Free from Diazepam

[prism]

Here is a post for those that are coming off diazepam, a success story.

I had been taking diazepam for over 8 years and it has taken me 3 years to come off of it. At my worst i was on 16 mg a day but as of 2 weeks ago it is now 0mg, woo hoo.
Every drop i did would mess me up for up to 12 weeks and the first 3 weeks would be hideous. Before Christmas i was put on yet another anti depressant called Cymbalta. For some reason (that i can only think that it is Cymbalta) my final two drops have been easy compared with all of the others. I don't know if it is me or the Cymbalta but i am ecstatic that it has gone so well and i am now free of it.
For those of you coming off diazepam, there is hope that you will be free of it one day, even if it takes years you will get there in the end.

[duskess]

Hello
Prism , I was happy to read your post , you have done really well , thanks for sharing in your success , well done :flowers: dusky x:flowers:

[prism]

Thankyou dusky,
I thought people that are trying to come off diazepam should know that it can be done and it is all worth the effort.

[alias_kev]

Great prism its good to hear it can be done.

People might find it really useful to read a longer post about your experience and journey. The fact that each reduction in dose affected you for so long if amazing and must have been horrible. If thats a common time for each withdrawal then that explains both why so many struggle to escape the drug and (for once) why the NHS dislikes a prescription so much. And yet its also on the WHO's Essential Drugs List (for sedation, convulsions, and anxiety).

Information on the meds half-life in the body shows why its tough as the information is vague (20-100 hrs) and sometimes confusing (20-50 hrs plus an active metabolic derivative at 30-200 hrs). Just using 100 hours and pretending its taken ONCE per day - suggests that the minimum level in the body would be above 3.1 doses and take 24 days for the minimum to be stable to 1 decimal place on a 20% reduction in dose. And this is only the chemical presense and not the effects, biochemistry and human factors! The reality would be much more complex even at the chemical level.These figures are remarkable for a medication that can give an oral hit in 15 minutes, its like a wonderful whiskey with an appauling hangover.

[prism]

I didn't want to go into details of what i went through in coming off this med as i didn't want to put people off taking it. It has its uses as long as you don't take it on a day to day basis for a prolonged period.
I could post what it was like if people are that interested in knowing but i must say it has been one of the most difficult things i have ever done in my life and at lots times, wondering what i am doing it for.

[alias_kev]

Hey sure, prism. No pressure, I was just impressed.

I'm not that sure how many new patients there will even be as the NHS's leaflets now say "low dose for a month". Basically they are now so scared of the withdrawal that it may be hard to get for the people who really need it and hang the consequences! After all if you won't "have a life" this month its hardly worth worrying about withdrawal problems in 6 months, especially as there is a real lack of real alternatives - even slower acting ones. Mad really when you think that in the 70s they handed them out like smarties.