Lost with 3 Months Benzo Use -Off 1 Month CT

Hi guys,

 

I'm currently struggling with withdrawal symptoms from taking benzodiazepines for 3 months (First Temazepam and then Lorazepam for insomnia related to tinnitus).

My psychiatrist never told me to taper my dose when coming off, and she believes that 3 months falls under short term use, and does not require tapering. My symptoms include night sweats, morning waking panic attacks, irritability, inability to handle any stress, and recently hand tremors.

 

I'm trying to decide whether I should reinstate and find a way to taper correctly, or just white knuckle it and bear the protracted withdrawal syndrome that I appear to be experiencing.

Hello benzobrown, welcome to BenzoBuddies,

 

I'm sorry to hear you were prescribed a medication that when our body becomes dependent on it produces tinnitus and insomnia.  I've seen members become dependent on this drug in 10 days so I'm not surprised you're suffering as you are. 

 

Can you tell us what your dose was and how long it's been since you took your last dose, this will help us help you figure out what to do.  Reinstating is a tricky decision, it doesn't always work the way we hope it will and even with the best of tapers, there will still be symptoms involved.

 

I'd like to point you to some resources in case you decide to reinstate. Planning your taper (Taper Plans)

 

Also, if you'd like to connect with others going through this, feel free to start a thread on the  Withdrawal Support (during your taper) or Post-withdrawal Recovery Support boards depending on the decision you make about reinstatement.

 

I'm so sorry you find yourself in this situation.

 

We're glad you're here, I hope we can help you get through this.

 

Pamster

 

I was first put on Temazepam 15mg by my GP when I first experienced tinnitus along with panic attacks and no sleep. I tried to split the capsules and only take 7mg, but it was messy trying to estimate exactly how much was half of the powder. I had waking insomnia which means that I would fall asleep and wake up 3 hours later, unable to fall back asleep. So I decided to take half of the capsule before bed and the other half upon waking. I quickly developed a tolerance and within a few weeks, the temazepam stopped working. This was supposed to be used for onboarding Paxil (anti-depressant) which he also prescribed, but I was too afraid to start (I had seen horror stories on YouTube about SSRIs). I wish I had also searched for benzodiazepines, but I had no knowledge about them other than the fact that they were addictive. I was referred to a psychiatrist who was very eager to start prescribing drugs (a different SSRI Lexapro and Lorazepam 1mg). I told her I wanted to try to treat the insomnia first and that possibly my anxiety, irritability, and other symptoms would subside. After taking the Lexapro 5mg for 6 days and laying awake the whole night, I decided only to take the lorazepam for sleep. And it worked like magic. I only took half a dose .5mg and I felt so well rested the next morning I thought I was in heaven.  I was instructed to take it as needed for sleep and anxiety. I only took it a handful of times during the day for sudden anxiety, but I was sleeping great and thought I found the silver bullet.

One day about a month and a half later, I decided to google the medication and the first few search results were the usual WebMD and Mayo Clinic listings followed by some addiction recovery centers. The typical side effects did not alarm me, no did the warnings about abuse and addiction, since I was using it for a medical purpose under what a I thought was a doctor's supervision. I tried splitting the pills and skipping nights to see if I could get away with taking less. I didn't realize that I was staring to experience interdose withdrawals. After 2 months I decided I wanted to try to sleep on my own and decided to stop without renewing my prescription. I emailed my doctor and told her I was stopping, and she did not have a problem with it.

 

Although I could not sleep without it, I decided to try some alternative sleep aids that were OTC or non habit forming. The doctor suggested Seroquel, which I tried twice and although knocked me out for a full 8 hours, gave me horrible nightmares and more anxiety the next day. I googled it and found out it was an antipsychotic, and decided not to touch it again. So I tried melatonin, ashwagandha, valerian, Rozerem and Belsomra. Nothing kept me asleep.

 

Before getting on Lorazepam, I had anxiety attacks while laying in bed at night from intrusive thoughts, thinking about my future, how the tinnitus meant that I would never experience silience, how the insomnia was damaging my brain etc. The anxiety was clearly linked to my thoughts, no matter how distorted they may have been.

 

The difference is that now 1 month after quitting cold turkey, I have full panic attacks upon waking, unprovoked by any thoughts. My only savior is to run into a hot shower and eat a bowl of hot oatmeal immediately after. I'm scared to go to sleep.

 

My psychiatrist said that she had never seen a patient develop withdrawal symptoms a month after cessation especially after having taking it for only 3 months on such a low dose. Someone in a Facebook forum finally told me that I was experiencing protracted benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome. The lightbulb finally went off and I sent my psychiatrist a link to the relevant article. She still would not admit that this was indeed my case, but she did admit that she wasn't an expert on benzodiazepines and told me all she could do is refer me to the addiction/recovery department of the hospital. I'm waiting for a zoom meeting with them next Monday.

