Posted by yxibow on February 28, 2008, at 8:03:21
In reply to Re: Weaning off Diazepam » dbc, posted by Phillipa on February 26, 2008, at 13:06:56
> Is that why my pdoc never heard of her? Seriously she's an addictions specialist and sees nothing wrong with my 35 years use of benzos as no excalaption of dose. I was told to just cut down and was drug free for quite some time just stopped what was xanax 2mg at that time. Half-life 200 hours I think but sure could be wrong as I've had surgery and pain meds brain not working well. The surgeon said to take extra valium with the percocet and motrin. Gotta lie back down. Stitches hurt. Just cut a little off each day but again what does are you talking if really high may need inpatient. Don't know. Hope I didn't offend anyone apologies in advance. Phillipa
Yes -- but I can't go into detail because this is going to descend into a please be civil discussion.
There will be people who have the right to view and believe in the site, which by the way is not maintained in any way, as far as I can tell by the aforementioned professor.
No, it does not take a year to get off benzodiazepines. The general rule is about 10% per week and can be done in outpatient clinics and with your clinician. It is how the patient can stand the reduction, and probably has something but not everything to do with how long one has been on it, and all sorts of susceptibility to habituation and genetics and things that we don't know about and may not know about for decades about how the brain functions exactly.
I have been trying to taper... taper is the word, weaning is rather pejorative off of diazepam for a variety of reasons, one final reason is that it cannot be mixed with Clozaril, but also to gain more mental clarity that has developed a fog over the years. It has been a useful agent though -- even if I havent "felt it" or had an "aah", underlying it has been doing something I believe in concerto with Seroquel. There are lesser known studies of diazepam in use for schizophreniform and psychosis, the first which I don't have and the second which I only slightly have when I get extremely anxious.
We had to go back up on the high dose diazepam, but that is unusual -- because for me, diazepam acts as as much as a polypharmacy tool as much as it can act as an amnesic. There is no free lunch, as it is said.
But don't look to my situation as the end all to be all, and I would personally take the aforementioned site with a grain of sand just like any posting of course. Depending on how much of a dose, it can be a matter of weeks or months, on the general 10% a week reduction strategy, but not years. Now as to whether one begins to respond to the GABA transmitters afterwards soon, well, that is of course a matter that only the future knows.
I hope that helps.
poster:yxibow
thread:814556
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080221/msgs/815130.html