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Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
Hello, I would be interested to know how many of us are dependent on tranquillisers (benzodiazipines like valium/xanax/clonazepam etc)
Medical professionals have done a complete U turn in their attitude to these drugs - when I was first admitted to hospital as a teenager 20 years ago, I was very sternly told that I HAD to take these pills and got a right telling off for asking if they were addictive. How times have changed! Now I need them almost everyday and am totally reliant on them. Tried withdrawal several times and it was a living hell.
So are you addicted?
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
I think just because you are prescribed a benzo to take every day does not necessarily mean you are addicted. You might have to be weaned off of them but then again you have to be weaned off anti-depressants too. I agree it is not a good thing to be on any med long term but short term I think for some people it may not be a bad thing. I just think to say in your poll that just because you take them that you are addicted is a little harsh but that is just my opinion.
Laura :)
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
Hi Southern Belle,
I am sorry if you think the way I have worded the poll is harsh, I didn't mean it to be. It is because benzos are so quickly addictive and tolerance is built up to them so fast that I use the term addiction.
Many people are prescribed them for daily use but don't take them daily so they of course aren't addicted. I am talking about people like myself who can't manage life without them and who always have a supply of pills on them.
Some people think the word 'addicted' is derogatory but I don't. I have no problem in admitting that I am addicted and I don't think anyone should be afraid to admit if they are.
Please use the 'Other' option if none of the poll options apply to you.
Take care
Eibhlin
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
Hi
I took Valium for around 18 months when i was at my worst with Agorophobia, i didnt leave my bedroom for 6 months and although i hated the thought of taking Diazipam it was either give it a go or be sectioned. Im glad i took the right chioce as it did help me. I gradually weaned my self off cutting the tablets in halves and then quaters.
love
:hugs:
Andrea
xxxxx:hugs:
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
25 yrs on diazepam,i am addicted and told not to even try to come off without huge changes in my life
feel so bad about it
sorry
ade x:weep:
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
Hi, i have been addicted to benzo's for years. Now with the help of my Gp am tapering off of them. Its been hard and I have had a lot of rough patches which my family have gone through with me, but it will be worth it in the end.
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
The longest I ever stayed off benzos was about fifty days and I lay in bed each day sweating buckets (used to use big bath towels as 'sheets' and change them several times a day) and with stomach pains so bad that I cried with the pain of them. I didn't eat and couldn't even keep water down. I lost stones. Eventually I had to begin taking the benzos again as I was doing this on my own and my family were sick of my problems and I knew I'd be sectioned if I called my GP. It took over a month before I could eat properly again and months for my digestion to settle down. Unless you can afford to go to a private psychiatric clinic and do withdrawl there, I don't see how I can ever be in a 'safe' environment where I had people to look after me whilst I went through the withdrawl.
The other side of the coin is that if I did make it through withdrawl, I would still have the 'original' anxiety that I began taking the pills for. Also I find myself that the mental dependence on these drugs is just as strong as the physical. So even if I were physically free of the drugs I don't believe I would mentally believe that I could handle the anxiety without them. This is all very negative but the memories of the attempted withdrawl are so frightening that life with tranqs seems preferable to life without them.
Eibhlin
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
I have what is termed a "Low Dosage Dependancy" I only take 10mg/day but I HAVE to take it every day
Phill :shades:
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
I've never taken tranquilizers, then again I've never been diagnosed with a panic disorder. Too scared of the doctors.
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
I've been addicted to Librium for about 27yrs now :ohmy:
I never realised until I was addicted just how bad these drugs could be. Although I am only on a fairly low dose I still think these drugs end up making our symptoms worse as it's so easy to become tolerant to them and your body then stays in a permanent state of withdrawal.
I don't think hospitalisation is the way to come off benzos as it has to be done so slowly that the NHS would never be able to handle the timescale involved.
I think it's a national scandal that the medical profession have knowingly allowed patients to become addicted and not even told them!
I hope that anyone on here who is coming off them reads The Ashton Manual first so that they can learn about what benzos do to us and the best way to come off them.
Apparently every Dr's surgery has a BNF book that advises them to get patients to crossover onto Valium before they start to withdraw as this benzo has the longest half life and will give the smoothest taper. Sadly a lot of Dr's just tell you to taper off your benzos without even realising you may be on one that has a short half life and may make your symptoms much worse than they need to be.
