Straight talk, flumazenil and total healing

Hi All,

 

I have not posted in years. I want to thank first Benzo Buddies for this most valuable site that helps thousands of good souls getting off of Benzo. I equate Benzos to jumping in a natural thermal bath in a frozen wilderness where shelter is nowhere to be seen. As a shivering body approaches the bath all you want is to freezing to stop. So you jump in. It feels so good. After normalising the body temperature you know you have to move on to get out of the wilderness or you will die of excessive heat or starvation.  Your choices are to get out of the bath and risk the brutal cold on your wet body or cook in the thermal bath and die of the starvation.  You all are making the most courageous move - to get out of the bath! You all are heros for that choice! I always say if bezos did not have the risk of "tolerance" (needing more and more) I probably would have stayed on them. I am not anti drug to be anti drug. I am pro quality of life. The journey you all have traveled is one of hope. Although many, many heal much quicker the average I read was that healing takes on average 13 months. It took me 14 months to heal. But what is healing to me? It is having longer windows with waves coming at max a few times a year. I am now off 5 years.  Understand I was on benzos for over 30 years when I quite in September of 2013. Previous to hitting tolerance in 2012, I was a high powered businessman with unlimited energy and a total zest for life. The process of withdrawal crippled me for 13 months but I am now back to 100%. But due to my excessive time on benzos I still experienced waves and protracted symptoms 5 years out - although I was functioning at 80% of what I was pre tolerance. I finally searched for a local doctor 6 months ago to administer 5 days of flumazenil at 1 mg per hours 3 hours a day. I am convinced that it worked at resetting my receptors. Now , when I get hit with a stressful situation I no longer go into that "punch in the gut depression feeling". I have not  been in a wave since. I feel 100% again. I am 55 and my quality of life means alot to me. Although I may catch some slack for writing this, I also came to the conclusion that I had to take another med to stabilise what was a depression I felt pre benzos. I was honest with myself. I only did it after 5 years and gave the process time. There are some on this site that may be so-anti drug that they fail to understand that life is short and quality of life is supreme. Although I would never suggest alternative drugs as a first line of defense, I choose it for me as I gave the process 5 years. The great news for all reading this post is that only 10% to 15% of benzo users suffer from protracted symptoms. I unfortunately was one of them. Flumazenil for me was a  game changer. I also take another medication that I started 4 months ago ( I am purposely not mentioning which one because everyone is different). For me, I needed to regain my last 20% that I no longer had - I wanted to enjoy life fully again. I am now present, happy amd very hopeful.

 

In closing, times does heal this awful condition. The shivering, rapid cycling, intrusive thoughts, negative thinking... it all goes away. You will get better and life will be hopeful again. After all, you are a hero for making the choice. In your darkest moments, remember that it will not last. Waves have a way of being so final - they feel so permanent -- and then the windows come again. For those that do not get windows it will get much better. I don't embellish - you will heal! May God bless you and may your courage find you on the other side with my smiling and fulfilled. Healing will happen to you!

 

Warmest regards.

 

Life

Thanks for coming back, life4me, and sharing your awesome story.

 

I can feel your enthusiasm for life in your words.

 

So happy for you.

 

What were your last sxs?

 

Fallingstar

 

That was a great post. Love it when people come back after suffering an especially long protracted withdrawal and are now 100%. There are quite a few suffering here for years. It's painful to watch and they need encouragement and hope.

 

May you remain 'high-powered'

I haven't heard of Flumazenil and will look into it.  I have been off Xanax for three years now and I'm still having problems after only 10 month of use.  I'll definitely look into this.  Maybe it can help me.

Wow, I never heard of Flumazenil. How did it make you feel right after? More jittery or not?

life, I do remember you. You helped me with gabapentin info a few years ago. I am 4.5 years off of ambien and doing quite well. So glad you checked back in. I am so happy for you.

Regards the  flumazenil there are some great post here in this forum. Just search for the word flumazenil at the top right hand corner of this page. I personally am convinced that it has helped me. It is not so much that you take it once and see the instant results - no not at all. It is more like you take it several times and you start realizing that you can take stress better, that you don't get depressed or thrown into depression after a brief negative stimulus. I am convinced that it reset the gaba system. It is expensive - $3000 for me through a local doctor with 5 days and 3 hours at 3 mg an hour. There's a place in Virginia - the Coleman Institute that does it. He says that it has been successful in some instances with protracted symptoms. I am in a very good place right now but i have chosen to take flumazenil and a low dose of seroquel to improve my quality of life. Now after 5 years I have no symptoms and am high functioning individual - I waited 5 years to take other meds. I personally wanted to get on with my life. it is not like I felt bad all the time at 5 years out - to the contrary - I would get a 5 day wave every two months or so. Now I have had no waves for 6 months or so. Life is great. We must all do what it is to feel better again. Life is short and stubbornness has no protocol in my life. 

correction:

 

"local doctor with 5 days ,3 hours each day at 1 mg an hour".

great post for what to do post taper if things are still reeling some.

