Anxiety ,insomnia

First time posting please bear with me
I started .5 mg xanax one a day on Dec 21,2017 for anxiety and insomnia after one month went up to twice daily after 20 days went up to .5mg 3 times . Then after 13 days on 1.5 mg decided to wean off,although they helped for the first 2 or 3 weeks I hated the side effects so I cut .125 mg once a week till I got to .5 divided in 3 doses ,,.125 at 9 am ,.125at 3 pm and .25 at 10 pm .on April 15,2018 I switched straight across to 10 mg Valium .taking 2.5 at 11am ,2.5 at 3 Pm 5 mg at 10 pm .So after one week I started cutting 1 mg every week till got to 4 mg and then took .5 mg off every two week .Now I am at 2 mg once a day before bed for the last 4 days and am determined to continue at this rate to stop .don’t want to prolong it any longer ,I am getting bad withdrawal some days worse than others with rebound anxiety and some insomnia but able to sleep 5 or 6 or less hours most of the week . Am I at risk of seizer or else . I get bad headaches and tightness in my stomach ,but no matter what like to stop once I get to 1 or.5 mg I can tolerate the withdrawal but I cry and wish I was dead .please give some opinion and advice .i lift weights and walk on treadmill and use stationary bic 3 to 5 times a week pushing myself to do since I started withdrawlng from benzo . I am doing this on my own since I don’t trust GP and psychologist on weaning off benzo .altogether with tapering time it had been 6 1/2 months on benzo. Thanks

Post Edited (Bear12) : 7/11/2018 11:43:05 AM (GMT-6)

Bear 12 to scaredy-cats Thanks for your reply I have thought about micro tapering but nobody here where I live is able to do it , as far as dealing with my problem I have changed my life style and taken stressers out and exercise almost daily .No medication has worked and I think that I am super sensitive to antidepressants and anxiety medication .Also am I going to have protracted withdrawl or severe withdrawl once I stop this poison.

Post Edited (Bear12) : 7/12/2018 2:23:57 AM (GMT-6)

Minnesota said...
I think having trust in your doctor and psy are really key in treating this. If you don't trust the team you have, probably best to try some new ones. I agree, medication can only do so much and then one has to have lifestyle and mental changes to augment the medication. A learning process no doubt. I am on a small dose of klonopin right now as I try to get to the right dose of zoloft. My doc has told me that at .25 a day that I could stay on that level for many months without much of a withdraw period.

Thanks for your reply Minnesota ...... may I ask how long you have been on klonopin ,I don’t mean to be negative but I am surprised your doctor had said that because eventually you will develope tolerance and withdrawl. Benzos are not supposed to be taken more than 2 to 4 weeks , I knew that but was not aware how bad it can change your chemistry and would be very hard to get off. I was on it for over 6 months including tapering and thought it would not be so challenging to get off.

Minnesota said...
I have heard many variations of what to expect when on klonopin, and the weaning off depending on dosage. I have been using it for 4 months now, probably 4 days a week. Mostly at .25 and a few times I have taken .5 when things were a bit worse. My psy sees this somewhat as a treatment to augment my zoloft and keep the anxiety down in order to function and sleep better. I am an engineer and can't risk losing my job so anything to keep me on an even keel there is really key to many other aspects of my life. She wants me to bump up to 37.5 from 25 (zoloft that is) and take .5 of klonopin for the first few days of the increase as in the past this really caused me increased wired and buzzed feelings, and made it really hard to sleep. The hope is that effect will only last a few days once my body acclimates to the higher dosage, and then drop back on the K and eventually get off of it assuming the zoloft works. She seems to base this decision on past patients she has treated this way.

Thanks again for your reply
Please remember everybody is wired differently just because it worked for some patient doesn’t’ mean it works for someone else . Wish you best of luck and let us know how it worked for you

Minnesota said...
One thing I did about 2 months ago was take a genetic profile test which gives information on which medications match up best with your genetic makeup and metabolism metrics. Zoloft was in the best fit category for me, so my psychiatrist really wants me to give this a fair shot. I am sensitive to medications so am taking any increase really slowly. As I stated, I am at 25 mg and her goal is to get me to 50 and try that before we determine if this is a long term solution or if we need to switch. It is strange how some of these medications make one person sedated, and the other person stimulated. The trial and error can really test your patience though!

But are these genetic profile test accurate and reliable ???

super20dan said...
bear-from what I read in your post you are going about this correctly. best thing is you switched over to valium from Xanax. you should be able to quit on your own this way . it may take a while but you will get there eventually. you bravery and determination are to be admired. I was hooked on klonopin but got off with my dr.s help. I hope a lot of people read your post so they may understand the extreme danger of becoming dependant on benzos for extended use-even under drs orders!

