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Valium Cold Turkey Withdrawal - should I reinstate

Posted , 5 users are following.

bess5
bess5

hi,

I (very stupidly) went on 5mg of Valium at the end of Aigust 2019 after my knees were injured. i run my own business, didn't want to let my clients down & was finishing a course - i was working & commuting 3 hours a day & just wanted to be able to keep going. I was on valium for 5 months. I now see it was the most stupid decision I ever made.

Sometimes I took just 5mg at night, sometimes i took 10mg & once I took 15mg when a very stressful event happened. Sometimes I didn't take it for a day & sometimes I took it 2 - 3 times a week, I started to taper off it in November bit didn't research it properly & was cutting down by 25% - 50% & was tapering erratically. I then went babk on the full 5mg dose & the valium wasn't doing anything to help my anxiety & physical symptoms set in - which I mistook for the Flu or a virus. After a Vitamin C transfusion 5 weeks ago I stopped cold turkey. I had checked with two doctors & my psychologist & all 3 said it was ok to stop the Valium & it would be 2 weeks until the valium was out of my system.

I experienced some insomnia but it wasn't until 12 days later thar the full impact of withdrawal set in. I've had some "windows" of feeling kind of normal - the last one lasted for nearly two days - it was heaven. Then the "waves" come with a slew of physical symptoms - the worst for me are the crunching headaches, the dizziness, the fatigue, the tight & sore muscles. The psychological symptoms are the hardest for me to deal with - the crippling anxiety, the de-personilization, the de-realisation.

I have now been off Valium, cold Turkey, for 5 weeks, its been 3 and a half weeks since the bad withdrawal started. Should I re-instate, stabilize & then slowly Taper using the ashton method. I've researched & it's not at all recommended to re-instate if you are 4 weeks or more since your last dose. I'm wanting to get back to "normal" to be functioning & feel like myself ASAP. Help! any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

0 likes, 17 replies

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  • molly6566
    molly6566 bess5

    Posted

    I would carry on the way you're going. You're probably through the worst of it. My doc gave me instructions on how to taper but said I'd still find it really hard. If you think you could take 5mg on a really crappy day and not take it regularly. That might help but obviously you need to watch you don't start taking them every day again

    • bess5
      bess5 molly6566

      Posted

      Thanks so much - I appreciate your kind words & help. I have have been researching & the ashton manual says not to reinstate if you are 4 weeks or longer since your last does of valium so I'm going to be determined & try to stay positive & also try to minimise stress. Fingers Crossed!

    • kathy13086
      kathy13086

      Posted

      sorry wrong person, still new to this site . 😦

  • Lolasmom
    Lolasmom bess5

    Edited

    If you are 5 weeks post, I would hate for you to start up again.

    |I was on clonezepam. It was a night mare, and I weaned off. But not as slow as I should have.

    The waves and windows will go on for awhile. I remember a time when I could walk from one room to the next and go into a wave. I had them often on a daily basis. I took 9 months to wean off trazodone and only a month to come off clonezepam Way to fast. I went through crap for a good 18 months.

    This will take time. It is like hell going through, BUT it will get better. The two most important things for recovery is time and patience.

    Wishing you the very best

    • bess5
      bess5 Lolasmom

      Posted

      Thanks so much for your kind words & encouragement. I'm determined to get through this with my sanity firmly intact! did you find anything dietary or supplements that helped? Thanks so much.

    • Lolasmom
      Lolasmom bess5

      Posted

      That's a tough one. No two people are the same. What is /was good for me maybe not good for you.

      |I took a basic approach to this. I just tried to eat properly. No caffeine, no msg, no sweets, no alcohol....The basic stuff.

      Now I did find taking 200 mg. magnesium Bis-glycinate at bedtime gave me amazing sleep. I still take it. I never once suffered from insomnia.

      There is a wonderful podcast called benzofree.org. It is best to go back and start listening from the beginning but not completely necessary. I get an email every Wednesday when a new one is done.

      Also I am sure you know there is a lot of support on benzobuddies. You just have to remember that some suffer more than another, so please do not get get overwhelmed.

      Message me anytime if you need to chat

    • Sears
      Sears Lolasmom

      Edited

      No offense but please don't direct anyone to the benzobuddie website. That website should be banned. No one would ever taper after reading the stories on there. Horrific!

    • bess5
      bess5 Lolasmom

      Posted

      thanks so much - I really appreciate your kind words & support - thank you.

  • Sears
    Sears bess5

    Edited

    5 mgs. is minimal. Stay the course and get off.

    • bess5
      bess5 Sears

      Edited

      Thanks so much. Sometimes I took more than 5 Mg (about 10 times I took 10mg & once I took 15mg during that 5 months) - I now realize this was like 'kindling' my brain. Oh how I wish I could turn back time and never have taken the valium in the first place! Thanks so much for your support.

  • molly6566
    molly6566 bess5

    Edited

    We need to educate ourselves about the devastating effects some drugs have on us. I know the Docs are waking up to it now but some still dish them out like sweeties. I hope things get back to normal for you soon. x

    • Sears
      Sears molly6566

      Posted

      In hind sight educating ourselves is a great idea. But what are supposed to do going forward? Too many are suffering with the new laws in regards to the benzos and opioids. The doctors, researchers and pharmaceutical companies need to come forward and HELP US!

  • molly6566
    molly6566 bess5

    Posted

    Yeah I agree they should help us. what I mean is we just blindly take whatever doctors give us cos we trust them. Yet they don't want to know once you realise you have a problem. I read up on any meds I get now before taking them. There's an epidemic starting in the UK now. of people addicted to prescription painkillers but they don't care. As long as theyre making money like they do with alcohol and cigarettes which costs millions to treat illnesses associated with them, they don't give a s**t.

    • Sears
      Sears molly6566

      Posted

      The U.S. is really cracking down on the opioids. The doctors here want everyone to taper benzos also but unfortunately they want to do very fast tapers to get you out of their hair. Fast tapers can be disastrous and inhumane. They dont care.

    • bess5
      bess5 Sears

      Posted

      Thanks so much for your advice and support everyone. I really appreciate it.

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