Posted by feelndwn on August 3, 2004, at 12:37:58
In reply to Re: klonopin help with withdrawing » Rianna, posted by Martha Nygaard on July 2, 2004, at 11:23:19
I have been taking between 1.25-5 mg of xanax for the last 9 years. A little over 3 weeks ago I went into a detox center that detoxed people from benzos such as xanax and other addictive drugs (mainly street drugs). I was in detox for 10 days, during which time I went into a wonderful delirium and psychosis. Oh yay, that was quite a treat for the mind... I had no idea what was going on with my mental and physical state except that I was losing my grip on reality and everything seemed derealized. Finally after spending 10 days in detox with the same symptoms persisting the center wanted to ship me off to a psych ward because they believed it wasn't the xanax withdrawal but a severe mental disorder. I came home for a couple of days and after 6 nights of insomnia, the inability to walk, and hypersensitivity in all of my sensory perceptions I was admitted into a psych ward. There a psych doc immediately recognized my condition as a combination of acute benzodiazapam withdrawal symptoms and placed me back on 30 mg of valium. This was 5 days ago. Within these 5 days of being back on a benzo all of my symptoms have cleared up except for a marked reduction in cognitive/memory impairment which began 9 days ago and some minor tinnitus, and vertigo. I was released yesterday and am now home living with my wife again. My memory is crap and so are my cognitive abilities. I am working with 2 doctors now who hope that in a couple of weeks my body will completely readjust to the valium and my cognitive abilities will return to normal. Hypothetically once I am balanced back on a benzo and all of the withdrawal symptoms are negated (enough) we are going to start a long and slow taper for 12 months in order to allow me to get off of the benzos without any of the hellacious withdrawal symptoms reemerging. And hopefully, the cognitive impairment will at least diminish some.
Xanax was prescribed for me 9 years ago for panick attacks. It worked like a wonder drug for the entire 9 years, although a lot of emotional experiences were blunted during that time. The reason I wanted off of xanax was to face life from a natural perspective without the use of drugs for the 1st time in 9 years, or since the onset of my panick attacks began. I tried this on my own by decreasing my dosage by 1.5 mg per week for 2 weeks before I was out of my league and all of the withdrawal symptoms bloomed and blew up into their full proportions and I went into a detox center under medical supervision.
I didn't think it was such a big deal to stop taking a little blue pill 6 times or so times per day. But dang was I wrong! It turns out that for some people the mind is very plastic, or malleable, and it can readjust within a short period of time back to its normal level of functioning during and sometimes soon after a withdrawal (usually within about 1-3 months). For others, like myself, the brain is not so plastic, and it is has been agreed upon by 4 doctors so far that the abrupt removal of xanax is almost akin to the removal of a functioning portion of the brain itself.
My word of advice for people who are taking xanax and may wish to get off of it is this: DO NOT DISCONTINUE YOUR XANAX OR OTHER BENZO ABRUPTLY, BUT TAPER DOWN OVER A GOOD COURSE OF TIME.
2 months ago I was a full time cook. I was a dependable family man, a musician, and a writer. Now I am on disability, I cannot drive, it is hard to remember yesterday much less things or events 5 hours ago, and doing menial chores around the house is the highlight of my day.
I have 2 hopes.
1-that the valium having alleviated all of my other withdrawal symptoms within only 5 days will also allow my cognitive abilities to return to normal over the course of the next 2 weeks.
2-if that does not work then I hope that during and possibly after I wean/taper myself off of the valium that they will return.I hope that this is some help to those people who read it.
-and by the way, for Martha go with the vitamins and proper nutrition!
here is a totally awesome site (although it is geared more towards alcoholics the diet & nutrition aspects are golden)
I have a degree in nutrition & a minor in chem
HERE IS THE WEB SITE:
http://www.healthrecovery.com
-God bless and let us all hope and pray for one another as we endure.
poster:feelndwn
thread:341361
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/subs/20040722/msgs/373609.html