2nd cut in dose - 10 days in and now having physical/emotional symptoms

Hi,

 

I am new here, I have posted in the welcome section. I had some questions.

 

This is my 2nd dose reduction and I tapered 2.5mg of Librium 10 days ago (Tuesday before last). About 3 days ago I started to get familiar bouts of being really emotional and my anxiety/panic/agoraphobia would increase. Today I woke up and I felt depressed/anxious AND now I have physical symtoms which I have not really experienced before. I am having this kind of transitory headache which comes and goes and isn't very severe. I am having feelings of chills and very fatigued -  like going to the bathroom feels like the hardest thing I could do. I am afraid to get out of bed and I am so scared that maybe it isn't the withdrawal but something more serious like a heart attack. I am trying to talk myself out of going to the emergency room. I have gone several times before only to be told I have panic/anxiety. There is nothing that feels that alarming but I do feel generally shitty and scared, scared scared. Is it normal for physical sensations to present themselves later on in a taper and not at first (i.e. first cut only really had emotional symptoms, now getting physical symptoms)? Is it okay for me to stay in bed and feel safe or should I try to get out and do something. I am away from my home town right now and my fiance' wants to go out and explore the city. I feel like curling up and staying put. I wish I knew with certainty that it is just w/d symptoms. I can really get myself worked up to believe there is something catastrophically wrong with me.

 

Thanks for hearing me out.

 

-R

Is it normal for physical sensations to present themselves later on in a taper and not at first (i.e. first cut only really had emotional symptoms, now getting physical symptoms)? Is it okay for me to stay in bed and feel safe or should I try to get out and do something. I am away from my home town right now and my fiance' wants to go out and explore the city. I feel like curling up and staying put. I wish I knew with certainty that it is just w/d symptoms. I can really get myself worked up to believe there is something catastrophically wrong with me.

 

 

The physical symptoms are very common with benzo withdrawal.  You can do a Search on terms like fatigue, spasms, tingling, just all kinds of physical sensations and find a ton of posts about it.  It is easy to let  your fears run away with you, so you need to start telling yourself "it is the withdrawal; it is temporary".  Of course, if you have other symptoms of a heart attack, you should get it checked out, but I'm afraid that the w/d symptoms will come and go for a while yet.

 

I don't know what to advise you about going out.  In general it's a good idea but you don't want to overdo physically. Are you comfortable telling your bf that you want to go home if you aren't feeling well?  Keep as busy as you comfortably can so you don't start obsessing about your feelings, okay?

 

Good luck. 

Hi tatnasty,

 

Sorry to hear you are feeling so bad. Mornings are usually the worse for most that are tapering, as the day goes on the w/d s/x seem to decrease some. The s/x you are describing can well be from w/d (I had headaches and fatigue at the start of my tapering, now having fatigue that comes and goes), but no one can be sure, so if you feel it necessary to see a doctor to ease your mind, please do so. Anxiety and scared feelings are quite typical during withdrawal and it seems to feed on itself, making your anxiety worse. One thing to do is to try and distract yourself from the fearful feelings, it may be good if you were able to get out with your fiance to help with the distraction if you are up to it. Take care and hang in there!

 

T2

I woke up feeling really bad - last three days have been really tough emotionally and then today physically. I just paged my doctor and he wants me to go back to the dose I had before this last cut and get stabilized and then we will make a smaller cut. I made this 2.5mg dose reduction Tuesday before last so it's been 10 days. I like his idea but was wondering what those with personal experience about this feel. I think smaller cuts might be right but should I be going back up and then down again?

I woke up feeling really bad - last three days have been really tough emotionally and then today physically. I just paged my doctor and he wants me to go back to the dose I had before this last cut and get stabilized and then we will make a smaller cut. I made this 2.5mg dose reduction Tuesday before last so it's been 10 days. I like his idea but was wondering what those with personal experience about this feel. I think smaller cuts might be right but should I be going back up and then down again?

 

Hi tatnasty,

 

I totally agree with your doctor, making smaller reductions will help with your w/d s/x. Going back up to stabilize will be fine. Your doctor sounds very good letting you taper at a slow rate. You will get through this, it's just going to take time. Hang in there, things will get better.

 

T2

It is up to you on reinstatining.  If you think you are over the worst of it you might want to hold where you are at and cut again when you feel some relief.  You should make smaller cuts.  That is a big cut that you made.  Only you can decide how bad you feel.  If it is unbearable than you might want to go back to where you were but if it is at all manageable just hold a bit longer and maybe you will get some relief.  Be strong!

 

mal