how long does valium withdrawal last?

[swivelhed]

I've been using valium for at least ten years on a daily basis. Two months ago I reduced dosage from 10mg a day to 5, and three of weeks ago went down to 2.5mg. Two weeks ago, stopped taking it altogether.

Now, I've got a strange metallic taste in my mouth, fast heartbeat and the world seems to be kind of swimmy, if that makes any sense. A couple of nights ago I was having full on visual and auditory hallucinations.

It is my intention to walk away from this drug, but I'm not sure if I'm going about it the right way. I have no insurance and no Doctor. I understand this may take a while and am willing to suffer through, but am curious if anyone out there might know the real taper off formula? I am 50 years old and in good shape, 5'8, 160 lbs.

Thanks in advance
Swiv

[puranx]

note...valium at your dose isnt much to be worried about. Valium at 40-100mg on the other hand is potentially life threatening as stated in this thread by others. It can cause seizures and death much like alchol or other benzos. Amazing you kept a 10mg dose all these years. You have alot of strength. Valium dependcy and tolerence goes up very fast. Its also a skeltal relaxant which makes it differ from others.

[swivelhed]

Encouraging to hear, thank you~everything seems to have mellowed out today. Not racing and the world isn't wallowing around anymore. Glad to hear my dosage wasn't all that much and that the hump is passed, whew, what a ride.

Yes, I was run over by a drunk driver and broke more bones than Evel Knievel in one split second, leading to this situation. I am a little concerned about the skeleton starting to complain, but am so tired of the side effects of valium the trade off will be worth it!

Interestingly enough, lots of good things have been happening at the same time. Thanks again for lending an ear & advice, blessings all around!

[swivelhed]

Hallo, I'm back to report and ask another question.

Had a few rough days but feel better daily, still not at all interested in using again, and folks say I look like a different person.

Only my wife and you guys know what's going on, thank you for the support, she and I have never experienced anything like this before...

Ever since about a week into this process, I've had a strange metallic taste in my mouth, like my teeth and tongue are secreting something. Nothing is visible, but anything with vinegar in it is repulsive.

Is this something I should be concerned about, and is there anything I can do to fight back?

Thanks everyone, hope you're all having a great day

[irnbrulovein]

heay there your doing really well keep it up and rember evry day your body will heal its self. Am coming of well i cant say for sure really as i have been taken mostly street valium but i reacon about 40 50 mg a day its been rather intense but i feel a bit beeter evry day am having bad dreams and realy jumpy and nearvious but evry day i plaster on a fake smile and get on with it.anaway you keep on doing what your doing and you will be free again.big respect to you take care.

[thinkpositiveforever]

Hi. I feel I have something to add here. I came to valium in a very weird, painful way. Let me begin. I was never a drug user... I was always a sports guy. Just a weekend drinker like so many people. I feared drugs very much thus I stayed away from them. Years go by and well, I am not feeling happy, my mother's death I was still not dealing with well, my father was going through major heart surgery, broke off with a woman I liked and I walked out on a job. Then, unfortunately, I was introduced to vicodin like many people... through a bad tooth or something similar. I liked it. I would pop them when I could but was a casual user, not enough to "hook" me. Well, I was then introduced to someone who had oxycodone/oxycontin. BOOM. I was addicted probably by the 3rd day I took it... and it was not that much. The minimum is 5mg and I maxed out at 15 mg. But I went on to take this for 15 months at least for 5 days a week. I loved it. It took me out of my little sad world and made me feel great. Hell, I would go out and just pop a couple of oxycodone and not even drink. I would order water or soda since the alcohol mix did not give me the same high. Bartenders would often scratch their heads when they saw me. Then, reality started to settle in. My "highs" were not as long-lasting and I would get very tired when coming down from them. Just plop in bed. But the one thing I refused to do was up the amount I was taking. Then one day, May 6, 2007, I said I don't want to do this anymore. I decided to throw out a bag of about 30 oxycodone pills. Sounds great, right? Me, having NO CLUE about such things as withdrawal, was ready to have the hammer drop on me. It happened slowly. I felt weird with friends, my legs would slowly shake, I had to cut-short meetings. Slowly it was getting worse until I went into full scale convulsions on the floor virtually everyday for several weeks and would shake so much I would shake myself to sleep for literally 15 hours a day... only to wake-up to the same nightmare again and again. I would think of throwing myself out the window... a long drop. This was a continual focus. I would throw myself into bed to control such thoughts. I finally had to do what I did not want to do.... go to a hospital. I was scared to death. They were not sure what to do with me. I was off the oxycodone now for about 2 months but had bad shakes and depression. They just gave me zoloft while I was with other people taking all kinds of drugs. I stayed for 1 week. But I had one major complaint... my shakes would NOT go away. I woke up at 3 in the morning at the hospital shaking like a leaf and demanded something be done. There, i was given ativan... a small dose. It calmed me down pretty quick but got jumpy again. My doctor upped the amount to 2 mg twice daily. He then let me out of the hospital saying I should not be there since there were people with "much deeper" problems. OK? But what about the shakes? He gave me enough ativan for a week. Then I had to get them off a doctor. Guess what? Ativan, as said by my doctor, is highly addictive. Thus, I went from one addiction to another( ativan) but really had no choice. I felt better at home but still not great and of course was addicted to ativan for about 8 months. It was then I decided to do my own research and came across the Ashton Manual which many know IS THE ULTIMATE source for getting off benzos. Basically, the switch had to be made over to valium so I could slowly get off. You can download it free. I was on about 30 mg of valium and SLOWLY came off... I repeat, SLOWLY. I am down to 10 mg of valium now and, according to the plan, every cut will be only 1mg, about every 2-4 weeks until finished. Read the Ashton Manual. Just do a search on it. Believe me, a lot of bed-rest is required. I am still tired often and when tears come to you, well, let them come. I am also on an anti-depressant( zoloft) 50 mg. This is due to the fact that valium or any benzo. will hype up or cause depression if taken alone for most people. I am working... but only PT for now. But it is fine right now. Basically, anyone going through benzo. hell has been hit by an atom bomb and is trying to recover. You will and do... but a very little at a time... and there will be "bad days." Sleep as much as you can. Drink water a lot. Work out a bit. Take walks, take the sun. Don't push too hard too fast. And read positive material as you get better. Shut the damn news off which is all negative thinking. A suggested first book to get, "The Power of Positive Thinking" a combo of religious and positive thought. Look at more subjects with similar titles. Get the negative **** away. I am not done with my withdrawal yet and I expect about another 5-6 months at least. Go slow, it does get better. Say your prayers and NEVER do drugs in your life. Get away from all painkillers FOREVER. Get away from ativan, valium, xanax and all those drugs. THEY ARE HELL ON EARTH. God Bless You. And get your loved ones involved. You will need them. Don't hide it.

