Caught Between a Paradox and Withdrawal.
Still just a theory, but with lots of reason and building evidence. It is not a "hypothesis". It is a theory.
In scientific reasoning, a hypothesis is an assumption made before any research has been completed for the sake of testing. A theory on the other hand is a principle set to explain phenomena already supported by data.
Two things are happening to people in so-called withdrawal. But it is important to see these two things as independent yet compounding events in those that have both.
1) The standard conventional withdrawal.
These types of withdrawals work well for taperers. People can even get off them with little to no problems if they are totally stable on the drug when they come off. I've done it myself in a matter of days (3 times prior to the abominable to come). Months of withdrawal, but it was never severe.
2) A reactive effect that literally does damage to the Central Nervous System that takes indefinite amounts of years to recover from. Occasionally it's permanent to a degree.
These types are actually not withdrawals They are "reactions", but they also include the standard withdrawal which happens simultaneously and compounds the problem like salt on an open wound.
People doing tapers during this are actually reacting more and more as they taper. And although the withdrawal may get some better as they reduce, the reaction continues on. The consequence of this is that people end up in protracted as the reaction is harder to recover from than is the actual withdrawal. Much harder. Also, they might spend more time tapering because they think that getting worse is a sign of the need to hold. Often years of trying to "hold" upon group advice.
Tapers usually make these people no better and sometimes dramatically backfire. People often mistake this for tolerance when it is actually a reaction that tends to build with the addition of more of the drug, and less so with less of the drug. Upping the dose may or may not help for a short period but would never get rid of the reaction. The reaction would continue to build. Lowering the dose would help "only" with the conventional withdrawal, but actually makes this long-term damage worse.
With this problem, taperers would be better in the long term with a cold-turkey or rapid taper, as it would leave less of a reactive state to recover from. However, the acute phase would be compounded as the pain etc from the reactive state is compounded by the loss of the positive effects of the drug as one heals a tad from the conventional withdrawal (the salt on the wound). Once the actual withdrawal is over, the protracted phase might go on for several years or more due to the damage from this reactive state.
The consequences of the reactive state:
The "much" larger problem here is the reactive state. If one remained in that reactive state for a very long period, the damage from the sensitivity of the reactive state might be nearly UNLIMITED.
This theory can help explain kindling as well. Kindling is a CONTINUATION of the reactive state, but only after that reactive state has been initiated. Each consecutive withdrawal would be intensified and take more time to heal from, and often MUCH MUCH longer.
Although reinstating may initially help, the reaction begins immediately, instead of delayed. The speed of the build in the reaction with a direct correlation to the addition of the amount of the drug intensifies and quicker sensitivity/damage becomes the norm. The result is typically a longer and more intense so-called withdrawal than the last, given that the amount of time back on the drug is not very limited. And often severely so.
This also explains the differences in the time it takes to heal. A cold turkey effect might produce longer-lasting protracted withdrawals only if the person had been reacting for a large portion of time beforehand. Even sometimes for years. In the case of taperers, they might be made worse from a "further" problem of tapering from this reactive state. Although they may or may not have an easier time getting off than a cold turkey (due to healing from the conventional withdrawal little by little instead of tossing all the salt on the open wound), the taper "Itself" may be an "ADDITION" to their reactive state, although less and less during the taper. So, as a result, these people may end up in a "several-year" withdrawal that may take much longer to recover from than many cold turkeys. And make all these other variables nearly trivial.
As you can see, many of the phenomena here are explained that cannot be explained by current means.
1) Kindling
2) Why both taperers and cold turkeyers both end up in protracted.
3) Tapers are so unbelievably hard, especially near the end.
And much more...
The reason people get stuck on their tapers and "cannot go up" and "cannot go down" is the definition of "Being Caught Between A Paradoxical Reaction And The Withdrawal Itself"
The key observation here is "the people in these reactive states for the "longest time" and with the "fasting building reactions" in "so-called" tolerance, or on a taper, or both" would have the longest and likely most intense withdrawals regardless of cold turkey or taper. However, for some, a taper adds to the problem. And yet for those that weren't reacting heavily for months to years, a taper might certainly ease the acute stage allowing them to get off without a way more extreme withdrawal. Often is very minimal.
Consequently, a taper might actually "throw" a small percent into an extreme acute phase rather than cushioning it from the reductions. And this due to the direct damage from the reactive state.
If the theory is correct, "I DON'T AT ALL" suggest that everyone cold turkey, but I do suggest that people who were in tolerance and getting severe problems for many months or even years do not drag out their taper. The faster you get off, the better. But this is only true with "regard to safety". The acute stage would be a monster when combined with the damage done to the nerves via reaction. But avoiding the reaction might just keep one from a several-year, or worse withdrawal.
