Support requested for Nitrazepam withdrawal please

[edd8ok]

My pet vole wrote this not in Egyptian....

Good Day to You All,
My name is Eddy and I am a 54 year male who has been on Nitrazepamn(10mgs per night) for 10 years+ and Valium as and when needed for about 12 months. (My Valium dosage was 10mgs if required and rarely exceeded 30mgs per week).

During the 10 years of using Nitrazepamn, unkown to me at the time, my condition for the original use of this poison was excaberating the initial problem and subsequently my mental state was as such that I had to seek help from the local Mental Health Trust whose idea of help was to"Take a Pill"

It was then that I felt the need to come off all prescription drugs as I realised that they controlling my life.

I started rather ignorantly by just stopping them all and within a few days realised that it wasn't that simple by suffering terribly and having a number of "episodes" that I wouldn't like to repeat.

It was only then that I consulted my doctor who had no experience in Benzo detoxs and he in turn referred me to a CPN who had exactly the same experience in Benzo Detoxs so I was pretty much left with a drawer full of pills and told to get on with it.

I started my taper from 30mgs some 36 days ago ago and now have come to realise that I have reduced far to quickly and find myself on 16mgs and struggling. It has been an horrendous 5 weeks of deep depression and the almost inability to go through the door.

I guess my story is pretty typical of many other users on this forum.

I have read pretty much as much as I can of the Ashton Manual and don't think that is the way for me.

My current programme of dosage is (Up until today):

8mgs at 1100hrs
2mgs at 1830hrs
6mgs at 2145hrs
All times are approximate.

I have now been informed after being refferred to CITA(Don't know what it stands for) by my CPN that I should spread my dosages out throughout the day so today I split my first dose in half to 4mgs which I took at 1130hrs.

I guess the only thing to do now is just sit and wait it out to when I need to take my other 4mgs.

This is where I think I have to hand it over to you guys and gals for advice/support as to what or where I should go from here.

Very confused at the moment as you can probably tell.
Regards

Eddy(D)

PS Sorry, forgot to mention that I am no longer take any Nitrazepam as sleepers but have been prescribed Welldorm (Chloral Hydrate) instead at 2 per night. I choose to take half of that dose

[Jatelka]

edd8ok. I'm sorry to hear of the problems your ferret is having.

Can I ask why he thinks the Ashton Manual isn't for him? While the women herself may not be everyone's cup of tea, the withdrawal schedules work well. Is it the conversion to diazepam that concrerns your ferret?

[edd8ok]

Vole said...

Good Day to you,

I'm sorry that I may have misled you, I have already made the conversion to diazepamn and my current dosage is 16mgs.

The problem I seem to have with the Ashton manual is the thought of having to go ALL day without a dose during the latter stages where at the moment the only thing seems to get me through the day is those daily doses.

As I said previously, the "Professionals" that I have consulted seem to know nothing about Benzo withdrawal and are continually telling me to do what is comfortable for me and I don't seem to know what comfortable is!!!!!

Neither my Dr or CPN have never dealt with a Benzo withdrawal before so I'm pretty much being left to do it all without support other than what I can find here.

I hope that answers your question and look forward to your reply.

Regards

Eddy(D)

[Jatelka]

edd8ok: I think one of the problems at present may be the sizes of the doses are too lobsided. It would make more sense to have more even doses

As with any addiction you have to take one day at a time, and congratulate yourself on days got through. The single doses you speak of are a long way ahead (taper slowly remember), and you will be much better equipped to deal with them when they occur.

There is no easy answer to the psychological aspect of dependence. Cognitive Behavioural techniques can be helpful, and are sometimes available in our glorious NHS (and sometimes even without year + waiting lists!), many counselling and addiction services use similar things, so maybe CITA (sorry, no idea what it is either) will be able to teach your ferret a few tricks

Best wishes, and Good Luck!

[edd8ok]

The vole warbled......

Hi and thanks for that.

I think I have misled you by the title "Support requested for Nitrazepamn withdrawal please"

I have dropped the Nitrazepamn some 2 months ago and now found myself reducing from 30mgs Valium daily as a result

I am currently on 16mgs daily with a reduction due Friday(1mg)

Any suggestions other than the Ashton Manual, can't imagine going all day without a dose in the latter stages!!!!!!

Regards

Eddy(D)

[Benway]

swIm's an ex-benzo addict, high dose's of nitrazepam and diazepam were his main stay. swim was on them for 16yrs +. and now 2yrs off.

I understand what your feeling.

Well done for what you've accomplished.
Its an amazing feat of endurance to go through.

But...
Take it easy. If your cats been on benzo's for ten years, is an extra few months going to matter that much. swim thinks the rate of reduction is quite fast. (7yr ago swIm done the same thing first try round, he believed it made the withdrawal not only harder but last longer and relapsed after 6months.)
This time it was much slower and therefore easier.
When swim got to the point of cutting 2mg diazepam it felt a little fiddly in his shaky hands and suggests if it feels necessary to take the micro reductions suggested by Ashton, try get some diazepam linctus. Much easier to take the small dose's in liquid.

swIm thinks the 2mg per two-four weeks can be a good rule of thumb up to a point... But from here on, 2mg becomes a larger and larger drop. Its worth considering the smaller drops of Ashton.

If it were swim, he'd take a months break on the current dose.Then carry on the reduction by the smallest amount possible. taking smallest reductions at 2-3 weeks.

Realistically the hard fight is now beginning. Be prepared for this. It gets very unpleasant, as you and your cat know. There is no real relief from the withdrawal, so the best advice is not to fret about it.(easy to say, I know)

swIm would not suggest using any other substance for relief (nothing helped swIm anyway, or even made matters worse) but he did find occasional use of sedative anti-histamines (helped get a little sleep) & paracetamol (for that dam headache) helped a little...but be careful not to replace one habit with another or turn your liver to gloop with paracetamol.
The only cure is time...as much as needed.

And take your time, don't look back, think a day at a time. I know it feels as though it'll never end, but it will, it does, give it time and take it easy.

Fight the good fight, and the best of luck.
Benny

Benway added 48 Minutes and 50 Seconds later...

Sorry, I misread your last post,, you're reducing slower than I first thought.

Dont fret about the later stage's. It wont be as hard as you imagine.

Good Luck