Looking for withdrawal advice after a 'short' time of use

Hi there everyone

 

I'am about to grind through a days work so I'll keep it as brief as possible.

 

I am going through benzo withdrawal.

 

I have been taking diazepam.

 

For 7 weeks

 

10-30mg a day, every day, all from late afternoon into the evening, combined with 2-3 glasses of booze (beer, wine, whisky) and half a joints worth of weed, vaped.

 

I stopped taking them, no taper, 6 days ago.

 

Felt ill 48 hours later, been getting worse, yesterday was the worst. I completely span out with anxiety, depression, shakey hands etc.

 

I spent the afternoon researching my situation and all the info I found, and stories I found, seemed to refer to people who had been using for much, much longer periods of time. I don't know where I am on the spectrum of withdrawals and symptoms? I'm starting day 6 and woke up feeling a bit better.

 

I don't know if I should take again to start a taper or, given my 'shorter' term use, keep going without. I don't know if I'm through the worst of it or how long this will go on for.

 

Any and all advice would be ver, very much appreciated.

 

Thank you

 

 

 

 

 

Hello parker2328,

 

Welcome to BenzoBuddies, we are glad you are here!  Since you weren't a long-term user perhaps it won't take you as long to recover and heal.  One of the bigger risks with stopping benzos cold-turkey is seizures and I really don't know how much of a concern there would be after six days off - I certainly wouldn't want to advise you about that aspect but I do want you to know it is a possibility.  I'll put some links below for you and I'm sure you'll get some input from other members here.

 

After you get settled in, you can start posting.  Let us know if you have questions or need help.

 

Again, welcome,

 

Kate08

 

Cold Turkey, Detox & Rapid Withdrawal

 

The Ashton Manual

 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21815323/

Hi Parker and welcome to BB.

 

Hmmmm, this is a tough call. Valium has a really long half-life. Things will probably continue to get worse before they calm down and get better. Personally, I would try going back on the drug and do a slow taper.

 

Why the irregular dosing for 7 weeks? It does not sound like a doctor was prescribing these to you. Why did you decide to CT instead of doing a taper? It also sounds to me like you ran out and had no choice.

Hi and thanks for the welcome.

 

I wasn't prescribed. I was taking them recreationally. I have taken them in small quantities in the distant past, as a teen/early twenties to help get over party drug comedowns. I'm in my 40s now and all I do is lightly drink and vape weed. I saw the diazepam in the online vendor I use for weed. Like an idiot, doing no research, I bought a couple of packs and off I went. I stopped taking them because I recognized I was displaying addictive patterns and thoughts. So, again like an idiot, I just stopped taking them. Didn't occur to me until two days ago why I might be feeling so terrible. I still have 28 X 10mg tablets in the house but on the day I stopped I gave them to my partner to hide from me.....

Any further advice would be much appreciated...

I have addiction issues and my suggestion would be to continue your cold turkey, this is not in line with our general guidance but some of us who color outside of the lines need to take a different approach if done safely.  I quit cold turkey because I didn't know the drug had to be tapered but I doubt I would have been able to taper even if I'd known.

 

You may be capable of tapering but here is the reality of your situation.  You were on the drug for 7 weeks, you didn't have a set dose so going back on the drug and finding a stable place will involve slowly reintroducing the drug and because you don't want your starting dose to be high, you'll shoot for functional, not feeling good.  With Valium's half life so long you'll need to do this slowly, this means you'll be building up to your dose for at least a couple of weeks.  Once you do this, you'll start your taper and it won't be pain free, tapering isn't as painful as a cold turkey for most but there is plenty of suffering going on. 

 

I'm not sure I see a benefit for you to reinstate and taper especially if you have a limited supply of pills, you can of course continue to order them via the internet.  I know you're in pain and I'm not trying to talk you out of tapering but I do want you to know the reality you face. 

 

If you decide to continue your cold turkey there could be more symptoms coming your way as Antibenzo7 stated but if you accept this pain as your path to freedom it may help you get through it. 

 

Whatever you decide to do we'll support, no one knows what you can endure so no judgement from me. 

Thanks Pamster

 

Thank you, thats very helpful, as are all the above replies from members.

 

Currently, and appreciate its subjective, I guess I'm trying to find a rough timeline of how long the more serious, acute withdrawal symptoms last. Then I can make a decision on how best to proceed.

 

 

If you decide to continue your cold turkey there could be more symptoms coming your way as Antibenzo7 stated but if you accept this pain as your path to freedom it may help you get through it.

 

Yep, Pam is right. Things should get better and settle down eventually if you can hold on.

 

How do you feel today Parker?

 

 

I was able to return to my full time job 3 weeks after my cold turkey, that was my timeline.  This was in 2008 so I'm fuzzy on how I was actually feeling but I know I still suffering but functional enough to return to work.

Thanks Antibenzo and Pamster.

 

Just had my first night of real insomnia, feel awful this morning. I got in to this so naively and quickly, I didn't know I was in a CT until 2 days ago. This site is really helpful but is also freaking me out, I'm having to pluck the courage up just to check it a few times a day. there are so many awful stories and they all talk about long withdrawal and recovery times. I'm so scared I wish it were possible to know exactly when these acute symptoms will diminish. Pamster was helpful in letting me know she was back at work after 3 weeks, I'm self employed with a family to support, so another thats another major thing I'm worrying about.

I decided early on that I would avoid all the scary stories about benzo withdrawl and just focus what I needed to do each day for that day only.  The insomnia was tough but I stayed functional all through my taper and withdrawl.  I discovered that I could function reasonably well even when I had not slept much the night before - not ideal but it was doable.  Not everyone has a terrible time of it and I was determined to be one of those who didn't.  I know it feels scary and overwhelming but if you take things in small chunks and look for the positive, you can do this.

Thanks Kate08

 

Your reply made me feel a bit better. I needed to hear that. My whole situation has caught me so off guard. I hope to get to grips with it and get over the initial feelings of shock and shame I have on top of the CT symptoms.

Oh! In my panicked state over the last two days I forgot to mention some thing that may be important......

 

The first year of being a new father had been tough, re-adjusting to a new way of life, parenting pressures etc.

 

From Feb 2022 to May 2022 I was taking 20mg of SSRI Citalopram anti depressants.

I then felt much better and asked to come off them and tapered off them, as per my doctors schedule, over 4 weeks.

 

As stated in my original post I started taking diazepam recreationally (average 1.5-20mg per day) in late April 2022 for 7 weeks and I am now on day 7 of an acute cold turkey withdrawal. Its hell, the permanant state of anxiety (plus the big waves of anxiety) mixed with the insomnia are soooo bad.

 

 

 

Should I start back with the anti-depressants?

 

 

 

My view on ADs is that they are not without risk but inherently better to take to manage anxiety provided you can tolerate them and they work for you.

 

They are far easier to detox than benzos when you are ready to come off them, IMO and IME.

 

I personally never found them to be that helpful / effective.

 

All doctors will Rx ADs to you. Many will not however Rx benzos to you.

 

 

Thanks Kate08

 

Your reply made me feel a bit better. I needed to hear that. My whole situation has caught me so off guard. I hope to get to grips with it and get over the initial feelings of shock and shame I have on top of the CT symptoms.

 

My hope for you is that you will feel good about letting benzos (and alcohol?)  go from your life.  This is a huge change for the better on your part and certainly not easy!