Reinstatement at the end of a short taper - good idea?!

Hello! My first post so obviously terrified as to what's going on with my brain and body/convinced I've damaged myself permanently/wishing I could turn back time...all the usual! But I see so much support on this forum, encouragement and full recovery which is lovely.

 

So I was put on 1mg lorazepam twice a day for shortish term. In 5 weeks I took roughly 44mg (sometimes 2mg/day, sometimes 1, sometimes 0, and 0.5 for one week). Tapered very quickly to 1mg/day and then 0.5mg/day then stopped.

 

A week later was having rebound anxiety , so doc put me back on 0.5mg per day for a week, then swapped to 3mg diazepam for a week, then 2mg, then 1mg. I'm now having symptoms like ringing in my ears, tingling/burning skin, headaches, muscle spasms, but most pronounced is feelings of horror and dread and inability to sleep. Getting worse!

 

Saw a psychiatric team today and they've suggested reinstating to 8mg diazepam/day and using a slower taper.

 

But I'm not sure, I don't know enough - is reinstatement like this a good idea? It's been 11 weeks since I took first lorazepam pill.

 

Thanks for your advice

 

 

If you choose to up-dose, I could only increase my dose to the absolute minimum level required so that you're not miserable.

 

It's clear that they tapered you way too fast - twice.  We generally recommend reductions of no greater than 10% per cut.  They were reducing with 50% cuts.

 

Do your best to not add more negative feelings to those caused by the withdrawal.  Adding fear, dread only makes it worse.  Find something to do when you find yourself awake at 3 am.  I kept my laptop handy, and did web work until it was time to get up for work.  The more you can relax about the whole sleep thing, the faster sleep will return.

Hmmmmmm, I know your symptoms are bad, but how tolerable are they? Are you functioning? Like doing regular house stuff, working, exercising, etc?

You were on for such a short time (although that doesn't mean wd is easy by any means) but I mean, getting back on to do a taper.....

I don't think I would do it personally. If I was off I would stay off..IF I was functioning. Because if I were on benzos for just a matter of weeks there is no way I would get back on to taper for months and months and then probably face the same symptoms in the end!

And yes, we all support sensible tapers on here, I do too.

It's just whether or not you think you can push through currently.

You will be supported here either way!

I'm not functioning at all. Cannot sleep at all, and having constant terror/panic attacks. I have to place around the room at night freaking out and my mind is going crazy trying to work out what's the best thing to do...puah through or go back up, but if I go back up is it going to even help. If I push through it seems to be getting worse day by day. So no option feels right, and I'm imagining myself going crazy and ending up in a psychiatric ward rocking and crying. Please help....I can't feel like this for another moment. The doc has said to go back up to 8mg diazepam per day ....I don't know what to do. I'm desperate.

WarriorOne, I am so sorry you are suffering.  I jumped at 0.25mg after being on 3mg/day of Klonopin and did not do well.  After three days I reinstated at 0.5mg and tapered all the was down to 0.01mg and then jumped and I did not regret that decision. 

 

And we had a member here in your predicament a couple of months ago and she reinstated at a higher dose and after a week or so she posted she was feeling much better, had stabilized, and was going to do a slower taper.  I'm not necessarily recommending you do this but am just sharing those two experiences.  Some people just choose to grunt things out for a bit because it truly does get better.

 

All of that said, I still struggle with insomnia at times so as much as I don't like it, that is just part of it.

 

Kate 

I'm not functioning at all. Cannot sleep at all, and having constant terror/panic attacks. I have to place around the room at night freaking out and my mind is going crazy trying to work out what's the best thing to do...puah through or go back up, but if I go back up is it going to even help. If I push through it seems to be getting worse day by day. So no option feels right, and I'm imagining myself going crazy and ending up in a psychiatric ward rocking and crying. Please help....I can't feel like this for another moment. The doc has said to go back up to 8mg diazepam per day ....I don't know what to do. I'm desperate.

 

So sorry, I know it sucks

If you try to reinstate, think of it this way.....it will either work or it won't, but at least you would know!

I attempted to reinstate and it definitely did not work, but I was desperate to try. After that I knew I had no choice but to stay off.