I am not by any means against benzos as I really do believe they can help people, but they can also make them worse too if they aren't taken with the respect and caution needed.
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
I put 'other' as its my mum, not me, who has been taking valium for the past 30 years (she's now 77)!!
I did take the odd one the first week I started with panic attacks 8 years ago but was so frightened of becoming addicted to them like my mum that that's all I ever took.
Course the up side to this is that by my mum taking them she managed to hold down a fulltime job until she retired, go on foreign holidays on her own and never became agoraphobic like me. So like everything there are up and downsides.
Love Piglet :flowers:
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
I've always thought of addiction as something that you need to increase the dose due to your body's tolerance of the medication. Let's say you have diabetes and have to take insuline every day, is that an addiction? I have thyroid disease and have to take synthroid every day, I don't consider that an addiction either. I do take klonopin 1 mg a day cut into quarters by my choice. I have been on it for 1 year. I have been able to do things like fly and go places I never would have been able to do without this medication. For me, if I feel it stops working at the current dose and I need to increase the dose that is when I will fill I am in trouble and need to come off of it. Then I will have to face what I will do without it and I hope to never have to face that fear.
For those of you on benzos what kinds are you on and the doses?
Piglet if you don't mind me asking, do you know if your Mum every had to increase her dosage throughout the years?
Laura :)
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
I see an addiction as when you are taking a medication and even though it's no longer helping you are chemically addicted to the medication and coming off it would be very difficult. It's a known fact that benzos only work short term and that if you take them every day you will develop a tolerance to them.
With something like Diabetes the medication is working all the time and doesn't lose it's benefits. I guess the same goes for medication for thyroid disorders too.
I've taken 20mgs of Librium which equates to about 8mg Valium since the early 80's. I've never increased the dosage but by the same token I don't feel that my anxiety is under control at all.
My mum has taken Nitrazepam since she was 38 and she is now 84. She has never increased the doseage but she cannot sleep and is lucky if she gets 3hrs sleep a night. To me this once again just shows that benzos don't work long term.
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
Laura not as far as I know hun - but I think over the years she has tried to reduce the dose just a little, she tells me she is on one of the lowest doses.
Love Piglet xx
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Southern_Belle
I've always thought of addiction as something that you need to increase the dose due to your body's tolerance of the medication. Let's say you have diabetes and have to take insuline every day, is that an addiction? I have thyroid disease and have to take synthroid every day, I don't consider that an addiction either. I do take klonopin 1 mg a day cut into quarters by my choice. I have been on it for 1 year. I have been able to do things like fly and go places I never would have been able to do without this medication. For me, if I feel it stops working at the current dose and I need to increase the dose that is when I will fill I am in trouble and need to come off of it. Then I will have to face what I will do without it and I hope to never have to face that fear.
For those of you on benzos what kinds are you on and the doses?
Piglet if you don't mind me asking, do you know if your Mum every had to increase her dosage throughout the years?
Laura :)
laura,
i take klonopin for my social anxiety.im given 3 x 0.5mg to take daily-but sometimes i take more depends what situation i face and other days i wont have any.
gp kinda wants me to try n cut em down but she aint pushing me to hard-i told her its quality of life-they get me out working,and give me some kind of life-without em i would be like many people i know sat indoors on incapacity benefit-it doesnt bither me now that i need em i used to take valium maybe 2wice a week and never needed em for work but things kinda got worse sa wise so now i just see it as summin i need dont harm me and i could be using alcohol as my prop which is 20 times worse.
i was originally given the klonos by a neurologist who i went to see cos of my shakes n tension-thought it might be summin more than nerves-it wasnt and he prescribed the tabs and my gp has been giving me em for about 2 years now..also i get valium from other sources but it doesnt do much for me now-got to used to it-unless i take 20mg i dont feel anything.
anyway my motto is "whatever it takes"
good luck all of you who are on benzos and dont feel guilty-we have nerve problems some people have other problems that need daily medication-i wont lose sleep over my usage.
