Day 0 sober; Help planning for inpatient rehab detox- items to bring for comfort

As you can see from my signature progress log, it kind of stopped. You can guess why. I'm back at the abuse. I had somewhat of an epiphany. I went to see a family member for a few days. The last day, they knew and told me that something was wrong; I'm detached and basically void. Drinking too much alcohol whenever I get the chance.

 

I asked for pictures from the visit, and they sent some. I looked at myself in those pictures, and I saw exactly what was described. I am a zombie. A "bartard" essentially, without me even realizing it. All I knew before was that without Xanax, I am extremely anxious. With Xanax, I am relaxed at the right dosage (HIGH).

 

I decided to go to a rehab for a detox, typically 10 days. I will be going within a few days after my prescription runs out, which was filled a few days ago & I decided not to order 1/4 or 1/2 a gram of pure alprazolam/Xanax powder + shut down my account, so it's essentially there's no other option than to go to detox for high dose daily benzo usage (6-15mg/day, it's really hard to tell honestly).

 

Bio: prescribed 0.25mg alprazolam 3x daily. I've been often taking about 5 of those for a "small dose" with little effect, often still in subtle withdrawal, lately. Main addiction is illicit alprazolam powder which I dissolve in liquid and dose 2mg or higher per dose multiple times daily. The prescription is almost out, so I plan on going to rehab this week just after it runs out, so I'm starting rehab in WD (not fucked up) in order to get their standard barbiturate substitute, taper going on ASAP when I get there.

 

TLDR;So, I decided to plan out extensively how this will work out. It's a 10 day detox. I got my pet situation under control. Insurance, likely to be approved tomorrow.

 

But what should I bring? What should I ask for? Need some items for comfort.

 

You're not allowed to have your phone or electronics during rehab, and no OTC meds/Rx is filled by them. The only source of nicotine is cigarettes, dip, maybe snus, and nicotine gum if they prescribe it, and a nic source is something I'd 100% want to soothe some symptoms.

 

Aside from those types of things, what else do you think I should bring that might help, aside from the usual shampoo/daily basics?

 

What should I ask about in terms of meds? You see a Dr daily during detox, and they prescribe many psych meds.

 

I know this fast taper will be hell, and I'll need items to turn my attention away from agonizing withdrawal.

 

I have to be done with detox before Christmas/January 1st because I have some family plans + insurance reasons.

I dont mean to scare you. But I dont think you have a clue what you're in for. Best of luck though. Dm me if you want to know what's going to happen.

Withdrawal takes a LOT longer then 10 days, typically it takes months. 

I would like to be supportive here but something tells me that this post is a sick joke.

I would like to be supportive here but something tells me that this post is a sick joke.

 

I really wish I was that clown/troll making this post to get a rise out of you all. I wish I was a sadist making a sick joke, or made this post to get attention. I wish I was in that situation rather than the reality I've typed.

 

Withdrawal takes a LOT longer then 10 days, typically it takes months. 

 

I'm very aware. Been through it before. Acute WD from a similar habit took a few weeks, but post acute symptoms (still hellish) does last for months.

 

I dont mean to scare you. But I dont think you have a clue what you're in for. Best of luck though. Dm me if you want to know what's going to happen.

 

Thanks for the support. I know what I'm in for exactly, as I've done this some years ago (rapid detox), so that's stressing me out more. Unfortunately, I'm all out of options.

 

The responses so far have reminded me the hell I'm in for. I just need to be alive when it's over, and this method ensures that at the very least (anti-epileptics, so I have no seizure). I just want to be a little bit more comfortable, if that word can even be mentioned, in the detox facility.

Good luck..

 

I cant realy do this subject again right now, But If you have any meds that you may need on even rare occasions, pls be sure that they will let you have them.. Even though I took mine with me, I found that a Dr to "approve" them was suddenly unavailable...(over a long weekend)..

Dot the I's and cross the T's..

-Phone money/card,

-Escape plan, (someone that could pick you up)

-A note pad and pen to document with...

-Important numbers, ICE contact, Drs etc..

-warm clothes??

-and maybe some lollies..

 

 

I do hope it goes well, and you have some support when you get out...

-Perhaps get some food and frozen meals prepared for then too..??

 

Have you actually been a detox inpatient before..??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've been through a hospital "detox," and having gone through thar awful experience once, would never put myself through it again.  So, I don't really understand your reasoning in wanting to go through it again. 

