I feel I am past the benzos

I am at 75 days post-benzos and feel that I am completely healed with one possible exception.

 

I have had some muscle, tendon and ligament soreness. I’m not at all sure it is due to the benzos. Regardless, if it is from the benzos, I know it has improved and is extremely mild at this point.

 

My symptoms aligned with much what I have read about on this site but quite mild compared to what others report.

 

I used a daily liquid micro-taper and tapered by tiny amounts. I also went to zero.

I worked full time (but have worked from home for years), did at least 90% of what I would normally have done during the entire time, though with COVID going on, I wasn’t out as much as I would have otherwise been.

 

I took the benzos because of dizziness (long term ear problems). I feel that that could have made it easier for me. I don’t have generalized anxiety, so when WD made me feel a bit “off”, I didn’t really mind it. I was never on a high dose of benzos, so perhaps that helped as well. I had zero cravings for a benzo except in the first few days of tapering when I thought multiple doses would help, they didn’t. Later on, multiple doses did help.

My husband and friends were all incredibly supportive. Most of my doctors were supportive, any of them would have helped me to have enough medication to taper and left me to decide what worked for me.

 

Benzo Buddies was the hugest help. I was helped to get my taper sorted out and all of my questions were answered. I will never forget the kindness and support from the site from so many people that were truly suffering, yet they still helped me. Knowing I could always go to BB and find support was amazing.

 

I tried to improve my coping skills, I tried to learn about myself and others during the process and I really learned from other peoples’ stories, not just about benzos but about life. When I did get WD symptoms, my first thought was what can I do to minimize them? I found that often times, I could. When I could not lessen them I just kept telling myself, time will take care of it.

 

I don’t believe there is an answer as to one person will feel compared to another, so my conclusion is that a lot of it comes down to luck. I do know this, time is very important and doing anything possible to have the patience to take the time to heal is the most important component of getting past the benzos.

 

I observed on this site that to always keep hope alive and to believe time will take care of it. If you can manage to take anything good from the experience, I think that goes a long way as well.

 

I hope that everyone here finds the path that works for them and emerges with a better life and an amazing future.

 

Thank you Benzo Buddies!

 

 

Congrats on your success so far. Wishing you a healthy life. 

Thanks LadyDen. I hope you have a really long window for the holidays, actually, I wish that for everyone here. I've really appreciated reading your posts, you've got a great attitude.

I'm very happy for you, thank you for writing your success story.  Having a mild taper and recovery can give hope to many, we tend to be the worst of the worst and the stories can be frightening so hearing one like yours serves a useful purpose. 

 

 

I'm so happy for you! Congrats

Thanks LadyDen. I hope you have a really long window for the holidays, actually, I wish that for everyone here. I've really appreciated reading your posts, you've got a great attitude.

How very sweet of you 3B  I’m happy to spread the positivity. I also am hoping for a long window to enjoy what I can and who I have. It’s been an extremely hard road for me but when I see posts like yours, I have no words for the hope it brings. I truly wish you the best life possible. It would be nice for you to come back in a few months to tell us all the fun you’ve been having. 

I’m so happy for you!  Hoping that I can say the same at 75 days.  All the best to you

Thanks Pamster, as always. What you do for all of us here is incredible.

 

Hurricane Season - you just keep getting better with your benzo fight and will be writing your sucess story soon.

 

LadyDen - I'm not going to disappear, there are too many here that I want to congratulate when they take their last dose or write their sucess stories.

 

I never stopped having fun while I tapered. Even though if I didn't feel 100% I'd take what I had and did as much as I could that day or that hour. Again, though, my symptoms were mild enough to let me do that.

 

I never doubted that getting off the benzo made sense and was 100% committed to doing it. I didn't care if it took longer or not, I cared mostly about hoping I was giving myself the best shot at succeeding. I believed the symptoms were a part of that and just did my best to work around them. If I was not successful on a particular day, then it was just a "page turner day" and hoped tomorrow would be better.

 

Still, I can't lie and say that being done tapering and off the benzos doesn't make it easier to be happy and have more fun.

 

Thanks Heremerohr! You are one of the ones I am hanging around to see a success story from! Shoot for better than me at day 75 and the best holidays ever.

 

I really feel that every success story on this site is because of this site. People here are fighting for their own futures and they are managing to do it while being kind, caring, compassionate and decent to one another. I have not ceased to be in awe of the people here and humbled by them. It's been my biggest life lesson from my benzo tapering.