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
Hi Pete,
I agree with you that I do need this medication and maybe I'm just trying to convince myself but I do think it is helping with my anxiety even if I have been on it for a year. Lyn, when you tried to off your benzo did you do it with the supervision of a doctor and try very very slowly? I have heard that over here in the USA doctors give patients librium to wean them off other benzos under supervised conditions in clinics. That may be why you couldn't go off of it yourself. I guess the reason I am discussing this at length is because I was once addicted to a pain medication called fioricet for migraines. It got to the point I was taking 4 pills to what should have been 1 or 2 to get the same effect. I do not get an europhic feeling from the benzo, it just takes the edge off so I can do things I otherwise wouldn't do.
Pigelet, thanks for your response.
Laura :)
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
I take clonazepam and I need minium of 6mg in one dose in order to to reduce my anxiety to a managable level. I am only supposed to take 2mg at a time.
I am with Pete in that I have spent years and years fretting over being addicted to tranqs but I could be fretting until my last day on this earth and still be addicted to them. So I take them as I need them (about 4 times a week) and hope I don't need to up the dose. If I do I will cross that bridge when I come to it.
I have packed in all my pills now except the benzo and the beta blocker (which is prescribed for high bp) as I was on anti deps, mood stabilisers, anti psychotics etc and they weren't worth a toss. Depression is as bad as ever.
Sometimes you have to go your own way.
Eibhlin
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
You don't become addicted you become depenadant, slightly different. An addiction is basically when you crave for a substance, that's not the case with tranquilisers unless you abuse them, for example taking them with alcohol to get a "high". Dependancy is simply that your body becomes accustomed to them and therefore you will feel withdrawal symptoms if you stop taking the, That's not restricted to tranquilisers, you also become dependant on SSRI's for example but I've not seen posts asking if you're addicted to them, it's just that tranquilisers have bad press.
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
I have tried valium and i found it very helpful, but i was only prescribed them for about 3 weeks, for a bad patch( my whole lif is a bad patch!!!!!!)
How do you all manage to be allowed to take them for so long? My gp wont give them to me again as she says they are only for short term use.
Josephinex
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
My GP says she doesn't mind giving them to me cause she knows I don't abuse them.
Been on 10mg/day for about 4 years
Phill :shades:
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Southern_Belle
Lyn, when you tried to off your benzo did you do it with the supervision of a doctor and try very very slowly? I have heard that over here in the USA doctors give patients librium to wean them off other benzos under supervised conditions in clinics. That may be why you couldn't go off of it yourself. Laura :)
Well I've never actually tried to come off the Librium Laura as I am scared of the symptoms I might get if I try and I feel bad enough already :ohmy: I have tried 3 times to come off my anti depressants and ended up having to go back on them, so for now I just stay on both meds :mad:
Quote:
Originally Posted by
mkeeley
You don't become addicted you become depenadant, slightly different.
I have to say the term 'dependant' does sound a lot better than 'addicted' :)
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
Yes dependant is a much more appropriate word.
Piglet :flowers:
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
Yes, Marc put into words what I have been meaning to say all along I just haven't been able to manage it very well.:foot: Lyn, if you ever do want to go off your meds, I would do it under a doctor's supervision. They do wean you off slowly and possibly will give you different meds to help so it won't be so awful and then wean you off those too. If you truly want to come off of them they can help you. For me personally, I am happy on them and have no reason to rock the boat at the moment. :blush:
Love,
Laura
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
Some people can stop from a fairly high dose and long term usage in a short time whereas I've read of people taking a year or so to wean them off a fairly low dose, depends on the individual.
So even though a Doctor can make a schedule out for someone it can only be a guideline to start until they see how well they're getting on and, depending on that, may have to be revised if it's too quick.
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
No addiction for me. Been taking diazepam when needed for over 4 years but a few weeks ago when my anxiety returned I was taking 15mg a day till my current psychiatrist told me to stop taking them and start taking zyprexa every night, which seems to be working better.
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
Alabasterlyn, I think you've been reading to many anti-benzo posts ;-) It certainly isn't a "known fact" that benzos only work short term, unless you count short term in years. Whether they work as effectively over time is a different matter. Also remember some only take them as required.
Anyway I think it should be down to quality of life and the patients wishes, as long as they're presented with all the facts. Although benzos don't cure anxiety/PA's, they do mask the symptoms allowing people to lead a normal (or nearer normal) life at the possible expense of dependancy, I don't see how that's automatically a bad trade.
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
From someone whos been taking them daily for 4 yrs I couldnt agree more.