You sought help for a condition and ended up much worse, I'm so sorry but your story is very common around here.  I hope your meeting with the addiction specialist goes well but please know that you're not an addict, your body became dependent on a drug prescribed by your Dr, even addiction specialists aren't fully educated about benzodiazepines and especially the people who use them as prescribed.

 

We can help and support you through this, please look around our forum to educate yourself about this process so you can make an informed decision about whether to continue your cold turkey or reinstate.

 

The recovery process for those who suffer from benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome is long, your brain made changes to how it functions to accommodate the presence of the drug, once the drug is removed, it takes awhile for the brain to get back it's normal function.  We measure recovery in terms of months and years around here, we designate someone to most likely be in the protracted group when they've passed two years and are still suffering. 

 

Hopefully you're only looking at a few weeks.

 

 

Thanks for responding. Is there any way to predict the length of one's recovery based on prior usage and dose or does it vary too much from person to person? Since the addiction specialists might not be fully educated on the subject, I'm not sure they will give me the best advice on which course to follow. I will ask users with similar profiles to share their experiences in a post. 

From what I've seen here, a greater number of short time users recover sooner than those who use the drug for years but there are outliers of course.  And you're right, there are so many variables, general health, age, genetics, lifestyle, other medications and existing medical conditions.  We all suffer benzodiazepine withdrawal but it takes many forms because not two of us are alike.

 

The Ashton Manual is a great resource for understanding what benzo's do to us and chapter 3 will list your symptoms and why you feel them.

 

Asking others in similar situations is a good place to start and although you didn't ask for my opinion I'm going to give it to you anyway because I have cold turkey experience.  If you're functional, I'd probably white knuckle your way through this because we just don't know if reinstating would give you any relief or what dose would provide that relief if any.  Once we our body gets into withdrawal mode it's tough to bring it back out, oftentimes members have to go up in dose.

 

 

 

 

Thanks, so reinstating sounds like it carries its own risks. I haven't been able to sleep more than 3-4 hours interrupted per night. I get strange brain zaps at certain times that wake me instantly. I'm not able to hold down a job and can barely get in any exercise, although I try like hell. I went through derealization, depersonalization experiences right after my jump, but they have not returned. What I do have is morning panic attacks that have me running around like a chicken with it head cut off. I can get relief after a hot shower and a bowl of oatmeal, but I don't think it good for my heart long term. The vision in one of my eyes appears to have become blurry. I think if I could sleep longer I might have a chance to come out of this, but I'm scared of even OTC sleep meds and even herbal supplements. I'm currently taking only magnesium to relax me, but even that seems controversial for some reason.

I know these symptoms are lousy but its amazing you're getting so much sleep, I feel this is a good sign.  You must think I'm crazy to say that 3-4 hours of sleep is a good thing but around here, it is. 

 

There are tools you can use to combat your symptoms with distraction being the most important one, it gives them less power.  You're right to be concerned about other medication and supplements, our CNS is highly sensitized and we don't know how our body will react to other substances, they affect us all differently.

 

I'm glad to hear the DR/DP hasn't returned, this is another good sign you're healing.  Our symptoms will wax and wane, some leaving with others taking their place but as long as you remain benzo free and avoid alcohol and z-drugs you're healing, even though it doesn't feel like it.

 

Most of our members have trouble in the mornings, this post isn't talking about benzo mornings but it gives some good tips to combat what you're dealing with. Understanding Morning Anxiety

 

Have you read this post?  What is happening in your brain

Interesting posts, especially the one about morning anxiety. Technically it isn't morning anxiety, so much as waking anxiety that usually happens sometime between 2-4am.

The alarm is in my brain and it's difficult to predict when it will go off. Since I quit all of my other supplements 2 nights ago, I can now only get 1-2 hours sleep. I'm going to try tart cherry juice and taurine, in addition to Magnesium citrate, zinc, and b-complex (since people seem to think these don't interfere with GABA receptors).

Wow, your anxiety actually wakes you up, that's awful! 

 

You may have mentioned what supplements you were taking for sleep, what were they and do you feel they weren't causing you issues?  I'd hate to see you throw out a tried and true supplement for ones you haven't tried before.  If they were working for you, it might be better to keep taking them rather than risking something new.

 

 

I was taking valerian root, melatonin, L-theanine and a sleep tea with passion flower, chamomile and some herbs.

I had also been taking ashwagandha, but read some negative articles which claimed that it shouldn't be used for over 3 months at a time, as it upsets hormone balance.

Well good grief, its rough trying to figure out what works and what hurts!  I didn't use supplements when I was recovering so if you decide to play it safe and abstain from adding unknowns, it's an option.

Hey BB, 3-4 hours sleep a night is pretty typical during wd, and to be honest slot of us would love that amount every night. I’m lucky to get that every second night. There are lots of buddies here that struggle with bad insomnia and made it to the other side. We will too. Keep the hope x it’s very difficult at times but please know u are not alone x