This is the Plan. Any advice?

So, I met with the Addiction Psychiatrist. He said the Ashton Protocol takes very long and that he knows of a better method. It is based on the “Brain in Balance” Book. I currently take 1.5 mg of Kolonopin. He said to take 1 mg of kolonopin and 30 mg of Phenobarbital for two days. Then take .5 mg of Kolonopin and 22.5 mg of Phenobarbital for just one day. Then stop the Kolonopin. Then take 15 mg of Phenobarbital for seven days. Then stop the Phenobarbital. Then start taking Robaxin, baclofen, Gabapentin and Buspar in certain doses and with a certain tapering schedule. After all these meds are done, I may have to take flumazenil for some time if I have protracted symptoms.

 

Any thoughts please?

See my response on your other thread. Looks like a cold turkey and not worth the risk.

That's way complicated and iffy IMO. Too many drugs frankly. A straight liquid taper Off K would be a superior plan IMO.

The only way to understand this new cutting-edge way to detox from benzos is if you find a Doc that knows it and you read “Brain in Bslance”. This 2011 Book by the leading US doc on detox is reviolutuonizing benzo detox. They say there will no more be Ashton and cut and water tapering. Those methods are too slow and psinful. The Book is 275 paged so I cant summarize it, but case study no. 12 for a Xanax detox is right on point with quick and excellent results. The key is to learn that the Xanax was being taken to stimulate GABA production at the GABA1a a site to reduce anxiety. But this means this GABA site became overused and unpredictable. This GABA site has essentially been worn out. The real solution here is to halt the GABA1a drug ( Kolonopin in my case) while stimulating the other four GABA sites all at once. By stopping the GABA1a drug Kolonopin, you are allow the neurotransmitters at this site to up- regulate, coming to its own natural balance. Stimulating the other GABA sites will counteract the high glutamate( an anxiety nueurotransmitter) and make this detox as easy and quick as possible. The GABA production needs to be increased at the other four GABA sites. To accomplish this, you take GABA like drug Robaxin, GABA drug baclofen and Buspar, a calming serotonin  Plus Phenobarbital - a GABA drug- initially while the GABA1a site up- regulates. The result of this case study was a great success.

 

I wanted to pass this along because it may save allot of our benzo buddie friends that are still using the old slow and painful methods. Hope this helps!

Please keep us posted on your progress.

Take care,

JKS

I don't have any advice and God knows it would be wonderful if this actually worked to save so much suffering. I do have a question though, is the doctor basing this method on only one case study?

 

If you do go through with it, I hope it works well for you.

 

Good luck!

I am definitely going through with this method, but I am not starting to do it until around July 1 because I need to drive almost everyday until then. My doc told me that this detox method takes about 4-6 weeks and he won’t know if I can drive on a regular basis during the detox until he sees how I respond. Every case is different, he says. No. This method is not based on one case study. I just picked one of many in the book. The best way to understand this is to buy the book ($9.90 on Amazon on Kindle) and find a Doc that eitherknows it or you can show it to.  I doubt any Doc knows about this unless they are in a major city like Philadelphia, NY or San Francisco. The author of the book practices in San Francisco.

 

I will post the results that I experience (both good and bad) hopefully in August or September. I wish the best to everyone.

By the way, my Doc told me that the goal in this new benzo detox is that you only feel “uncomfortable” throughout it. He said that he will monitor me by phone calls and occasional visits to his office. He said that if I feel anything more than “uncomfortable,” then he tinkers with the dosages and tapering schedule. He said he used to use the Ashton method until this method was discovered, but found that the detox was very long (often more than a year) and resulted in much suffering. I guess I will see . . . and then I will report back. I agree that it would be wonderful if this is truly a new better way. I must say that when you read “Brain in Balance” you can tell that the author ( an addiction psych) has spent his career trying to fully understand how all the neurotransmitter systems in the brain relate. It is quite impressive, and I don’t believe a general psych understand this stuff on this level. My own doc graduated from Harvard undergrad and Colombia Med School. I find him to be very smart.

So, I met with the Addiction Psychiatrist. He said the Ashton Protocol takes very long and that he knows of a better method. It is based on the “Brain in Balance” Book. I currently take 1.5 mg of Kolonopin. He said to take 1 mg of kolonopin and 30 mg of Phenobarbital for two days. Then take .5 mg of Kolonopin and 22.5 mg of Phenobarbital for just one day. Then stop the Kolonopin. Then take 15 mg of Phenobarbital for seven days. Then stop the Phenobarbital. Then start taking Robaxin, baclofen, Gabapentin and Buspar in certain doses and with a certain tapering schedule. After all these meds are done, I may have to take flumazenil for some time if I have protracted symptoms.

 

Any thoughts please?

The idea to be able to shorten the taper time thus the sufferings from benzo victims would be more than welcome.

 

On the other side, I must find for myself the answer to the following question: barbiturate, heroin, alcohol and some anti-convulsant like Gabapentin are known to cause a very intense, severe, but short-duration withdrawal. As for benzodiazepines, the withdrawal is less intense, but taper takes way longer duration. They present quite different dependency/discontinuation profiles. From the way they differently address the neurotransmitters, they appear clearly to belong to different categories of drugs.