I've been taking 10mg/day and haven't had to up the dose.
Phill :shades:
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
Yes, doctors I have met never take my quality of life into account. They say I shouldn't be on these drugs, but I couldn't go outside the door if I didn't take them, and my mind would be torturing me.
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
ive been on tranqualizers for 18 yrs,i look at it this way im suffering bad at times and when i need them they will be there just like a diabetic needing the insulin...if i need to take them the rest of my life so be it,as long as i can get thru my day and go to work why make myself suffer anymore then i already do if something will calm me i think thats a good thing..maybe one day sure i will get off that would be great but if not i know i have them and it does help me.........Linda
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
I have the same Fear as you Piglet the Doc's gave me diazipam and have only taken one as I'm scared of becoming hooked anyway it did'nt do me much good just made me feel worse !!
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
I voted 'ive never taken them' x
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
Hi all
I started out on 2mg once a day of diazipam but within weeks this wasnt enough, maybe even days - so I started taking more than I that and they run out the GP reluctantly gave me some more and upped the dose to 5mg same thing happend againg tolerance built up and I ended up on 10Mg a day which I'm convinced is was making me more depressed. I've been weaned down to 8Mg a day over the last four weeks - and I've noticed no adverse side effects.
I've been taking Diazipam for four months now it the 8Mg dose does nothing whatsoever for me - neither did the 10Mg, I'd say to anyone taking it to stop as soon as possible. I still have the panick but theres no sense in taking something just to avoide withdrawal when it might actually be making you worse. My GP who's very good thinks that my diazipam use might actually be contributing to my anxiety aparently theres new research that suggests this is possible.
In the short term on an as needed basis it is excellent however - but it becomes so tempting to take it everyday especially if like me you suffer from generalised anxiety.
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
I noticed when I was taking temazepam that during the day, my anxiety was worse and I looked forward to the night when I could take some for a bit of relief.. anyway, I looked into it and apparently you can get a 'mini withdrawal' between doses. I decided to come off the stuff but I still crave it at night and I feel a bit lost without it. I wish I had never started taking it.:ohmy:
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
Kaz79
Tamazipam has a shorter half life than Diazipam which means it leaves your bloodstream quicker than Diazipam, hence why Diazipam is used to wean people off shorter acting benzo's like tamazipam, I think the halflife of Diazipam is something like 200 hours - its a shame it does'nt actually work for that long whilst its in your system :winks: so its actually possible with the shorter acting b enzos to have withdrawal symtoms between doses as I understand it.
Hope this makes sense.
Dave
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
When i first startd with ectopics 32 years ago, i was pescribed Ativan, then later Tranxene. I was only on them for about a year and they kept upping the dose. They started to give me more probs than the origional anxiety...quite common to alot of benzo users...so then the doc weaned me off them over an 18 month period, until i was cutting the pills into quarters and taking a quarter a day...unbelievable now! this was the late 80's when the docs gave them out like smarties. Theyre supposed to know better now :shrug:
The withdrawal was horrendous, but as it started to get better, i became a volunteer counsellor for MIND and talked to people 24hrs, and visited them in their homes to try to help them through the withdrawal too. I never, ever want to go through that again. However, ive come pretty close after the last 9 months on Propranolol. Tried to come off them a few times and suffered terrible ectopics and tension. Now have a different betablocker and this one is a much lower dose but still does the job, so hopefully i can maybe give them up in time too.
Cathy xx:)
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
I put 'Other'
Ive been taking diazapem for the last 3 months 2 x 2mg daily, they have really helped me take the edge off the anxiety/panic while my anti-depressents have been regulated. I havent noticed any side effects when not taking them but i can also see how you can end up taking them 'just incase' too, because i have started to do that even if im feeling okay just incase i start not too, maybe this is me on the downwards slope (?), but i hope not....i have been told by my GP that at such a low dose it should be pretty easy to start easing/weaning off on them in time. There has been times ive been very tempted to up the dose and take more than the 2mg but ive been to scared to do it, glad i havent now from reading other peoples stories. This is why this site is so great you can learn so much from other peoples experiences and also hopefully they can learn stuff from you....
C xxx
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
Sometimes I go a couple of weeks without diazepam, sometimes I take them 2 or 3 days a week. I don't believe I'm addicted.