Thanks for your input....I wish I could speed this agony up . I hope I will not go through protracted withdrawal or severe withdrawl once I stop this completely. Doctors are not aware of the severity from withdrawal of this poison .

Good bless you and all of us dealing with this

Scaredy Cat said...
B.m

The Road Back site has instructions for water titration.

You can also find several tutorial options on fb

Try to also use positive mantras and affirmations. (info on this technique in our Resources) to ensure a good outcome. Assuming you will have trouble with prolonged withdrawal issues can be a trap. Envisioning a successful and comfortable wean will go a long way in ensuring that it happens.

Keep us updated and we'll keep you in support!

S.C.

Thanks again for your reply ....
I went to road back site was not able to see anything about water titration ,then again water titation seems so confusing To me and I am afraid that I may completely mess it up and go back ward. I would feel better if I would have had someone right with me to take me through it step by step . At each cut I do get a series withdrawl symptoms but seem like it will submerge by the time I get closer to the two week mark to cut again or maybe my imagination but if can continue tolerating the withdrawl I think I will continue cutting .5 every two weeks and hopefully with the help of god I would be off this within two months , I AM NOT SURE IF I SHOULD TAKE THE PLUNGE ONCE I GET TO 1mg or WAIT TILL I GET TO .5 mg ...god bless you for your input .

Minnesota said...
In regard to the genetic profile, jury is out on how accurate it is. For me, I tried Effexor first which had a really bad effect on me. When I had the test after this, Effexor was on the do-not-try list there. So, it nailed that one correctly.

I think with benzo's it can be a good bridge medication when waiting for a medication to kick in. I will have to do this when I bump up my zoloft next week. I tried bumping up without klonopin and that evening after the increase I was up until 3 a.m. with a very wired sensation. Thinking that effect will be transient I plan to take (per Drs orders) .5 of klonopin for a week with the increase in zoloft to see if that moderates the stimulative effect.

I think you are definitely right with genetic profile ,I thought about that after I sent you that reply.

Wish you the best of luck and please make sure you will not cold turkey of Kilnopin when you are ready to stop benzo .

yes bear check out benzobuddies. best site for dealing with benzo use and withdrawls etc. lots of helpful info . I know only how to quit klonopin. sorry cant help with valium in exactly how to do cuts and whento jump but they do at benzobuddies. your right. most drs don't have a clue what the withdrawls are like from benzos

best of luck on your journey . what really helped me was getting down to the smallest amount before my jump also. pill splitter really helpful. 7 months in to no benzo and I am fine except still get the tingling in extremities of withdrawl from time to time

not sure whats happening at benzobuddies as it does allow you to browse with out being a member. of course to post or ask questions -you must join. when I was splitting pills -I also ran into splitting issues. I found that different brands held up better than others to the splitter. sometimes I had to cut freehand using a brand new sharp razor blade . the water triation method sounds like a major pain from what I read about it.

I was taking avg of .5 mg daily. I did not use the ashton method to taper but used a unique schedule my dr knew. it worked like a charm with almost zero with drawl symptoms. it helped I had gotten down to .125 per day on my own . this method prob dosnt work unless you are taking a benzo with a very long half life like klonopin or valium. instead of a daily dose that gets smaller -you take what ever dose your daily requirement is and gradually stretch out the days between doses. toward the end when I jumped I was only taking a dose every 6th day. when I tried to stop myself I could go 9 days before withdrawls forced me back on. I was on klonopin for aprox 5 months. the schedule took nearly 3 months so that's 8 months total. I posted this method on benzo buddies and was basicly ignored as they think the ashton method is the only way to go. wether this method works for valium I cannot tell you but is was successful quiting klonopin with with out suffering

super20dan said...
I was taking avg of .5 mg daily. I did not use the ashton method to taper but used a unique schedule my dr knew. it worked like a charm with almost zero with drawl symptoms. it helped I had gotten down to .125 per day on my own . this method prob dosnt work unless you are taking a benzo with a very long half life like klonopin or valium. instead of a daily dose that gets smaller -you take what ever dose your daily requirement is and gradually stretch out the days between doses. toward the end when I jumped I was only taking a dose every 6th day. when I tried to stop myself I could go 9 days before withdrawls forced me back on. I was on klonopin for aprox 5 months. the schedule took nearly 3 months so that's 8 months total. I posted this method on benzo buddies and was basicly ignored as they think the ashton method is the only way to go. wether this method works for valium I cannot tell you but is was successful quiting klonopin with with out suffering

Did you send me a sleep site for insomnia ? if you did somehow I deleted that reply ,really don’t know how sorry. I get intrupted sleep anywhere from 5 to 6 hours .
I am not taking any antidepressants and not planning to take any antipsychotic medication once I stop this since I have tried them before and they just don’t work for me ,but are you taking any medication now that you are off benzo , if you don’t mind asking . Thanks again