 

Been so different, I'm wondering how one can simply replace the other? but perhaps I'm missing some important points of this revolutionary process.

Jim Hawk. That is the point of this new method. They use other meds to hit the other GABA sites while they quickly detox the benzo from the GABA1a site. The doctor who wrote the book “Brain in Balance” basically discovered these other four GABA sites and found over 30 years of trial and error that this works. I am not a doctor and the book is quite long, so I can’t explain it fully. My best advise is to buy the book ($9.90 on Amazon Kindle) and try to work with a doctor on it. If you read the book and the case studies I think you will be highly encouraged. But, of course I can’t say it has been a success for me until I do it. That won’t be until later this summer. I will definitely post my results then. All the best.

The only way to understand this new cutting-edge way to detox from benzos is if you find a Doc that knows it and you read “Brain in Bslance”. This 2011 Book by the leading US doc on detox is reviolutuonizing benzo detox. They say there will no more be Ashton and cut and water tapering. Those methods are too slow and psinful. The Book is 275 paged so I cant summarize it, but case study no. 12 for a Xanax detox is right on point with quick and excellent results. The key is to learn that the Xanax was being taken to stimulate GABA production at the GABA1a a site to reduce anxiety. But this means this GABA site became overused and unpredictable. This GABA site has essentially been worn out. The real solution here is to halt the GABA1a drug ( Kolonopin in my case) while stimulating the other four GABA sites all at once. By stopping the GABA1a drug Kolonopin, you are allow the neurotransmitters at this site to up- regulate, coming to its own natural balance. Stimulating the other GABA sites will counteract the high glutamate( an anxiety nueurotransmitter) and make this detox as easy and quick as possible. The GABA production needs to be increased at the other four GABA sites. To accomplish this, you take GABA like drug Robaxin, GABA drug baclofen and Buspar, a calming serotonin  Plus Phenobarbital - a GABA drug- initially while the GABA1a site up- regulates. The result of this case study was a great success.

 

I wanted to pass this along because it may save allot of our benzo buddie friends that are still using the old slow and painful methods. Hope this helps!

 

He might be spot on. Obviously he is actually THINKING, which is a good thing and a bit rare. Best of luck and let us know.

So, I met with the Addiction Psychiatrist. He said the Ashton Protocol takes very long and that he knows of a better method. It is based on the “Brain in Balance” Book. I currently take 1.5 mg of Kolonopin. He said to take 1 mg of kolonopin and 30 mg of Phenobarbital for two days. Then take .5 mg of Kolonopin and 22.5 mg of Phenobarbital for just one day. Then stop the Kolonopin. Then take 15 mg of Phenobarbital for seven days. Then stop the Phenobarbital. Then start taking Robaxin, baclofen, Gabapentin and Buspar in certain doses and with a certain tapering schedule. After all these meds are done, I may have to take flumazenil for some time if I have protracted symptoms.

 

Any thoughts please?

 

It is certainly your decision as you know your body but personally I wouldn't reintroduce another med again for anything. I was only willing to do the Ashton Manual taper at a VERY slow rate with a small amount of Diazepam. My pdoc said no but gave me Gabapentin which ramped me up so badly that I thought I was broken in the head.  I've made up my mind that I am only trying natural products and a very small amount. I'm to the point where I want drugs OUT of my system and out of my life. It's your body and I believe that we all know ourselves better then we admit so you have to make the choice as to your next step in your own tapering process.  I hope it works well for you as it truly would be wonderful to be over the suffering in two months.  Yes... I will be watching for your results. 

HI , I've  read this book , Brain in Balance and have considered whether I could go to his Clinic as I live in No Cal.

It seems like one of the few possible ways to come off benzos safely, though of course as people have commented, everyone is so different in how they respond to other meds.

Personally , for me , Benzo wd is an absolute nightmare. and I am still wondering about this method. I do wonder also about the time to taper off teh other meds, but it might be worthe it.

 

 

One thing  have noticed is , I feel like the Gaba receptors upregulate pretty fast , and that it;s the glutamate that is the issue, I bast this on the fact that often , after a small reduction in benzo , I get a small window of feeling peaceful, then what I feel is the excess glutamate kicks in , and that's when all the wds start. and mine are really rough.

 

so , if teh other meds provide enough gaba, and block the glutamate long enough for the gaba A recpetors to come back online , then yes, maybe it works!

 

PLease do keep us posted on this faithspot,

thanks!

MiYu

 

 

So, I met with the Addiction Psychiatrist. He said the Ashton Protocol takes very long and that he knows of a better method. It is based on the “Brain in Balance” Book. I currently take 1.5 mg of Kolonopin. He said to take 1 mg of kolonopin and 30 mg of Phenobarbital for two days. Then take .5 mg of Kolonopin and 22.5 mg of Phenobarbital for just one day. Then stop the Kolonopin. Then take 15 mg of Phenobarbital for seven days. Then stop the Phenobarbital. Then start taking Robaxin, baclofen, Gabapentin and Buspar in certain doses and with a certain tapering schedule. After all these meds are done, I may have to take flumazenil for some time if I have protracted symptoms.

 

Any thoughts please?

 

ps , who is your doctor and in what area ? MiYu