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Southern_Belle
I've always thought of addiction as something that you need to increase the dose due to your body's tolerance of the medication. Let's say you have diabetes and have to take insuline every day, is that an addiction? I have thyroid disease and have to take synthroid every day, I don't consider that an addiction either. I do take klonopin 1 mg a day cut into quarters by my choice. I have been on it for 1 year. I have been able to do things like fly and go places I never would have been able to do without this medication. For me, if I feel it stops working at the current dose and I need to increase the dose that is when I will fill I am in trouble and need to come off of it. Then I will have to face what I will do without it and I hope to never have to face that fear.
For those of you on benzos what kinds are you on and the doses?
Piglet if you don't mind me asking, do you know if your Mum every had to increase her dosage throughout the years?
Laura :)
Correct, if you need to increase the dose to get the same effect than that is an addiction, yes your body may miss the dose you take but weaning off does work, I was off my paroxetine for 6months and it took me a year to taper down, now I NEVER CRAVED the tablet I just had funny tingles and head zaps as well as balance disturbances and i was a tad cranky pants.
But off them I was ok until the aniety started creeping back in, I thought I had aids and that upset me for a while somehow I keep it in the back of my head and i tried to ignore it, then i went to the Dr for an aids test and of course it came back clear then.... god I guess my brain decided to find something else! I started to worry over other little things and then I got tummy upsets so I worried over those then when I got the runs I thought I had Bowel cancer then when i lost my appetite over the severe worry and lack of sleep I lost weight and thought I had cancer........ see what happens health anxiety is nasty,
So I went BACK onto my meds and 4 weeks later I was able to live and cope again...... If you need meds and they work the use them you only get one life and I have wasted a LOT of time already
x x x Sorry for the long post phewww
:hugs:
Sorry, just to add, if you no longer think you need your medication and you believe you are addicted in some way, then please speak to your Dr, I understand your scared as my mum kept her mouth shut when she was little because they didn't understand and just shut you away!! It's not like this anymore and there ate DAY centres you can turn up to and wean off with caring support... the nhs also pays for this.
More hugs to all of those people treated like dirt back in the days, my heart goes out to you and the pain and MORE damage they caused you.
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
When I saw this thread I had to come out of hibernation and post a reply.
Last Feb. I was prescribed 2mg per day Diazepam to take alongside my heart meds as I was suffering extreme tension which in turn was pushing up my blood pressure and making my heart race uncontrollably, I was already on the highest dose of my heart meds and could just about get out of bed,wash and make it to a comfy chair for the rest of the day.A couple of weeks after starting the Diaz. I was able to go about daily life almost as normal.
Feeling that I was cured and fearing addiction I decided to start withdrawing from the Diaz. at the rate of .5mg (quarter of 2mg tab) every 3 weeks under Docs advice and have got down to .5mg per day for about 10 days now,during my withdrawal I decided to avoid stressful situations and to avoid forums such as NMP (hence my hibernation).
10 days into .5mg and I feel terrible - the original symptoms have returned - tension,tachycardia and palpitations,I've suddenly developed agrophobic thoughts and fear going out also blurred vision and panic attacks,which I never had before - I truly regret starting the withdrawal and would happily up the dose if I thought it was safe to do so.( please see my thread - "reinstating diazepam)
Having read The Ashton Manual I originally asked to be weaned off using Diaz. syrup but was told there was no need as 2mg per day was just a drink off whisky.
Seasons greetings & Best wishes to all.
Decca.
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Re: Are you addicted to tranquillisers? Poll.
Hi Everyone - I was addicted to Diazepam and have been withdrawing slowly for the past 18 months. I am now down to 1mg at night, and the reason I have joined NMP is because my recent withdrawal symptoms have been horrendous. 1mg doesn't sound much, but when I tried to go down to .9mg about a month ago, I had a mega panic attack, and I haven't had one for over a year. My worst symptom is heart arrhythmias which scare me terribly. I followed the Ashton Manual which has become my bible and am using the liquid form of 5mg in 5ml and a 1ml syringe. I discovered this method on the internet, but luckily my GP was happy to help. Benzos. work to start with - in fact they feel like a miracle, but once you develop tolerance and eventually withdrawal symptoms, the hell begins! The last 18 months have been the worst of my life.