 

I have been to a voluntary hospital detox, sent there by a well meaning but clueless doctor to get off xanax.  It was only 4 days, but it was awful.  I don't recommend this to anyone.  Far from being an "easy" way to get off benzos, as some seem to think, it's literally going from the frying pan into the fire for most of us who've experienced it:

 

Nine years ago, I went to a major Seattle hospital for "detox" where the doctor was supposed to be a "benzo expert."  He wasn't, and I only saw him for a few minutes the whole time.  All they did was cold turkey me off a high dose of xanax, feed me, and monitor my blood pressure for 4 days.  I was the only benzo person on a floor full of alcoholics, and there was NO follow up treatment or counseling.  Price: $16,000 (2009).  Afterwards, I had hellish relentless symptoms that never stopped.  These were so bad that I reinstated 4 months later, only to taper off a few years later.  I'd kindled by then, and it 2.5 years for me to heal.

 

 

MOST detox places are simply a safe place to go cold turkey. IF you have a seizure, you will be sent to the nearest ER.

I never suggest Detox places, but in all truth, for SOME people it may be their only chance.

It is just like going cold turkey. This is never the safest thing to do but for a FEW people (and I am one of them-) it will be their only hope at getting off benzos. Some people are just SO mentally and physically addicted that going CT may be their only hope. I did not know it but I had reached the total end of my own rope, after taking benzos for 30 long years. Plus I drank too much. Recipe for disaster, huh? I weighed 85 lbs the day I was forced to go cold turkey and forced to go into a detox. I  was using a walker because my balance was so bad. I did not know it then but benzos were the cause of almost ALL of my medical problems and symptoms. The detox place treated me like a street addict. They took all my belongings and went through them, looking for drugs or weapons. I was not allowed my cell phone or anything else. Just their dingy smelly gowns. And thus my cold turkey began. Four days later, my insurance refused to pay, and I was sent home in full blown withdrawal.

Now, having said this, I will also tell you that going CT was MY only chance of getting off benzos. I cannot tell you what to do. Only YOU know the depth of your addictions.

 

There is no shame in having an addiction. Some of it is simply a chemical reaction in the body. You are not like a street addict, searching for heroin in some alley. But addicted you are, and now you have to face how you will STOP this nonsense. Feel free to private message me if that would help you.

east

MOST detox places are simply a safe place to go cold turkey. IF you have a seizure, you will be sent to the nearest ER.

I never suggest Detox places, but in all truth, for SOME people it may be their only chance.

It is just like going cold turkey. This is never the safest thing to do but for a FEW people (and I am one of them-) it will be their only hope at getting off benzos. Some people are just SO mentally and physically addicted that going CT may be their only hope. I did not know it but I had reached the total end of my own rope, after taking benzos for 30 long years. Plus I drank too much. Recipe for disaster, huh? I weighed 85 lbs the day I was forced to go cold turkey and forced to go into a detox. I  was using a walker because my balance was so bad. I did not know it then but benzos were the cause of almost ALL of my medical problems and symptoms. The detox place treated me like a street addict. They took all my belongings and went through them, looking for drugs or weapons. I was not allowed my cell phone or anything else. Just their dingy smelly gowns. And thus my cold turkey began. Four days later, my insurance refused to pay, and I was sent home in full blown withdrawal.

Now, having said this, I will also tell you that going CT was MY only chance of getting off benzos. I cannot tell you what to do. Only YOU know the depth of your addictions.

 

There is no shame in having an addiction. Some of it is simply a chemical reaction in the body. You are not like a street addict, searching for heroin in some alley. But addicted you are, and now you have to face how you will STOP this nonsense. Feel free to private message me if that would help you.

east

 

I agree with this and it's a smart thing to point out, eastcoast.  This happens.  Horrific experience indeed but for some, recognizing this might be their situation and having someone who's been through it, acknowledge it like you are can help save a person's life when the alternative is perpetual and deepening addiction and despair.

 

I would personally look for a place that does the flumazenil treatment if I was in this spot.  It has been reported on as successful in some case study journal articles.

No way. Flumazenil is a drug that does not have a long track record and the long term results of using it are not known.

We benzo people HAVE to get over the notion that a drug will help us! Most educated people all over the world have been led to believe that if something is not right, some pill will help us. Well, it just is not so. That thinking led us to take benzos, and where did that get us? Nowhere but trouble. The fewer pills the better, is MY guiding light. I only take three now. All are for hypertension.

And, my friend, you just cannot believe what you read online. Much, of it is utter garbage.Designed to make you spend your money. Do NOT believe everything you read online.

east

No way. Flumazenil is a drug that does not have a long track record and the long term results of using it are not known.

We benzo people HAVE to get over the notion that a drug will help us! Most educated people all over the world have been led to believe that if something is not right, some pill will help us. Well, it just is not so. That thinking led us to take benzos, and where did that get us? Nowhere but trouble. The fewer pills the better, is MY guiding light. I only take three now. All are for hypertension.

