Aa
Need Advice/Guidance
Well, i am 25 yrs old... been thru my ups and downs career wise, having a hard time getting a job...
I've been taking adderall and ritalin... not at the same time to stay focused.... about 2 month now.... i always had sleeping problems... started taking xanax and valium.... i know this is all very bad for me and i am trying to stop with all meds.... especially the benzos..... i have always had anxiety problems.. .and now the insomnia is getting worse... tried exercising.. not realli helping... my body may be exhausted, but my brain gets racing thoughts.... the insomnia is realli irritating... can anyone provide me with some advice on how to cope?
I've been taking adderall and ritalin... not at the same time to stay focused.... about 2 month now.... i always had sleeping problems... started taking xanax and valium.... i know this is all very bad for me and i am trying to stop with all meds.... especially the benzos..... i have always had anxiety problems.. .and now the insomnia is getting worse... tried exercising.. not realli helping... my body may be exhausted, but my brain gets racing thoughts.... the insomnia is realli irritating... can anyone provide me with some advice on how to cope?
adderal and ritalin are like speed. until the speed wears off, the xanax and valium won't have much effect. ups and downs. this is a recipe for disaster. please be careful. peace. sway
Thank you all so much for the information and support. Although i don't know much about tapering. I will read and try the links totallost provided. Thanks again.
,
,
Hi there,
Welcome to the forum.
I used and abused benzos for 9 years for the same reasons that you gave, anxiety, lack of sleep panic attacks and so on.
Im tapering 11 months tomorrow and I'm 90% off.
Now, You can not go CT on the benzos. You have to taper. What happened to you is that you were on xanax which gives you the "down" effect and you FEEL you need to sleep. That's because Xanax has got a very short half life - 6 to 12 hours ( the time taken for the blood concentration to fall to half its initial value after a single dose) , it stays in your blood for a short while and an hour after you take it you have the peak. that's what you FEEL.
Valium works differently it has a half life of 20 to 100 hours so you don't FEEL the "down" coz it doesn't give you a peak in your blood. and that's what your brain -not your body- is craving for.
The good news is to taper from xanax it is easier to switch to valium and taper from there. You have trouble to sleep at the beginning but you have to give the time to your body to adapt.
We all are very impatient, we think we stop and everything is gonna be ok.
No, tapering is a long process and you need to listen to your body a lot, it will tell you when it's ready to taper down. Now there's the vicious point, you have to stay honest with yourself and do it when it says it's ready, don't stall
There a wonderful site for benzos addicts, here is the link:
http://www.benzo.org.uk/
and for xanax switch to valium and tapering schedule:
http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzsched.htm#s7
Talk to your doctor about it, as well as the interactions with the other meds you're taking (ritalin is probably for ADD???), show him/her the sites and establish your own tapering plan.
Set goals for yourself with deadlines, determination, endurance, will power are the magic words. You can do this, believe me.
If you have ANY questions, if you need support thru your tapering, know that i'm always there. I hope I could help you a little...
All my support and strength.
xxx.
sophie.
Welcome to the forum.
I used and abused benzos for 9 years for the same reasons that you gave, anxiety, lack of sleep panic attacks and so on.
Im tapering 11 months tomorrow and I'm 90% off.
Now, You can not go CT on the benzos. You have to taper. What happened to you is that you were on xanax which gives you the "down" effect and you FEEL you need to sleep. That's because Xanax has got a very short half life - 6 to 12 hours ( the time taken for the blood concentration to fall to half its initial value after a single dose) , it stays in your blood for a short while and an hour after you take it you have the peak. that's what you FEEL.
Valium works differently it has a half life of 20 to 100 hours so you don't FEEL the "down" coz it doesn't give you a peak in your blood. and that's what your brain -not your body- is craving for.
The good news is to taper from xanax it is easier to switch to valium and taper from there. You have trouble to sleep at the beginning but you have to give the time to your body to adapt.
We all are very impatient, we think we stop and everything is gonna be ok.
No, tapering is a long process and you need to listen to your body a lot, it will tell you when it's ready to taper down. Now there's the vicious point, you have to stay honest with yourself and do it when it says it's ready, don't stall
There a wonderful site for benzos addicts, here is the link:
http://www.benzo.org.uk/
and for xanax switch to valium and tapering schedule:
http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzsched.htm#s7
Talk to your doctor about it, as well as the interactions with the other meds you're taking (ritalin is probably for ADD???), show him/her the sites and establish your own tapering plan.
Set goals for yourself with deadlines, determination, endurance, will power are the magic words. You can do this, believe me.
If you have ANY questions, if you need support thru your tapering, know that i'm always there. I hope I could help you a little...
All my support and strength.
xxx.
sophie.
I dont know about any long term effects, but I know that short term users have a hard time learning to live life without those meds. Just as any addict would with any med. But I hear with add meds it takes longer for the brain to restore itself. Have you talked to the dr who is giving you all these meds?
by the way, can anyone tell me the long term side effects and the possible health hazard of add/adhd pills like adderall and ritalin? can only seem to find short term side effects
well, went down to about 1mg of xanax.... which i am completely out of..... but valium doesn't seem to be working for me.... after i stopped taking xanax... i was taking a pretty high dosage of valium... averaging... 10mg-30mg / night..... i realli need to sleep... so i started with 10mg valium then another 10mg, another... i think 35mg in total.... still can't sleep... i know this sounds very stupid of me.... and yes.. i think i have a serious addiction problem....and now i am still up.... btw, i am amazed at how fast ppl respond at this forum.. thanks for the support.... but still kinda need suggestions....and to be more detailed... it all started with sleeping pills doc prescribed me... always had sleeping problem since about 16.... then the anxiety gets worse later on... around when i am 20.... hm... yr ago.... doc prescribed me zolpiclone and ativan, the ativan made me realli anti social.(which i dun like) ... then they suggested i tried anti depressents. Cipralex.... tried it for couple days, started getting crazy thoughts... (btw.. i am not suicidal or anything).... i went off the cipralex even though the doc said i should finish the prescription, but considering it takes months b4 it'll start to work.and how expensive it is... i stopped taking it.... didn't go back to doc since... and xanax, valium, ritalin, i got from other sources.... i know this all sound very stupid... but was realli stressed from being layed off.... and xanax realli helped for awhile... now i guess my tolerance is too high, and i finally realized the damage i might be doing to myself.... still looking for suggestions.... thanks in advance
COMMUNITY LEADER
How gradual has your taper been?? This has to be taken very slow.
if i can't go ct, wut should i do? any suggestions? i tried gradually lowering the dosage... my i haven't slept for 2 days.... and the anxiety is driving me nuts
COMMUNITY LEADER
ct is cold turkey meaning you stop all the meds at once. You cant do that with what you take......
yea... thanks for the fast reply guys... i know i am going down a bad path.... and i am determined to stop my substance abuse.... looking for any advice that would make the process easier.... btw, wut is ct?
That is a lethal combo if I am not mistaken, please be careful. Both meds do the exact opposite. So I would be careful. Look into that with the dr who is giving them to you.
COMMUNITY LEADER
Are you tapering with the benzo's?? You dont want to go ct on those.
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