Up until January of 2014, I had been physically addicted to benzo's for 6 years. I was prescribed for legitimate panic disorder, but toward the end, it would take 6mg to ward off withdrawal systems, and 10mg to neutralize anxiety.
I would run short all the time and would have to bridge the gap with buying it off the street. It finally reached a point that I could not sustain, and I wound up quitting cold turkey.
I am no doctor, and don't recommend you do the same without talking to a doctor, but I will tell you what happened to me:
The first twelve days of detox are incapacitating. You will not be able to work, drive, do anything requiring concentration. It will feel like a constant current of electricity running through your body, and you will feel as if your actions are veing controlled by a remote control.
There is next to no solace to be found in these 12 days. The only thing that helped me, and it only helped me a drop, was candle light, and pretending it had healing properties.
In the following 30 days, you will still feel electric, but you will slowly start to function again. After those 30 days you will feel about 80 percent normal. Then give it another 60 days to feel almost 100%.
The wonderful silver lining is that benzo's are a very forgettable drug once you're clean. And for me, my anxiety left me along with my addiction. Reading horror stories in the throes of addiction, saying that "You'll always feel withdrawal for years to come" can be really disheartening, but for me, it's just not true. It is not a daily struggle. It is now as if I had never even been addicted.
I am glad I read your blog.
Up until January of 2014, I had been physically addicted to benzo's for 6 years. I was prescribed for legitimate panic disorder, but toward the end, it would take 6mg to ward off withdrawal systems, and 10mg to neutralize anxiety.
I would run short all the time and would have to bridge the gap with buying it off the street. It finally reached a point that I could not sustain, and I wound up quitting cold turkey.
I am no doctor, and don't recommend you do the same without talking to a doctor, but I will tell you what happened to me:
The first twelve days of detox are incapacitating. You will not be able to work, drive, do anything requiring concentration. It will feel like a constant current of electricity running through your body, and you will feel as if your actions are veing controlled by a remote control.
There is next to no solace to be found in these 12 days. The only thing that helped me, and it only helped me a drop, was candle light, and pretending it had healing properties.
In the following 30 days, you will still feel electric, but you will slowly start to function again. After those 30 days you will feel about 80 percent normal. Then give it another 60 days to feel almost 100%.
The wonderful silver lining is that benzo's are a very forgettable drug once you're clean. And for me, my anxiety left me along with my addiction. Reading horror stories in the throes of addiction, saying that "You'll always feel withdrawal for years to come" can be really disheartening, but for me, it's just not true. It is not a daily struggle. It is now as if I had never even been addicted.