And, my friend, you just cannot believe what you read online. Much, of it is utter garbage.Designed to make you spend your money. Do NOT believe everything you read online.

east

 

Oh yeah, definitely.  In this desperate situation, I would absolutely consider it.  I'm not referring to any online articles.  I'm talking about controlled intervention and observation case studies published in the academic medical research literature.  Don't throw out the baby with the bath water here.    The OP is on "6-15mg/day" xanax.  A CT could kill them or permanently disable them.  That's what we're talking about and to not consider because "the fewer the pills the better" is missing the gravity of the situation.  It's ok to rely on what has previously been successful.  There was one research article in particular I was looking at it.  Having trouble finding it.  Will post if I do.

Here's the thread discussing it: http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=210927.0

 

There's a link to the actual full text research article here: http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=210927.msg2719981#msg2719981

Two very good points about this very bad situation (if it is real):

1. I too did a C/T with a 8 day rapid detox from a much lower dose and was drinking ... I survived barely. But EVEN with my protracted symptoms, I still think this was the better way to get off this medication for me as I would simply have never been able to taper as slowly as the Ashton method for lack of will power not knowing that acceptance was the key. This is why I am suggesting faster taper schedule (NOT rapid or even close to that stupidly did out of ignorance) so people can know there is a determinate end of weeks or moths rather than YEARS of parodixical affects. I would be a statistic if I had to or was forced to taper and endure pain for that long. No question there.

2. Seltz is absolutely correct. Again, if the information is true then the OP will be disabled for life he does a 10 day detox. No question there. SO if this truly the only and last resort- he needs SOMETHING for this process or he won’t survive.

 

I think I need to stay away from posts like this. Very triggering. 

The detox sounds like your only option. Be CONFIDENT, although it will suck.

Sorry, but I still don't understand some of the reasoning here.  A few salient points:

 

Most U.S. Detoxes cold turkey you the minute you arrive.  Then they monitor you for a few days and release you. 

 

Even if they allow you to "taper" for 10 days, thats essentially the same as a cold turkey.

 

I was on 5-6 mgs of xanax a day and was ct'd.  The experts in that hospital didn't seem worried i would die, they did it anyway.

 

What about after your detox?  Will you be able to control your xanax addiction?  If not, it will have been for nothing.

 

We've had members here taper off high doses of xanax before, it's not an easy thing to do, but many havedone it.

 

In the end, it is your decision.  Many of us have been through detox experiences, and most would not recommend it.

 

 

I nearly went to a detox center earlier in the year when I was in very bad shape and looking for a benzo wise doctor! I was talked out of it on here luckily. Today I am on .5mg clonazepam per day, I started at 3mg with the benzo dr. You should listen to the people here who have tried detox centers. I think they should be an absolute last resort! Take yourself down easily. Make your taper like removing drops of water from a bucket so you barely notice, and not full-blown hellacious withdrawal!

Megan has a few very good points.

 

 

´I have to be done with detox before Christmas/January 1st because I have some family plans + insurance reasons.´ An honest reply: forget about that !

 

High dose, variable, 6 monhts: tough call. You realize it will essentially be a cold turkey ? I don´t know if they will prescribe pheno which may help a little, or one of those unhelpful antipsychotics and antidepressants (still in fashion?) Maybe it´s doable. High dose, tough benzo, 6 months: coin toss IMO.

I am very concerned about you. Your drug history is similar to mine. Some people just do crave relief and drugs and alcohol provide this but at a huge price. I am so sorry you have to go through this. BUT - if you DO get through this, it will bring you the true relief you always were looking for.

 

 

Detox centers just do not know what to do with benzo people. BUT - for a few people, going CT MAY be their only chance. Was for me. I did not understand how addicted I truly was until I went CT starting in a detox unit. I soon found out how addicted I truly was. Withdrawal was awful. BUT - now that I am healed I am so glad I was forced to do this. You are not being forced. It sounds like you decided to enter a detox voluntarily. This tells me that you have a sense of the huge problem you have. Addictions are very hard to admit to much less work on. Addictions are hard to live with and harder to "fix" but the pay off is enormous.

 

 

From your name and other clues I sense you have attrended12 Step meetings. This is a VERY good thing for many of us. The 12 Steps are incredibly wonderfull tools to help people like us.

 

 

If going into a  detox center makes good sense to you, then DO it. I know that flies in the face of the standard BB advice, but so what. SOME people need to go CT and learn the hard way what benzos did to them. Amen.

 

 

Now, please tell us how you are doing. I am worried about you.

east