SWIM is in a panic about quitting Benzos and Potential WDs.

[Smitty2]

SWIM will try to keep this short although he is sure it will end up longer than he wants, but SWIM has a long history of Anxiety, OCD, Panic Attacks, Ect. SWIM has been on lorazepam for about a year, but has only been taking "higher doses" for maybe a mouth or two. For most of the year he was on it he took it just as prescribed, which means only .5 mg to 1mg a day max.

It wasn’t cutting it so SWIM turned to Oxy’s and was on that junk for about a year all the while still being on the benzos, while he was on Oxy he would usually not take benzos since he would not feel anxious, so he would take long breaks from them. Well after SWIM built up a 240mg a day Oxy habit he decided to get help and has been in a Suboxone treatment program for a mouth and has not touched any other drugs besides that and benzos for this time. But for the past few months due to many different reasons that he won’t get into SWIM has been using around 2-3 MG of lorazepam a day, or 1-1.5 mg of Clonazepam a day. SWIM really wants to taper off this stuff but is in a panic as he cannot get a refill for another week and a half and only has 5 Clonazepam left. He is not sure if he should call his Doctor and just tell her everything, he really does not want to end up in the ER.

Maybe SWIM is in a panic for nothing, I mean is 3 mg of lorazepam really that high of a dose to being taking daily? Surely it’s not good, but I can also imagine other SWIMMERs have managed to get off much higher doses as well. SWIM really wants to get switched to a longer acting benzo like Valium, hand it over to his mother and have her be in control of the distribution, he has already discussed this with her as she knows all about his addiction to Oxy and such. SWIM just has no idea how to approach this and again his apt. with the Doc is not until the 24th of this mouth, so he is going to run out by the weekend and is panic stricken that he will have to go to the ER next week.

Can any SWIMMERs offer some advice? SWIM has been though Opiate WDs cold turkey more times than he count and honestly he is mentally prepared to handle similar hell, but he has read that benzo WDs make opiate WDs seem like a joke which makes him worried. The last time he went for about three days without any Benzos and the first two days were ok but by the third he was agitated as hell, flipping out on people at work which could have been due to the lack of sleep and eating, could not stop pacing, but once he got home he was somewhat OK, work is a HUGE stressor for SWIM, he also had shakes in his hands a bit and his body just felt very “off” and tingly, but SWIM feels like he could deal with it and if he has to take next week off from work so be it.

Also just a an FYI SWIM has plenty of Trazadone, Doxepin, Clonidine and of course Suboxone at his disposable, would any of these help to alleviate some of the symptoms? And yes this was too long, sorry…

[Uncle Getafix]

Dude, I feel for ya, thought SWIM would briefly comment. SWIM was on 4mg lorazepam daily and its not a massive dose..UK guidelines have cats on 6 mg three times a day.

To make it quick(SWIM has mission to complete) SWIY may wish to come clean to his GP with all the various interactions, and organise a slow taper for the benzos.(and everything else). Yep they creep up after 3 days but SWIM stopped dead off 4mg for 3 months and felt like shit but lived.

SWIM would reinforce stopping benzos cold turkey has risk of seizures and death at the extremes.

Maybe SWIY could come clean(to an extent..) to a GP, refer to a specialist, swap from Lorazepam to Diazepam over time and then taper, while avoiding other medications as much as poss.

The Ashton schedules are listed for doing a swap from lorazepam to diazepam, don't worry too much SWIY the worry hurts more than the withdrawal half the time!! Best of luck..

Uncle Getafix added 2 Minutes and 25 Seconds later...

SWIM meant 6mg lorazepam dosage at 2mg three times a day..sorry!! 18mg Lorazepam daily and SWIY would be ultra relaxed haha..