There is some support for NAD therapy post benzo taper as well,  It was touted as a way to get off benzos but even Ken Starr a huge pioneer in the NAD world has recently posted a video to his website saying that benzo w/d  is trickier than opiates or alcohol.

Thanks Life!

 

 

Regards the  flumazenil there are some great post here in this forum. Just search for the word flumazenil at the top right hand corner of this page. I personally am convinced that it has helped me. It is not so much that you take it once and see the instant results - no not at all. It is more like you take it several times and you start realizing that you can take stress better, that you don't get depressed or thrown into depression after a brief negative stimulus. I am convinced that it reset the gaba system. It is expensive - $3000 for me through a local doctor with 5 days and 3 hours at 3 mg an hour. There's a place in Virginia - the Coleman Institute that does it. He says that it has been successful in some instances with protracted symptoms. I am in a very good place right now but i have chosen to take flumazenil and a low dose of seroquel to improve my quality of life. Now after 5 years I have no symptoms and am high functioning individual - I waited 5 years to take other meds. I personally wanted to get on with my life. it is not like I felt bad all the time at 5 years out - to the contrary - I would get a 5 day wave every two months or so. Now I have had no waves for 6 months or so. Life is great. We must all do what it is to feel better again. Life is short and stubbornness has no protocol in my life.

 

Are you still on seroquel?

May I ask if you started the seroquel for waves of depression?

Thanks for your wonderful, honest, hopeful post, life! And congratulations to you! It's so helpful to have the different perspectives on what works, what doesn't and how to make sense of this whole thing.

 

I wish you well! Thank you again for taking the time to come back and post. It means so much to the rest of us.

 

Yes I am on a low dose of serequel 50MG  and it works for me. I went off of it a while ago ( much easier than benzos to get off of it) and started it back up like 8 months ago. I was having some anxiety and lack of sleep which is either caused by long term use of benozs or genetic but I really don't care anymore what causes it. I gave the process 5 years but refused after 5 years to stay at 80%. Life is too sort for me to be stubborn at the cost of my quality of life. So I take a med that i believe has good evidence has no tolerance issues. Hope this helps.

 

Warmest,

 

Life

Yes I am on a low dose of serequel 50MG  and it works for me. I went off of it a while ago ( much easier than benzos to get off of it) and started it back up like 8 months ago. I was having some anxiety and lack of sleep which is either caused by long term use of benozs or genetic but I really don't care anymore what causes it. I gave the process 5 years but refused after 5 years to stay at 80%. Life is too sort for me to be stubborn at the cost of my quality of life. So I take a med that i believe has good evidence has no tolerance issues. Hope this helps.

 

Warmest,

 

Life

 

Yes to some kind of med for sleep! I too am not anti med, have seen them work very well for so many people who get on a judicious dose of something that eases sxs.  Life is for living!  not for riding through each day.

thanks for this info on flumazenil -- I wonder why it's not used more widely with people who have tapered off, it does appear to be the "antidote" that many are looking for...

SS

Yes I am on a low dose of serequel 50MG  and it works for me.

 

Hey Life, are you certain that the flumazenil is what has pushed you back to 100%? Or is it possible that the serequel is what is helping and masking the remaining symptoms or helping you avoid stressful situations that may otherwise cause a wave?

 

Obviously you know your body best, but just curious what you thought about this possibility.

I'm so interested in flumazenil. But it's a big investment!

Yes it may be that the Seroquel may be helping with symptoms. I think that benozs may create in some like me a generalized anxiety disorder due to teh experience we go through. so yes it absolutely helps with symptoms.

 

Life

Not to rain on the Flumazenil parade, but I think it may only work for a select few?  I too am 55 and had Dr. Coleman's (The Coleman Institute) touted Flumazenil treatment done at about 2 months out from a cold turkey.  The only thing it reset was my wallet to the tune of $7,000.  Not saying it cannot work for some, but it didn't work for me.  Still went through a very difficult withdrawal.

 

Glad it worked for you.  Just cautioning others as there really isn't a "magic bullet" or way to shorten WD. 

HI , thanks for your uplifting post on your recovery . I support you in doing whatever you have to to have good QOL. ( perhaps excepting benzos!) I am wondering if anyone knows how ginkgo biloba would compare with flumazanil?  Perhpas I'll post tis wuestin on the Ginkgo thread... it appears it may have similar actions to flumazenil relative to resetting gaba receptors, after taper is finished.

 

good luck and enjoy your life!

MiYu

Thank you for coming back and sharing your success! So important for us ....especially meaningful to me as I’ve been on them decades also .  Best of everything to you !