From champion swimmer Ian Thorpe's experience, he would recommend using as little drugs as possible to step down from Benzos, although at the end, a mood stabilizer might be helpful for sleep... it was for Ian Thorpe.
Definetly do a nice easy SLOW taper from the benzos... allowing yourself to go back up if swim starts freaking out at all. It's proven that the longer the taper, the more chances swimmers have to stay off it for good.
when thorpe got down to less than 1mg clonazepam from 6mg he read all about titration and did that for at least a month till nothing was ingested. when you get down on the dose enough to where the swim cant sleep...
thorpe re-upped on a "sleeping pill dose" of seroquel, 100mg...
The seroquel is a great non narcotic sleep aid that puts champions out and snoozing, it has a half life of like 12 hours although the "effective" half life is much longer and last into the next day, effectively stabilizing mood.
Good luck to all swimmers struggling with Benzos; those and Methadone and alcohol are the only withdrawals known to kill swim. Thank goodness for all those pharmaceutical companies out there who care so much about swim.
AB
I couldn't agree more. I still take Benzos because I suffer from a very severe care of Insomnia, so I stick with Midazolam and Seroquel. I've tried literally all of the Benzos; but that couldn't be compared since SWYM has a very strong resistance according to doctor.
During the treatment of SWYM depression, it presented a large quantity of mood stabilizers and might I say, among with anti-depressants I did not feel the need to take any Benzos whatsoever. In my humble opinion, Oxcarbazepine is the one that will make you feel "aight". The good thing about it however, is that the side effects are of very low quantity (of course that this depends on each individual). I would start with indeed the medication posted in this thread, because since your addiction is very low (compared to SWYM) I do not see the need to administrate Lithium which in SWYMs case was the solution. What a great medication it is even though old; however unless your case is very severe I would try something less "toxic" first (Not saying Lithium is toxic, just that it's different from the classes mentioned above).
May I ask what was the reason for Alprazolam use during these years?
Because Diazepam and Clonazepam are indeed the drugs to "come off" Classic Benzos, others as well such as Chlordiazepoxide may help the process because they all have longer half-lifes.
If the need for the use was Anxiety, Fluoxetine combined with a mood stabilizer (in SWYMs case Lithium) was the solution. Lithium did make me feel stable but like a "robot", wasn't sad, wasn't happy, was just there. But it did help me very much on the subject of quitting Benzos.
Does someone take Benzos today? Yes; but only because he is going thorugh a very hard time in his life. But no problem to quit whatsoever doing what SWYM did above.
And no, I do not think that your doctor is doing the wrong thing; this is the right procedure, otherwise you could suffer a Benzodiazepine withdraw syndrome; and that you can find easily on the Internet. But if you are not satisfied with your doctor, don't think twice, go ask for a second opinion but remember that he is the know that knows exactly what you've been taking, for how long, and how much you needed it.
Once you're off, like the Gentleman above posted, Seroquel is a great solution. Warning though: Both Lithium and Seroquel tends to cause an increase in weight so make sure to exercise always and eat healthily.
I do think that Fluoxetine+Wellbutrin+Low doses of Seroquel while decreasing the Clonazepam + (Mood Stabilizer of choice) would be something to be discussed with your doctor. I honestly do not see a need of mood stabilizers, but that's just my opinion. Oh and I guess I missed the point about Seizures; so yes, if that's the case please ignore any references and disregard the possible solutions in which it can not be avoided while tampering off.
Warning about Seroquel: Prepare to have a good night of sleep =)
16-10-2009, 06:37
Similar Threads
Hybrid Mode
