New symptoms?????

Can things get worse from here? I'm going on 6 months off and have had about 22 symptoms. Down to maybe 5. Can I get hit with anything new?? So fearful of what's to come.

Well, I can tell which symptom you still have, FEAR and it's a nasty one.  It seems to me that you're going in the right direction as far as symptoms go, but you know how it is, they come, they go, they come back, it drives us crazy. 

 

Try not to look for them, because you just might find them, and who needs more misery, right?  I was so devastated when I hit my 6 month mark, for some reason I built that milestone up in my head and I was crushed when it came and went.  Did you place a 6 month recovery time frame on your recovery too?

 

 

Well, I can tell which symptom you still have, FEAR and it's a nasty one.  It seems to me that you're going in the right direction as far as symptoms go, but you know how it is, they come, they go, they come back, it drives us crazy. 

 

Try not to look for them, because you just might find them, and who needs more misery, right?  I was so devastated when I hit my 6 month mark, for some reason I built that milestone up in my head and I was crushed when it came and went.  Did you place a 6 month recovery time frame on your recovery too?

I believed that since I was only on them for 4 weeks that I would heal very early. Honestly, I'm still confused  and angry about all of this. I am in total disbelief that I am here. And yes FEAR is always there. Even when I'm feeling good its still there because I know it won't last.

I swear it makes no sense to me.  It sure is makes no sense that you could be suffering like this.  I m truly sorry and the FEAR is awful and I know your pain!💜✌️💪🙏

 

B

I can sure relate to how you feel. Even though I am a nurse, I didn't know a darn thing about benzo wd until I went through it. Talk about a learning experience!

What you are feeling is very normal. Expect withdrawal symptoms to wax and wane over time, with new symptoms possibly appearing and older ones fading away. Because benzo work on your brain, ALL your wd symptoms come from your brain. That means almost ANY sort of weird symptom can occur. Name on - I am sure I had it too.

I actually think you are doing fantastically well. If you are down to maybe 5 symptoms, you are doing great. Keep on going, don't look back and never make this mistake again.

You have done a very GOOD thing, just for yourself.

east

It’s the fear and anxiety that makes the symptom worse than it is. When your out of this wave you’ll understand. Even if you do get a new symptom generally it’s when another one disappears. New symptoms can be a sign of healing and readjustment back to normal . See it as a journey your brain needs to take x

I drank, smoked and took supplements deep into ct withdrawal and I can tell you for a fact that it caused new symptoms to pop up Months and months after my last benzo. Symptoms that I still have now. Staying away from the main stuff that can cause setbacks is the number one thing you can do.

Nice posts, Accused and Shania. We have been conditioned to assume that if something does not feel right, we need to take a pill. How wrong that is. Of course, if it is a problem with your heart or lungs, of course you might need to take a medication. That is very different. Human brains come equipped to deal with all sort of injuries. The mild and temporary brain damage of benzo use/withdrawal CAN be healed , but only from within your brain. Supplements have no effect on this no matter what BS you read here or elsewhere.  I still find it amazing to see patients with far worse brain injuries (strokes, car accidents, falls, etc) can heal themselves and the medical people basically just monitor them and give drugs to fix problems that come up during recovery. Say I have a stroke patient. Male, obese, has some COPD from smoking. And he is diabetic. The medical people monitor his blood sugars, give insulin IF needed. We check vital signs. We monitor his O2 saturations. And his BP and pulse. If his oxygen goes down, we give him added oxygen. We will give him IV fluids because he, at this point, cannot drink enough fluids. We keep an eye on his urine output, via the foley cath we put in him. We look at him, and note the color of his skin (which can indicate serious problems. (Think of jaundice.) We test his reflexes. We do EKGs when needed even though he is on a Monitor 24/7. Labs are done almost every day. Okay. Now, a week later, this man "wakes up". He will be scared out of his mind. He needs to make sure he has not died. Oh how awful that must be. And since I have been through something much like this PERSONALLY,  I do know how awful it feels. As he slowly comes back to consciousness, his mind is not working at full speed. He is a bit confused. He has no idea what day it is, and he doesnt give a flying frisk who the President is!!!  He stays with us for over a week, and then is moved out of the Step Down Unit onto the Medical unit. Over time, his brain will slowly start to heal from this major and massive trauma. In 2 weeks, he can walk again. His speech is still a bit garbled, but it becomes obvious that his mind IS working again, with fits and starts. His healing is so slow, and he is terrified. His mind tells him he will never recover, but he keeps on going, because what else can he do?

Does this sound familiar to you? It should.

Okay. A month later, this patient is walking, slowly and only with a walker. His mind has started to return. He struggles to find the correct words, but he somehow makes his needs know. He is still scared as hell. I did not tell you how old he is, but lets pretend he is 68 years old. WAY too young to die, but he knows his life has limits on time. ANYONE over 60 years old understands this. We could die tomorrow! We just dont know. And to have a serious stroke...oh my God, how terrifying that must be.

Two months later he comes in for a check up. He still needs the walker, but his mind is almost completely back in working order. His speech is now fine. He can eat and drink and he can laugh! He is once again able to see the humor in lifes strange situations. He can again do the crossword puzzles he liked before this happened. He can read his books, watch TV, a movie, and he feels almost normal now.

I have seen this sort of story over and over - thirty years being a nurse - and I can tell you that for the most part, people who have some sort of brain injury DO recover. The damage benzos do is SO less serious. If you doubt that, think about this: would you rather get off benzos or be hit by a truck with head injuries?

 

What we benzo people go through is horrible. Amazingly so. A lot of that is the fact we did not KNOW how awful benzo wd can be. I am certainly never going to minimize how awful benzo wd is... because for some it IS simply awful. Was for me. But I would prefer to go through that rather than try to recover from a serious stroke or car accident head injury. With benzo wd, we have better odds. All it takes is the determination to wait it out np matter how bad it feels.

Benzos CAN be dealt with. No matter how crappy you feel, keep in your mind that your brain WILL heal itself, and you will be YOU again. It just takes time....and the determination to stick it out.

Annie