[luxnflux]

Thank you. My doctor and I are tapering me off and I'm in a similar boat, Found a provider who knew about Ashton and it's still challenging.

[gogogo133]

I gave up 5mg daily valium and 55mg daily methadone six weeks ago. For the first three weeks the withdrawl from the methadone was prevelant. I had hallucinations, cramps, anxiety, palputations etc... After two weeks I went onto a short dose of subutex (4mg) to ease the physical pain and I plan to cut the dose down by 1mg every six weeks.

I have used valium for the last four years (legaly for two) and have gone from 30mg to 5mg (my last drop was from 10mg to 5mg in Feburary).

Although I pretty much went cold turkey on the methadone, it was a lot easier to give up than valium. I am now still feeling withdrawal from valium. I sometimes crave it. I constantly feel anxious, I cannot sleep unless I use zopiclone (although I don't use this every night as I would rather excercise to make myself tired and I don't want an habit), I am very quick to jump to un-logical conclusions about paranoias I have and I am also very restless (although this could be down to the lack of dopamine from giving up methadone). I am also still in a bit of physical pain (especially my back and stomach).

I know you may be thinking that what I have written doesn't help due to my giving up of two majorly addictive drugs at the same time but what I found when I made the decision to stop was that I had got to the root of why I was taking the drugs in the first place.

Two close friends got me to see the extent of my addictive personality and helped me focus on how that was stopping me properly enjoying my life. I know, escpecially with valium, that addiction can sway you towards defending the drug you are taking. I feel that to break away from addiction you need a lot more than other drugs to withdraw.

I am a very stubborn person and I have always thought the idea of seeing a psychiatrist/therapist/counsellor was not a good idea. In the past I have been convinced that I have a strong enough mind to be able to get by without support. Luckily, I have a good set of friends who have supported me through breaking my addiction but I wasn't always able to see that they were there for me. Valium and methadone put you in a 'bubble' where you end up distancing yourself from the people close to you. They make you feel as though you are getting along perfectly but in fact you are just content to be isolated (be that physically or mentally). When I gave up the two drugs I was amazed at how much I was in a kind of fog. I could hear better, see better and I realised how much I had been pushing the people away who cared about me (before I gave up I thought most of these people were against me).

If you are addicted and feel that you can talk to a stranger for support then get professional help with your problem. Not all councellors etc.. are working out of a text book. If you have problems with money then there are a lot of free organisations that offer support whilst you make the change and there are many people who work for the organisations that have fought addiction themselves.

Either way, the withdrawal I am going through at the moment is worth it. I wouldn't reccomend just stopping like I did due to the intense mania I got initially. I was fortunate to be in a position where work, money and being looked after wasn't a problem (my housemate is an angel for helping through it). I had been reducing methadone for six months and valium for two years and it took all that time for me to be in a position to be confident that I could handle the depression that came with stopping. Just stopping brings all the bad things that you have being trying to not remember up. This is why I think it should be done with support rather than just drugs. All my issues are still not resolved but I plan to see a psychiartrist just to have someone to vent my stresses to rather than laying it on my friends and feeling like I am being a burden (feeling as though you are a burden can lead you back into addiction a lot more than you may think).

My main tips for what to do whilst stopping are to keep active (eg. walking, excercise), take regular baths (to stop muscle ache), if you know you are about to stop or take a large reduction then prepare youself by not taking on any extra work, try to save so that you can support yourself whilst you are not feeling well (although this isn't often something realistic it is worth a try if you are in a position to), ask your doctor/drugs worker for additional support (or seek free advice) and the most important thing is to take care of yourself. Eat properly, don't over-work/over-play and if you find that the stress is too much and you have to go back onto the drug then don't beat yourself up about it. Take note of the things that got in the way of you stopping, discuss this with a friend/counsellor and work towards resolving the issue. It took me an uncountable amount of atempts to give up valium and opiates.