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Valium withdrawal using hydroxyzine?

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carol09801
carol09801

I was on Ativan for 2 1/2 years topping out at 2.5mg a day. I do not have any anxiety or other issues. I have Ciguatera, a toxic fish poisoning that can last weeks, months, years or a lifetime. You get it from eating reef fish like grouper, red snapper, etc. I contracted it 9 years ago, 10 months after we lost our middle son (age 34) to brain cancer. Ciguatera can flare up and in August of 2015, I had a flare up which is pretty constant pins and needles and itching. I went to my doc but she was away on vacation, so another doc gave me Ativan. Big mistake! Sure it helped with the itching but I developed a tolerance and had to keep increasing and I was actually getting itching from the Ativan interdose because it has such a short life. 

I went to to a psych doc for 9 months and honestly, he was a prescriber not a doc for withdrawal guidance. Finally found an excellent psychopharmacologist who specializes in opioid and benzo withdrawal. He put me on 9 mgs of Valium a day with a weening program for the Ativan. I am now after two months off Ativan but now I have to ween off Valium. I’ve started this week with a .05 cut but I’m experiencing some insomnia and some itching. I do have the hydroxyzine 25 mgs tabs and they help at night with itching, but now with my first cut down to 8.5 mg of Valium, one tab isn’t helping as much with insomnia. I am on vacation right now and will have a video con with my doc Monday. I’ll ask him if I should take two hydroxyzine at night. Has anyone tried that? I don’t want to take during the day as I work and am concerned I’ll be too drowsy. Suggestions?

0 likes, 3 replies

3 Replies

  • RubySlippers
    RubySlippers carol09801

    Posted

    I used the hydroxyzine coming off of ativan for 20 years. Yes it did help for me. I would go 2 days with no sleep and then take the hydroxyzine at bedtime while tapering. It did help me get about 4 hours sleep. Good luck and yes talk to your doc. i think the hydroxyzine is less dangerous than the valium. Keep us posted. it will take a while but just believe you can do it and share with anybody to help you through this. Wishing you peaceful sleep! Ruby S
    • carol09801
      carol09801 RubySlippers

      Posted

      Thanks very much. I ended up taking 2 hydroxyzine last night and I slept probably 8 or 9 hrs . I felt really sick around 6:00 last night but I had taken Miralax for constipation from Valium for the first time since being on Valium. Again I’ve only been on Valium since January 19th about 2 months now. I read personal accounts about mixing Miralax taken with Valium and sure enough it can make you feel awful and in my case I think that was the culprit.

      I feel better now-11:00 a.m. eastern time. I’m not sure if I’ve come down with something or it’s the Miralax (my guess it is) or if it’s withdrawal though yesterday was day 4 of my first cut of .05 Valium and I was doing ok except for constipation. Anyway, I’m going back to Phillips tablets for constipation, use the hydroxyzine 1 tab and talk to my doc on Monday. According to the schedule, it may take me at least ‘til mid-July to get off the Valium with one .05 a week. But I’m sure my doc will tell me to stabilize at a cut before going on.

      I tend to be impatient. I was almost off Ativan on my own right before Xmas down to 3/8 mg but I had terrible withdrawal and my kids and grandkids were coming from afar, so I gave up and went back up to 1.5 mg a day, but as I say my new doc used Valium combined with the Ativan to get me completely off the Ativan in just two months. I tend to be very sensitive to any meds, prescribed or OTC, plus having Ciguatera toxins still in my nerve endings complicates matters. But with support from forums and my husband and my doc, I intend to beat this Benzo Bear!

  • RubySlippers
    RubySlippers carol09801

    Posted

    So glad you slept. Might not be so good tonight. but remember you got some sleep and if no sleep tonight then hopefully the next night will be better. Keep us posted please. Best of luck. Enjoy the weekend! Ruby S.
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