View Full Version : Diazepam withdrawl
Hiya,
I have been on Diazepam for 7 years and i'm coming off now.I have got it down to 3 mg per day.
I drop at 1/2 a mg at a time and the withdrawl is horrendous, anxiety and panic attacks several times a day,stomach upset(maybe anxiety related),agitation,hot sweats and inability to concentrate on anything:weep: .
Please tell me i'm not the only one getting it this bad:weep: .
prism
hi prism
i too had the awfull withdrawal symptoms from diazapam, never again would i ever use a medication like that, youre not alone and i do have every sympathy for what youre going through.
take care
denise :hugs:
Alabasterlyn
13-07-07, 15:14
Well done for cutting down to 3mg, how long did it take you and how much were you taking before?
There is a brilliant forum just for helping people coming off benzos and I really would recommend that you join it as you will get immense support and advice from it http://www.benzoisland.org/benzoforum/
The one good thing about the benzo you are on is that it's the best one to taper off as it has a very long half life so gives a smoother taper than some of the other benzos.
Good luck :)
Carol_dearest
13-07-07, 18:54
Hi Prizm, unfortunately what you are experiencing is perfectly normal. Horrendous, yes. I know, I was on it for 23 years before someone decided it was time for me to come off. I know every symptom, been through every horror, and it isn't easy, it is going to be one of the hardest things you have ever, will ever have to do. But it can be done. 7 years is a long time, your brain has receptors that need the diazepam, it will scream at you and make you feel ill in different ways, that is why you are slowly withdrawing.
If you ever need someone to talk to, I would be happy to try to help. I would even give you my phone number, if you need someone just to try to get the panics under control. You are not dying and you are not going mad, that I promise you. You are going through one scarey withdrawal. You need to get a network of good friends around you, a good GP, No more panic will help a lot too. There are other medcines that can help a bit. There are tecniques you need to start learning now. Follow your GP's advise, but remember it is you who is going through this, you are going to be the most important person in your world for a while.
I send you my love and if I could give you strength and support, it would be there for you.
When you have finally beat this awful drug, your rewards will be huge.
Carol. x
Thankyou Denise its nice to know it can be done.
Thankyou Lyn for the link.I have joined and working my way through the site for as much info as possible to help me.
I was on 16mg 2 years ago and have slowly got it down to 3mg.
t
Thankyou both again:flowers: .
prism
Just be aware that benzoisland isn't run by anyone with a medical background, they're just peoples opinions, some of which plenty of people don't agree with such as not taking any suppliments. They also actively censor posts that don't agree with their views (see their forum guidelines).
Personally I think it and it's sister site benzo.org.uk are sites I'd definately stear clear of.
Talk to a health professional, don't listen to a bunch of fanatics.
Hi,
I have been tapering from temazepam by switching to diazepam and then cutting down by 1 mg per week. I was on 60mg of Temazepam and am now on 16 mg of Diazepam. Like the last post I am wary of Benzoisland, while I have found a lot of their ideas great, sometimes i have been amazed at their very anti any type of meds for depression/anxiety etc.
I am on paroxetine and mianserin for agitated depression. Without those drugs I would be totally crazy and prob suicidal. Some of us need meds, whils some people get through with counselling. Everyone is different.
Just take care that you don't believe everything they say! At times I felt totally inadequate because of some very caustic comments.
Good Luck with the tapering, it gets harder as the doses get smaller and you may have to cut by just a 1/2 or even 1/4 mg at a time. You can get it in syrup form and measure it better with an oral syringe.
Well Done xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx :hugs:
Thankyou mkeely and bearcrazy for the advice about benzoisland,i'm a wary person by nature so i will treat its advice carefully.
I don't think i could taper as fast as they say to as every time i drop 1/2 a mg it messes me up for TEN weeks.I don't know why i should get withdrawal for that long but i do.
I am also on Trazadone(i don't think it works) and trifluoperazine(which does work).Even these don't take the edge of it.
I will keep dropping dose till i'm free of it(however long it takes).
Bearcrazy i wish you well in your withdrawal:hugs: .
prism
Alabasterlyn
14-07-07, 16:35
Prism have you read the the Ashton Manual? It does make very interesting reading and gives a lot of advice about tapering. She was the Emeritus Professor of Clinical Psychopharmacology at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (http://www.ncl.ac.uk/), but I think she is retired now, or I could be wrong.
http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/index.htm
Hope it helps :)
Hi Prism,
Thanx for your best wishes in my battle against the 'evil benzo's'! Cut by 1mg last night to 16 mg and felt so ill today. Went out and couldnt concenrate, or walk in a straight line. Couldn't retrieve words that i wanted and looked drunk (I wish) at 9.am this morning. But I'm still determined that next week I'll make another cut so that I will be on target for having halved my dosage before I go on my hols.
:yesyes:
IMO the Ashton manual is the only thing on either site that has any credibilty.
As for the speed of tapering everyone is different, some people can taper their dosage every week or so whereas I've read others planning on taking around a year to get off of them. You may also find that you have an "easy" period where you can taper regularly but then need to stay on a particular dosage for longer.
Don't take any notice of the timetables people post on the forums they're either uneducated guesses or, at best, the timetable they were on which means little.
However if you cut your dosage my 1mg I wouldn't have thought you'd notice it, if at all, for a few days as the half life of Diazapam is very long. One thing with tapering is if you keep expecting withdrawal symptoms then your more likely to experience them than if you just take things as they come. It's the same as negative thoughts making anxiety worse. So another reason for not searching out horror stories!
Don't know when your hols are but they shouldn't dictate your timetable, you can only taper as fast as your body lets you unless you don't mind feeling aweful.
