Valium withdrawl and Alcohol

[Alexp75]

I am a 36 yr old male who has been drinking alcohol for 15 years. I drink no less than 7-8 beers and no more than 13-14 daily and have for years. Several years ago, probably ten to twelve, I started having panic attacks and General anxiety. I believe that the anxiety was alcohol created because 7 years ago i decided to quit drinking and after 3 months alcohol free the anxiety seemed to diminish or at least lessen tremendously. Unfortunately i started drinking again daily for another 6 years and quit again, this time only for 4 months. During this period the anxiety had reached a point where i did not leave the house, I hated driving because it would cause panic attacks so i became a hermit and never left the house for about 3 months. I finally faced the driving issues and would just pray, yell at the anxiety whatever i had to do to drive and it started to be bearable. Of course i started drinking again and have been drinking daily again for the last 2 years. I had an abcessed tooth and because of my anxiety i refused to go to the dentist. This went on for a few years. I feared that this infection was going to end up killing me so out of desperation (because i hated medication-also part of my anxiety) I took a valium given to me by a friend to go to the dentist. The valium did not get rid of my anxiety but it did prevent it from becoming overwhelming and I could maintain at the dentist. Because of this experience I started taking valium to maintain on a daily basis.  I took 1.5 to 2 m.g. in the morning and the same in the evening and did this for about two months. I read about valium and realized i did not want to become addicted and stopped taking them daily two weeks ago. I went 4 or 5 days without any and then my heart started racing, i started to panic and took 2.m.g.  then went a few days and felt ok but then had to go to court and was horribly nervous and took another 2 m.g.  This was 4 days ago. Yesterday i took about 0.5 mg (half a m.g).  I have weird muscle spasms and last night i had horrible nightmares about having a heart attack, losing my mind etc.. I must have woke up out of my sleep twenty times. I am going to quit valium and quit drinking but this time for good and never pick this poison up again. The question i have is that with taking such a minute ammount of valium for only a few months how long will the physical withdrawl last? I do not want to take them and have no mental dependance on them or desire them etc.. I still drink alcohol so i am hoping because my body has alcohol it wont freak out about not having the valium and then once the valium hasbeen out of my system for a month i am going to quit drinking alcohol as well. I guess my question is How long before valium is out of my body? If i went 5 days then took 2 mg. then went 4 days took 2 mg then went 2 days and took .5 mg.  I have not taken it daily in two weeks and when i have taken it, i only took a small ammount, shouldnt I be ok??  Also, does the fact I still drink help prevent worsened withdrawl from the valium or should i try to taper off alcohol at athe same time as quitting the valium? I have tapered alochol before and quit so I can do it again but wondered if i should give it a little time after the valium so that I dont cause the body to withdrawl off both simultaneously and cause a possible serious problem from withdrawl.  Any help would be appreciated.  

[vicki595]

Hi Alex-   Sallsinator gave you some good advice. The thing with both alcohol and Valium is this:    NEITHER ONE SHOULD BE STOPPED ABRUPTLY. The seizure risk is very high. Your doses are up and down along with your use but no one here can estimate your personal safety or advise you on what to quit and how. It's just too complicated.

You do seem to be hyper-vigilant and I think you would be best served by working with a doctor AND counselor for this addiction and stress disorder.

All the best to you!

[salsinator]

Hi Alex,

Thank you for your post and welcome to the forum.  I have just recently withdrawn from Valium and also used alcohol and am now working my way off of that.  I don't want to scare you, but it has been 5 weeks since I took my last Valium and it has been the most difficult thing that I have ever done.  Valium withdrawal is much harder and longer than opiates or anything else that I have ever taken.  I was taking much more than you though, so it is to be expected that the withdrawal would be long.  I was taking 20 - 40mg per night for stress and anxiety - not prescribed by a doctor.  I was also having a few drinks in the evening as well.  I finally realized that the combination was not good after blacking out a few times and not remembering a thing the next day.  I went to my doctor and came clean with him.  He put me on a 12 day taper.  From reading the research available, it seems that this taper was too fast because Valium has such a long half-life.  I stuck with it anyway and now I am glad I did.  The first to weeks were a living heck.  I had the worst anxiety that I have ever experienced.  Just know that this will go away.  For me, I seem to improve each week, noticeably.  I did use alcohol to help with the anxiety.  This works because alcohol and Valium are cross tolerant and regulate the same receptors on the brain.  This is why mixing the two is so dangerous.  Anyhow, I would encourage you to either speak to your doctor or a therapist or both.  I have been working with both myself.  The doctor helped me taper and my therapist has helped me deal with the anxiety and is now helping me to get off the alcohol.  We are all addicts here and can help each other.  Please post and let us know how you are doing and keep posting.  Lots of people here can help.

[bahamamama13165]

Do you have a counselor to help you with the anxiety? There are non addictive meds that help with anxiety.  Since you haven't been taking the Valium that long, the withdrawal shouldn't be too bad.  The worst is over in about 7-8 days.  But you still need to deal with the anxiety.