 

But it does work for some. So I guess just a matter of trying?

Best of luck for sure!

If you made it 11 weeks, then definitely do not reinstate.  As others have mentioned,it may work, it may not.  Better to keep the benzos out of your system rather than start over.

 

I know things are rough now.  I jumped from .25 mg of lorazepam and I thought I was losing my mind—in fact, that’s how I found this site.  Now, 13 months later I’m so glad I kept pushing forward and did not reinstate. 

 

You need to learn how to deal with the symptoms.  Just the other night I had a panicky feeling, burning skin and tinnitus and I knew a wave was hitting me.  I did not fight it.  I got up had some milk and then sat down to work on a jigsaw puzzle.  By 4am I laid back down in the other room and fell asleep.  Don’t fight it, just accept it and focus on coming down.  Lavender baths were another great way to relax and mitigate symptoms.

 

We all react differently to this and so I can only share my experience, ultimately the choice is yours.  But either way, you need to learn how to handle the withdrawal symptoms, because you will have symptoms even with a perfect taper.

 

Good luck to you and I send you wishes for peace and tranquillity! 

Thanks all. I was so bad I was almost psychotic. Pacing endlessly in the rooms felt like I was in hell every waking moment and couldn't function so I really had no choice but to reinstate and go down properly. After all I was originally on 2mg lorazepam a day, and was never properly tapered off that. So I'm on 15mg diazepam now and doing a proper taper, as per Ashton, reducing by 1mg per 1-2 weeks. Even after reinstating, some original symptoms that could be withdrawal are present - tingling and numbness in hands and feet, muscle twitches and tinnitus, but the feeling of abject horror and like I'm in hell has subsided and I slept better last night.

 

 

Hi!

I had to reinstate after an 8 month taper and it took me another 8 months to finish the second taper, just for 6 months low dose of use of this drugs. Now I've been almost a year out and feel better. Yes, is kind of a roller coaster but getting heal every day. Don't worry about reinstatement. People that smoke try several times in average to quit. The main thing is not to be to obsessed with this. Reinstatement is a bad word here in BB. Very few people went thru the experience. Just go back to the dose you feel comfortable with and start a new SLOW taper as soon as you can. Don't monitor your self all the time and don't pay attention to the horror stories. You' get there!

Thanks all. I was so bad I was almost psychotic. Pacing endlessly in the rooms felt like I was in hell every waking moment and couldn't function so I really had no choice but to reinstate and go down properly. After all I was originally on 2mg lorazepam a day, and was never properly tapered off that. So I'm on 15mg diazepam now and doing a proper taper, as per Ashton, reducing by 1mg per 1-2 weeks. Even after reinstating, some original symptoms that could be withdrawal are present - tingling and numbness in hands and feet, muscle twitches and tinnitus, but the feeling of abject horror and like I'm in hell has subsided and I slept better last night.

 

If you're doing a lot better after just a single 15 mg diazepam dose, you can probably get fairly stable on 4 or 5 mg per day.  It takes a good two weeks for diazepam to build up in your body.  After one day, the build-up is roughly equivalent to a 3 mg dose taken regularly (I added 1-2 more mg to give you a little buffer).  So you might be able to stabilize on much less than 15 mg which will mean less tapering down the road.

Thanks all. I was so bad I was almost psychotic. Pacing endlessly in the rooms felt like I was in hell every waking moment and couldn't function so I really had no choice but to reinstate and go down properly. After all I was originally on 2mg lorazepam a day, and was never properly tapered off that. So I'm on 15mg diazepam now and doing a proper taper, as per Ashton, reducing by 1mg per 1-2 weeks. Even after reinstating, some original symptoms that could be withdrawal are present - tingling and numbness in hands and feet, muscle twitches and tinnitus, but the feeling of abject horror and like I'm in hell has subsided and I slept better last night.

 

I think you made the right decision for yourself. I know how it feels when you get to the point of feeling like I absolutely just can not take another min. of this torture. The key is to not give up. Don't think of it as starting over but rather trying a different approach that might be a little more kinder and gentler.