Of course if you are experiencing withdrawal syptoms so early on it could be that you need to cut taper more slowly, say, 0.5mg every few weeks. But that's something you should talk over with your Doctor.
Hi Lyn,
i've read some of it and most of what of i have read is not far from what i'm doing but i think dropping in stages will work best for me i want as much out of my system before i drop again.
bearcrazy i wish you well but i worry that you may be dropping too fast.Iknow its a small percentage of your total dose but the half life could be up to 200 hours.A drop doesn't hit me till at least a week and my next drop will be 17%. It don't sound much but it will hurt.
Marc i think part of your reply was meant for bearcrazy and i understand what you mean about benzoisland.
Thankyou for your time to reply to me,it's been a great help.
prism:shades:
Hi Prism
Yes, sorry the part regarding diazapam half life and setting your timetable to your holidays rather than your body were really for bearcrazy.
By the sounds of things you're nearly there, although it may not seem that way, as 3mg of Diazepam isn't a great deal dosage wise.
As I said it can be worse if you worry about withdrawal symptoms, because I had them last time I'm going to have them again type of thing, same as panic attacks. Do you take all your suppliments: muti-vit, calcium, magnesium, vit B complex 50/100? Most people find they help at least a bit, which is better than nothing.
I assume the tablets can't easily be broken down in to 0.25mg pieces. If that's the case and if each taper makes you feel so bad, perhaps you could discuss taking your reduced dose every other day, so 2.5mg, 3mg... which because of the long half life would be like taking a smaller daily reduction. Then, when you stabilise, fully go down to the lower dose. Just a thought.
Hi Marc,
I don't take any supplements but that is a good idea of alternating dosages.I will do that on my next drop:D .
prism
Hi Prism
Of course it was a good idea ;)
Hi Prism and everyone else who responded to this post,
I have taken on board what you have said. I am obviously trying to cut the diazepam too quickly. Spent all day in bed today feeling really ill and fluey. Think I'll leave things as they are for a while, especially while my body is trying to get used to a newly introduced anti depressant.
Sorry Prism'
Seem to have hijacked your post,
Take Care xxxxxxxxxxxxxx :blush:
hi,i was on roughly 5mg of diazapam for 14 wks due to extreme anxiety,the physciatrist i have seen has now tapered me down from 5mg a day to 4mg a day and i was on this dosage for a month ,then i went down to 3mg daily for 2 weeks and now im on 2mg a day for just one week !!!! then shes tapering it down again but as yet i dont know to what dosage,im not sure if i have withdrawl symptoms i have headache,constant neck ache my face hurts and ive started sweating again on and off and i feel dizzy and anxious and generally unwell,can anyone tell me if they think its withdrawl????i also take 40mg fluoxetine daily,30mg mirtazapine daily,200mg pregablin which is for my gad but i think this dosage needs upping and i also take 120mg propanolol daily
Thought I'd jump in and say that I've taken around 6mg of Diazepam for only 7 months before withdrawing. It was the most difficult period of my life! I'm now on just 0.25mg a day!!
I'm going to stick with this for another week before stopping completely.
It's a very dangerous medication despite how effective it initially is.
hi steveo,how are you finding it now with no diazapam?were you tapered down and if so at what rate and dosage?and have you suffered withndrawl symptoms?im now on 2mg for a wk then dropping down again but to what dosage i dont know until i get my perscription.im still feeling rough headache every day anxiety daily thou not as bad as before,hot sweats just come out of nowhere but dont last long and im not sleeping too well which was never really a problem for me at one time !!wanted to up my pregablin from 200mg to 250mg daily but the physchiatrist said no,heard the best dosage for gad is 400-450mg daily so why i cant up it slightly i have no idea :huh:
So sorry for my late reply.
I'm still on diazepam. Haven't made the stop yet! Still on the 0.25mg daily. Might do every other day.
I have suffered withdrawal symptoms personally. Very nasty ones. Withdrawing hasn't been nice. Every drop was nasty around 2 - 3 days after. Just do it as slow as you feel comfortable.
Not sleeping is a common side effect of stopping diazepam. Once you are off it, life will begin to have some clarity again.
:unsure:doctor upped my pregablin yesterday from 200mg to 250 mg daily,told her how i was feeling and she said she very much doubts its diazepam withdrawl as i wasn't on a high dose to start with and withdrawl effects should of subsided now!!she said its the anxiety that's still rearing its head hence the pregablin been upped,feel terrible today constant bad head,dizzy even when layin down but think this is the side effect of upping the pregablin yest,but who knows maybe its just pure anxiety which ever it is just wish it would go away
took my last dose of diazepam on 31st oct,a 0.5mg dose,will the diazepam be completly out of my system yet? Or can i still suffer withdrawl symptoms from such a small amount ? Got headaches daily and all my face hurts,not sure if this is just my usual anxiety i also feel very out if it like things aren't real
I know this is an old thread but I'm just going through wd now, still on 1mg of Lorazepam after being on a mental 50mg of Diazepam. I am so scared it the wd will get worse before better. SO far, it's not been great but I am coping. Anxiety, achey shoulders and crazy thoughts mainly that this will last forever. I've done it before and never had a problem but this time it has been far too quick so I am seeing my doctor tomorrow and going to ask if I can do it slower but I've just reached the OFF Diazepam for a week and also take Propranolol 3x40mg to help and am stocked up on KALMS. My sleep isn't fantastic but I didn't wake up until 3am from 10 last night so not terrible. I really would not recommend any one falling into the benzo addiction trap and cannot believe my doctor left me on them more than 3 years and on an AD that did nothing for my anxiety, so I have never really been ok unless I was taking enough benzos and anyone who has been on them know eventually you build up a tolerance. Just a bit headachey, jittery and worrying at the mo but trying to keep busy today. I find it impossible to go out right now. Miserable :(
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