Hello new friends

Hello,

I am currently tapering off ativan, which I was prescribed back in December for sudden severe insomnia.  The taper is going okayish, but I am having a weird symptom that I am not sure is related to the wd or not. I have this strange "doom" feeling much of the time. It does lift (thankfully) sometimes. But it's really uncomfortable. It just feels like something bad is about to happen, when it's not. No rapid heart beat to go along with the feeling.  Just a kinda underlying fear type feeling. Ugh. Anyways. Nice to meet everyone.

Hello Livingwell22, welcome to BenzoBuddies,

 

What you're feeling is a very common symptom, along with a disconnected feeling, like we're strangers to ourselves which makes it impossible to connect with others.  Fear is a huge symptom, we're afraid of things we've never had a second thought about so add these to about a million other symptoms and you have benzodiazepine withdrawal and recovery. 

 

We're happy you've joined us to better understand what you're feeling, not many can grasp the emotional, mental and physical suffering we go through so it's important to have validation.

 

What is your taper like, we typically suggest reducing your dose by about 5-10% every couple of weeks or whatever your symptoms dictate in order to stay functional, are you doing okay along those lines?

 

I'll give you a list of resources but I hope you'll let us know more of your story and if we can help you in any way.

 

Pamster

 

Colorado Consortium Benzodiazepine Deprescribing Guidelines

 

Planning Your Withdrawal (Taper)

 

Withdrawal Support (during your taper)

 

The Ashton Manual

 

 

 

Thank you so much for your reply. I have been going pretty slow, I think. I was originally on .5 ativan, .25 xanax (both prescribed) in December. Went up to 1 mg ativan and .25 xanax briefly. Another dr told me I shouldn't have been prescribed both xanax and ativan together and I was able to quickly get down to .75 ativan in February. Since then (Feb), I've been slowly tapering and am down to .11 dry weight ativan. Unfortunately I am also now taking 25mg Trazadone (started in February). Hoping to wean off that too, as I am not sure what symptoms are being caused by what medication.  I also realize I have some underlying issues that caused the insomnia in the first place, so I'm working on figuring that out too. Thank you! It's really nice to feel like I have somewhere to talk. I desperately want to get back to feeling like myself and being able to be a better mom and wife again.

I'm glad to hear you're tapering slowly, I hope you can keep going at your own pace letting your symptoms guide your reductions.  A lot of our members are taking or have taken Trazadone and most don't have a problem with it so if you can, I'd suggest holding off on tapering that until you're off the Ativan and recovered from your use.

 

I'm glad you're looking at what caused all of this in the first place, this is important because we have to find non drug ways to deal with what got us on the drug in the first place.  And please don't worry, you're going to be you again, you'll be able to feel the good emotions not just the negative ones.