[PsychoActivist]

SWIM used to be prescribed 2 mg's of Alpazolam 3 times daily and 60 mg's Temazepam before bed. He was on them for about a year and he had to quit cause he was abusing the hell out of them. The WD's were pretty horrible but he did not go to the ER. He used small amounts of alcohol every few hours (which is ironic because the reason he was on benzos in the first place was cause he quit drinking....go figure) and he used 50-100 mg's of diphenhydramine in the evenings to help him go to bed. The Diphen was a Godsend. It really worked better than anything else to help him sleep. To this day he still uses it every night.

3 mg's of lorazepam and 1-1.5 mg's of Clonazepam a day for a few months is really not all that much. Don't get me wrong SWIY should still expect to feel like shit but SWIM believes it could definitely be managable. It really is hard to say as every individual is different, but SWIM honestly doubts that it would be bad enough to require emergency room treatment. SWIM would advise however, that SWIY checks up on his vital signs during the process as much as possible to ensure his safety.

And last, there are a few natural supplements SWIM used when he was trying to kick the habit. These supplements have NOT been proven to have any effect whatsoever on reduction of physical withdrawals but SWIM believes they helped him with the mental/emotional part. Gaba supplements, Kava, and Valerian all helped SWIM a little bit with anxiety, restlessness, and they also helped him sleep. for the first few nights, SWIMs before bed cocktail was 75 mg's Diphenhydramine, 750 mg's GABA, 500 mg's Valerian, 3mg's Melatonin and a cup of Kava.

Anyway SWIM wishes SWIY good luck, and hopes he will check in and let us know how it's going.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Good info

[RaverHippie]

And last, there are a few natural supplements SWIM used when he was trying to kick the habit. These supplements have NOT been proven to have any effect whatsoever on reduction of physical withdrawals but SWIM believes they helped him with the mental/emotional part. Gaba supplements, Kava, and Valerian all helped SWIM a little bit with anxiety, restlessness, and they also helped him sleep. for the first few nights, SWIMs before bed cocktail was 75 mg's Diphenhydramine, 750 mg's GABA, 500 mg's Valerian, 3mg's Melatonin and a cup of Kava.

Great advice there, that combination should definitely be able to be tapped to help fall asleep and most of the others could be used as necessary to aid in anxiety reduction.

Overall it seems like SWIY has built up a huge imaginary behemoth of what the WD's will manifest themselves into. MY best advice is to try and calm SWIYself down and approach it head on. Like SWIY said, SWIY has already dealt with WD's before and are mentally prepared and physically strong enough to take this. Take it as it comes to SWIY and be prepared with supplements and don't be afraid to call in favors from people SWIY cares about if SWIY needs help if doing it alone ends up being too much a struggle.

[ScorpioSunshine]

Here is a link good link:

Benzodiazepine withdrawal schedules

http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/sho...ight=titration

[Smitty2]

SWIM thanks everyone for all the replies! SWIM got no responses on this thread for a while and was planning on posting an update soon anyway. SWIM ended up using his last 5 pills, at one pill a day and then after than he called his Doc (the one who prescribed the Ativan) it was very hard to do but SWIM came clean about everything over the phone as best he could, and SWIM's doc gave him enough of a supply to be on 2 Mg a day until his apt.

At his apt. SWIM told his Doc the full details and told her that he wanted to taper off of it, so SWIM is now on a tapering plan, he was on 2mg a day for about a mouth and is now on just 1.5 mg a day. So far SWIM feel fine, he can still sleep and has had no horrid WD symptoms. SWIM Doctor plans to have him be on 1.5 mg a day for two more weeks and then go down to 1 mg, and then after that he will be switching to a long lasting benzo for the remainder of the taper.

SWIM is hopeful and thinks that he can get off this crap for good, just as he did with Oxy, which SWIM has been clean from for just about two months now. Once SWIM is off of the benzos he will only be dependant on Subxone and can then focus on kicking that too.

[ScorpioSunshine]

That is wonderful to hear! Congrats to swiy for coming clean, getting clean, and being able to do it in a safe, controlled environment.

Swim isn't saying that it's going to be easy for swiy, but he is on the right track and seems to be making wonderful progress! Thank swiy for letting DF know his progress.

