tolerance or the point where the Benzos became ineffective at the current dose.  My theory is that Gabba becomes damaged right before, during and after tolerance is reached.  That is why short-term users (like you and me) are usually way more sensitive to the drugs, reach tolerance much quicker, but have the same amount of damage done to our Gabba receptors.  Hence, we go through just as bad and long of a time period of WD.

 

In my opinion, It is all about reaching tolerance.  That is why some people can stay on Benzos for 10 or 20 years before getting off of them as it takes them that long to reach tolerance.  That is also why some people that take them for years and quit cold turkey never experience any WD.  Drugs affect all of us differently and unfortunately our body chemistry doesn't play well with Benzos.

 

In some ways I am glad that I reached tolerance so quickly as it forced me off of the drugs in 3 months.  I actually reached tolerance in about 7 weeks, but stayed on them another 5 weeks and that is when I think I did most of the Gabba receptor damage?  The other thing to keep in mind is that many long-term users taper off of the drugs, so they might be doing some healing during their taper?

 

Unfortunately WD is unique to each of us, but the symptoms are usually universal.  You'll get through this.  3 months of terrible insomnia is not fun, but other short-term users have had it much longer.  It will fade with time and you will recover.  Hang in there and stay away from all Rx drugs.

I am also a short term user.  I am tapering off now and have been hit with a few symptoms along the way.  I am on my final day today of tapering and am feeling worse than I've felt in weeks.  I've tried to research what is exactly considered a short term user and got a few different answers.  I've also read through the ashton manual and just wasn't sure my best course for tapering.  I came up with a plan that I thought would keep most symptoms at bay but I'm worried that I've failed.  I didn't reach any type of tolerance.  I was given klonopin to help with a c/t withdrawal of an anti-psychotic (prescribed for migraines) and as I started feeling better my doctor said to discontinue klonopin so that I don't become addicted.  I was on a consistent dose for 4 weeks and have been tapering for 3.

 

Did you quit c/t?  I only slept 1 or maybe 2 hours last night.  Today has been pretty rough.

4 months on.. 15,5 months without and still physically in pain..

4 months on.. 15,5 months without and still physically in pain..

 

what i want to say is, i feel you..

Yes Intrepide ,I quit cold turkey . Dont worry if you are tapering then withdrawal will be very mild and you will recover very early .

Hi white swan, I was also a short-term user too and have been through a terrible WD but 16 months out am doing a lot better. My sleep is still broken and lighter than it used to be, so I'm still waiting for that to get better.

Yes Intrepide ,I quit cold turkey . Dont worry if you are tapering then withdrawal will be very mild and you will recover very early .

 

i quit cold turkey 15 and a half months ago!

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Even a month or a few weeks use can cause bad withdrawal unfortunately. I took large doses for 3 weeks or so, that's all it took to get me hooked. And even after only 3 weeks the withdrawal was horrific. I didn't even know it was benzo withdrawal for 4-5 days since I was using xanax to get through suboxone withdrawal. I thought I was losing my mind. And when I figured out it was benzos, the withdrawal was so scary I just stayed on them, which I regret now months later