[Bluedrip]

Water titration can work for direct tapering from short acting/potent benzos, or SWIY can cross to a longer acting benzo (valium for dry cutting, or klonopin if titration is used).

SWIM strongly believes that there is nothing to be gained by trying to follow any arbitrary schedule. Everyone adjusts to the dose reductions at different rates. Swim suggests starting out with cuts that add up to no more than 10% of total dose in the first 2 weeks. The schedule should be adjusted (slower; faster; retain 10% rate) based on your individual response during the first 2 weeks. Never try to "cut through the pain" just to keep up with some schedule.

In SWIM's view, there is nothing to be gained by reaching zero if it involves increased symptoms both before and after the conclusion of the taper. Listen to your body and continue to adjust the taper rate to try and match the actual rate that SWIY adapts to the dose reductions. This takes trial and error. Never hesitate to hold if things get ugly. Recovery is not linear, so in SWIM's view a taper should not be linear either.

SWIM has seen many people use this approach and remain totally functional throughout the taper. It can be slow and frustrating, but in SWIM's view if it limits misery then who cares how long it takes.

SWIM recently completed a taper off of a 5 year, 25mg./day valium habit, and no longer has any symptoms at all. SWIM took it very slowly, because that's what it took to keep symptoms minimal (1 year, 10 months total). Most people are able to go faster than that.

It can be done.

[Uncle Getafix]

Awesome man thats cool to hear..

[tyranny4u]

the last benzo withdrawal SWIM did in a clinic, where the doc told him:
"i'll get you off within 8 days". SWIM was shocked, but then thought "give
it a try". so the medication was 40 mg Diazepam on the first day and many
other stuff to keep as calm as possible: Valproic Acid, Clonidine, Prothipen-
dyle and so on. the six weeks in the clinic were quite hard, but SWIM swears
that he had not a single sleepless night (in the evenings he had some
cocktail of Mirtazapine, Clonidine, Prothipendyle and Valproic Acid) and the
last Diazepam dose was given on the 8th day, 2.5 mg SWIM thinks.
When SWIM left the clinic he used to have some of the Medication
prescribed further and then tapered off these also.
SWIM's tolerance before he went to detox: ~10 mg Clonazepam + ~12.5 mg
Lorazepam (or up to 10 - 12 mg Alprazolam) in the daytime and a bit of
Triazolam or Midazolam in the night. SWIM consumed for three years,
extreme doses were taken in the last year.

[MOGGIE]

Originally Posted by Bluedrip

Water titration can work for direct tapering from short acting/potent benzos, or SWIY can cross to a longer acting benzo (valium for dry cutting, or klonopin if titration is used).

SWIM strongly believes that there is nothing to be gained by trying to follow any arbitrary schedule. Everyone adjusts to the dose reductions at different rates. Swim suggests starting out with cuts that add up to no more than 10% of total dose in the first 2 weeks. The schedule should be adjusted (slower; faster; retain 10% rate) based on your individual response during the first 2 weeks. Never try to "cut through the pain" just to keep up with some schedule.

In SWIM's view, there is nothing to be gained by reaching zero if it involves increased symptoms both before and after the conclusion of the taper. Listen to your body and continue to adjust the taper rate to try and match the actual rate that SWIY adapts to the dose reductions. This takes trial and error. Never hesitate to hold if things get ugly. Recovery is not linear, so in SWIM's view a taper should not be linear either.

SWIM has seen many people use this approach and remain totally functional throughout the taper. It can be slow and frustrating, but in SWIM's view if it limits misery then who cares how long it takes.

SWIM recently completed a taper off of a 5 year, 25mg./day valium habit, and no longer has any symptoms at all. SWIM took it very slowly, because that's what it took to keep symptoms minimal (1 year, 10 months total). Most people are able to go faster than that.

It can be done.

I know this post wasnt to SWIM but it feels like it was,some great points but most of all SWIM feels a whole lot more positive.Thankyou...........B_LUCKY